Chapters 1-3

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All Slayers characters belong to the guy who made them up. I don't know his name. In short, I didn't make them up. Don't sue

Chapter One: Innocence

Zelgadis sat at the mahogany work table that was in his room at the inn in the middle of nowhere. Not that he was thinking about that. He sat at that table, the room lit by one candle. Not that he really needed it.

It never occurred to him, before that night, how much he was like...him. The Mighty Red Sage. The Blind Rezo. Who fought and worked all his life for a chance to see the world he had been born into. When he finally succeeded, he was beyond sanity and died within a few seconds.

And it was happening to him. Just like that. Hell, maybe Ruby Eye was in him also, waiting. Just waiting. He was also going mad by this short coming.

"It hurts," he whispered to no one, "if I get it, I know I still wouldn't be happy. It won't be any different."

So, that was why he was writing a note to his friends. A suicide note. It was only polite. It wasn't their fault his life sucked. It wasn't even Rezo's fault. It was all him, in the end.

"To whom it may concern,

After many sleepless nights, I have now realised that I have nothing to gain or lose if I continue wandering this mortal coil. I wish for sleep. I wish for rest. So, leaving this place that we call 'Life', will grant my wishes. To sleep and to dream. I'm not dying, I'm going to bed after a long and tiring day. Do not weep, for I'm only sleeping. I will finally rest.

I thank you for your kindness and easing my long day but you can only do so much for me.

He looked at his note. He sighed and realised that he had said enough. He rose and slipped the note under his friends' door. He smiled.

"Good night," he said to the door, "Sweet dreams." He went to his room and sat down on the chair in front of the desk. He took out the poison and smiled. It would be painless. Maybe a jolt but nothing more. But it would kill... wait, let him sleep at last. He raised the bottle to his lips...

"Now, that isn't the way to do it," a woman's voice said.

He whipped around. The voice belonged to... his mother. She had been dead for 15 years. After 3 years of sickness.

When he was nine years old. She appeared as she did when she had been living but not ill. She wore a small smile.

"Well, what is the way to do it?" Zel asked her.

"You should die with peace, not angst."

"There's nothing left."

"Mother," he sighed, "you've been dead too long. Life is hard. Death is easy."

"I remember Life. I remember grief and pain. But I also remember happiness and a little boy, whom no one could understand, laughing at a bird. What happened to that little boy?"

"He grew up, Mother, he grew up."

"But you are still that little boy, Zel, you are still..."

"I am a MAN!" Zel screamed, "A grown man, who is tired and sad and lonely. I am a grown man who is stuck with the body of seventeen year old boy, sculpted by stone. By the man whom he trusted and loved. By the man who didn't even save his own daughter-in-law when she had been ill for three years," he sighed, "I am a man just like him."

"Oh, dear. No one said you had to die like him."

"Death will come. Why fight?"

"Good question. But, what if I could make the pain go away?"

A bitter laugh, "Heh, I'm doing that already."

"No, I'll take the pain but not your life."

He guffawed, "That's impossible. I must be crazy. I'm arguing with a dead woman! You're in my head!"

"You know that's a lie. You could always see me. You have a gift." She looked at him with determination, "I won't waste that."

He threw up his hands, "Fine, fine, what the hell. I got nothing better to do!"

"Hey, Miss Lina, wake up," Amelia whispered, shaking her red-headed friend.

"Wha... Amelia?! What do you want?" Lina grumbled.

"I heard Mister Zelgadis screaming."

"So, he's having the Rezo dream again. Let me sleep."

"I don't think so, let's go check on him."

Lina sighed and got up while Amelia shook Gourry. Lina opened the door to their room and stepped on something. She bent down and picked up the paper. She cast a Light spell and read the note.

"Holy... he's going to kill himself! We have to stop him!" Gourry immediately bolted out of bed.

"The inn keeper... who do you think? Zel, Jellyfish brains!"

"He can't be serious!" Amelia squeaked.

"Well, either that or he wants to win an award for poetic letters. Hey, he used some stuff from that play you were telling us about. What was it? Baconlet? Porklet?"

"Who cares! We have to help him!" Amelia screamed.

"I will return your innocence, Zelgadis."

"Will it take away the pain?"

"When you were innocent, the biggest pain was scraping your knee."

"I guess that's a `yes'."

"Born ready, Mother."

Zel's friends were rushing to the door. Gourry began to try knocking the door down with his weight with Lina pushing the area his body missed. After much banging and sweat, Amelia turned the knob and replied, "Uh... the door's unlocked."

"Zelgadis, ignore them for now," his mother replied at his head turning toward the door when Gourry banged it, "look at me." Zelgadis looked at up at his mother. "Close your eyes." He closed them. His mother smiled.

Lina and company rushed in the door. They faced a tall woman in an almost transparent white robe. She had long purple hair that fell freely. She looked at them with blue eyes that mimicked Zel's. She smiled and shrugged and faced Zel once again.

"Uh... who are...?" But Lina never got to finish her statement. The woman bent down and kissed the young man on the lips. Zel's eyes fluttered briefly before the woman rose again.

As she rose, her hair shifted to blonde and her eyes glittered a bright green. She smiled and, instantly, large white wings burst out. She looked at the mirror.

In the mirror was the woman she was before. Screaming a horrified silent scream. She smirked at the reflection and said, "You can't protect him forever." The reflection screamed with more intensity but just as silent. Tears ran down her cheeks.

Zel slumped and the woman dropped him. As he dropped, his stone skin became human flesh. Then he became younger and younger until, when he hit the floor, he had the appearance of a six year old boy.

The others just stared in shock, at the winged woman, the silent screamer and their now young friend.

The woman bent down on her knees and kissed the boy's forehead, "I'll see you soon, my Prince." Then she was gone.

C&C at destinyplot@lycos.com

Chapter Two: Babble

After the woman had left, the others went over to the boy's side.

"Is he... alive?" Amelia timidly asked.

"I think he's breathing," Lina answered.

"Uh... where did this boy come from? And where did Zel go?"

Lina prompted bonked him on the head, "That IS Zel! I think." She put the little boy in her lap and stroked his hair.

"What are we going to tell him?" Amelia asked nervously.

"I guess we could say, `Good Morning, would you like some toast? Oh by the way, you are now six years old!'" Gourry answered.

"Mister Gourry, that's cruel!"

"Gourry's got a point, what can we say?" Lina mused.

Red. Lots of it. In his face, in his mouth, everywhere. Zel moved his head around to avoid the red mass but more just fell in his mouth. Finally, he just yanked it out of his way.

"Ow! Let go!" Lina shrieked. She looked down at the now awake boy. He blinked at her and answered simply, "Der."

"Der," he repeated, yanked her hair more.

"Stop pulling my hair!" Lina sat up straight so the boy could not touch it. He pointed at her hair and repeated, "Der!"

"What are you saying?!" Lina screamed in frustration.

"Amam ym si erehw?" He asked.

"Amam ym si erehw?!"

Lina turned to her two friends, "Do you guys understand him?"

"I've never heard that language."

"Amam ym tnaw i!" The boy cried. He began to sob.

"You know," Gourry mused, "he never told us where he was from."

"So, he had to learn our language?!" Lina screamed.

"Does he understand us?" Amelia wondered aloud.

"I don't know! Not only has our friend been turned into a little kid, he's speaking his native language! Now what are we going to do?" Lina groaned. The little boy got out of Lina's lap and went to cower in a dark corner, his eyes darting back and forth among these "strangers".

"I think he's scared of us," Gourry whispered. Amelia got on her knees and beckoned in a soft voice, "Come on out, we're not going to hurt you. Come on." She held out her hand for him to take. He didn't take it. Lina sighed and just went over and picked him up.

"No! You'll just..." Gourry warned just as Zel bit Lina's arm. Lina screamed and Zel dashed to hide under the work table.

"He's like a wild animal!" Lina scolded.

"I was going to say, you'll just frighten him more," Gourry murmured.

"How will we get him out?" Amelia whined. Gourry stood up sharply.

"Where are you going?" Lina demanded, rubbing her arm.

"I have an idea. I'll be back." So, Gourry went out the door, leaving Lina and Amelia to stare at each other.

"So, what do we do until he comes back?" Amelia asked.

"Think of a plan to get him out," Lina responded.

"But, Mister Gourry said he had an idea!"

"Look, first off, it's Gourry. Second, he's a guy. What does he know about children?"

"Well, what do you know about children?"

"I'm a girl, it's in-bred. We have to use our mothering instincts."

"What `mothering instincts'? And how do we use them?" Lina blinked and answered slowly, "Well, I guess, we... think like mothers."

Amelia shrugged, "I guess we should make ourselves `believe' we are mothers, and then the instincts will come."

"Sounds like a plan." Lina and Amelia closed their eyes and got in the role of being a mother.

"I have mood swings," Lina said to herself.

"I have cravings," Amelia whispered.

"I have morning sickness."

"My clothes don't fit."

"I'm proud of being fat."

"My body parts have become food sources."

"I tell bedtime stories."

"I'm back," Gourry said as he came in, "Uh... what are you doing?"

"Shh... I'm putting them to bed," Lina responded.

"I'm baking cookies," Amelia replied. Gourry blinked a couple times then shook Lina. Lina coughed and looked around, "Huh? What?" Gourry then shook Amelia and she reacted the same.

"What were you two doing?"

"Trying to tap in our mothering instincts. Did yours come, Miss Lina?" Amelia asked calmly.

"Nah, maybe we have to do it longer."

"Uh, okay. I'm ready so if you want to keep doing whatever it was that you were doing, then do it over there, I need room," Gourry ordered, completely baffled.

"What are you going to do anyway?" Lina asked, moving over.

"You'll see," Gourry answered, holding up a bag.

"What's in the bag?" Amelia asked.

Gourry smiled and answered, a bit loud, "Candy." Then they heard a bonk from under the table and Zel letting out a little sound of pain. Gourry smiled and bent down in front of the table. He opened the bag and placed down a little piece of chocolate. Zel swiped it in a blink. Gourry did the same and Zel reacted the same. Gourry chuckled and took out another piece. He held it up, so he would have Zel's attention, and took an little step back and placed the chocolate right by his toe. Just out of Zel's reach. Gourry took another step back and placed another piece down. Then another. And another. And another until he was near the two girls. Then he straightened and went to sit on the bed.

"Oh, I get it, he has to get out from under the table to get more candy," Lina reasoned, "Funny, my sister used to do the same thing."

"He'll surely crack. He won't be able to resist for long. We just have to be patient," Gourry said, quite proud of himself.

"Either that, or he'll eventually fall asleep," Amelia added.

Oh, the big guy was clever. Eris does this trick too! He was big boy, he'd show them! He'll resist! Sure, the odds were bad but he could do it, he was big boy. Eventually, those big people will get bored and then he'll have his chance. If he survived that long. Oh, who was he kidding? This was torture! He stretched out his arm to reach the chocolate. He was just a few centimeters away. Then he thought of a plan.

"Uh... isn't this a little cruel?" Amelia asked.

"Well, it serves him right, biting my arm like that!" Lina retorted.

"Oh, look, he's stretching his arm out, it's cute," Gourry said aloud.

"What's he doing now?" Lina asked.

"I don't know, he went back under the table. I think he's positioning himself."

"How? To do what?" Amelia inquired. Although she thought the treatment was cruel, she still thought it was fascinating. See, she knew that Zel had to use reasoning to get out of this mess. Brawn didn't matter, he would need to depend on his brain.

She was on the opposite side of him, but she secretly hoped he would outsmart them. She was often in his position when she was younger.

"Those stupid maids," Amelia murmured.

Okay, he was ready to execute "Operation: Get-The-Candy-Without-Getting-Caught-By-The-Big-Scary-Guy"!

He faced the wall on his belly. See, he knew that his legs were longer than his arms so he would use his feet to get the candy. He scooted out backwards, constantly looking behind him. When the chocolate was in his reach, he kicked the chocolate to a place where he could reach it. He then escaped under the table.

"That was kind of cool," Gourry said. The others murmured their agreement. "But, unfortunately, he can't do that again because the next piece is too far away. He'll have to come out."

"But how do you know he'll want the next piece?" Amelia asked.

"He's a kid, he'll eat it," Lina snapped.

"So? Maybe he's full."

"Like that matters to a kid."

"It mattered to me!"

"You were a high class princess! Of course you cared, you had to."

"What does that mean? I was never a kid?!"

"Don't you mean `I am not a kid'?"

"Guys," Gourry pleaded, "cut it out. If you two get distracted and start killing each other, I'll have to break it up and he'll outwit us." He turned that over in his head, "I'll get distracted and he'll come out. Hm... I could use that against him."

"What was that?" Lina asked. Gourry smiled at her. "What? What do you want?" She asked nervously. Gourry pointed at the window behind her, "Look out the window!"

They turned toward the window, expecting to see some unknown Dark Lord staring back at them. But there was nothing.

"Look, it's dawn, we've only slept two hours," Amelia sobbed, "I guess I understand what a real mother feels like."

"What? The dawn was the big emergency?! I've seen a dawn before!" Lina started to turn to face Gourry but Gourry screamed, "No, keep looking at the window!"

"Why are we looking out the window? Shouldn't we be watching Mister Zelgadis.... or would he be Master Zelgadis? I mean, young men are referred to as 'Master' not 'Mister', aren't they?" Amelia clutched her head, "AAAA!!! How could I commit such a faux pas? I'm going to kill myself!" Lina slapped her across the face.

"Yeah, thanks. I needed that. I get like that when I don't sleep."

"I understand, Amelia, it's okay," Lina patted her on the shoulder.

"It's okay, you can sleep later," Gourry comforted then changed gears, "But for now, you must watch the window!"

"Gourry, why are we watching the window?"

"Well, isn't it obvious? Watching Zel is very, very boring but watching the window is fun, Fun, FUN!"

"Are you two on something? You didn't buy the `Dream Tea' from that weirdo in the last town, did you? I'm here to help."

At first, Amelia was going to argue that Gourry has the weirdest taste and really should get back to the matter at hand. Until she realized that he was handling the matter at hand. Amelia took a breath, "Yeah, you're right, Master Zelgadis is very, very boring. This window provides hours of entertainment, right Miss Lina?"

Of course, Lina had not figured out Gourry's plan, "No, I disagree. This is boring."

"No, it isn't," Amelia retorted.

"Yes, it is." Lina snapped back.

While those two fought, Gourry looked at Zel out of the corner of his eye. See, kids are very stupid. To them, if you're not looking straight at them, you're ignoring them. His plan was to make it look like that they were ignoring Zel (by looking at the window) and he would be over confident and crawl out, not realizing that Gourry wasn't really ignoring him. As soon as he got close, he would grab him. Assuming that Zel was a normal child, not some hyper genius who was wise beyond his years. But, from what he had observed, it was unlikely.

What luck! Red, Big Guy and Lady* were completely ignoring him, they were totally entranced by the window. Adults are weird. He crawled out of his little shelter and ate the next piece of chocolate. He looked up. Nope, no one was watching. He crawled forward for the next piece. No movement in the Adults. He ate it.

"You sneaky dog you. Brian eat your card out**"

"Come on, come on, a little closer," Gourry thought. Zel crawled oh so slowly nearer. "Come on! Pick up the pace, I'm getting eye strain." Then, there he was, right under his arm. He turned like a cobra and Zel was paralyzed with fear.

BUSTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gourry lifted Zel up like a sack of feathers while Zel screamed and kicked for his life.

"Whatever. Playtime's over." Then Zel stopped kicking and screaming. He looked Gourry straight in the eye then his bottom lip shook and his eyes filled up with tears as he made his one final plea, "Em truh ton od esaelp. AMAM YM TNAW TSUJ I!!!!!"

Gourry frowned and drew Zel close, resting his little frail body on his shoulder, rubbing his back while he slightly rocked back and forth. Then he began to sing:

there's a little fish.

he'll be a little dish.

But he isn't scared

Tonight all his little friends

All the little fishes

and also the big ones,

all the mothers and fathers

and daughters and sons.

They dance in the big row

all through the night

and they'll invite you too

if you sleep tight.

He repeated this little ditty over and over until Zel calmed down. When he did finally did stop, Gourry could hear Zel almost start up again so he sang the song again. Over and over until...

"Gourry, he's asleep," Lina whispered.

"Mister Gourry, why don't you put him down?" Amelia asked when Gourry didn't move.

"I'm afraid I'll wake him up."

"How did you do that?" Lina demanded.

"Well," Gourry stated matter-of-factly, "I just know more than you two."

"Oh, is that true?" Lina asked, "Hey! What happens when you pinch his neck like...."

"Okay, I take it back! Just don't pinch him."

"Well, how did you think of those things?" Amelia asked.

"When I was back home, my town, during the summer, would have a cook out every week at a different house. They all needed someone to watch their kids while they got drunk out of their minds so I would usually do it. I had a little girl once who sort of acted like Zel does. She was just really shy and stuff. The bigger kids would tease her a lot so she would always be hiding in the houses. The chocolate trick always seemed to work on her."

Lina giggled, "You... baby-sat?!"

"Yeah, I baby-sat. What's wrong with that?"

"Guys don't baby-sit, Gourry."

"Any guy would baby-sit if they made what I made."

"On average... about 12 golds a night."

"A NIGHT! How did you get that?"

"Simple, I asked for payment AFTER they got drunk. `How do we oweth ya?' `Uh, about 15 silver would good but 20 silver would be better...' `Charlesth give the kided 25 silverths, I'm getting another drinkth for the roaded.'"

"You robber!" Lina laughed.

"I know, they never figured it out. It was really funny when they forgot they paid me and would come back the next day asking how much they owe. So, they all thought I baby-sat for only 1 silver. They all loved me. `He's such a good boy, what a work ethic' and I'd be in my room, laughing my head off. Those were good times."

"12 golds a night! I can't even imagine it!" Lina said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Anyway, Miss Lina, what should we do now?"

"Sleep sounds good."

"No, I mean, what should we do about Master Zelgadis?"

"Oh that. I almost forgot. Well, it's obvious, isn't it? We have to find people from his native country so we can understand what the hell he is saying!" Lina answered simply.

"And probably find his next of kin, I mean, I certainly don't know how to make Zel normal again so it would probably be best to leave him with his family so he'll be taken care of."