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Lina felt something cool on her forehead. Slowly she let her eyes drift open. She couldn't remember why she'd fainted, but whatever it was must have been awful to knock *her* out, she reasoned. Lina Inverse didn't faint easily.
So she didn't feel in any rush to return to reality, in case the horror was still there. Yet something pushed her to conciousness anyway, or rather, shook her none too gently.
"Come on Lina, I saw your eyes move. I know you're awake." Gourry's voice said. She didn't move. "LINA!!" He yelled in her ear.
"Gourry, leave me alone." She ordered.
He shook her again. "Maybe if I kissed you...it works in fairy tales..."
"Gourry!" She complained opening her eyes to give him *that look*, the one that said dil brando, coming your way if you continue. Of course when she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw were *his* eyes, inches from her, and a smile on his face.
"You know, you're kind of cute when you sleep."
She tried to scoot back, but realized, with a start, that she lay across his lap (he was sitting cross-legged) and her back and head were cradled into the bend of his arm. So all her scooting did was force her to wriggle about, making his smile a little wider and more vacant.
Heat warmed her face, turning her brain to mush faster than a marshmallow in a microwave.
"Course, you're still no Sleeping Beauty..." He mused unnecessarily.
"You're no prince either!!!" She jumped up out of his lap. "DIL BRANDO!"
So much for dreamland, she thought, for the nightmare continued. As Gourry went flying along with the rocks, Lina realised that the second part of her nightmare, alas, was also real. "AH, HA HA HA HA..!! Ne Lina, you haven't changed, but your husband is--"
"I AM NOT MARRIED TO THAT BIG, BRAINLESS, JELlY-FISH BRAINED BUFFOON!" She shouted.
Nahga laughed again. "Oh ho ho ho ho, then maybe you are not as naive as I thought!"
Lina knew Nahga meant that as a compliment, but somehow, Lina wasn't sure what else Nahga meant. "Excuse me?"
"So, if the blonde man is not your husband, then why are you travelling with him?" Nahga asked as she slung down half the contents of a small flask. She let out a gasping scream, and smiled coyly and suggestively "Or do I need to ask?"
"He's..." Lina frowned. How did she explain this without encouraging Nahga's rampant speculation?
"I was her guardian, but she just told me she doesn't need one." Gourry said helpfully, looking only a little worse for the wear. "So now I'm just her....say, what am I Lina?"
"A PAIN in the..." She broke off. "He's just my sidekick"
"A WHAT?" Gourry and Nahga said.
"But that's my job!" Nahga said, hurt and angry. She blanched. "I mean, that I am the one who travels by your side!"
"That's all I am?" Goury asked hurt and sad.
Lina stood and shook off her cape. "I'm hungry. Are you two just going to sit there all day?" She turned and headed into the forrest.
They looked at each other, and then followed after Lina.
That night, after they'd nearly destroyed the local tavern they cursed with their presence, eating more food than the place had served all year, they all collapsed upstairs in their rooms.
At least, that's where they were supposed to be collapsed.
A knock at Lina's door quickly told her she was not the only one who could not sleep.
She opened it, and let a worried looking Gourry into the doorframe half in the room and half out.
"Did you really mean that, Lina?" He asked without specifying what.
"No." She said softly, thinking he meant what she'd said about his being just a sidekick. She'd been thinking of it all evening and realized she wished she hadn't said it that way. The look in his eyes had made her feel as if she'd accidently cast a spell backwords onto herself.
"So--Does that mean--"
She held up a hand. "Gourry, even if I knew, I doubt I could explain it, least of all to you."
"Huh? So you're not going to share a room with Nahga?" He asked confused. "So I *do* have to go sleep in the barn?"
"What are you talking about?'
"I wanted to know if you meant it that you'd share with Nahga so I could have a room! They only had two rooms in this inn." He said slowly. "Unless, you're..I mean, you're going to share with me?" She couldn't tell if that excited or frightened him from the expression on his face.
"Go to sleep Gourry." Lina groaned as she blushed. She'd thought he'd been asking if she really meant he was *just* a sidekick to her.
"Uhm...." He hesitated.
"What!"She said exasperatedly.
"Goodnight." He leaned down and kissed her. This time, she had time to react. She couldn't let this happen again! But she didn't move, at least, she didn't move to stop him.
She felt her feet leave the ground, as he picked her up. Time faded out of existence to her, and it was only an inopportune yawn on Gourry's part that made the kiss stop.
"GOURRY!" Lina said indignantly as he yawned again.
"Uh, sorry." He mumbled. "Goodnight!" Gently he started closing the door on her.
"WAIT! I'm sleeping in there!" She said as he started pushing her out of the room into the hall. Somehow, while kisssing her, he'd swung her around as he'd picked her up, exchanging their positions so that he was in the room and she out of it.
"Lina?" He said a bit shocked "Don't you think we should wait awhile before we...."
She shoved him hard, and then pulled the door closed with a bang before he could complete the sentence.
She shook herself to regain her composure, then walked to Nahga's door. She didn't like having to share a room with Nahga, but she'd survived doing that for years. And right now, she had to admit she far preferred sharing with Nahga than Gourry. At least, she thought she did.
Loud snores made her rethink that decision. There was, she thought, the barn. Despite the coolness of the night, Lina felt refreshed by the clean air and the stars winking down.
Finding a large pile of hay that surprisingly did not reek of horses, she lay down in it. She'd done this before enough times, and she could handle not having a soft warm bed.
"Sleeping alone?" someone whispered in her ear.
She jumped, every nerve in her body shooting straight to battle mode as she turned around, ready to attack and saw--Xellos.
She relaxed only slightly, still prepared to attack on principle just because of who it was.
"What do you want?" She said grumpily and not as if she'd be inclined to help him get what he wanted.
He sighed as if dissapointed. "Is it too much to believe I might have just missed you, and wanted to see you?"
"Yes. Xellos, you always want something. Even when you offer a favor, its really somehow somehing you want the other side to do. I'd rather just hear what it is so I could get some sleep."
"Ah! The direct approach, ne Lina? I understand. I remember needing sleep, if faintly. And I wish I could say I had no ulterior motive, but that I do, does not detract from my pleasure of seeing you."
"10 seconds Xellos."
He frowned, rather charismatically, and then said "Zelgaddis, Ameria and their new friend are off to find the Scales of Justice. Of course, the second they do, the Mazokou will attack them to destroy the Scales in prepration for Shabrnaigdo's rebirth, for if the Scales exist, then they could be used to contain Shabranigdo's astral self before the Dark Lord could use his power."
"And you a Mazokou are telling *me* this because?"
"AH! That is--"
"A secret" She finnished for him as he leaned forward and kissed her nose.
As she turned completely scarlet, visible even in the dark of the night like the legendary Rudolph's reindeer nose, Xellos continued peacefully "Actually I was going to say it was a lie, and that I can share the real answer with you, if you want--"
She shook her head. "I'm not going into your Mazokou brain again--"
He frowned. "Was it that unpleasant? Lina, if you want to know why I am here, if you do not wish me to lie to you, if you want to trust me, then this is the only way."
She groaned and nodded, feeling the tickling sensation inside her head as his conciousness poured into hers.
(There are things I cannot tell you. There are things I can only think. Even now I may have said too much, Lina.)
[You haven't said anything!]
(I have, I have.)
[Like what? Can't you even think a straight answer to me!]
(Perhaps I can't think straight around you, my Lina-chan)
[STOP THAT]
(Stop what?)
[THAT]
(Now who's being evasive and unclear, Lina-chan?)
[XellOS, I am not, have not been, will not be *YOUR* Lina. Got that, I'm my own Lina, my own self, and that's how I'll stay.]
(Very admirable. But I meant it as an affectionate term, not a possessive one.)
[THEN STOP THAT]
(Stop being affectionate? I suppose I could chose to express my feelings towards you in traditional Mazokou ways if you prefer.)
[I WOULD NOT.]
(I did not think so.)
[what feelings?]
(I love you.)
This time, she'd expected it, and somehow, felt prepared to deal with the situaton better than she had the last time. Lina could adapt when necessary, even to subjects that made her stammer like a scratched record.
[I don't believe it. You even lie to yourself. In your own thoughts--]
(It's no lie. No delusion. You *are* in my conciousness. Everything I know, you know. You need only to frame the question that you want. Think of what secret you want revealed. In this state, I could hide nothing from you. I am completely vulnerable before you.}
[But why? And don't answer that you love me. Why do you love me?]
(I don't know, but I think I was created to do that.)
[Created?]
(an ancient propecacy of the rebirth of Shabranigdo. The Mazokou against the Dragons, to see who could win the heart of the one who cast the Giga Slave.)
[But that would be--]
(You.)
[Me]
(And if the Mazokou suceed, it will trigger through that emotion a powerful spell and Shabranigdo will be reborn.)
[Reborn? That's impossible...I just destroyed all his seven parts myself!]
(Exactly. If you had not he could not have been reborn. You set him free from this world so he could restart himself completely.)
[TILT]
(So, when he reenters this world, he will need a material body, and your child will provide that.)
[My child! I don't have a child!]
(Not yet)
[So--that's why you're here...to..to!]
(Yes)
[WITH ME!]
(Yes).
Lina broke the connection instantly. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" She screamed.
"Ne, Lina..." Xellos said trying to quiet her.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!!!!!" She yelled loudly again. "I NEVER EVER EVER want to see you again!" She paused. "FIREBALL". More emotion went into that than usual, and it actually seemed to phase him, even though it could not really destroy him.
Of course, Lina had forgotten that she lay on a pile of hay. A pile that rapidly became a huge blaze, dangerously close to the inn.
Xellos winked and the flames died down. "Perhaps we'll talk about this later, ne? I'll see you at the Scales? Orihalcon Mountain? Ja!"
And he dissappeared just as Gourry came running. "Lina? Are you all right! I heard you---wow, what happened here?"
Lina sighed. She looked a bit charred from the flame, and from the encounter with Xellos. "Gourry, don't say a thing. I've had about all I can stand with this "Love" thing. I'm not the kind of girl who's cut out for romance, ok? I always dreamed I'd meet some prince, someday, but now that I think about it, I guess thats not what I really want. Certainly not that prince of darkness, and not the prince of...well anything. I just like being me. And I'm a great swordswoman and sorceress, not a wife, or somebody's girl or, L-sama forbid, a mother .And I never will or want to be, ok? I'm not going to settle down and play house. I'm not going to put on pretty dresses to amuse you. I'm not going to cook you dinners and darn your socks, and...whatever else it is girls are supposed to do for men that love them. So you can take it or leave it."
"Uh, I'm not sure I understood, but I like you being a sorcerss and swordswoman. I mean, that's what I like about you...cause you certainly don't have any figure or charm or bre--er, that's a real scary face, Lina, but what I mean is I don't want you to be different at all. If you were, you wouldnt be Lina, you'd be some scrawny little girl that I wouldn't look at twice and wouldn't love. I don't want you to change. Even if that means you can't love me back or anything."
Lina blinked, her anger inexplicably dissolving as she stared into his eyes. "You love me even if I don't love you?"
He nodded. "Why do you think I've stayed with you this long?"
"You were bored? You couldnt think of where else to go? You were too stupid too leave?"
"Uh, maybe at first. but I don't think anything else needs to change just cause I um, well, just because I feel this way."
"So we can just keep adventuring together, like always?"
"Yeah! But maybe you could yell at me less?" He said tentatively afraid that he'd pushed his luck a bit far. "Like only when I say something really really really stupid? I mean, even for me?"
"I think a few more things than that could change." She said trying to smile coquettishly. "I just don't want it to change all at once."
"Is something wrong, you look kind of sick? Anyway, Lina, if you're going to change something, maybe you could grow some bre--"
"MEGA BRANDO!" She shouted, as she marched into the inn and stormed up the stairs into the room she'd given to Gourry. Curling up in the bed, she fell straight into a deep but short sleep, but not deep enough to avoid noticing the long strands of golden hair that Gourry's head had left on the pillow. She felt strange sleeping in his bed, or rather, the bed he'd been about to sleep in. Somehow she could almost imagine he lay right there with her. Like a coin in her hand, she turned the feeling around in her mind to examine it. Before she could get a conclusion as to whether she liked it, she fell asleep. The confusion continued in her mind as her dreams showered her with images of Xellos's wink, the feel of his arms around her, his kiss on her lips. She wanted to call it a nightmare, just on the principle that it involved Xellos, but the fact was her first sleepy thought on waking had been to go back to that dream. Whatever was the matter with her?! She could tell it was the middle of the night, and she wasn't sure why she had awakened. She let the still calm wrap around her giving her a measure of comfort. For a second she forgot about the romantic dilemmas and just smiled up at the moon and the starry sky far above. And then it hit her. An intense longing to see someone she'd left behind...someone she had not even really thought about until that instant. At that very instant, all she wanted was to be with him--how could she have been so blind all this time that she didn't see who she really loved!?
Kari's eyes darted ahead to where Zelgadis continued to range ahead of her and her cousin. The change from her solitary existence to this sudden travelling arrangement had been sudden but welcome. Yet, she still felt a sense of unease, unsure of the dynamic between her cousin and their travelling partner.
"Ameria-chan...do you know him well?" She asked at last curious about the man she'd been assigned to help.
"Oh sure...we've travelled and fought on the side of justice quite a few times now..along with Lina and Gourry. We've had quite a few adventures!" Ameria chirped.
"I know he must have a good side, or I wouldn't have heard his wish.. But I can't help but wonder now that I've met him. He's being rather rude not travelling with us."
"Zel's always like that....he isn't much on company actually." Ameria explained. "I think he's just shy...he's really rather ..."She sighed. "unique"
"He's not the one you're in love with, is he?"
Ameria blushed. "WHAT!"
"When you sent me that last letter, you rambled on about one of your travelling companions so much. I thought you had feelings for him....I rather envied you actually. Even though you're younger than me, you've found someone else who's heart touched your own...
Ameria waved her hands. "Kari, I think---"
"I wish you luck little cousin....any man who gets to have his wishes granted must have something going...not that he wouldn't if he caught your eye...."
"I don't have a crush on Zelgaddis!!!!" Ameria protested almost crimson with effort.
Kari blinked. "Really?"
Ameria took a deep breath. "He's been teaching me shamanisim, and of course I'm fond of him, but I'm just as fond of Lina and Gourry."
Kari's eyebrow went up, and she supressed a snicker. He'd never given her the time of day Kari translated hiding the smile on her face. She loved her cousin, but her cousin was also, to borrow Ameria's phrase for it, unique. "Besides...he isn't easy to get to know..."Ameria continued. "He took his condition too seriously to consider being romantic...."
Yes, he definitley had not reciprocated Ameria's overtures.
"So...he's cured now...do you think anything is possible?" Kari teased, but Ameria took her question seriously. "He's very cute..."
"You know...I think he was cuter before." Ameria concluded unhappily, and then caught herself. "ER, I mean, Zelgaddis-san is my friend, I could not think of him that way!"
Kari shrugged. She'd barely glimpsed him as a chimera, but as she'd said, to her he looked rather attractive as a man. Of course, he *was* the first man she'd seen in a long long time, so perhaps she just wasn't the best judge of such things. "Well, I suppose there are lots of other men out there too....not that I've ever gotten out of the temple to look before...but I'm sure there are. And if you want Ameria...I'll help you find one!"
Ameria blushed, gave her cousin a strange glance and then suggested they catch up with Zelgaddis. She hadn't realized her cousin was so....weird.
Zelgaddis quickly realized that travelling with Ameria's cousin had distinct advantages. Already she'd managed to pull out of the small jar where she'd "stored" the temple, several useful items. She'd started with fishing rods and had quickly fetched them up a pile of fish for their dinner, as well as all the utensils to roast and eat the fish. The wonders did not stop there. She'd then produced an entire table, three very comfortable looking bedrolls, and a small lute which played itself magically. The kicker though, had been the small jacuzzi, with its ornate screen around it. "It's all in how you pack." She'd explained as Ameria's eyes had widened. In a matter of seconds, she'd transformed their "camping out" into the most comfortable camping experience he'd ever experienced. Zelgaddis wasn't used to being taken care of like this. He either travelled alone or with people who were too irressponsible to handle more than themselves (if they could even handle that).
He sunk lower into the water, enjoying the heat and the feeling of his skin wrinkling in the water. He knew he'd been soaking a long time, in fact, probably the whole time Ameria and Kari had been preparing dinner. He made a mental note to himself to handle the food tomorrow, but he still didn't get out of the water. Even in the dim light of the fire through the screen he could see the swirls in his skin pucker as they saturated with water. What a beautiful sight, he thought, as he reluctantly stood and let the water drip down.
He turned and noticed a thick robe hanging on the screen. She really had thought of everything. He slid it on, knoting the tie around the waste firmly as he climbed down the small steps leading up to the tub.
"Zelgadis-kun, dinner will be ready soon...I hope you do not mind, but I've cleaned your travelling clothes" She handed him his familiar garments which for once looked white rather than beige.
His eyes widened slightly, as he blushed. That was too much, he thought, besides that he hadn't asked her to do that! He felt slightly uncomfortable with her doing so much, yet he wasn't sure how to express it. After a second he decided to just ask her. "Why are you doing all of this?"
"Believe me, I did that more for myself than for you." She confessed, perhaps to ease his awkward struggles with the appropriate response. "I am not used to the rigors of road travel as are you..."
He accepted that. Even though he'd gotten used to travelling the hard way, he had to admit he could get used to the portable luxury.
"Or my cousin...I'm afraid I am not very much like Ameria."
'Thank L-sama' Zelgaddis thought. No, Kari certainly did not act like her cousin. She didn't even look like her. His eyes traced the long hair tumbleing down almost to Kari's knees, in soft orderly waves, that mimicked the sea, the color undulating gradually from dark green to blue to gold. If her hair recalled the sunlit sea, then her eyes imitated a winter sky--a bright clear and calm grey. And, as Zelgaddis thought with relief, their temperments were not alike for Kari had a discpline about her that Ameria lacked. She exuded calm and comfort enough to overcome even Ameria's frantic energy. In fact, Zelgaddis hadn't felt this relaxed in years.
She looked up at him observing her, and tilted her head. "I'm glad you're feeling at ease." She said, promptly disturbing his sense of calm.
He was used to keeping his thoughts to himself, and yet she seemed to be able to read his mind....
"Ne, Zelgadis-san, don't you wonder where Lina and Gourry went? It would be nice to be travelling together like old times..." Ameria broke into his thoughts, as she pouted at her roasted fish. She'd let the flames get too high, and it was a nice crusty black. "All my *friends* together again?"
"Scales of Justice...." Zelgadis frowned, the question pulling his gaze away from Kari and over to the mountain range where Orihalcon Mountain lay. "Tell me again what Xellos told you."
"But what about Lina and Gourry? Shouldn't we find them too?!"
"I have a feeling we will likely be seeing Lina and Gourry very soon. And when we do, we should know as much as we can about the Scales." He knew there was something odd about Ameria's questioning, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it. Normally when Lina and Gourry got separated from him and Ameria, Ameria didn't seem to eager to find them again...so what was going on?
"I told you already!. Xellos just said he knew where I could find the Scales of Justice...?"Ameria said flicking her fish. It disintegrated into small flakes of charcoal. "Should I really have asked Xellos?!"
Kari meanwhile had spitted more fish and had just finnished expertly cooking them. "Well, let's eat, and you can tell me about this Xellos person."
Zelgadis frowned. On the one hand she could have at least questioned the Mazokou rather than blithely and stupidly trusting him. But that was Ameria's way. And given that it was Xellos...well, he probably wouldn't have answered even if Ameria asked. It came to the same place.
"No." Zelgadis replied.
She sighed. I'm beginning to wonder if Xellos has set me to a trap! But the cause of justice is on my side....but if either of you wish to turn back, I will understand...Zelgaddis, you've finally reached your goal...and you do not *need* to keep searching for powerful artifacts risking your life..."
Zelgaddis stared at her in disbelief. What a mood change in only less than a day?! She'd practically begged for him to come...and now...she seemed as if she'd rather he left.
Dinner passed by quickly, despite all the elaborate touches Kari had set out, small flowers, utensils, all things Zel thought a waste of time on a mission such as theirs. Perhaps Kari did share something in common with Ameria--a decidedly rose-colored and inappropriate view of their circumstances.
They were on a quest, not some silly luxury picnic. Such things should be left behind, waiting for the day they returned and celebrated.
"It may seem silly to bring all these things..." Kari said as the lute winked out of existence along with the tables and the linens and china. "But I feel as if it would be sillier not to bring them... Life is always giving us a crisis to resolve. You have to make your breaks and enjoy time anyway...because who knows if you'll ever really reach the end of the quest?" She philosophized out loud. "I can't sacrifice all of today for a better tommorrow..."
"You really should get some sleep." He responded waving a hand to where Ameria had already nodded off. He took a seat on a rock as Kari stretched out into her bedroll. The quiet night surrounded him, letting him wander in his thoughts and examine the events of the last few days.
As a chimera, he'd never needed that much sleep. Would it be different now that he was human again? As the moon rose, sending its pearlescent light down like a candy coating to sweeten the view of the landscape, he began to wonder. He'd grown used to fighting as a Chimera, with all the advantages of a stone body. His magic had been enhanced by the transformation. How much had he given up for this change to be human? Not that he regretted it, he quickly reminded himself.
He just wanted to be sure of where he stood. And in particular, he wanted to know where he stood with Lina. He felt convinced she'd end up showing up at the Scales, which was why he decided to tag along with Little Miss Justice, as irritating as that was. Especially now that Ameria's ridiculous crush on him seemed to have mysteriously dissappeared.
Its not like he'd enjoyed her falling over him. In fact he had found it quite painful, but somehow the lack of attention also displeased him as much as the force of it had. That he didn't understand. Yet in the last day they'd been travelling, he'd noticed a subtle shift in her behavior and it felt almost as if something were missing.
In fact, her behavior at dinner had only been the end result of a trend in her new attitude towards him.
Perhaps, he thought, it was not his change in form, but their change in companions. Her cousin, though not much older, perhaps acted as a parental figure and Ameria felt embarrased to express herself as exuberantly as usual? No, Zelgadis thought recalling Ameria's father. If anything the opposite would probably be true. Then what was it? Could it be that his true human face was actually uglier than the cursed Golemn's form?!
"Its not that she's shallow because you're appearance is affecting her. Your plight before brought out her 'champion of the poor' side, and now that you're normal..." Kari said without preamble. "Well, she doesn't feel as drawn to you. You shouldn't take it as a reflection of your appearance, which you should not take as a measure of yourself anyway."
Zelgaddis jumped off the rock, gripping his sword. "KARI!"
"Sh! You'll wake Ameria. I came over to tell you to just go to sleep. We do not need a watch."
"And why not? We're out in the open, and we could be attacked at any minute."
She smiled. "Not if you wished that we wouldn't..."
He started to argue about that, then realized she'd been joking. He shrugged instead.
"Ne, Zelgaddis-kun..." She said, obviously turning something around in her mind, weighing carefully the way to approach him.
"What is it Kari-san?" He prompted. "Couldn't whatever it was wait til morning? At least you should sleep even if I do not."
"No, it cannot. I just felt that maybe if I let you know, there might be a way for us to avoid this problem I'm having..or we're having..." She sighed staring up to the sky as she worked out her words.
Zel attempted to crush the pebbles he'd been counting to stay awake, but realized he had much less strength in this form. Damn...he thought. Instead he just ground his teeth wishing she'd get to the point. His mind was already starting to wander, no longer being as focussed with the lack of sleep. He wasn't used to dealing with people, let alone women, especially ones that he found attractive. And Kari *was* attractive...not just because she was probably the first woman he'd spoken to in almost a year, other than Lina, but because she seemed to radiate with light, and seemed to render even the little nuisance Ameria bearable company...Oh, in a way he was fond of Ameria, the way one still feels fond of a young puppy that messes up the rug once too often and won't stop barking. It's cute but a little goes just a little too far...In the face of that, Kari's maturity and presence of mind seemed a welcome break compared to the spastic girl antics of Ameria.
In fact, come to think of it, even Lina was more girl than woman, indulging in quite a few of her own exasperating quirks...but somehow, he'd never minded (much) the things Lina did...except perhaps her tendency to ignore certain interpersonal dynamics... He still wished that Lina knew how he....
She blushed so hard that he could see it through the dim light. His thoughts ground to a halt, cancelling that wish.
"I can read your thoughts." She said in a rush, as she noticed the cancelled wish. "I should have been more clear before...I'm so sorry!..."
"You said the magic responds to my thoughts. " he said feeling his own face go scarlet. That was not unclear, that was a straight out lack of disclosure. What part of his thougts had she read??
"All of it. Its like hearing you speak, and that was why I found it hard to speak and listen to you at the same time. Imagine having a conversation with someone while you're reading a letter they are writing at the same time...its very confusing."
He nodded. Reading his thoughts!? He'd just laid his entire self out to her...without meaning to do so...she'd wandered behind his guards and walls, and seen things he'd not intended her to see...the whole time he'd known her, she'd been able to read his mind.
"Not all of it, just when you're intent on something... I'm sorry, Zelgadis-kun. I just thought I should tell you before you thought anything embarassing." She smiled over her shoulder as she went back to her bag. Teasingly she added "Anything *else* embarassing, that is."
Great...what did she think of him? He wondered diving into self-doubt and analysis over his thoughts since he'd met her.
"I think you're adorable." She answered out loud. "A little angst ridden, and in need of some work on your teamwork and communication skills, but adorable."
Zelgadis groaned. "Adorable" was not a term a guy wanted to hear, it being either a step up from "Oh, but you're my friend, and I just can't think of you that way." or a step down from "Oh look mom, its a Chimera! Can I play with it?" He thought briefly over his collection of non-romantic romantic encounters, the cross-dressing "princess" who'd turned out to be a man, Ameria's crush, and a few hordes of strangely obbsesed teenage girls in some village he'd once stumbled into. He shivered. Then he briefly thought of how Lina had run off with Gourry, kissed Xellos and basically dismissed Zel's new human form without so much as an eye-bat. Perhaps his appearance never had mattered to her, but only because he had never mattered to her in quite the way he wanted to matter to her. Just for once, he thought, he wished he would.
Kari frowned slightly as she sat up in her bedroll. "If that's what you want, Zel." She said, her voice catching a little. "You now have one wish left."
"WHAT!?" He asked suddenly wide awake.
"You wished that Lina Inverse would feel about you the way you want her to feel about you...and right now, that means she is in love with you." Kari looked away from him. "I do not think that was a very good wish to make Zel. Its not as bad as wishing straight out for her to be in love with you, but still...I do not think it was wise."
He dropped his sword, so that it clanged against the rocks. A sleepy Ameria murmurred something about "For Justice!" as Zelgadis felt somehting cold slide down his spine. He had the sinking feeling that Kari's words of warning were exactly on target. If so, he'd done more than waste a wish. He may have set in motion something that would waste a whole lot more than that.