Chapter 4-6

Cold. Still. She felt cold and still to his touch. It's not true. It can't be true. Katherine was behind him, silent as stone. He said to the wall, "It's not true. Young people never die. Only the old do. Everyone knows that."

"Come on! Wake up!" He lost all his strength and began sliding to the floor, "Only old people die... wake up..." He began to wail. His mother did not respond to his cries. She never did again.

The heat of the funeral fire made his sweat drip down his face in long lines. He was not crying now. Neither was his father. The rest of the village was bawling their eyes out, including Eris. He looked indifferently at the dancing flames. He could hear his father say something to himself but he could not hear the exact words. His father was patting his shoulder. He bent down to his son's height.

"I know," he was saying back, without feeling it. He had been hearing only that for the past week. "Okay" was beginning to mean nothing to him.

Zel nodded, he wasn't listening though. "I want you to be strong. And to help others. And remember to stand up for yourself. Lead a good life. Remember your parents." He took a breath, "Remember that whatever you do, we will always love you. You are our golden child, remember that. I promise me that you'll never forget how special and beautiful you are." He went to a standing position sharply and strode elegantly to the fire. Zel could hear everyone whispering to give his father his space. In a blink, he was jumping and flames were consuming him.

Chaos erupted. Women screaming, children asking questions or crying, men running around, shouting orders that no one was following. And Zel's father cremated himself before their very eyes. Zel's knees started to give and he didn't fight. He slid to the ground, emotionless. He was just sitting there, apart from the chaos around him. It was just him and the fire. Not a tear fell. He was staring at the ground now. He said aloud, though no one alive was listening to him.

He began to laugh insanely, "Oh, I forgot, my pain doesn't matter to you. My pain is heartless and your pain is noble. That is justice to you."

"Well, someone sure as hell didn't like her!" The girl's eyes brimmed over with tears. "Of course, what do I know... I'm just a peasant."

The blonde woman had just kissed him. It began to grow dark. He could hear his mother screaming his name. He could also hear someone laughing. He didn't even hear the joke.

Zel bolted awake. He gasped and drew deep breaths. It was a nightmare, wasn't it? Or was it real? He knew that those scary scenes weren't something his mind devised, they were memories of the other him. It frightened him.

They were events that hadn't even happened yet... or had they? Was his mama and papa really dead? He suddenly felt very small and alone.

He got out of his bed and climbed into Red's bed. Red was obviously the leading lady and the leading lady is always a mother. Red rolled over, squishing him. Zel waved his arms to move her. She kicked him out of the bed. He got back in the bed. She shoved him out while she was still snoring.

He gave up after five rounds. He looked at Big Guy. Men weren't good nightmare relievers. He looked at Lady. He climbed into Lady's bed and spent the rest of the night there.

Author's Notes: Wow, that was short. Don't worry, the dream will become longer and more detailed... and spookier! I don't own these characters, except Katherine, I made her up.

C&C are welcome and needed at destinyplot@lycos.com. I'll accept anything, flames and all. Or even if you just want to talk about almost anything, that's welcome too. See you when the next chapter is done! Oh, if his parents are alive or died in another matter, don't go screaming at me, please. Let me save time and tell you what I'll say if you yell at me about that: Creative License.

"He was probably having a bad dream or something and wanted company. I know I always slept with my mom when I got scared. He just chose Amelia as a Substitute Mom."

Lina snapped back, "But you're the one who is the Comforter of Panic, why didn't he sleep with you?! I'll tell ya why, he's a little perv!"

"Lina, `daddies' don't do nightmares. Everyone knows that from the moment they pop out of their mothers. Zel wouldn't come to me because guys don't make nightmare monsters go away."

"But if your mom had been there, you would have gone to her. You didn't exactly have a choice, Zel does. As weird as that sounds."

Three days later, they arrived in the White Magic City, Saillune. Of course, Lina and Gourry were not too thrilled at the prospect of seeing Phil while Amelia was ecstatic.

"Daddy might know a way to change Master Zelgadis back to normal. I bet there is something in the magical books in the royal library!"

Of course, Zel had no idea who exactly "Phil" was but he was excited. First off, he had never been to Saillune before. Secondly, Big Guy had decided that since this was a special day, he would untie Zel but he insisted on holding his hand. The scary part was Big Guy's hand completely engulfed his and his fingers could still wriggle. Big Guy knew this however and gripped Zel tightly so Zel couldn't escape. He marveled at the sights of Saillune. Everyone talking at once and selling things he had never seen before. And somewhere, in that mass of chaos and confusion, there was a lollipop with his name on it.

While deciding which flavor he should get when he got around to asking Big Guy to get him a lolly, he heard singing children.

At the last verse, all the singers clapped their hands and screamed "Quack" so loud that the nearby adults jumped. Then the rhyme began again, only this time with nine ducks, then eight, then seven and so on. It was a simple counting rhyme and, as with all children songs, highly annoying when sang repeatedly. Which the children did.

This rhyme caught Zel's attention. He knew the rhyme. That meant the children singing were children from his village. All his friends would be there since all of them were six and six was an important year. That was the year for your first trip to Saillune.

"There's a restaurant over there, Miss Lina," Amelia gesturing to some distance away from them. Before Lina could respond, an angry butcher stomped over to them.

"Nyoh, for those sausage links yer boyfriend's been draggin' in the dirt for the last quarta mile!" Gourry looked behind him and where Zel should have been were dirty sausage links.

The butcher turned bright red, "No! Ya dunce! Who in their right mind would pay for trashed links? Nah, you're buyin' `em!"

"Well, he ain't here now, ain't he? Pay!" Before Lina got involved, Amelia took out the right amount and paid. The butcher bowed to "Your Lovely Majesty" and spat on Gourry's foot.

"That doesn't make me feel any better." Evan laughed and Michelle joined him. It was a lovely day for trading. Business would be good today. "If I'm lucky, I might get the nerve to talk to Evan about raising our own children," she thought. She looked around in contentment when she noticed a boy following the parade of traders. He was looking for someone. He looked lost. Michelle tapped Evan, "Evan, do you see that boy?"

Evan looked over, "Yeah, figure he's lost his mama or something?" Michelle nodded, "Here," she handed him the list of supplies they needed, "I'll be back."

She went over to the boy. He was frail-looking and pale like ivory. He had blue hair that was cut where his head met his neck. He had the bluest of eyes. Such unusual eyes. She had only seen one other person with those type of eyes. Eyes you could just fall into and...

"Stop that!" she chided herself. They were just eyes. Concentrate on the boy, the now. She touched his shoulders, she could feel his shoulder blades, "Are you lost?" The boy nodded. "Are you looking for your mama?" The boy nodded again. "Let's go find her."

She brought him into the parade and said to the woman behind her, "Katherine, tell the others I've found a boy. He's lost, make sure your children are with you." Katherine nodded and passed it on. The boy, however, began going through the people and saying, "Amam? Apap?" repeatedly. The children had started the song again since they had just reached zero. This made the boy more antsy, more pleading in his search.

"Where could've he gone?" Lina asked no one but herself, then she ground her teeth, "and whoever is singing that song better shut up soon!"

"Miss Lina, I think I see him! He's with the shepherds from the Millay Province!" Amelia pointed out the parade of shepherds. The singing children were also in this group.

"Excuse me?" Michelle asked, and turned to Amelia, "What did he just say?" Amelia was not listening, she was calling Gourry over, "Mister Gourry! I found Master Zelgadis!"

"Well, I know this sounds strange but I used to know a boy named Zelgadis. But he died long ago. I thought it was an unusual name I guess I was wrong..."

"He stopped writing. He stopped visiting us. What other explanation could there be? Besides, Zelgadis Greywords, if he was alive, would be twenty-four years old, not six!"

"But there is a simple explanation for that..." But before Amelia could finish, a crinkled voice said, "Come here, child." Zel's ears perked up and ran to a shrunken lady. She was very old. She was leather brown and her hair was white and in a bun. She was deeply wrinkled.

The boy nodded. "Are those two your parents?" He shook his head. "Where are your parents?" He shrugged. "Are you from the Millay Province?" He nodded. "Are the grandson and the great-grandson of the Red Priest Rezo?" He nodded. She looked up at Michelle, "My child, one thing I know is when a child is lying. This child is not. This child is Zelgadis Greywords," She chuckled, "I told you he was still alive."

"Not exactly," Lina said, ready to make a speech. Maya wheezed, "I am tired, and I believe so are the rest of the villagers. We have an inn reserved, explain your story to us there."

"Sad, but true. She became very ill and died when the boy was nine years old. Before you ask, his father could not understand him and it would not matter anyway, he killed himself at his wife's funeral."

Michelle marveled aloud, "He's just as he was when he was six. The looks, the attitude, the memories, even the language. He truly grew down."

"I don't see him throwing up any black crud. Remember the black crud he'd cough up? He's perfect in every way. That makes him imperfect."

Maya explained, "Zelgadis was a sickly child. He was premature and small, it was to be expected. He barely saw his first year, if his grandfather had not healed him, he would not have lived. But even Rezo was baffled by his illness. As a result, he never fully recovered."

Evan finished for Maya, "First off, he lost his magical powers, according to his father. Also, he was physically weak. He didn't learn to walk until he was finishing up his second year, and even then, he walked awkwardly for years afterward. He didn't speak until he was five and it was in that goofy language you hear now. When he spoke in our language,around the age of eight, he had a horrible stutter. He couldn't say his `Z's, he had to say his name like `Elgadis'. He was pretty messed up."

Michelle then recalled something, "But, by some miracle, when he turned ten, every ailment went away. He gained a steady and graceful stride, his voice took on a richer tone and his stutter vanished. He got stronger. A lot stronger. He could take on boys bigger than him. He didn't believe it. He thought we were lying when we said he was the best fighter. He was convinced he was weak. We could never convince him otherwise."

"Oh, that," Evan said, "when we were in the three to six year range, whenever we would be playing tag or something, one minute he'd be running around like a normal kid then he'd keel over and start throwing up," Evan made a face of disgust, "all this black crud. We never knew what it was. It looked like tar but we knew it wasn't tar. They would never tell us what it was. I don't think even they knew. I know Dis hated it. It wouldn't be once a day either. He would throw up around five times a day..."

"Yeah, it would come without warning. You could just be talking to him, not moving him or anything and he would just throw up in front of you. He couldn't control it."

Lina put her head in her hands, "Great, we have to wait a year before we can even understand him. What are supposed to do in the meantime?"

"I do remember something," Mitchell said, "when we would be leaving to go home, the Greywords family would keep going north. I asked Dis where exactly they went and he said `To his aunty's house'. He may have an aunt."

Author's Notes: Hey! I'm back. Marching season is over so I have a lot more time on the weekends to write! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm sorry the last one was so short and I hope this chapter made up for it!

I'm glad some people have decided to write to me! If you want send me some C&C or just want to know what the square root of 64 is, you can reach me at: destinyplot@lycos.com

"Yes, it is! There are drug dealers on the street corners and they sell it to little children! The legal drinking age is, like, 2 years old or something. It's a dreadful place to send a child!"

She took Zel's hand and led him to the room they had rented for the night. After she had left, Lina said, "Like it's my fault drugs are sold in Hayla. Anyway, Maya, how exactly do we get there?"

Zel then put his hands together and slowly opened them, keeping the hands touching and repeated this gesture over and over.

"What story would you like to hear?" Zel made his hands into fists, and drew his left away from his right. When his right went past his head, he opened the right hand.

"Robin Hood?" Zel nodded eagerly. "I love that story too." Amelia sat at the foot of the bed and told him the story of Robin Hood.

When she was finished, she tucked him a little more and fluffed his pillow. He reached his arms out. "Do you want a good-night kiss?" He nodded. Amelia kissed his forehead and got a nasty shock. "Ow! That hurt! There must be static in the room," Amelia thought aloud.

She said to Zel, "Good night, Master Zelgadis." She went to the door and opened it when Zel said, "Good night, Lady. That was a nice story."

It was only after she was making her way towards the other room it occurred to her that she had understood what Zel had said. She ran to the other room.

"Really? Let's go see," Gourry said, getting up. Lina got up and followed the excited Amelia. They went to the room they had rented and woke poor Zel up.

I must interrupt this fic for an important announcement. From now on, every line of Little Zel dialogue will be written like this, "#Blah, blah, blah#". I'm doing this because, well, I'm a lazy slob and I don't want Amelia repeating everything Zel says. I now return you to your regularly scheduled fic.

Cold. Still. She felt cold and still to his touch. It's not true. It's can't be true. Katherine was behind him, silent as stone. He said to the wall, "It's not true. Young people never die. Only the old do. Everyone knows that."

"Dis, she's dead. Accept it!" Katherine snapped back with a solemn expression. Zel spun around, "You lie! She's just asleep, s'all. Just sleeping." He began to shake her, "Wake up. Show her you're alive." She did not respond. "Come on! Wake up!" He lost all his strength and began sliding to the floor, "Only old people die... wake up..." He began to wail. His mother did not respond to his cries. She never did again.

"I know," he was saying back, without feeling it. He had been hearing only that for the past week. "Okay" was beginning to mean nothing to him.

He began to laugh insanely, "Oh, I forgot, my pain doesn't matter to you. My pain is heartless and your pain is noble. That is justice to you."

The blonde woman had just kissed him. It began to grow dark. He could hear his mother screaming his name. He could also hear someone laughing. He didn't even hear the joke.

He bolted awake. The dream was becoming more detailed. It was strange having memories of things that had not even happened yet. It was like watching someone else's life. But it wasn't someone else, it was him.

The merry band made their way to the palace. To Amelia's relief, her father had not been assassinated, no one had tried to usurp the throne, no one had hired mazuko to rise to power and then get a hole punched through their chests, ground stayed on the ground, no neighboring countries had tried to take over the world, so she was happy. Things were quiet around the palace.

"What are you talking about, Master Zelgadis? What black bear are you referring to?" Amelia asked, out of her father's embrace.

"TAKE YOUR EARPLUGS OUT, DADDY!" Amelia screamed. Phil did so and apologized, "Sorry, the Baroness of Rena was just here. She chatters so, it is very challenging to take a good nap with all that chattering going on. Anyway, that is besides the point. Who is this, Amelia?"

"Kindofhardtoexplain? What a strange name! But who am I to judge the beauty of foreign names? It probably means something like 'courageous fighter' or 'proud archer'."

"But this boy looks lively enough. They probably have nothing in common. Isn't that so ironic? Same name, completely different personalities. How do you do, Master Zelgadis?" Phil bowed down to Zel height, while Zel looked up at Lady,

Zel looked at the royal couple and replied, in conclusion, "#You look like a princess, but he does not. There has been a mix up here. Are you sure he is your Papa?#"

Amelia turned red, "Of course, I am sure! How dare you question my..." She then realized that she was shouting at the top of her lungs in front of everyone and, especially, a simple child that made the same mistake everyone else who heard fairy tales involving princes made and who meant no harm by it. She took a breath, "Yes, Master Zelgadis, I am sure." She went into lecture mode, "Never judge a book by its cover, that's your lesson today."

Phil laughed his boisterous trademark laugh, "Never question a blessing, that's what I always say! I was about to sit down to lunch and would be delighted to hear about your adventures and where you picked up this delightful child!" Phil turned his back, confident he would be followed and that he was.

"FOOD!" Lina cried out as her war cry. She was quickly echoed by Gourry. Soon, Amelia was left alone with Zel, to whom she offered her hand. He took it,

Author's Notes: Told you the dream would come back. FORESHADOWING!!! Okay, I flat out told you but FORESHADOWING is a cooler word. If you have any C&C (which I love, I serve to entertain you) or you're just wondering why I called this chapter "Babel", e-mail me at: destinyplot@lycos.com because snail mail is too slow.