Part Three Mixed Emotions

The following day, Gourry went into Zel's room to resume watch. Lina got up, stretching. "Hey Gourry."

"Hey Lina," he said. "Why don't you use a healing spell on him?" Lina was suddenly on the floor.

"Don't you remember what we told you yesterday??"

"No, what happened yesterday?" Lina sweatdropped and counted to ten.

"Okay, jellyfish, 1.) Physically, Zel is in the best health he's ever been in. 2.) Recovery uses both the caster's energy and the victim's energy. Currently, Zel has almost none. The only other spell that would work is a Resurrection, but no one knows that spell." Lina was about to continue when Gourry cut in.

"Sylphiel knows that Resurrection spell," he said cheerfully. Lina once more ended up on the floor.

Zelgadiss ran He didn't know where he was, or how he got there, but he ran as fast as he could. Following him was Rezo, Copy Rezo, and the new Program Rezo that had taken residence in his mind. They wanted him to be a chimera. Below them were several chimeric forms that he supposedly could choose from. One looked human, but had long ears along with the blue rocky skin the all had. One had large stones in its back. Another had wings and weird hands. The last was the most monstrous one with wings a snout and a tail. He ran.

Suddenly, his running was forcibly stopped when he ran into Kotowa. Kotowa reached for him. Turning, he ran again, wishing they would leave him alone. Up ahead, he saw a light. He headed for it, only to find that the light was Lina. She kissed him.

>Zelgadiss,< Program Rezo said. >It's time for you to wake up.<

Screaming, Zel snapped his eyes open wide. To one side was Gourry, holding him down by almost sitting on him. To the other side, was Lina, who was red-faced and looking down at his hand that had been grabbing her chest. Turning crimson, Zel brought his hand back.

"I'd Fireball you if you weren't so weak!" she shouted.

Taking a few deep breaths, Zel sat up, leaning against the backboard of his bed. Looking around, he could see that they were in a tiny room, no larger than 6 X 10 feet. Except for the bed and a chair by his side, there was no other furniture. Taking one more breath, Zelgadiss sighed.

"How long have I been out?" he asked.

"Three days. And it looks like you were having one hell of a dream the way you were screaming," Lina answered.

"Gourry," Zel said. "could you please get me a cup of tea?"

"Sure thing! Fillia should be making a batch right now!" He left, closing the door behind him. Zel turned to Lina.

"Lina, we need to talk," he said seriously.

"About what?" she asked cheerfully.

"About the kiss," he said, feeling crimson returning to his cheeks.

Lina looked down. "So you remember that." The door suddenly burst open as Amelia ran in and jumped onto Zel's bed hugging him tightly. He screamed in pain. Amelia pulled away.

"What's wrong Zelgadiss-san? You're not hurt, so why are you in pain?" Zel rubbed his soar shoulders.

"When Rezo and I attacked Kotowa, I was still linked to him. Though Rezo was in control and couldn't feel a damn thing, I felt everything he did to Kotowa. Physically I may be fine, but mentally I'm still reeling." He shuddered. "I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."

"You called?" Xellos said as he came into the room. "Ahh, I see your finally awake."

"Xellos, don't you dare leave me when I'm talking to you!" Fillia said coming in. She started to yell at him. Shortly thereafter, Gourry came in with Zel's tea, striking up a conversation with Amelia.

"Hey guys!" Lina said trying to get their attention. She tried to talk about how they better leave town that day, but with six people in a very small room, it was hard to hear anything. Zel sighed. It looked like he had to do something.

"QUIET!!!" he shouted as loud as he could. Everyone went silent and looked over to him. "Look, I need rest, we'll leave in the morning, but for now get out of here." Taking his usual harshness in stride, everyone started to leave. Zel grabbed Lina's hand before she got to far. "Not you. You and I were in the middle of a conversation." Lina blushed slightly. "Why did you…you…kiss…" he left it hanging.

Lowering her head, Lina answered. "Um, well when we fought before, I saw your eyes."

"My eyes?"

"Yeah. Even with your stone mask that you put on everyday, your eyes tell all. They were sad that you were fighting us." Lina paused.

"Continue, please."

"Well, I thought that maybe by getting to you through your emotions, we might be able to get you back. It looked like that was the key anyway. So I asked Amelia to try it."

"Why Amelia?"

"Because she's always liked you, and you seemed to like her to." Zel kept his thoughts of the matter to himself. "Well, she didn't do so well, so I tried…."

Both remained silent for a while. Zelgadiss thought that Lina felt guilty because of her feelings for Gourry. Lina thought that Zelgadiss only wanted Amelia to kiss him.

"I'd better go," Lina said. She regained her cheerful demeanor. "See ya tomorrow Zel!"

Lina and everyone followed Zelgadiss through a forest. Earlier that morning, Zel had told them that while linked to Kotowa, he learned how to feel Drrael's presence. He could guide them in the general direction. They walked in silence, somehow knowing that Kotowa could show up at any minute.

Lina looked around, on edge. Something didn't feel right. Deep down, she felt like something was containing them, caging something inside of her. They came across an open field and continued on. After another hour of walking, they came across a deep ravine. Lina grabbed a rock and dropped it. They never did hear it land. She cast a Levitation spell.

"So everyone," she said happily, "shall we go?"

"You're not going anywhere but down, young lady," someone said. Spinning around, she saw Kotowa floating above them.

"You are going down," she said.

"You think that you, a mere human, can do that?"

"I just happen to be a human who can cast any black magic spell there is!"

"Oh, I don't think you're going to do very well if that's all you can do."

"What?" Lina was getting mad. She flew up to him, planning to give him a Dragu Slave at close range.

"Oh, dear, I'm so scared," he said sarcastically. "Wall." Lina felt that caging feeling again. She slowed down, though not by her own will. Her magic was leaving her, but that was the least of her problems. Her head hit something hard, despite the fact that nothing was there. Without any magic, she couldn't do anything but fall. Looking down, she realized that she was above the ravine.

"Oh, hell."

"Lina!!" Gourry and Zel yelled. Zel suddenly understood the contained feeling he was having. They were in some sort of magic nullification zone that Kotowa had set up. Complete with a wall all around it. As long as they were inside, magic was not an option. All these thoughts were on the back burner, though as Zel was driven forward by instinct. Both he and Gourry were running to the ravine, but when they got there, Gourry stopped. Zel didn't.

Falling, he realized that he couldn't do anything to help Lina. All he was doing was killing himself along with her.

>You can save yourself,< Program Rezo said.

Go to hell, Zel retorted. There has to be some way to save her. Zel started to sort through his options. Program Rezo, meanwhile made it hard for him to concentrate.

>Why do you want to save that little runt? She killed me twice! Me! Your own ancestor. I was created to protect all of Rezo's interests, including you. This self-sacrifice will do nothing, so why continue?<

Just shut the hell up. You're a program installed by Rezo to control me. I won't have it. I will do as I wish, and if that means saving my…friend, then I will!

>You feel that way about her??< Zel mentally blushed. >Are you sure you feel that way about someone who killed me?<

I don't know what you're talking about.

>Denial. You're in deep. Well, I guess I'll swallow my revenge. We're running out of time. If you hurry you can save her.<

How??

>Change Phases.<

But, I'm a monster already, how can becoming more hideous save her?

>Because you upper phases have wings.< Zel understood. Wings didn't require magic to fly, but didn't he need magic to change phases? What sort of consequences were there if he were to end up stuck in a phase?

>Do you want answers or to save that little…excuse me. Do you want answers or do you want to save Lina?<

… How do I change? Zelgadiss was suddenly drowned in information about the three phases he had changed into the last few days. Along with these statistics about them, came the knowledge of what to do. He looked at the approaching bottom of the ravine, with Lina not that far ahead of him.

"Zelgadiss," he said. "Rezo program: Change. Phase III." Zel tried very hard not to scream, but his body was stretching in ways it wasn't meant to. As the pain subsided, he realized that he had his wings once more. Some sort of inborn knowledge about flight guided him as he proceeded with a controlled dive to catch Lina. With her finally in his arms, he started the very long flight back to the top of the ravine. What made it harder was that this low in the ravine, there were no air currents to help him. All he could do was flap in a steady rhythm until he could get wind.

Lina stirred in his arms. Zel automatically turned his head.

"Zel? Oh no, Kotowa got you again?" Zelgadiss turned to protest only to find his senses starting to explode again. This time, however, he kept a tighter rein on it, not wanting Program Rezo to take over again.

>If you feel that way, why don't you oblige her?< Rezo said. Zelgadiss didn't reply as he clenched his teeth shut. Program Rezo was trying to put his tongue into Lina's mouth. Zel felt his cheeks turn crimson.

With great effort, he pulled his face away from Lina's.

"That wasn't necessary," he said quietly. "I'm in full control."

"But, then how?" Lina looked him over. Feeling self-conscious, Zelgadiss answered.

"More or less, when Kotowa controlled me, forcing me into these 'phases' I learned how to do it. Seeing how there was a magic barrier around us at the moment, I felt I didn't have much choice."

Lina let the information sink in. Apparently Zelgadiss would be able to go to these phases whenever he desired. But if his reaction of turning away was any indication, he never wanted to do it again unless it was a last resort. That was a shame considering what Lina saw him do in these phases. If she ever had to go against a piece of Shabranigdo again, Zel would most definitely be useful. She pulled her thoughts to the moment at hand. Looking up, she whistled.

"That's going to be a long climb up," she understated.

"Who said anything about climbing?" Zel replied, his wings still bringing them up steadily.

"Okay then, that's going to be a long flight up!" she retorted. Allowing herself a moment's joy, she snuggled up against Zel's chest. "And if it's going to be so long, I might as well get comfortable." She could almost hear Zel blush. She loved teasing him like this. But his voice betrayed no emotions.

"I have stone skin and wire hair. How can you get comfortable?" She looked up to him.

"Your skin has the consistency of stone. It is not stone. So, just like any other human, you emit body heat. Plus, if you were stone, you wouldn't be able to move, so your skin may be consistent with stone in texture and the like, but you are soft!" she explained, poking his face. Zel's ears perked up.

"They're fighting up top. We'd better hurry." Lina inwardly sighed. Zel could be a real master of changing topics. She just snuggled up to him again, letting the steady beat of his wings relax her for the battle ahead.

Xellos hated being human. No, he despised being human. As a human, he was no where near as fast or as strong as he was when he was a Mazoku. Currently, there were hordes of Lesser Demons attacking them, and all he could do was use his staff as a club. If only he had his true form, then he'd be able to take all these mindless beasts out in one shot. But no, Drrael had forced him to become human, making him totally inadequate. He couldn't even use any spells either! The only human magic that he could use were spells that normally required magical talismans. He couldn't cast a Blast Bomb when he was a Mazoku, much less now that he was human. Though centuries ago, he had learned healing magic just in case, he never learned anything else, making him utterly useless to the team. It was so aggravating.

Batting another demon, Xellos turned to see that Fillia was about to be clobbered. He took off running and dove on top of her. She turned to him with her face going pink.

"Xellos?"

"Later Fillia-san," he replied smiling. "We still have work to do. If, after all this is over, you want me to continue with this, let me know."

"NAMAGOMI!!!" she shouted, going crimson. Xellos evaded her mace and batted another demon. Looking around he saw Gourry slicing and dicing any demon that got close to him. Xellos thanked whoever was watching over them for the fact that Gourry's sword was unaffected by this magical barrier. Amelia seemed to be doing well also. She had a microphone out and was preaching about justice.

"Only a heart filled with love and justice and love of justice can prevail against such evil and hideous monsters. Only a heart that is pure can cope with defeating you creatures of darkness and death. Only…" and she continued. All the demons around her were going to sleep. Even having listened to only that small slice of her justice speech, Xellos felt himself tire. Something struck him as wrong. He turned, seeing a rather large Lesser Demon getting ready to hit him. Suddenly, Fillia knocked him aside, taking the strong hit.

"No!" Xellos shouted. He didn't get the chance to take his revenge, however, as a loud roar silenced the crowd. Everyone turned to the ravine to see Zelgadiss, in one of his phases, gently land on the ground, letting a surprised Lina down.

"So you all claim to be demons!" Zel shouted. His face went positively evil. It was times like this Xellos wondered if Zel was more than only 1/3 Mazoku. "Let's see how you fools do against a real demon."

"This should be interesting," Kotowa said from his place on a nearby rock. He looked over the Lesser Demons, pointing to one. "You there, you're the strongest. Fight him." The demon looked nervously at Kotowa and went into the growing circle around Zelgadiss. Xellos praised the gods for this perfect distraction. He looked down at Fillia, gently pushing a few stay strands from her face.

"Excuse me, Fillia-san," he whispered to her unconscious form. "I have to borrow your mace for a while. Gourry is right here if you need anything." Heaving Fillia's mace, Xellos once more cursed this human form. This mace was heavy. He slowly creeped around the demons, all of whose eyes were transfixed on Zelgadiss easily evading every attack made by their champion. Xellos was finally where he wanted to be. He made brief eye contact with Zel. He seemed to understand. Zel turned to the demon.

"Awww, you don't like my wings?" Zel said. The demon nodded. "Do you want me to remove them for you?" It nodded again. Xellos was amazed at how dumb those demons were. "Very well." Xellos looked at Zel in shock. "Phase II!" Zelgadiss was obviously trying not to scream, but it didn't matter. The demon looked at him in shock. "Is this better?" The demon nodded. The fight continued, only instead of Zel merely dodging, he attacked. The demon was done for in no time. To everyone's surprise, Kotowa applauded.

"Very well done, Zelgadiss," he said. "I'm curious. Just how did you get control over Rezo's programming?"

Zelgadiss smiled, winked, brought one finger in the air and said, "Sore wa himitsu desu." Xellos took that as his cue and brought Fillia's mace down as hard as he could, nailing Kotowa.

Xellos knew that Kotowa was not a good Mazoku. Despite his power up from Drrael, he would always be second rate. Kotowa knew nothing on how to control the energy given to him. Xellos counted on that as, once flattened to the ground, the magical barrier shattered without Kotowa's concentration. Xellos dropped Fillia's mace and slammed his staff onto the ground, teleporting. Once by Fillia's side again, he started to cast a Recovery spell on her.

Zelgadiss made short work of the demons. "This round goes to you," Kotowa said. He glared as Xellos. "I see you still have your trickster crap even in a human's body." He looked at Zel. "And you should have stayed with me." And then Kotowa was gone.

Xellos, along with everyone else, looked at Zelgadiss, waiting for an explanation. He reverted to his original chimera form, but was not forthcoming. "So Zelgadiss," Xellos said in his usual cheerful tone. "How exactly did you get into these phases, hmm?"

"When Kotowa controlled me, he showed me how," he replied.

"But how did you do it? Last time, it appeared you had a lot of trouble controlling yourself."

"None of your business," he replied coldly. Turning on his heel, he started walking.

Zelgadiss was sound asleep, but Program Rezo was feeling mischievous. Now that he knew how his, make that Rezo's, descendant felt about redheads, he wanted to have some fun. Though he knew that Rezo would never approve of this, Program Rezo decided that if the family blood line was to continue, he was going to have to do something about Zel's shyness. Since Program Rezo existed only in Zel's mind, however, it posed some problems as to how to put the two together. He was certain that Lina felt the same way when she did that snuggling back in the ravine, but how to get her to open up was also difficult to do since she didn't even know of his existence. Still, Rezo had programmed him well, and he soon knew what to do.

First and foremost was the fact that Zel was sleeping off the strain of his phase shifts. He needed that rest desperately, so Program Rezo sealed Zelgadiss off into a corner of his mind, leaving him in complete control. He quickly accessed Zel's memory and found that Lina was sleeping in the room adjoins his own. >Perfect.< Very slowly, without Zel's knowledge, Program Rezo implemented the phase shifts. He understood that he could only go with the phases Zel had already be using, or else no matter how slow it went, he would scream in agony. Program Rezo did not want everyone to wake up, just Lina. With Zelgadiss starting to shift, he grunted and groaned. Even going this slowly, it was still going to be painful.

Program Rezo listened intently with Zel's ears. Lina was still sound asleep next door, so he sped up the shifts a notch, making the grunts a little louder. His objective was reached. He heard Lina wake up and get out of bed. Within a few minutes, she was knocking on Zel's door.

"Hey Zel," she said. "Are you okay?"

>Perfectly fine,< Program Rezo replied silently. >He's sound asleep, deep in his mind.< Lina called to him again. With no response other than a grunt, she came in. Program Rezo heard her gasp, and he slowed the phase shifting down a bit.

"Hey, Zelgadiss," Lina said. "Wake up." She walked over to him and Program Rezo slowed the shifting again, starting the reverting process. "Are you in control? Do you know that this is happening?" Program Rezo was tempted to use Zelgadiss' vocal cords, but decided against it. Lina sat down by him, and Rezo brought the reverting process almost to completion. "You're slowing down? Good, then you'll be back to normal." She got up to leave, and Program Rezo cursed, speed up to shifting and allowing Zel to give a loud grunt. Lina turned back to him, walking back. Program Rezo reverted again. "Good, for a second I was worried." She started to leave again, and Program Rezo repeated to process again. After a few times of it, Lina finally caught on to the idea he wanted her to believe. "So you're only normal when I'm around aren't you?" She yawned and lay down next to Zel, hugging him. "I guess I can stay this way a few minutes…" but she fell asleep quickly. Program Rezo mentally grinned. With his plan completed, he settled down, releasing his seal on Zelgadiss, and waited for morning.

Xellos was worried. When he had woken up this morning, he had gone to sneak up on Lina to get a reaction, like he often did. Granted he wouldn't be able to feed off of her anger this time, old habits die hard. Much to his surprise, however was the fact that Lina wasn't there. Amelia and Fillia had gone out to look for her and Gourry was still asleep. After all, Shabrinigdo could come in blasting and Gourry would still be asleep. That had all happened over an hour ago. No one had disturbed Zelgadiss because the all knew he need rest after all these phase changes. However, it was time that they used Zel's advanced scenes. No sign of Lina had been found, and they needed to bring out the big guns.

Knocking on the door, Xellos said, "Zelgadiss?" No answer came back. "Zelgadiss, Lina is missing." Still no answer. "Zelgadiss I'm coming in, so be gentle." No Fireball blasted the door, so Xellos opened the door. His eyes grew wide. Snuggled under the sheets was Zel, sound asleep, and by his side on the sheets was Lina holding him in an embrace. "Oh my," Xellos said.

Zel's eyes fluttered open and he got up. Yawning, he stretched and saw Xellos. "What are you doing here, Fruitcake??" he demanded. Xellos, by now, had he calm exterior again. Smiling, he pointed to Lina.

"It appears I cam at an inconvenient time," he said cheerfully. "I never knew you had it in you, Zel-kun."

"What are you talking…" Zel looked down. "L-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-lina????" Lina rubbed her eyes.

"Did I fall asleep," she muttered. Sitting up, she saw Xellos, and Zel who was turning red. Lina quickly turned crimson as well as she realized how this must have looked. She nailed Zelgadiss on the head.

"Baka, why did you tell us you couldn't control those phase shifts?!" she yelled. Xellos leaned on his staff and listened.

"What are you talking about? What are you doing in my room?"

"You were the one grunting and groaning like an animal last night!"

"When did this happen?"

"You don't know??"

"No I don't!"

"I came in here last night to find you somewhere between phases and in pain!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Show some gratitude! I was trying to help you last night!"

"An interesting form of aide," Xellos commented.

"SHUT UP!!" they both said in unison. Silence fell in the room. Xellos kept his half shut eyes on Zelgadiss as he slowly started to blush. Lina seemed to notice as well.

"What's eating you, Zel?" she asked. He said noting and continued to blush.

Xellos was about to make one of his usual remarks when Zel suddenly shouted, "Rezo, shut up!!"

Rezo??

Zelgadiss cursed himself for yelling out loud and not in his head. Program Rezo had been making commentary that he'd rather not have heard, and he would not be quiet when Zel told him to, surprise, surprise.

>This is an interesting situation,< Program Rezo said smugly. >So how do you explain this to them, hmmm? You haven't told them of my existence, so are you going to lie, or sidestep the question?<

Damn you.

>Damn me, and you damn yourself. Like it or not, I am a part of you.<

Just back off. Zel sighed. There was no avoiding it now.

"I thought I banished Rezo when he possessed you," Xellos said.

Zelgadiss took a deep breath. "There was nothing to banish. All you did was temporarily put him to sleep. It's a program designed by Rezo to think and act like Rezo. Apparently Rezo had some unique personality quirks that he put into this Program Rezo."

"Amazing," Lina whispered. "I never knew that he even existed."

"Neither did I," Zel replied, looking at his hands. "He was activated when Kotowa made me first change phases. He's convinced that he has to do what Rezo intended. Part of it is to make his bloodline continues. Unfortunately, I'm the only one left in that bloodline."

"Zelgadiss, may I talk to Program Rezo?" Xellos asked.

"He's not the type you want to strike up a conversation with."

"I really think I should talk with him."

>Let him. I have a few things to say.<

No comments to Lina?

>No comments to Lina.<

Alright. Out loud, Zel said, "It's your funeral." Zelgadiss let his persona slip into a corner of his mind as Program Rezo took control.

">So, what would you like to know?<" Rezo said with Zel's voice.

"I may not be an expert in chimera's and programming," Xellos started.

">Obviously.<"

"But what type of program are you? I've never come across one like you."

">Xellos, you mean to tell me, in all your 2000 years of living, you haven't met someone like me?<" Xellos and Lina sweatdropped while Zel did so mentally.

"And how did you know my true age?"

">I was programmed by Rezo, the Red Priest. Though his first concern was magic, he had a passion for books. When he created me, he gave me all his knowledge, including the ability to speculate. Though books never gave you name, nor age, your methods are still the same and you'll be been mentioned in books that are a couple thousand years old, thus it is only logical to assume your age to be about the same.<"

"And. What. Is. Your. Purpose?" Xellos asked slowly.

">You know, Xellos, my descendant seems to have wondering eyes. Have you noticed?<" Rezo turned Zel's head to look over to Lina. Zelgadiss went hot with anger.

You said no comments to Lina!!

>And I didn't say a thing to her. I was merely conversing with Xellos.<

Damn you…

>Damn me,<

I know I know. Damn you and I damn myself.

Lina, meanwhile, had a Fireball ready.

">Are you sure? This IS Zelgadiss after all. And I think I better be going now. Sayonara!<" Lina let the Fireball dissipate.

"I warned you," Zel said.

"Hmmph," Lina snorted. "I'm hungry. Let's get something to eat and get the others. They should probably know about this."
Go to Part Four-Isn't Sirus A-maze-ing?