Zelgadiss looked around the room. It was circular and large. A variety of weapons and tapestries adorned the wall. Despite the fact that the room had to be centuries old, all the weapons looked sharp and ready for action. It struck Zelgadiss as odd, but he continued in carefully. Lina followed. She stopped just outside some sort of spell circle. In the center was a book. Zelgadiss opened the cover and placed the paper Luna had given him over the pages. The paper undid all folds and reattached itself to the binding. It was authentic. So maybe Luna was a little trustworthy after all.

The paper, now part of the book, glowed. The light blinded him briefly. When his eyes cleared, he looked back at the page to see "The Chimera's Cure" was glowing. Some unseen wind blowed and the book lifted off the podium, flipping pages. As it settled back down, the pages stopped at about three quarters through. Zelgadiss read outloud. "The Chimera's Cure
By reading this Script, Thou art thus bound
To seek and to kill where love thou hast found.
To no longer be that which thou hate,
The one though must kill was chosen by fate.
So Zelgadiss, to rid thee of thy curse,
Thou must kill Lina Inverse."

"I must kill my love?" Zelgadiss whispered. "But I have no heart. Who would love. . ." He drew his sword.

"Zel?" Lina asked. He had been reading something, but she couldn't hear it as a wind picked up and the magic circle glowed. All she heard was that he had to kill the one person he loved. When he drew his sword she got worried. "Zel what are you doing?" The wind died, as did the lights. Zelgadiss took a slow step towards her.

"I don't--" he stammered. "B-b-blast Ash!" He threw the spell at Lina. She dived out of the way and rolled a little before standing up.

"ZEL!!!!!!!" she yelled. "What do you think you're doing??"

"I have no idea!" he yelled in reply before throwing a fireball directly at Lina. "Something's making me try to kill you!"

"Kill ME??" Lina dodged again and threw up a sheild as Zel released another spell to her. "Why? Unless--" Lina's voice trailed off. Kill the one he loved. Was that possible? Could he really?

"Lina, look out! Diem Wind!" Lina ran around the room. Zel stopped chanting and ran up to her, slashing his blade and cutting off her cape, missing her body by mere inches. The soceress pulled out her own short sword and parried the next attack. Zel in turn kicked her in the knee. She lost her balance and quickly rolled away before he struck again. Zel resumed spellcasting and threw one after another after Lina, whose only response was to keep moving. She didn't dare cast any spell on him; she didn't want to hurt him. But what could she do?

"Freeze Arrow!" Zelgadiss stood there, waiting for the arrow to strike until the last possible second.

"Damn," cursed Zelgadiss. He almost was hit, but his body moved at the last second. Everytime he tried to stop his movement, they would return slightly stronger. "Lina!" he called, getting an idea. He was a chimera, he should be able to withstand it. "You'll need to cast something a lot more powerful!" He brought his sword down on the petit young girl.

"Like what??" she retorted. "A Ra Tilt wouldn't affect your body! And anything higher would hurt you!"

"So try the physical equivalent!" Zel yelled as he cast a Burst Flare followed by an Emekia Lance. "Go for a Dragon Slave!"

"Are you serious! I'd kill you!"

"I'm a chimera, remember? My body should be able to take it."

"No way!"

"Lina, please."

"Dark Mist!" Zel was left in darkness as Lina jumped up to a small ledge to consider her options. His body was made of stone, and he could easily take normal spells. But could he withstand a Dragon Slave? That was pushing it. The mist disapated and Zelgadiss quickly caught sight of Lina. His control gone, his body completely took over. Any pauses flew out the window as Zel's body reacted at full power. Lina only barely kept alive by casting sheilds and minor offensive spell. She tried to cast a Recovery on Zel, but his body merely shurgged it off. She reluctanlty cast higher level spells, slowly rising the power level. But Zel's body was to fast. It either dodged them or threw a counter spell. Nothing Lina did seemed to stop him.

Lina shed a tear as she began chanting. "Darkness beyond twilight, Crimson beyond blood that flows…" The spell seemed to take forever to cast, the lines coming out sounded forced and slow. Her hand motions weren't fluid, but instead rather shaky as every fiber in her being told her not to cast this spell.

"DRAGON SLAVE!!!" The dark energy engulfed the room and Zel didn't have a chance. His body just stood there in frozen surpirse; like a deer caught in the headlights. A tear ran down his cheek as he mouthed the words 'thank you'.

The room exploded.

Lina couldn't watch. She didn't want to see her companion, her best friend, her… She didn't want to see him die. The room came crashing down on itself as Lina watched from her perch. The large pillars collapsed on themselves and the magical circle cracked, opening up to large wholes and canyons. Dust of the ages raised up to the air, clogging Lina's lungs and tearing her already blurred sight. Once everything settled Lina looked at her handywork. Only one though came to mind.

"ZELGADISS!!!!!!" Lina cast a Ray Wing and flew above the wreckage, searching desperately for him, hoping to find at lead some trace of his corpse. She reached out with her sixth sense, hoping against hope to feel him somewhere amidst the carnage.

She did.

She dived down to the center of the wreckage and started digging. She pulled up rocks and boulders with unkown strength as she finally uncovered a body. Zelgadiss lay on his side, broken and bloody, his once ivory clothes torn to red shreds. His hair and face were streaked in blood and dirt. With utmost delicacy, Lina rolled him to his back, proppoing up his head so that his shallow raspy breathing would become easier.

"Oh, Zel," she whispered. "I am so sorry."

The chimera coughed. "'s alright."

"Zel?! Oh, thank the gods!" Lina hugged him tightly. He in turn screamed in pain. The sorceress sweatdropped as she lay him back down, apologizing profusely. "Well," she said finally. "At least we broke the spell."

Zel frowned. "Not… really."

"Huh?"

"I can feel it….. coming back….. Lina..…kill me."

"Are you delirious or something?? After what I just did you want me to kill you?"

"If you….don't…..I'll attack you agai…… I can't….. stop it."

"Indeed you cannot." Zelgadiss and Lina looked to the book which was floating beside them.

"Chimera," the book said. "The spell was designed to free you from that form. All you had to do was kill one person, yet you resisted every stop of the way, making it impossilbe."

Lina looked at Zelgadiss in surprise. That was while resisting? Would I have ever be a match if he actually tried? Zelgadiss wheezed.

"I would rather die," he coughed, "than hurt Lina like I always do." Lina looked at Zelgadiss. He really cared for her that much? "Besides, I wouldn't want to live like that. Knowing I killed Lina for such a selfish reason." Lina's eyes blurred. She was touched. He really was everything she described. "She doesn't need me to protect her. She already has someone."

Zelgadiss shut his eyes in pain. He knew that this was the right thing. If the gods let him die, everyone would be alright. He wouldn't suffer; he wouldn't hurt Lina, and that was all that really mattered.

"Who?" the book asked. "Fate decreed that you kill your love. But when you love, chimera, she loves back."

"And who would protect me?" Lina added.

"Gourry."

"And what did I say about intelligent conversation?" Lina asked quietly. Zelgadiss didn't say anything. He knew when he was beaten. He loved Lina and she apparently loved him as well. He took another labored breath, his chest screaming at him to stop.

"I love you, Lina," he whispered.

"I love you too, Zel," she replied.

"Chimera," the book said. "Would you rather be in this form and keep your love, losing what you have sought for so long, or would you rather let the spell continue and gain what you vowed to do anything for?"

"Let Lina live," he said simply. Nothing was worth that high a price.

"So be it."

The book glowed brightly, blinding the two new-found loves before it fell to the ground. Lina picked it up and flipped through the pages. They were all blank except for one passage:

"The Chimera's Cure, as with all lofty goals, comes with a cost. Often the price is high, and the choice is weather to pay or not. In the case of the lonely Chimera, the Cure's cost was too high to sacrifice his love. Life was more important than death, and love more important than vanity. The lesson was learned, the love was found, and the journey began again. The Chimera's Cure is out there, found among rolling hills and green valleys instead of dark toombs and empty books. And the first price of the Cure has been paid. He found his love and she him. Let us leave it at that."

"Well said," said Zelgadiss as he tried to sit up. The motion proved painfull, but he was able to manage it. Most of his wounds were superfucial, but they were too numerous for a Recovery. He'd have to wait.

"So what do we do now?" asked Lina as she started to bandage her partner.

"Well, a few months sleep sounds good for me about now. And you?"

"All things considered, I think I agree with you." Lina leaned down and kissed Zel on the cheek. "You go ahead. I'll finish bandaging you and catch up."

Zel returned the kiss and was asleep in seconds.

"Gourry-san! Why didn't you help me with Zelgadiss-san?"

"Why are you blaming me?"

"My my,"

"Xellos?"

"Xellos-san?"

"You two have certainly been busy haven't you?" Gourry and Amelia looked around. Earlier in their argument they had taken it to a physical level, if only briefly, and now they stood in the town center.

"What do you want?" Gourry asked.

"Well, I just thought you wanted to know, you two have been arguing for," Xellos looked pensive. "About a month straight." Gourry and Amelia facefaulted.

"A month?"

The End