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nderstanding what it is you're doing is secondary to doing it when you're an adventurer.
This was one of the many guidelines Lina had read in her first career field manual, 'Soe, Youe Wante to Be a Heroe!'. Granted, the book didn't mean quests beyond simple slaying of monsters and raiding of ruins, but it was still a valid rule in the here and now. In the last few outings, after all, Lina had little to no idea why she was supposed to run out and do what she was doing -- or she would be doing things without knowing that they were important to some quest. The reason why you could go so unconcerned is because things tended to work out as you go along, and by the end, you'd probably have figured out exactly what that Fabulous Golden Idol of Magic and Power is used for, or exactly who was the bad guy oppressing civilization and so on.
Although leaving in the middle of a war irritated Lina, when she woke up the next day, she decided to put on a happy face and take stock. She had a strange chimeric priestess demanding that they visit her tribe and retrieve one of The Most Important Things In The World, which Xelloss had his usual enigmatic concerns over. She also had a large war around the corner to be directing, but had an easy way to do that through the world of dreams... leaving her disconnected from the action, but if her luck was running in the same vein as it always was, this little jaunt would become very crucial.
So, in the morning, she set out with full supplies on a quick ride through the Sub Ways to what was left of Pleasantville. There wasn't much emotional impact from seeing the disaster zone... simply because there wasn't enough left to make any recognizable shapes from, other than that obvious crater shape. Zelgadis, who had apparently been here before, led them up to some ruins and into an underground network of caves and BAM, that was that. On their way.
That's when Chi'Nai decided to inform them that the journey would take at least four days of finding their way through the caves. Six if the monsters were especially thick.
"Do we have six days?" Gourry asked. He had been making an effort to understand what was going on more lately, and oddly, had limited success. "Dungeon and cave travel, especially with random monsters, can really take awhile. We still need to find the thief, after all... and that's going to take time too."
"Father gave me specific instructions," Chi'Nai reminded. "I have to find the Knight of Chaos, and take her to meet him. He must have an important reason; I have faith in the winds of chaos to guide us."
"This is a waste of time," Zelgadis gloomily said.
"What makes you say -- MONSTER!!" (BLAM) "--that?" Lina asked, blowing smoke off her hand as she walked by the barbecued five legged whatever it was.
"Because what I was hoping was down here isn't going to be down here," Zelgadis said. "I've been talking with Chi'Nai. She's never heard of the one clue I found about reversing my chimeric curse... nevermind, it's a long story and I don't want to get into it right now."
"You don't have to come if you don't want," Lina shrugged. "But I have a feeling this is going to be very worthwhile."
And Lina explained her thoughts from earlier, about why she had chosen not to grumble about this mission. Why she could predict it would be important.
Chi'Nai was surprised by this.
"I didn't know you were a woman of faith," she said.
"Eh? No, I'm not religious," Lina said.
"But you just described the way to trust the winds of chaos. How you freely abandon yourself to them..."
"Ah... I didn't mean... well, I didn't mean I'd just go 'duh' and follow every little hint," Lina said. "Gotta temper that stuff with wisdom, yadda yadda. For instance... now that we apparently have a lot of time to talk, what exactly are we looking for and why? I'm not going into this totally blind -- LOOK OUT!"
Gourry stepped up and sliced the gigantic spider in half.
"Thanks, Gourry," Lina smiled.
"The elder could explain it better..." Chi'Nai said, not very unsettled by the random acts of violence.
"Try us," Lina suggested.
The group walked along the caves, a light spell hovering to light the way, as Chi'Nai explained.
"One thing you need to realize," she said upfront, "Is that my people are very religious. We consist of sentient, moral chimeric beings, who can't live Above because of humans mistaking us for non-thinking beasts... but we still have faith. Our goddess is the Lord of Chaos, and she guides our lives towards salvation, trusting us with responsibilities. We give homage and prayer randomly during the day in--"
"What's this got to do with the quest?" Zelgadis asked impatiently.
"The item we're looking for is part of an ancient bargain," Chi'Nai said, trying not to be thrown off balance from her storytelling. "From the earliest recorded days. Our people were expanding their tribal lands into new caverns and tunnels, and found a pair of glowing silver bracelets simply sitting in an unexplored cave. But when they went to pick them up, they were horribly burned. Early priests studied the objects where they lie, and came to a conclusion that inside the bracelets, there was no chaos whatsoever. They had thought that to be impossible, and prayed for guidance."
"And got no reply, I'd suspect," Zelgadis said. He casually lobbed a ball of ice ahead of the group, freezing a small pack of goblins.
"Nice shot. Anyway, you'd be surprised, Zel," Lina grinned. "We REALLY need to update you on what's been going on. The Lord of Nightmares seems to enjoy a good rap session or two."
"It was the only time our prayers were responded to," Chi'Nai said, nodding with Lina. "The Lord of Chaos took Chi'Leas... all of our elders are named Chi'Leas when they take the office, see... and explained to him the prophecy surrounding--"
"Prophecy?" Lina said. "Oooh. I HATE that word... sorry, sorry. Go on."
"Umm... the prophecy stated... I can't remember the exact words, I haven't gotten that far in my studies. But from my understanding, the Lord said that the clasps were one of the Most Important Things In The World, and it was up to the chimeras -- who hid underground to escape human persecution -- to guard them from humanity. If we ever failed in that duty, it would herald the beginning of the end, when everything changes."
"Harsh," Lina said. "Hey, is that a beholder up ahead?"
The group stopped, peering into the darkness. One giant eye looked back at them.
"Who should get it this time?" Gourry asked.
"One easy way to decide... Jun! Ken! POW!"
Zelgadis cut it in half and they continued on.
"I somehow doubt that the Mazoku War started because someone pinched these things," he also said.
"I don't think the war is the real problem," Lina said. "If it was, why would we be here? The war's just a side effect. One gigantically horribly bad side effect that's going to have bad results I don't even want to think about right now... Chi'Nai, do you know why the thing is so important? More important than what we left behind?"
The priestess shook her head. "The Lord of Chaos didn't think we should know."
"Sounds about like her," Lina sighed.
"None of this explains what I saw," Zelgadis said offhand.
"Aaaand what did you see, exactly?" Lina asked.
"A cave painting, up where we entered the caves. Before I blew the cave up, of course. It was just a dream vision, so I'm probably running a wild goose chase, but... it was a picture of some sorceress or something, chained to an altar, turning chimeras into humans."
"I told him I had never seen that image before," Chi'Nai said. "The entrances to Below are not decorated, either."
"Meaning this whole trip is a waste of my time," Zelgadis repeated from earlier. "There is likely no cure down here, or else her entire tribe would be relaxing in the sun right now with pink skin."
"Ehhh, don't be such a defeatist!" Lina chided. "Sure, we'll probably be dropped unsuspectingly into the gaping maw of death a few times, but beyond that, what could possibly go wrong?"
"Ano, has anybody seen my sleeping bag?"
The group had decided to sleep for the 'night', night being determined by a clock spell Lina had running rather than by actual moonlight. The monsters had been thick, so in addition to the small lantern and cooking fire, Lina had put up a series of wards around the cave they selected that would keep any unwelcome visitors from approaching. On the whole, every preparation and plan was running smoothly, save one small problem.
Gourry rooted through his pack, confused. "I could swear I packed it... I mean, it's a big round roll, right? I couldn't have overlooked it..."
"What's a 'sleeping bag'?" Chi'Nai asked. She had already found a good rock to use as head support, and was comfortably stretched out.
"It's comfy for folks who've got softer, more bruisable flesh," Lina said. "No offense, I mean."
"Oh, okay," Chi'Nai said. "I guess that makes sense. Does that mean Gourry will be injured if he doesn't sleep in one?"
"No, but he'll be cranky in the morning," Lina explained. Having her bedroll already prepped, she was simply discarding her clunky bits of armor, and getting ready for bed. "Gourry, why don't you double up with Zelgadis?"
"Not happening," a muffled voice said from inside Zel's sleeping bag. "Mine."
"Why does Zelgadis need one?" Chi'Nai asked, confusion mounting.
"Zelgadis likes having one. Zelgadis wasn't always a chimera, you know," Zel mumbled.
"But chances are he'll wake up cranky regardless of where he's sleeping," Lina added.
None of this helped Gourry's situation, however.
"Awww, man," he groaned. "And it's so cold down here! Lina, can you spare a pillow? I'll just take the floor."
Lina looked at her single, dinky pillow. "How about if you take the bag, and I'll take the floor?"
"But girls are softer and need more--"
"I recall having this conversation some other time," Lina said. "And if I recall, you switched places with me when I was sleeping. This time, I take the floor, and I KEEP the floor. Got it?"
Gourry let some family advice slip. "Actually, my cousin Mel told me once that if a boyfriend and a girlfriend only had one bed, they were supposed to share it--"
"WHA?! Hey! We are NOT..."
"But... I thought...? Am I wrong?" Gourry asked. "Uh. I mean..."
Lina paused. She was having trouble finding the right words too. Despite.. what they had talked about very briefly after the last quest, she had deliberately been putting off any further developments in that area... for simplicity's sake, of course. Just in case. And so on.
"Look... Gourry. We have an.. understanding?" Lina suggested. "And that means one of us takes the floor. I mean... see, the problem is that under strict definitions, we're not... look, I haven't had TIME to really put a lot of thought to.. and... okay. Here's how it is. There's--"
"Decide, shut up, and go to sleep," Zelgadis grumbled.
"I'll take the floor," Gourry said quickly, attempting to cuddle a stalagmite.
Lina winced. She chewed her lip, immediately stated to herself up front that she was going to regret this, and opened her mouth.
"We'll work on definitions later," Lina said, opening her bag. "Get in before you freeze to death. But no funny business! I have very pointy elbows and I'm not afraid to use them!"
"Oh, I know! And bony knees, and a hard head, and--"
*BONK*
"Get in here and go to sleep before I knock you unconscious myself!!" Lina helpfully offered.
Penguins. Bottles rolled onto lengths of string. Sardine tins, pressed in tight. A wild, yellow-haired gerbil on a wheel. Five pieces of a pie, but someone had stolen one and left a note in its place. Eight butterflies flying directly into a roaring fire. Along--
"Rather disoriented tonight, are we?"
Lina's mind zipped from random thoughts to sharp focus, stumbling mentally as she oriented herself. She was in a rather pleasant sidewalk cafe at exactly midnight, seemingly made out of oil-based paints, like a 3-D street life portrait...
"Weird," she said to herself.
Her companion sipped from a glass of fine wine. "Really? It's a little dream I've been designing. A very personal nightmare. Although it's outlived tonight's usefulness, I figured it would make a good meeting place... hello, Lina? Focus. I know it's harder to see the world of dreams while dreaming, but..."
Lina turned to face her date, and...
"Xelloss?" she asked.
"Of course," he smiled. He was wearing nice formal dinnerwear, but still had his irrepressible smile.
"Ahh... interesting place," Lina commented. "Interesting getup."
"You were a little late. No, let me guess; someone forgot a sleeping bag, and you had trouble getting to sleep with someone else in yours?" Xelloss asked.
Lina turned a lovely shade of red. "Wha--? How'd you--"
"That's classified," Xelloss smiled. "Say, do you like that? 'That's classified?' If I was ever in the military, which I seem to be now, that's probably what I'd say. It has a certain official ring to it. But enough fun smalltalk. How goes the quest?"
"It's slow," Lina sighed. "Like a snail compared to our brisk sendoff. It'll take us a few days to get where we're going. I still need to fill Zelgadis in on some details, and I've GOT to find Gourry something to sleep in before tomorrow night--"
Xelloss's smile grew wider.
"--ANYWAY," Lina said, "Apparently this thing we're after is wrapped up in a whole end of the world prophecy. And considering the war, that plus that equals uh-oh. Beyond that, nothing new. How's the fighting?"
"Dissimilar," Xelloss said, sipping his beverage. "We had a very exciting day when you left. As predicted, a few Dragon/Mazoku fighting pairs showed up over Sailoon. The Mazoku are targeting humans, you know. Really trying to irk the Dragons into action. Fortunately, Amelia and Naga--"
"Naga?!"
"Didn't you know? She followed you to Sailoon," Xelloss smiled. "Or rather, she followed a very bad pun. Would have come right to you if she didn't hit the palace wall. Some guards scraped her off the stonework, which is good, because I have to admit, she's EXCELLENT at white magic..."
"Pun? Wall? What?"
"I don't want to detain you too long, it's not restful," Xelloss warned. "So allow me to compress and allow yourself some confusion. Ahem. Naga and Amelia combined powers and shielded Sailoon City. Reason and Dayvid are working on making some sort of strange machine, but it won't be ready for awhile. As for the others, I just got back from checking with them; not much new. Drama has announced his presence in Justivalero as a 'holy crusading knight against the darkness' and largely was laughed at, Paradox is busy cooking up some strange magic, and the others have nothing of interest to report. And that's the state of the war. Maybe tomorrow I'll have a real death toll for you."
"...let's hope you don't," Lina said quietly. "Sounds good so far. You think we'll be able to pull this off, Xelloss? I mean, really do it, fight against the war itself and save the world...?"
"No," Xelloss said. "But it's a tremendous way to relax. Now, back to sleep with you. And tell Gourry-kun I said hello and good work."
"Wh--"
Penguins. Sixty people in a broom closet. A string of beaded pearls. A waitress with a mace. A small lizard. Lard. Square knots...
lthough initially her sleep was pretty restless, as the night went on, Lina managed to sleep deeply. It was one of those nice, warm, dreamless sort of sleeps you get after a hot chocolate on a cold winter night, or after you really had a great day beating the living snot out of evil and getting rich. Ahhh.
That ended sharply when Lina woke up.
Apparently, lacking a pillow or teddy bear, Gourry had decided to use her as one instead. Some tiny, discombobulated part of Lina's mind noted that he had really long arms, considering how they were wrapped around her like that.
Terror, anger, confusion and a variety of other feelings fought to dominate her. Of course, her first instinct was to beat Gourry senseless. It was a tried and true method of dealing with stuff like this, adding the satisfaction of punishment against some pervert to the brief adrenaline rush. She also could just sneak out of there and go make coffee and forget anything happened, or at least pry the boy off... but the scary thing was the one quiet feeling sitting in the background, saying, 'You know, this feels kind of nice.'
So Lina stayed where she was, despite having a whole lot of Gourry in contact with a whole lot of her, frozen like a deer in headlights. Minutes passed this way. She didn't make a move to do anything despite coming up with a few dozen reasons why she should. It was almost a trancelike state. Almost... a comfy state. Nice.
*SNOOOOOOORE*, Gourry's lungs went.
That broke the spell like a twig under a combat boot.
Zelgadis woke up to the sound of a domestic dispute. Noting that it was just Lina and Gourry, he got up and made some coffee.
The next few days passed uneventfully.
Lina told the entire story of her recent quest to an unbelieving Zelgadis. He repeatedly said things like 'You're putting me on' or 'Suure, how did it REALLY happen?' and such, but after awhile, he gave up his protests. But there was something odd in his eyes when she described how she became the Knight of the Lord of Nightmares. He didn't seem... surprised. Not just that he had heard it before, because clearly he hadn't heard all the details, but he knew more than he was letting on.
Gourry announced the next night that he'd sleep on the cave floor, and was curled up and pretending to sleep before anybody could object. Lina felt a wee bit guilty about that, given her reaction... reactions, the previous morning. But she decided not to think about it and just went to sleep. It was easier that way.
Nothing new to report on the war front that night... it had been a quiet day, with no attacks made on the cities and areas the winged were guarding. Xelloss let her out of the meeting quick, given how tired she seemed.
Gourry woke up with a sore back, but the monsters were thin that day and he didn't have any problems. The day slid by in very boring ways. A few fights, some chatter, nothing special. Lina had learned a long time ago to just 'tune out' travel days... the long stretches of time between point A and point B.
However, the night before they arrived at their destination, Xelloss had something significant to report.
He met her in 'The War Room', a vast chamber in the palace of chaos that he had decorated with a giant map of the world, complete with nonsensical little red dots and triangles all over the place, and words like 'strike zone' and 'demilitarized zone' and 'twilight zone'. Lately he'd taken to wearing purple military fatigues instead of his usual priest's robes. Apparently, whatever sadistic urges he once had as a Mazoku he was now pouring into interior decoration.
"We're being avoided," he announced.
Lina sipped her really bad war room coffee, and frowned. "Avoided how?"
"Avoided, as in the Mazoku are goading the Dragons into fights away from the cities that are under our protection," Xelloss explained. "But it's not simply a trial and error, oh no, this city's protected, let's leave it alone thing. Nobody has gone near the countries Paradox is protecting, for example, but every land around them has been attacked. I believe the Mazoku are deliberately skipping us over."
Lina tapped her chin. "How do they know? I mean, Paradox's places are probably obvious, but nobody should be able to sense Drama or Love right away..."
"I'll be looking into it. You need to concentrate on your quest. You trust me to handle this, yes?" he asked.
She was hesitant to ask, but curiosity could be overpowering sometimes.
"Xelloss... you think a double agent may be involved?" Lina asked.
"Probably," Xelloss said, looking nonchalant. "But it would have to be someone with connections to the Mazoku. I can't think of any of the winged who are on speaking terms with my former employers."
Except for one, Lina thought darkly. But if he was, why would he point it out to her?
Faintly, Lina wished she wasn't on this quest, and was up where her friends were in trouble. Now she understood why Gourry wanted her to be in the field... even if she was away from danger this way, she was completely disconnected from reality. And that reality might not last very long.
By now, she had learned not to expect ticker tape parades and joyous welcoming. The last few times she returned to Sailoon with important information and such, nobody had raised an eyebrow. But at the very least, there should be a feast of some kind... right?
But the Hi'Chi'Orld tribe, despite having practically no human visitors over the years, barely noticed their arrival. The reason was simple.
"Chi'Leas already told people you'd be coming, so they're not surprised," Chi'Nai explained plainly.
Lina wasn't buying it. "I've seen more reaction from... from... Zelgadis, what's a good thing to say I've seen more reaction from?"
"A statue," Zelgadis suggested.
"A statue," Lina completed.
"...although that could be considered an insult here," Zelgadis added after the fact.
Actually, there were a lot of statues. Lina surveyed the architecture as they walked through the underground city, occupying a vast cavern with no sun. The buildings were very angular, uninteresting, but the courtyards were littered with statues -- presumably of important chimeras, now immortalized in stone. Dead stone, at least.
All the chimeras here were stone based. True, some were stone gargoyles and some stone lizardmen, some stone cats... most were humanoid in appearance. But Lina knew a few things about chimeras, and knew they weren't so much a species as they were a mix of species. You could use stone, as was done with Zelgadis, but why would an entire group of chimeras all have some stone element to them?
Still, they acted largely like people... wandering the streets, conducting business, eating food (where'd they get it?) and other ordinary tasks. The whole city bustled quietly and politely in its daily business, with no eyes turned to Lina and her group.
"Fun place," Lina commented dryly.
"Yes, we do have a lot of entertainments," Chi'Nai said, not catching the sarcasm. "We have a moment... would you like to see one? The play stage is right over there..."
Lina floated up a foot or four to see over the crowd.
On stage, several chimeras were dressed like... other chimeras. The audience sat in nicely organized rows, watching the play.
"I thought you closed the window," one actor said.
"No, Chi'Berta close it last night. She said she felt a draft from one of the lower caves, and did not want to catch a cold."
"It's very fortunate that she closed it, then. I heard that Chi'Frat fell with a disease this morning, and could not show up to work."
"Maybe we should send him tidings of good health?"
"Dull," Lina said, levitating back to the floor.
Gourry scratched his head. "I hope that Chi'Frat guy'll be okay. Hey, Lina, maybe you could use your white magic and heal him!"
"Gourry, it's just a play. Chi'Frat doesn't exist," Lina reminded him.
Chi'Nai seemed confused.
"Of course he does," she said. "He got a cold a month ago. His friend wrote that play about it."
"Oh. Art imitating life, then?" Lina asked. "Hey, Zel. You've been pretty quiet. What do you think about all this?"
"...I think I'm going home," Zelgadis said, studying the chimeras around him. "This place is creeping me out, and there's obviously no cure here. Good luck on your quest."
"Go home?" Lina asked. "But we just got started! How're you going to find your way back to the surface, anyway?"
"I have a good memory," Zelgadis said factually.
"But there's adventure and excitement and really wild things afoot! I mean, here we are, traveling again... I mean... ne, Chi'Nai, convince him to stay."
"Me?" Chi'Nai asked. "I do not see it as my decision."
"Exactly," Zelgadis agreed. "So if you'll excuse me..."
Lina wouldn't give up. "Come on. Don't be such a sourpuss, at least stick around until after we meet the shaman or the leader or whatever his name--"
"--Chi'Leas--" Chi'Nai supplied.
"--was," Lina completed. "Get some food, you know, maybe some rest... then you can head off. Fair? Is it a deal?"
Zelgadis watched the stone-skinned pedestrians, passing by him on the road.
"Fine," he agreed. "But only until then."
However dry and unresponsive the average chimera on the street was, Chi'Leas made up for it with bounding enthusiasm.
"Welcome, welcome!!" he greeted, opening his doors wide. "Please, come in, make yourselves at home. I've got some tea on the kettle, if you'd like some... can I take that sword for you? Don't worry, I promise to give it back. My! A chimera from Above! Just as I had thought. I'm so pleased. Now, there's some comfortable chairs over there, I always keep them around for when I get human visitors even though I don't get any, and if you need a drink coaster there's a few in the rack by the gas lamp..."
"...hi?" Lina greeted.
The elder of the tribe was an old man, clearly; his beard comprised of a pale shale, his eyes glassy. There was a lot of stone to him, but with patches of exposed flesh that were more pink than most they had seen today. And he bore the widest smile seen in the day as well, like a little boy opening a gift.
"It's so good to see you, very good. I wish it could have been under better circumstances, but... ne, Chi'Nai dear, you didn't have any problems, did you? Are you well?"
"I am well, father," Chi'Nai said. She hadn't matched the gleeful tone of her father, but wasn't upset, either. She simply found a seat, and sat.
"Well. Well, well. I'm sure you have a lot of questions," Chi'Leas said, taking his own seat, which was no different from the rest. "Sit sit sit. Let's get cracking. Not that stone should crack, of course... heh. My little joke, do you like it?"
"It's very funny," Gourry smiled. He was able to get along with anybody, no matter how senile.
"Umm... Chi'Leas?" Lina started. "About these Important Things--"
"Yes yes, the quest. I suppose we had better get to business indeed, not much time left in the world, what with everything ending," he agreed. "So. How can I help you? Just name it and if I can get it it's yours."
"Why exactly is everything ending? That's a good place to start."
Chi'Leas blinked... then burst out into guffaws of laughter "A pun! A joke! Oh, it's been so long since I heard a good one."
"And a long time yet, I'd suspect," Zelgadis said dryly.
The old man got himself under control, and delivered, with a perfect smile, "The world is ending. Well, the world as we know it. It's hard to say, but everything changes, and the beginning is the end. That's all part of the prophecy, you see, that the Lord of Chaos gave us when we found those bracelets... clasps? Bracelets? However you want to call them. But I suspect Chi'Nai told you a lot of this. She's a very responsible girl."
"Yes," Chi'Nai agreed.
"Very responsible...." Chi'Leas said, almost with a wistful sigh. He recovered, and continued. "A human claiming to be Luna Inverse stole them. She tricked one of ours into helping her, a boy named Chi'Bi... very impressionable lad, but aren't they all?"
"Yes yes, but WHY are they the most important things in the world?" Lina asked.
"We don't know."
Lina did a double-take. "You what?"
"The Lord of Chaos didn't say. For the best, for the best. We'd go and make mistakes if we knew. I know what they might be and if they are what they might be, oh, it would be VERY bad," Chi'Leas said. "But this is all secondary. Chaos allows us to act without knowledge and still make the proper decisions as nature dictates, yes?"
"...I suppose, but..."
"There is one thing that this Not-Luna did not steal, because only I know that it exists," Chi'Leas said. "And that's the key. Well, no, the key is in the world of dreams, but the key to the puzzle of finding the pieces, yes, that I have and that I can give you so you can track the things down. I'm sure you'll do the right thing with them--"
"Whoa! Slow down!" Lina begged. "Wait. Now... we're going to return your clasps. But that's it. I mean, nobody said anything about gathering all these pieces, and we have a war we're fighting--"
"Ah, so the end times HAVE begun. I figured as much. In which case you had better find the pieces. No, not that I was told that, it's just a feeling and I usually trust my feelings, you see? Or maybe you won't. I guess it's totally up to you and chaos as things will it, but since you're the Knight of Chaos I suppose we're all in the best possible hands even if everything goes wrong, yes? Right. Follow me."
The old man got up, and shuffled off with surprising speed. Bewildered, Lina set her tea down, and followed; Gourry and Zelgadis in suit.
"Jeez, this place is like a maze," Lina said, worming her way through the twisted hallways of Chi'Leas's temple home. It was hard to see where she was going in the dim light, but managed to see the outline of the old priest as he cruised along, knowing exactly where he was going... then paused.
"You understand," he said, "I don't show this room to just anyone. But I think it would help because it would be the right thing to do, yes? Good."
With that, he shoved on the massive double doors, flinging them open to the sun--
Lina's eyes screeched in protest, but adjusted. Flooding the corridor came bright, beautiful sunlight... as the doors opened to a balcony, overlooking a grassy plain and a sky of fluffy white clouds. An impossible thing underground...
"This is my thinking room," Chi'Leas explained. "Thinking and painting. I do my painting here because it's like Above, even if it's just an illusion. I do remember some magic from the Alternative Magic Society, and Alyson taught me well, but... but I'm getting ahead of myself. Come, come. It's nice, fresh air, or at least the imitation of it."
"Very.. interesting," Lina admitted. She poked at the air, trying to find the real walls of the room; wherever they were, she couldn't reach them. Looked around. "Hey, where'd Chi'Nai go?"
"Likely she didn't see a need to follow," Chi'Leas sighed. "I love my daughter dear, but her curiosity is long gone... again! Getting ahead of myself. Please, Knight of Chaos, take this gift."
The old man picked up a rough stone circle, sitting near the covered easel and paint pots. At first Lina had thought it to be a color palette of some kind, with five hued circles on it, but now could see that wasn't any kind of paint... Chi'Leas shoved it roughly into her hands.
"And I believe that colors my task done," Chi'Leas smiled, relieved. "Now Chaos will take the burden from my shoulders.. and place it on yours, but you're far more worthy."
"Burden? What? HEY!" Lina said. "How long have you been underground, pops? You aren't making any sense here. Let's take it from the top."
"Fair enough, fair enough," Chi'Leas agreed. "I--"
"Your thing gets stolen by some girl," Lina interrupted, not eager to see the old man rant more. "You sent your daughter out to find the Knight of Chaos, right?" The priest nodded. "Okay. That would be me. So, Zelgadis here finds her and takes her to me by coincidence. She says, go down, see my dad, one of the Most Important Things was stolen. My advisor against all reason suggests that the Knight of Shaburanigdo stole it--"
Chi'Leas's flesh went pale. "Oh dear. Oh dear. That would be bad. Before you ask, no, I don't know why, but it would be VERY bad."
"I figured as much," Lina said. "So, we come down here, you drag us here, and.... now. What's this thing?"
"That's a painting I did a week or three ago--"
"Not the easel, this!" Lina said, holding up the stone.
"Oh! Oh, dear, I forgot to say... I'm sorry, Knight. I'm very sorry," Chi'Leas apologized, mood-swinging from giddy to pleading. "I've lost so much, you see, and... you see, that stone was part of the bargain. It was a secret only the Chi'Leas knew about. When we found those clasps, and the Lord of Chaos herself came down to speak to us, she gave the elder that circle. If the clasps are ever moved, I was to give the circle to the Knight of Chaos. That's all. As usual, she didn't explain why."
Lina paused, just in case the old man launched into another tirade. He stayed silent.
"How's it work?" she hazarded to ask.
"You just touch a little colored dot and you'll see," Chi'Leas said.
Figuring it couldn't hurt, Lina poked at a random dot--
--peeling her mind across unimaginable distances, whipping through caverns until she couldn't stand the speed, shooting out into the bright blue sky and across the ocean, shooting by birds in flight, approaching a gigantic ivory tower in the sea, through corridors so fast she couldn't pause to recognize where she was and to a guarded and locked storeroom where a lock rested--
--and back again. Lina staggered at the total lack of movement, her inner ear threatening to go on strike.
"Whoa," she understated.
"I think it's a map," Chi'Leas said. "A map that takes you to the other four pieces. That way, you can find them. That other person didn't know this map existed so she didn't take it, which means you have an advantage! Isn't that great! Well, bye now."
"Bye!" Gourry said in farewell, since it was the only word he had really understood in the last five minutes.
"Bye? Whoa, wait! What about--"
"That's all I really know," Chi'Leas said. "It's all I can tell you, so I suspect you're going to want to get going on the quest, mmm? And such."
"Jeez, this is just as insane as Sailoon was!" Lina grumbled, pulling at her hair. "No way, pops. We're staying put for the evening. I need food, I need a REAL bed, and then we can go. It's the only sensible way to start a quest! Got it?"
"Oh! Oh, I'm sorry, I completely forgot about the feast I had prepared!" Chi'Leas gasped. "Where is my mind today? In my head and my stone, I suspect, but that's secondary. Have Chi'Nai take you to the Hall of Ancients. Here I am, that whole grand welcoming party slipping my mind--"
Lina's eyes lit up like stars. "Feast!" she recognized, pouncing on the word. "Let's go, Gourry!!"
"Wh--"
She grabbed his arm, and took off like a lightning bolt.
Once the balcony overlooking an imaginary land went quiet, Zelgadis calmly turned, and started to leave.
A stony hand rested on his shoulder.
"Actually," Chi'Leas said, his voice serious for a change, "I was wondering if we could talk first."
hile Lina was busy gnawing on roast leg of animals as of yet unidentified, Gourry was busy studying the room.
He didn't have a keen analytical mind, but he did know what a proper celebration was like. His family tended to party at the drop of a hat. New baby in the family? Barbecue. Someone died? Pork chops. Little Billy lost his first tooth? Steak night. And while there was plenty of meat on the table, there was an important element missing.
"Nobody here is having any fun," Gourry said.
Lina, who was busy filling her stomach, paused between bites to talk. "What (munch) makes (gumph) you (mmm!) say (chomp) that (gnaw) Gourry?"
"Well.. look at them," Gourry said, gesturing.
The chimeras were busy partying down. Apparently, Chi'Leas had set up a welcoming committee, of a number of stone faced folks -- in that they didn't express much elation at the wondrous coming of the Knight of Chaos. There were banners reading WELCOME and some folks were setting off firecrackers and party streamers were in abundance... and yes, a few smiles... but they didn't feel right.
"Okay, so they're not the most exciting folks in the world," Lina shrugged, setting a chicken (hopefully) bone down. "What's the problem?"
Gourry leaned over in his chair, and tapped the chimera sitting next to him. "Excuse me, why are you throwing this party?"
"To celebrate the Knight of Chaos coming to help us," the man said simply.
"How do you feel about it?"
"Good," he said, in the same tone one would say 'nine'.
"Just good?"
The chimera seemed confused. "I'm supposed to be happy about it, right? I am happy."
Lina paused before she began on the next chicken leg.
"I think I see what you mean," she said. "What gives?"
"What do you mean, copies?" Zelgadis asked, alarmed.
"Copies to avoid our end," Chi'Leas sighed. "It's our greatest sin against Chaos. To avoid the random end of a mortal person, we've been re-using the stone of dead chimeras in rituals to resurrect them, again and again. Slowly losing something in the process... I have been recreated sixteen times so far. Chi'Leas, the elder, again and again, through time to fill his function..."
Zelgadis didn't follow. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Everything changes," Chi'Leas said. "We've lost our humanity. Don't you understand what that means, Zelgadis? I can see it in your eyes. You are human."
"Are you going blind, old man? I'm a chimera--"
"Humanity isn't just a species, it's a frame of mind," Chi'Leas said. "We've lost ours. We're beings of order now, going through the paces of our lives, emotions slowly bled out of us with each resurrection. But what could we do? We can't reproduce naturally to keep us going, not being such a wide variety of chimeric lifeforms."
"Ridiculous. Your daughter, Chi'Nai--"
"My daughter, she... my daughter is gone. Her smile, her laugh, her personality... all drained over the years, and she didn't even notice. I'm the only one alive who knows what our way of life will lead to. I do the ceremonies that keep us going. There is no spark of humanity left in us, just a dry shell, repeating forever in perfect order, in perfect isolation Below. You saw those statues on the way in? Chimera who realized what was happening to them, and wanted nothing more to do with it. All that's left is the stone. I've kept on. I held my emotions, no matter how wild and unpredictable they could be... so I could REMEMBER all this. And wait."
Zelgadis sat in stunned amazement. The giddily happy old guy, now leaning heavily on the railing of his balcony, a great weight on his shoulders... and dumping it onto Zelgadis's in return.
"What are you waiting for?" Zel asked, hesitant to speak. "It's Lina, isn't it?"
Chi'Leas shook his head. "Lina is Chaos embodied, and she will hopefully save us all. But... you. I was actually waiting for you. I saw you, in my dreams, several weeks ago."
Zelgadis's weird meter started ringing like a hotwired alarm bell. He briefly considered running.
The elder walked over to his easel. "I saw you in a cave. And I saw this." He pulled the cover off his easel.
...kneeling before a chained goddess; a woman who, despite being bound to her altar, was blessing them. Then they'd walk off beyond the altar, and be transformed from chimera to human...
The vision vanished, replaced by the more simplistic painting. Zel stepped forward, ignoring his weirdness meter, and spoke.
"The colors are wrong," he said. "The altar isn't gold, it's silver. Plus, the hair on the figure there should be yellow, not gray. It's reversed, gold to silver, silver to gold."
"But is the rest right? Did I see what I thought I saw?" Chi'Leas asked. "The chimera being restored to humanity?"
"That's what I saw," Zel agreed. A pang of reason hit him. "But how did you see what I saw?"
"The winds of chaos blow in strange ways," Chi'Leas said reverently. "Perhaps I'm one of the only ones among us who truly believe in our Lord, despite my sins. The rest just go through the motions, as they would anything else in the day. But I can feel when my mind goes, starting to break down and lose its emotions... do you know how hard it is, me speaking to you like this, trying to form every word and not fly off on a tangent?"
"Then WHY are you doing this??" Zelgadis asked, frustrated.
"You can help," Chi'Leas said, grasping at Zel's shoulder, leaning; he was getting tired from the effort. "We're not gone, not dead. I can feel it somewhere inside me. We need to be awakened, restored from our prisons of stone. There is power in your journey, power to be harnessed once it's understood, and you can understand it. You've seen visions from the Lake of Reflections, haven't you? None of us can see those things! Not anymore. You're only a chimera on your skin, Zelgadis, no matter what you think. Skin means nothing! You're just the right person with the right qualities at the right time. You ARE a human, and you can help us!"
Zelgadis supported the man, who now was near collapse. The younger man's eyes were wide with terrified delight. "What.. what can I do about this? Lina's the Knight, not me! The one who's probably center of more prophecies than I can count on three hands!"
"Help her," Chi'Leas begged. "Help her understand, understand what she has to do..."
"I don't know what she has to do. I didn't even know she was this Knight thing until a day ago!"
Something changed in Chi'Leas's eyes. He shifted, away from his focused concentration, back to the shaky emotional ground he addressed Lina through. This relaxed him tremendously, more stable, while not stable at all.
"I think.. I need a nap," he said. "Yes yes, a nap would be good. Rest is just the ticket for a solid day's work, after all. Isn't that right, boy? Right, that's right."
"Hey, don't flip out on me here!" Zelgadis ordered. "What do you want me to do? Simple words only!"
"Do? Do, do, mmm... why don't you be a nice lad, and take my daughter down to the reflecting pool?" Chi'Leas suggested. "Very relaxing place, very nice. She'd like that. She's so sullen lately, not like when she was young... I'll go rest, rest is good..."
He elder looked at his blue sky and balcony, before shuffling to the door.
"I'm a silly old man with silly chimera wishes, you know, lad," he said. "About as crazy as a blue sky underneath the ground. But who knows? If a nice sunny day in this place is possible, what other things could be possible?"
torming through the temple, Zelgadis led a confused Chi'Nai by the hand, worming his way down the passages.
"Where are we going?" Chi'Nai asked, requesting information. "Where's father?"
"He's taking a nap," Zelgadis said. "We're going to the reflecting pool. Lead me there. Although I doubt it'll be of any use, the way the old madman was rambling..."
"It's this way," Chi'Nai said, not reacting to the 'old madman' comment. She took the lead, pressing on past doors and halls, out of the building, down the streets...
Zelgadis couldn't believe it. He couldn't understand it, either. Where did Chi'Leas get off, telling him he wasn't a chimera? Of course he was! Why else would he have to hide behind a cloak and mask whenever he went into a populated town, or why he could pick his teeth with his hair, and tended to leave gravel behind in bed? What was the one thing he was striving to cure?
Granted, from what he was saying, these guys were worse off. They looked funny, and they lacked human minds... at least, they had them once, but no longer. And this person leading him, Chi'Nai... he noticed she was a little bland, but just chalked it up to a bland personality. Was she actually alive? What was the definition of 'alive', anyway? And WHY did the old fart think he could do anything about this situation? This was Lina's quest, not his...
A thousand thoughts raced through Zelgadis's head, arguing with each other, throwing chairs and calling names. Frustration mounted on top of frustration.
"It's ridiculous!" he said aloud.
"We're here," Chi'Nai said, gesturing to the large array of fountains, pouring crystal clear water into a renewing pool, flowing through over and over again. "And what's ridiculous?"
"Your dad," Zelgadis said. "You know you don't have a personality, right? All of you don't. According to him we're dealing with a bunch of mechanical people here. And he expects me to do something about this??"
"I.. don't understand. What are you talking about?"
"No, I didn't think you'd understand. It wasn't the impression that I got. If you're even aware of what's going on on the same level, that is," Zel said, just freely speaking his mind, wanting to get this off his chest. "When was the last time you had a good laugh?"
"Why, just the other--"
"A big one? As in, you REALLY found something funny, and you felt it, and laughed?" Zelgadis asked.
Chi'Nai thought back, a look of focus on her face... continuing and continuing. "I don't know."
"See?"
"When did you laugh last?" she asked.
Zelgadis stopped. "Why, just... look, I'm not up for discussion here, okay? So I'm not a joker. I just... ugh! This is really, really...! Really!!"
"You shouldn't be so stressful. Stress is bad for your skin, it causes cracks at an early age," Chi'Nai recited. "You should relax more."
"Oh? And what would you suggest?" Zelgadis asked, contemptuous.
"Moisture usually helps cool people down," Chi'Nai said.
"You want me to dive into the pool?"
Chi'Nai scooped up some of the water, and raised it up for Zelgadis. "This pool was a gift to us from an old friend of the tribe, who had similar views on chaos. It's said to bring wisdom."
Without putting any thought into it, Zelgadis took a hearty sip, and sat down by the pool's edge. "Who gave it to you guys?"
"A mage named Silverquick," Chi'Nai said, sitting next to him. "It's special water. It--"
Zelgadis choked. "Wait, you mean I drank... THAT w
as flying across a span of reality that stretched him to temporal limits he wasn't expecting to run into, linking, winding, peeling away into visions he found strange familiarity to, a pang of recognition, a grumble of similar dissent, bleeding into light of silver flowing through a non-space of sight, where he could sense the BEING of all, here and now, moving away from something, a golden streak in a silver sky, lines crisscrossing like a grid, like strands warped around each other, like chains, reaching out, binding, five pieces locking together to become a mechanism which shouldn't be, restricting and constricting, the face of a goddess bound looking at Zelgadis, pleading for understanding, as a darkly gray shadow loomed and chuckled, the three of one below the altar wrangling for control, bickering and fighting as the world shakes itself apart to their whim, the end of everything, and falls and drops and skims backwards through time and returning to a hard shell from which he
reeled, his mind not ready for that sort of thing. Zelgadis teetered, and fell back into the water with a resounding splash, knocked unconscious. And now, completely submerged in the water.
Chi'Nai's mind registered; Zelgadis passed out. He could be drowning.
Inside, a pang urged her to help him out of the water quickly, even if it meant giving him a little whiplash. Not a very wise thing to do, but she had to do it. She checked his breathing, found it was okay, and summoned some help.
Lina paced in a tight little oval that was slowly but surely being worn into the rug.
"Why isn't he waking up, if he's fine??" she demanded to know.
The chimera doctor shrugged. "I don't know."
"Don't you care that your patient could possibly not get up at all here?" Lina asked. "Or that I could burn this entire place to the foundations if made upset?"
"Lina!" Gourry gaped. "Let's not go overboard, okay?"
"And you," she continued, facing Chi'Nai. "Why did you take him near something as dangerous as waters from the Lake of Reflections?"
"They're not dangerous to us..." Chi'Nai said. She was feeling... slight embarrassment. A pang. "Silverquick said that only humans need to worry about bad side effects."
"One way or another, they've done a number on Zel here," Lina said, discontented. "We're going to have to stay here until he wakes up. No two ways about it."
"But your quest," Chi'Nai remembered. "Do you need Zelgadis for the quest?"
"No, but we're staying anyway," Lina said. She sat right down on the floor, crosslegged. "In fact, I'm not moving from this spot except of course for bathroom breaks, large meals and sleep until he--"
Zelgadis's eyes opened.
"Much better," she smiled. "You awake now?"
"Yes?" Zelgadis asked. He sat up, slowly. "I feel... more awake than I have in years, actually. Did someone give me coffee or something?"
"You fell into the pool," Chi'Nai said.
Zelgadis rubbed his forehead, a scraping sound of stone on stone. "Ugh... I know, I know. I can tell. I keep having--"
He froze.
"--flashes," he continued, a few moments later. "Please let this pass... oh no. Lina!!"
"Present?" Lina said.
Zelgadis jumped out of bed, and grabbed Lina by the shoulders. "We've got to hurry with this quest, and find all those.. pieces, things, whatever! Do you have any idea what they are?!"
Lina wobbled, being shaken. "N-No, we don't. You know tha--"
"First of all... the thing stolen from the chimeras? They aren't clasps, they're manacles," Zelgadis said, eyes focused somewhere far away. "You combine them with the other parts... and you can bind the Lord of Nightmares. That's who the goddess was in my dream, and that's why she was chained to that altar. These parts are meant to enslave her power to whoever assembles the Most Important Things In The World. And with that kind of power..."
The room fell in complete silence. Nothing moved.
Lina turned to Chi'Nai.
"How soon can we restock our supplies and get out of here?" she asked.