Cost
by M&I

Zelgadiss crawled a few feet down the duct and dropped the last thirty, landing nimbly on his feet. It was a small room he was in now, barely enough room to stand in and only about ten feet in length and width. It was entirley empty except for a small alter holding a large tome. That was what he wanted. It had been his goal since he had started his journey almost a year ago.

Zel was totally oblivious to Amelia and Gourry as they fell in a heap behind him; a large tangle of arms and legs. Lina came down more gracefully, only peeking her head through the ceiling duct they had come through. "Is it here?" she asked, looking around.

Zel didn't answer as he stared at the book. It was to good to be true, he was afraid to touch it. He took a deep breath and placed his hand on the ancient cover, delicately wiping the dust away before finally picking it up. "It's within my grasp," he said to himself. He quickly sat down on the cool floor and started to flip through the pages.

His cure was in here somewhere. He just had to find it.

Lina didn't want to come into the room, the size was way to small for four people. Especially now that Zel had decided it was a good time to sit down. Gourry and Amelia were still trying to figure out who'd leg was where, leaving even less room. She'd just stay up here, thank you.

Lina craned her neck, trying to get a good look at the book Zel was reading. She'd promised to let him have it first, but it didn't hurt if she saw a few of the spells in advance. Zel turned the pages slowly, careful not to damage anything as he read through the leafs of paper quickly; reading what was important and skimming the rest. Lina hoped the cure was in there. The poor guy needed a break after being a chimera for so long. There was an ouch yelped and Lina turned to see Amelia and Gourry finally break apart.

"No." Lina blinked as she turned to Zelgadiss. Did she hear right?

"No." H said it again, this time grabbing Amelia and Gourry's attention as well. Zel's shoulders were shaking as he stared at the old tome, his eyes shut tight in disbelief.

"No. No. No. No! No!" Zel let out a cry of rage, shaking his arms to the ceiling in protest.

"What's the matter Zelgadiss-san?" asked Amelia innocently.

"It's a cookbook!!! I spent over a year searching for a lousy cookbook!!"

"Uh, why would you bee looking for a cookbook?" asked Gourry. He was promptly answered by the book imbedding itself in his face.

"I was looking for my cure!!" Zel shouted in anger. "I've been searching for it for I don't know how long and all I find is a cookbook!!" Seaking to release his rage he kicked the alter over, smashing it to pieces.

"Well, if you don't want it can I have it?" asked Gourry again. "I've always been great at eating it might be good if I tried cooking."

"Gourry-san!" shouted Amelia in surpise. "How can you be so inconsiderate? Zelgadiss-san just lost another possible cure for himself and you--"

"Fireball!" Lina crawled back into the duct just in time as the room erupted in flames. This time Lina landed inside the room. Gourry and Amelia were in another heap in a corner, all brown and crispy. Zel merely stood there, his face stone cold.

"Now wait a sec Zel!" Lina said sternly. "Be careful what you throw around here!" Before she could continue Zel glared at her and summoned a Ray Wing, flying up the duct they had enter and exiting the scene. "Zel!" Lina called after him. "Zel, wait up!" She glanced to Gourry and Amelia. "Are you guys okay?" One of them moaned in reply. "Great, I'll meet you at the inn, be right back! Ray Wing!" Lina flew up after Zelgadiss.

It took longer than she thought to find him. Lina'd figured he'd just smash his way through everything like it looked he was going to do. But it took a while to find a tace of him, let alone track him. Lina finally caught up with the chimera on a lonely patch of river. It was already late at night, the moon was high in the sky.

Zel was sitting on the riverbank, staring blankly into the water. He was alone except for a long dead tree behind him, covering him in its shadow. Lina landed softly a few feet in back of him, unsure what to expect. She'd seen him mad before, she'd even seen him go beserk once or twice, but he'd never actually attacked his friends. This whole chimera business was starting to get to him, and he wasn't even bothering to hide it. It was totally out of character for him, and Lina didn't like it one bit.

The sorceress walked up slowly, not really sure what to do.

"Just leave me alone Lina," Zel said in reply to her silent question.

"But Zel--"

"I mean it, Lina. Leave me alone."

"Zel, I just wanted to--"

"Go away!"

"But--"

"My my." Both Lina and Zel looked up in surprise to see Xellos looking down on them from the dead tree. He laughed blandly as his smile grew from ear to ear. "My my," he said again. "How the mighty have fallen."

"Xellos, what the hell're you doing here??" Lina yelled. He didn't get a chance to anwer, however. Zel had unsheathed his sword and leapt up to the Mazoku priest, ready to cut that smile off his annoying face. Xellos of course teleported out of the way; but as soon as he started to fade, Zel called up a spell and fired it right where Xellos next appeared. Zel continued to cast spell after spell, releasing his fury on the now defensive Mazoku. His normally bland face was caught up in a look of surpise. Even his eyes were open in shock. The preist had not expected such fast action from the chimera. Zelgadiss was giving him a run for his money.

Zel meanwhile was barely aware of how fast he was. All he cared was that Xellos had the audacity, the gual to show up after everything that Zel had been through just to laugh at him. Well, no one was going to laugh at him today. Not ever again. "Dill Brand!" The Mazoku jumped aside and Zel saw his chance. He threw a Gaav Flare at the priest and turned a one-eighty on his heel, drawing his sword again in one fluid motion and grabbed the priest's collar just as he appeared. Zel threw him against the tree and held him there, his sword at the monster's throat.

"Zel, what do you think you're doing?" That was Lina, but her words fell on deaf ears.

"You," he said through gritted teeth. "You ruined my life. You screwed up my chances at getting the Claire Bible, you pulled me along like I was some sort of puppet. You give me little bits of information knowing that I'll bite. You tripped me up and humiliated me at every turn. And now, after a year of screwing around with me while I looked for that book, you have the nerve to laugh at me to my face?" Xellos by now had returned his bland look to his face. He put his hand to his chin and took on a slightly pensive look.

"Did I really do all that?" he asked, almost to himself. Zel felt his anger flare, and he pressed his sword tighter to the Mazoku's throat.

"Well, I guess I did," the priest said happily. "Was that wrong?"

"You son of a--"

"Zelgadiss! Let him go before you kill him!" Lina interupted again. In truth, she'd thoroughly enjoyed watching Xellos' head handed to him. But enough was enough. Things were getting serious.

Zel turned back to Xellos, still tightly in his grasp. "If I ever, and I mean ever see you again, I will kill you."

"Oh yes," the preist said cheerily. "I understand perfectly, honest. But we're such good friends, why would we want to stop seeing each other?"

Zelgadiss was pushed over th edge with that one. In a cry of rage he swiped his blade down on Xellos' head. He cleaved the tree in half, but the Mazoku had teleported away, laughing merrily. Zel lowered his head, taking slow deep breaths.

Lina stared at the chimera. "Zel?" she asked quietly. The swordsman replied by raising his weapon and pointing it to Lina. His eyes were a blank stare. "Uh, Zel?" The ivory-clad form advanced slowly, his sword still pointed to his adversary. Lina gulped. After watching him beat Xellos like he did, she suddenly wasn't sure how she'd fare against him. She started a Ray Wing but Zel stopped. The chimera dropped his sword to the ground and took his place at the river bank as if nothing had happened.

"Please just go away," he whispered pleadingly.

Lina in reply sat down next to him, watching the river go by.

"Why do I bother asking?" he asked rhetorically.

"Because I actually am going to leave you alone."

"Yeah right," he said flatly.

"Oh shut up and listen alright. I want to say something first before I go. Can you deal with that?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Glad you see it my way." Lina picked up a rock and threw it into the river, watching the ripples grow. "Look, you've never actually turned your spell on me or the others. But today you fireball Gourry and Amelia and hand Xellos his head and almost turned that sword of yours on me. You've never been a person to talk but you obviously need to talk and soon. You've always been anti-social, but now you're getting downright destructive."

"It's good to know you have such a high opinion of me," Zel interjected dryly.

Lina resisted the urge to smack him. "What I am trying to say is that all this anger and mistrust and stuff that you've been leting build up is spilling over. You need some kinda release. Knowing you, you're not gonna talk tonight though."

"How perceptive."

"BUT I fully expect you to talk to me over breakfast tomorrow okay? Now take a good look, this is me leaving you alone like you wanted. Happy now?" Lina got up and walked up the bank, throwing her red hair over her shoulder.

Zel listened to her small foot steps. "Lina," he called after her. She paused, looking back to Zel. Zel opened his mouth, trying to say something, but closed it again and looked back to the water. Lina shrugged and walked away. After making absolutely sure she was out of earshot, he whispered, "Thank you for being the only one who cares." Zelgadiss picked up his sword and looked at the horrid reflection in the blade.

"Could it really be that easy?"

Lina yawned as she walked down the stairs to the dining area of the inn. Gourry and Amelia were already eating as Lina sat down. Lina had had a long night and slept later than she normally would have liked. She ordered her breakfast and started to fight Gourry for it. She did notice, however, that something was missing.

"Hey," she said between mouthfuls. She pushed Gourry away from a large danish. "Have either of you seen Zel?" Gourry grabed a piece of the danish and Lina punched him across the room. Amelia looked at Lina.

"Come to think of it," she said. "No. And I've been up since dawn fighting the evil that will always lose to just-owww" Amelia rubbed her head where Lina had smacked her.

"So you didn't see Zel?"

"No, Zelgadiss-san hasn't come down and I assume he'd rather be alone right now," Amelia replied. Lina sighed and finished fighting Gourry for her meal. She went to the innkeeper.

"Excuse me, sir," she said politely. "Do you know which room a friend of mine took last night?" The innkeeper thought for a moment.

"You shared the room with that other girl, and you blond companion was across the hall. I thought you knew that," he replied.

"Another friend was supposed to come last night. He should have been wearing ivory, had a long sword, maybe a hood and mask…" the innkeeper shook his head.

"I haven't seen anyone fitting that description. I'm sorry miss." Lina thanked him and went outside. Damn him! He must have gone off on his own again! It was so annoying when he did that. Why couldn't he just accept that they wanted to help him?

"Ray Wing!" she said, taking off. The crowd beneath her looked up in shock. She ignored them and flew to the river where she saw Zel last night. She landed on the dead tree and took in the surroundings. She didn't like what she saw. She hopped to the ground and picked up Zel's sword. It was broken. "ZEL!!" she called. She ran to the river edge in surprise. Face down in the water was Zel's limp form. Lina dove in and pulled him to shore. It was no easy task. He was heavy.

Once on shore, she looked him over. His heart was still beating, but he wasn't breathing. There were no signs of attack. Did he do this to himself?? she thought as she breathed air into his lungs. He finally took a labored breath and Lina sighed in relief. "Okay, Recovery!" Lina figured Zel would be out for a while anyway, so she, with great effort, pulled up up and carried him back to the inn, complaining every step of the way on how heavy he was.

Zel opened his eyes. Damn it. It didn't work, he thought. He looked over and saw Lina getting a cold cloth ready for him. She was about to put it on his forehead when he slapped her as hard as he could across her face. She held her cheek in shock. Gourry and Amelia must have just come in.

"Hey Zel!" Gourry protested. "If you do that again, as Lina's bodyguard, I'm going to have to stop you!" Zelgadiss's anger rose

"DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND??" he shouted. "The cures that don't work, the stares, the jibes, I'm just a freak! I am so tired of it all! I'd be better off not living!

"If you're tired why don't you take a nap?" Gourry replied. Amelia facefaulted. Zelgadiss merely sweatdroped and tried to keep his temper in check.

"Gourry-san!" Amelia yelled. "Don't you see? Zelgadiss-san must be possessed by a Mazoku! There is no other reason why he would try seppuku." She looked at him. "Never fear Zelgadiss-san!" She stood up on a chair. "With a heart filled with love and justice, you shall prevail over this demon!"

"Don't you get it Amelia?!" Zelgadiss shouted. "How can I have a heart filled with 'love and justice' if I don't have a heart at all!" he said mockingly. He grabbed his cloak and jumped out the window.

"Gourry-san, how could you let this happen?"

"Me? What'd I do?"

"You should have helped me purge Zelgadiss-san of that demon!"

"What?" Gourry and Amelia started a scream fest. Lina didn't pay any attention to them. She looked in shock a little while longer at the broken window.

Zel sighed as he walked through the forest alone. The trail he'd been following was old, almost swallowed up by the foliage. He'd long since given up trying to figure out where he was. He was so heck-bent on getting out of there he didn't even think of where he was going for several minutes into the run, which translated as several miles traveled.

He paused to rest, leaning against a tree. The recovery spell was still in his system, and it didn't take him long before he was walking again. Zel wasn't really sure what to do next. It had only been his first attempt, surely others would work. That is, unless this form was even more of a curse than he thought. For the moment, he didn't want to try anything. He also knew that he should keep moving. Knowing Lina, she was already on his trail, desperate to catch up with him so she could return the slap he'd given her. He was surprised Lina didn't react the second she was hit, that was unlike her. She was always the type to demolish first, question later.

Zel's thoughts were interupted as the trail started to loosen up, showing signs of a town. Zelgadiss sighed, pulling up his hood and mask as he entered the outskirts. The last thing he needed right now were people fleeing in terror. That would happen soon enough. The swordsman walked through the relatively large village, quickly blending in with the people. He wandered around for a few hours, getting a feel for things before he quietly walked into a restaurant. He sat down silently in a dark corner and called a waiter over. After ordering he pulled down his mask and buried his face in his hands, letting his thoughts take over again.

Where was he? Oh yeah, demolish first question later. That had always been Lina's motto, but when he'd slapped her she didn't do anything. No reaction whatsoever. Zel wondered what that meant. Probably nothing good. The food arrived and Zel ate slowly. Why did she do it in the first place? Heroism wasn't something that fit Lina very well, and he always questioned when she did something like that. Normally, there was an excuse, like say, Shabernigdo would kill her as well as everyone else. But this?

"Why don't you sit down Lina, you're not hiding very well," Zel called as his sixth sense kicked in. Lina walked up and looked around.

"Not a bad place Zel," she said as she sat down. "I'd come here to if I had problems. Hey waiter! I'll have triple-no, quadruple whatever he's having!" The waitor facefaulted, wondering who was picking up the tab before he went to the kitchen.

"Ask it."

"Ask what?"

"It's been hovering over the table all lunch. Ask it."

Zel sighed, knowing she was right. He wanted to know.

"Why did you save me in the river? You had nothing to gain from doing so."

Lina almost landed in her food. "Do you honestly think that I'd only save someone if there was a profit in it??"

Zel stared at her.

Lina sweatdroped "Okay, so maybe I would. But it's different with you."

"Alright. In what way?"

It was a simple enough question. But the answer was a little difficult, Lina realized as she opened her mouth several times, ready to give it to him, but paused. Now that she thought about it, considered that he'd only just last night commited both sepuku and drowning, she would have to word this carefully. Very carefully in fact.

Jeporday music ensued at a lethally slow pace as Lina tried to figure out how to answer Zel's question. She was glad she wasn't Gourry, cause if she was, the two of them'd be here for the next few decades. Lina, however, was a faster thinker.

It only took two hours.

Zelgadiss meanwhile waited patiently, debating on wether or not the wait was a good thing. It could mean that she was trying to be considerate of his feelings and wording it carefully. Knowing how Lina thinked, however, made the theory unlikely. More probable was the fact that she couldn't come up with anything and thinking up a few excuses to cover herself. He'd seen her do it before, though she normally didn't take nearly as long.

Lina finally opened her mouth. "First of all, I wouldn't just save someone for money." A blaten lie. Lina was off to a bad start. "Second off, there are plenty of reasons as to why I'd save you. You're one heck of a swordsman, your socery skills are second only to me, you fight like a demon, you're a great teamate and a valuable friend. You're probably one of the few people on this continent with a good head on your shoulders, not to mention you're knowledge of history and your ability to be a quickstudy. Not to mention the fact that you're probably the only rational person I can talk to, so…" Lina's voice trialed off, leaving her thought unfinished. "Anyway, that's why I saved you. So there."

Zel rolled his eyes. So he was useful to her. That was all. But the way her voice trailed off… He pushed the thoughts aside, knowing they wouldn't be true. He sighed and finally conceded defeat. "Fine, you win. I'm useful enough that you'd save me. I'll buy that."

"Then would you buy this?"

Both parties at the dinner table looked up in surpise. Zel didn't recognize the face but Lina sure did.

"Nee-chan?? Luna what the hell're you doing here??" Lina's skin began to crawl as she wondered how long her sister had been there. Oh this was great. How could things possibly get worse.

"Zelgadiss-san, there's no need for the mask. Or the hood for the matter. Would you please take them off?" Lina sweatdropped as Zel stared at new arrival. Was she crazy? If he took off his mask then the entire tavern would leave!

Luna seemed to know what he was thinking because she replied, "You needn't be worried about them. This is a secluded corner remember? No one can see you. Now would one of you offer me a seat? I've been running after you all day."

Lina's chair broke as she fell to the floor. Nee-chan'd been following her?? And she didn't know?! Luna helped herself as she took a seat between her sister and the chimera. Lina quickly found another chair as she tried not to look as freaked out as she felt. Zel reluctanly pulled down his hood and mask, praying to the gods that no one would see him.

"So, what brings you here?" Lina asked in a failed atempt to sound cheerful.

"Well, it doesn't have to do with you, so you can take a deep breath now." Lina heaved a sigh of releief and then realized she did what Luna wanted her to. Cursing, she buried herself in her meal, hoping nothing else would go wrong. Luna turned to the swordsman. "I actually came here to help you."

"Me? Why?" Zel asked skeptically. "Lina wouldn't want to be within a hemisphere of you and even if she did, I'm sure the stories she tells of me aren't very fairy tale like."

Lina's new chair broke and she crashed on the floor again. "And just what to you mean by that??????" she growled, ready to throw a fireball.

"Lina," Luna said.

Lina quickly sat down in a third chair and lowered her head. "Yes Nee-chan," she said quietly. Zel raised a stony eyebrow. What magic did she have over Lina to make her do that?

Luna smiled and looked back to Zel. "As I was saying. Your search is a very interesting story." Zel wasn't sure how to take that. "And I wanted to help you. So I want to give you this." Luna produced a small rolled up scroll. Zelgadiss took it and unwrapped it, skimming it's contents quickly.

"What?" Zel cried out as he read a certain passage. He stood up in haste and Lina looked up, wondering what he'd read. The chimera grabbed Luna and pulled her up out of her chair. That wasn't a good idea, knowing Luna.

"Where'd you get this?" he said threateningly.

"Would you believe me if I said I found it?"

"I wouldn't," chimed Lina.

"Why should I believe you?" Zelgadiss said.

"Because if this doesn't work, you may continue with your origninal plan." Luna said slyly.

"Plan? What plan?" Lina demanded.

"Sepuku of course." Luna replied.

"You mean that wasn't some accident and you really WERE trying to kill yourself????" Lina yelled.

Zel let go of Lina's sister and stared at the two of them. They actually looked a lot a like. They even acted similarly on certain counts. Was it possible to trust her?

Zel gave in. "Fine. I'll try it out. But if it doesn't work, forget it."

"Good. We have a deal. However, before we go, we HAVE to visit this hot spring near here."

Lina and Luna walked together as Zel trailed ahead, anxious to get wherever it was they were going. Lina kept glancing at her sister, wondering why she was doing this. Or why Lina had to suffer through this, for that matter. Luna caught one of the glances and Lina quickly looked forward, focusing instead on Zelgadiss.

"He's very handsome, isn't he?" Luna said quietly, also looking at the ivory clad man.

"You think so too?" Lina asked. Then she realized what she said and turned bright red. She coughed and looked away, adding. "Sure, but you try and tell him that!"

"Tell me what?" asked Zelgadiss as he slowed, letting the sisters catch up. Lina sweatdropped and stuttered. Luna came to the rescue.

"We were just wondering what had happened to Gourry and Amelia. They haven't shown up for a while."

"They're probably still at the inn, yelling at each other like an old married couple."

"Jerk!"

"Idiot!"

"Obsessive!"

"Stupid!"

"Anal retentive!"

"You know a phrase like that?! I mean, dunce!" Amelia sighed. "Lina-san, what do you think? Huh?!" Both Gourry and Amelia stared at the cardboard cutout of Lina on the chair. The two looked at each other, question marks sprouting form their heads.

"This is all your fault!!" they said simultaneously.

Lina sighed contentedly as she leaned back. The hot spring was perfect for getting all the kinks out of her system. Of course she wouldn't have these kinks if Luna hadn't shown up. Why did Nee-chan have to be here? Lina could see no good reason for it. Just helping Zel wasn't enough. Luna wanted something to happen, but what was it? Some giggles brought Lina out of her thoughts as she looked over to a small group of old ladies making like a henhouse. Lina sighed. Apparently this hot spring was in a busy season. Everyone seemed to be here. The door opened and Luna came in. Lina sweatdropped. Of course her sister had to have a bigger chest size than her, and now everyone could see it. Why me?

Luna came over and sat next to Lina. All the people in the spring continued to chit chat. "Don't be so jealous," she said. "It doesn't become you." Lina facefaulted into the water and came up quickly.

"PLEASE don't do that in public, Nee-chan!" she half whispered half shouted. Luna simply smiled. Lina sighed and looked up to the sky. The stars were starting shining as the sun set in the horizan. It was very beautiful. Lina felt the tension seap out of her body and into the water. She didn't realize just how much she needed this. She looked over at Luna and saw she was chanting a spell.

"Nee-chan, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Everyone here is now oblivious to us."

"Why? What good'll that do?"

"It'll allow us to take a peak into the men's bath."

"WHAT??" Lina sweatdropped and resisted as much as she could as Luna pulled her up to the wall and forced her head over to see the other side. "Luna!"

"Lina, look," she said. She pointed to the pool. There were several young men and older men there. All chatting and relaxing. Silence soon spread through them, as the sliding door opened. All of the men starred at the new comer as he, with head down, entered the spring and went to a lonely corner. One by one, all the men there left, leaving the newcomer all by himself.

"That happens to him everywhere he goes," Luna explained. Lina stared at him. No wonder he was so lonely. No wonder he didn't trust anyone. No wonder for a lot of things.

"Poor Zelgadiss," she whispered.

"Lina, are you still staring?" Lina slid and fell onto the ground.

"Nee-chan!!"

That morning Zel was staring at the small leaf of paper handed to him be Luna. The cure was possible, but he still wasn't sure whether or not to trust Luna. And this could be for someone else entirely.

The door opened and Lina waltzed in. The chimera quickly stuffed the paper in his pocket. Unfortunately, it didn't go unoticed.

"Was that the paper my sister gave you?" Reluctantly, Zel nodded. "Can I see it?"

"No," he said sternly.

Lina sat on the bed next to him. "Aw, come one, let me see it! Please?"

"No."

"Aw, Zelgadiss, don't be so stubborn!" Lina reached for Zel's pocket. Zel in turn grabbed her hand and pushed it away, only to grab Lina's other hand and do the same. The two soon were in a wrestling match on the bed; Lina trying to get the srcoll, Zel trying to push her away.

Of course this was the time Luna decided to come in. "It's time we got go--" Luna stared at the sweatdropping Lina and Zel, frozen in their tangle position on the sheets. Stray hairs started to pop out of their heads as the two turned bright red.

"Never mind," Luna said with a smile. "I'll wait downstairs."

"WAIT!" shouted Lina, running after her sister. "It isn't what it looks like!!!"
Time well spent, ne? Come see the rest of it.