Slayers Return to Childhood Chapter 5
Sep. 19th, 2009 03:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eastofthemoonI know it's been a long time since I wrote another chapter to this story, but here's a rough draft version of Chapter 5. Again, this is a rough draft, so be warned there are probably a number of grammer/spelling mistakes
Also, there are more Tales of the Abyss cameos. Yeah, I had a lot of fun with this chapter. ^_^
Title: Return to Childhood
Series: Slayers
Rating: G
They walked in silence. Lina looked up at Gourry. He was mad. He barely said two words when he told her they needed to go back to the inn. She filled him in on what had happened, well, minus the part of her getting caught and Wizer showing up. There was no need to give him any more evidence that he was possibly right about the whole situation. Although, the silence was killing her.
Lina sighed. She would have to tackled this eventually. “Look Gourry, I’m sorry we took off-“
“After you and Zelgadis promised you wouldn’t” Gourry cut in. “I was worried about you. You could have gotten arrested.”
Lina scoffed. “Hey! It almost worked. If Amelia hadn’t shown up right now I would be holding that bottle in my hands. Besides, I wouldn’t be arrested, I would be sent to reform school according to Wizer.”
Lina bite her tongue as soon as her words left her mouth. Crud!!
Gourry turned to her, raising an eyebrow. “Wizer? When did you meet him?”
The sorceress sweated, putting on the cutest face she could master. “Oh, it was nothing Gourry! I just ran into him.”
Gourry glared. “You did get caught didn’t you?”
Lina’s shifted back and forth looking for any type of distraction. Her eyes landed on the city guardsmen’s headquarters. She paled as two female guardsmen strolled towards it.
Gourry tapped his foot. “Come on Lina, it’s time to come clean-“
Lina grabbed his arm. “Forget about that!” She pointed. “Take a look at those two other there!”
Gourry blinked. “The women heading into that building? So what?”
Lina growled. “Look who’s with them Jellyfish brain!”
The swordsman looked again and then gapped. “Amelia? And is that Pokota with her?”
Lina grumbled. “It seems I wasn’t the only one to get caught.”
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Zelgadis was fuming. He sat in the chair, arms folded and glared at the colonel of the city guardsmen. It was bad enough they kept treating him like a child, but he did not like the colonel. He introduced himself as Colonel Curtis, but his manners were far too similar to Xellos for Zelgadis’ liking. The style of his smirk, how his hands were neatly folded and even how he titled his glasses. It wouldn’t surprise him if this man was somehow Xellos’s human clone. The image made Zelgadis’s skin crawl.
Colonel Curtis tapped his ink pen. “And where did you find this boy, Guy?”
“Downtown and there was no sign of his parents.”
The colonel raised a curious eyebrow. “Hmm, it’s quite unusual for someone so young to be out so late. Are you a runaway perhaps?”
“No, I’m not,” Zelgadis growled. “My parents are at the inn.”
Luke sighed. “Then just tell us which inn so we can take you home.”
And let Lina find out that the city guardsmen found me and brought me home like a lost child? HELL NO! This would haunt him for months on end, possibily even years.
Luke eyes narrowed and he knelt down. “You know, you’re rather stubborn for a kid? And what’s with that mask? Are you trying to be some kind of mysterious hero?”
Zelgadis glared back. “That’s none of your business and I don’t need help. As I’ve been telling you for the last hour I CAN GET HOME MYSELF!!”
“My, my, aren’t we vocal,” Jade replied.
Guy patted Luke’s shoulder. “Let it go, Luke.”
Luke glanced at the kid and whispered to Guy. “But this kid is being weird. He won’t even tell us his name.”
“He’s probably just scared and he’s not that weird.” He smirked. “In fact he reminds of another kid I knew years ago.”
“Who?”
Guy pointed at him and Luke choked. “Me? I was nothing like this!”
“Well, you were just as stubborn.”
“If you two are done strolling down memory lane,” Colonel Curtis interrupted, turning back to Zelgadis. “I must agree with Luke, it would be better if you took off your mask so we can see your face.”
Zelgadis immediately put his hands on his mask. “Hell, no!”
“Oh, your parents allow you to swear too do they?”
“Excuse me, Colonel.”
The colonel turned to the door. “Tear, you’re back from portal early.”
The long haired woman entered. “Natalia and I encountered another gang attack.”
The colonel frowned. “I’m assuming from your expression they managed to escape arrest.”
Tear nodded. “They almost attacked a lost child we found-“
“Wait, you guys found a lost kid too?” Luke exclaimed.
Tear frowned. “What do you mean ‘too’?” Then she noticed Zelgadis sitting in the chair. “Who’s this boy?”
Zelgadis was too busying keeping himself calm to answer. Another lost child? No. It couldn’t be Amelia or Lina. The chances of that happening are-
“Mister Zelgadis?!”
Zelgadis froze as his name was called. Slowly he turned and spotted Amelia peeking around the corner with Pokota in her arms.
Oh great!
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“Okay Gourry,” Lina whispered as they huddled by the bushes. “You understand the plan right?”
“Sure, but Lina do you really think I can pull this off?”
Lina folded her arms. “It’s not like we have a choice Jellyfish brain. I would do it, but I doubt they’re going to believe that a kid is Amelia’s parent. So, that only leaves you to bail Amelia out.”
“But Lina, wouldn’t the guards just take her back to the inn.”
“Sure and probably ask a lot of nosey questions. Besides, I don’t want to take the risk of Wizer finding out where we are.” She stroked her chin. “He said he was working with the city guardsmen, so we should get Amelia out before Wizer comes back and recognizes her.”
Gourry’s eyes narrowed. “Again, how exactly were you caught?”
Lina snarled in frustration. “Look, I promise I’ll give you full details later. Let’s just save Amelia first.”
Gourry climbed to his feet. “I hope my acting skills aren’t too rusty.”
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“Let me see if I get this straight,” Guy replied, staring at the two children. “You two are brother and sister and your family is traveling through town on your way to your grandparents?”
“That is correct,” Zelgadis replied.
“And your parents have no problem letting you two wander alone in the middle of the night?”
“I would like to know why she called him ‘Mister’. Isn’t that a weird name for a brother?”
“Luke, be quiet,” Tear replied.
Amelia cleared her throat. “Actually, Mister Zelgadis snuck out when he wasn’t suppose to.” She shot the chimera a glare. “And I went after him to bring him back.”
Zelgadis coughed.
“And then you got lost?” Tear asked.
Amelia nodded. She felt a little guilty for not saying the whole truth, but it was generally true.
“Oh, I get it,” Guy said nodding, looking to Zelgadis. “That’s why you didn’t want us to bring you to your parents because you wanted to sneak back without getting into trouble.”
“Something like that,” Zelgadis muttered.
The colonel said nothing. Since they entered, his gaze had been locked onto Pokota. It made the small creature anxious.
“That’s a remarkable doll, you have there.”
Amelia smiled. “Oh, thank you.”
He leaned back, never removing his gaze from Pokota. “It’s very realistic. If I didn’t know any better, I would say it was alive.”
Amelia and Zelgadis joined Pokota in sweating.
“May I have a closer look at it?”
Amelia bit her lip. If he looked at Pokota, he would figure out Pokota was alive and then what would happen?
Excuse! Think of an Excuse! Amelia thought frantically.
“Excuse me Colonel,” Natalia popped her head in the doorframe. “A man wishes to speak to you.”
The colonel’s expression never changed. “Tell him to wait Natalia, I’m still dealing with our young charges here.”
“Actually, this concerns them. He claims to be their father.”
Amelia and Zelgadis exchanged shocked looks.
The colonel stood up. “My, now that is interesting.” He looked to Zelgadis and Amelia “Would you two please stay here while the rest of us deal with this?”
As they left the room, Zelgadis, Amelia and Pokota raced to the door and peaked open a crack.
“It’s Mister Gourry!” Amelia whispered.
“How did he know we were here?” Pokota asked.
“Who cares,” Zelgadis replied, feeling relief for the first time in hours. “It means we can get out of here.”
The colonel titled his glasses at Gourry. “So, your name Sir?”
“Um…Gourry Gabriev. Can I have my daughter now?”
Uh oh, thought Zelgadis.
Tear frowned. “You mean your daughter AND your son right?”
Gourry blinked. “Son?”
“She and her brother are both here,” Natalia replied, sounding wary. “Are you saying you didn’t know they were both missing?”
Gourry’s eyes widened a moment, but gave shaky smile. “Oh, sure! I meant both. I’ve just been scared to death and not thinking straight.”
“Of course,” Jade replied. “Otherwise it would seem very suspicious for a father to take one child home and not the other.” He grinned. “Don’t you agree Sir?”
“Um…yeah…”
Amelia swallowed. “I think Mister Gourry might be in trouble.”
Zelgadis growled. These guards were not idiots and the way things were going he would have to take matters into his own hands. There was one idea that was certain to work, but he would rather have his teeth yanked out then do it. He would save it as a last resort. Maybe Gourry could still pull it off.
“Say, how did you know your kids were here?” Luke asked. “It wasn’t that long ago we brought them in and we haven’t asked any of the local inns if anyone’s missing a kid yet.”
“A fair point Luke,” Jade replied, with his arms folded behind his back. “It does seem rather convenient you knew exactly where to look for them.”
“Well, that was just a hunch. When I realized they were missing a few hours ago, I figured they must have been brought in.”
“So, why didn’t you ask us straight away once you found them missing?” Tear asked.
Gourry sweated.
Zelgaids stomach lurched. “Dammit, I’m going to have to do it.”
Amelia and Pokota stared puzzled. “Do what Mister Zegadis?”
The chimera stared at her. The seriousness in his eyes scared the princess. “Amelia, Pokota, I’m about to do something that I’m going to regret for the rest of my life.” He placed his hands on her shoulders. “That said, I want you two to swear to never tell a soul of what you are about to witness me do.”
Pokota stared baffled. What was this guy planning? “What are you going to do?”
“Swear first!”
“All right, I swear!” Pokota cried, raising his paw. Amelia also swore.
Zelgadis took a deep breath. “Fine, here goes.” He flew open the door. In a very high pitched voice Zelgadis, once named a heartless sorcerer swordsman, cried at the top of his lungs “DADDY!”
Amelia and Pokota’s jaws dropped.
Zelgadis ran forward. Refusing to let any of the guardsmen stop him, he leapt and clung to Gourry’s leg.
The swordsman stared dumbfounded. The only logical explanation was that this was not Zelgadis but a kid or a copy that looked exactly like him.
Cringing on the inside, Zelgadis buried his face to Gourry’s leg. “I was so SCARED! I’m so glad you found me, Daddy!”
“Zel-Zel?”
The chimera looked up and gestured to the door where Amelia and Pokota stood. Once Gourry saw them, he understood and began to play along. He patted Zelgadis’s head. “Aw, it’s okay SON. Just don’t run away again.”
“Okay, Daddy!”
“Um…” Luke started, uncertain to believe what he was seeing. “Is this the same kid that had been glaring and yelling at us for the last couple of hours?”
“It appears so,” Guy replied, who was also unsure of what to make of this. “Kids can be odd.”
“Um…” Amelia entered the room. “Does this mean we can go?” She stared at Zelgadis’s back. It felt very, very odd to see her normal serious friend act like this.
“I would say this is enough proof,” Tear replied, although she sounded hesitant.
“Yes, you may,” the colonel replied and was remarkably the only person who wasn’t affected by the sight before him. “You may take your children home Sir, but I suggest you keep a closer eye on them.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that.”
Gourry walked out, with Amelia close behind and Zelgadis still clinging to his leg. The chimera didn’t let go until they were outside and across the street. Zelgadis jumped off, blushing bright red.
“I have never been so embarrassed in my entire life!”
“But it was a good performance Mister Zelgadis,” Amelia replied. “It was very convincing.”
“What was?”
The group turned to Lina, tapping her foot with a smirk on her face. “I didn’t know you were arrested too Zel.”
Zelgadis sharply turned away, without saying anything.
Lina went around to see his face. “So, what were you doing hanging on to Gourry’s leg?”
“None of your business!”
“Come on, tell me!”
“I’ll rip off my arm first!”
“Tell me! Tell me!”
Gourry yawned. “Whatever, can we just go back and sleep now? You kids are exhausting me.”
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The next morning, Lina was too tired to lift her head off the table. She stabbed her fork into her pancake. “I don’t ever want a repeat of last night. My body couldn’t take it and I need my beauty sleep.”
Amelia calculated on a piece of paper. “Considering how long it took to find you and Mister Zelgadis, then when Mister Zelgadis and I were picked up by the City Guardsmen and then having to wait for Mister Gourry to get us out-“ She added up the number. “We only got about three hours of sleep last night.”
Zelgadis grumbled. He felt even crummier because the waitress again refused to give him a cup of coffee. He glared at his cup of milk. “What makes it worse is that we’re going to have to do the whole thing again since SOMEBODY dropped the spring water.”
Lina buried herself in her hands. “Don’t remind me.”
“No we don’t,” Pokota replied, cutting into his sausage.
Gourry nodded. “Right, because we’re going to another town-“
“No, because we can just go to the source.”
Lina rolled her eyes. “Oh sure, we’ll just take a short month long trip to Miposs Island. Great idea Pokota!”
Pokota chewed and swallowed. “No, I mean we can just go to the girl who lives outside of town.” The entire group drop their utensils.
“Say what?” Zelgadis asked.
Pokota sipped his drink. “Yesterday, I heard some merchants talking about how there was a girl trying to sell spring water to the shops, but no shops would buy them.” He poked his fork at his eggs. “That’s probably where Talus got his spring water. So, we just have to find her.”
Lina gripped her fork tightly. It took all of her will power to not jab her knife into the small creature’s head. “Pokota,” she said in a stressed tone. “Why didn’t you mention this twenty-four hours ago?”
Pokota crossed his arms. “I tried, but nobody cared to listen to me. I figured I would wait until you guys were ready.”
The rest of the morning went by very quickly. Time flew by as Gourry held Lina back from choking Pokota, Pokota ducked behind Amelia for protection and Zelgadis banged his head against the wall.
Also, there are more Tales of the Abyss cameos. Yeah, I had a lot of fun with this chapter. ^_^
Title: Return to Childhood
Series: Slayers
Rating: G
They walked in silence. Lina looked up at Gourry. He was mad. He barely said two words when he told her they needed to go back to the inn. She filled him in on what had happened, well, minus the part of her getting caught and Wizer showing up. There was no need to give him any more evidence that he was possibly right about the whole situation. Although, the silence was killing her.
Lina sighed. She would have to tackled this eventually. “Look Gourry, I’m sorry we took off-“
“After you and Zelgadis promised you wouldn’t” Gourry cut in. “I was worried about you. You could have gotten arrested.”
Lina scoffed. “Hey! It almost worked. If Amelia hadn’t shown up right now I would be holding that bottle in my hands. Besides, I wouldn’t be arrested, I would be sent to reform school according to Wizer.”
Lina bite her tongue as soon as her words left her mouth. Crud!!
Gourry turned to her, raising an eyebrow. “Wizer? When did you meet him?”
The sorceress sweated, putting on the cutest face she could master. “Oh, it was nothing Gourry! I just ran into him.”
Gourry glared. “You did get caught didn’t you?”
Lina’s shifted back and forth looking for any type of distraction. Her eyes landed on the city guardsmen’s headquarters. She paled as two female guardsmen strolled towards it.
Gourry tapped his foot. “Come on Lina, it’s time to come clean-“
Lina grabbed his arm. “Forget about that!” She pointed. “Take a look at those two other there!”
Gourry blinked. “The women heading into that building? So what?”
Lina growled. “Look who’s with them Jellyfish brain!”
The swordsman looked again and then gapped. “Amelia? And is that Pokota with her?”
Lina grumbled. “It seems I wasn’t the only one to get caught.”
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Zelgadis was fuming. He sat in the chair, arms folded and glared at the colonel of the city guardsmen. It was bad enough they kept treating him like a child, but he did not like the colonel. He introduced himself as Colonel Curtis, but his manners were far too similar to Xellos for Zelgadis’ liking. The style of his smirk, how his hands were neatly folded and even how he titled his glasses. It wouldn’t surprise him if this man was somehow Xellos’s human clone. The image made Zelgadis’s skin crawl.
Colonel Curtis tapped his ink pen. “And where did you find this boy, Guy?”
“Downtown and there was no sign of his parents.”
The colonel raised a curious eyebrow. “Hmm, it’s quite unusual for someone so young to be out so late. Are you a runaway perhaps?”
“No, I’m not,” Zelgadis growled. “My parents are at the inn.”
Luke sighed. “Then just tell us which inn so we can take you home.”
And let Lina find out that the city guardsmen found me and brought me home like a lost child? HELL NO! This would haunt him for months on end, possibily even years.
Luke eyes narrowed and he knelt down. “You know, you’re rather stubborn for a kid? And what’s with that mask? Are you trying to be some kind of mysterious hero?”
Zelgadis glared back. “That’s none of your business and I don’t need help. As I’ve been telling you for the last hour I CAN GET HOME MYSELF!!”
“My, my, aren’t we vocal,” Jade replied.
Guy patted Luke’s shoulder. “Let it go, Luke.”
Luke glanced at the kid and whispered to Guy. “But this kid is being weird. He won’t even tell us his name.”
“He’s probably just scared and he’s not that weird.” He smirked. “In fact he reminds of another kid I knew years ago.”
“Who?”
Guy pointed at him and Luke choked. “Me? I was nothing like this!”
“Well, you were just as stubborn.”
“If you two are done strolling down memory lane,” Colonel Curtis interrupted, turning back to Zelgadis. “I must agree with Luke, it would be better if you took off your mask so we can see your face.”
Zelgadis immediately put his hands on his mask. “Hell, no!”
“Oh, your parents allow you to swear too do they?”
“Excuse me, Colonel.”
The colonel turned to the door. “Tear, you’re back from portal early.”
The long haired woman entered. “Natalia and I encountered another gang attack.”
The colonel frowned. “I’m assuming from your expression they managed to escape arrest.”
Tear nodded. “They almost attacked a lost child we found-“
“Wait, you guys found a lost kid too?” Luke exclaimed.
Tear frowned. “What do you mean ‘too’?” Then she noticed Zelgadis sitting in the chair. “Who’s this boy?”
Zelgadis was too busying keeping himself calm to answer. Another lost child? No. It couldn’t be Amelia or Lina. The chances of that happening are-
“Mister Zelgadis?!”
Zelgadis froze as his name was called. Slowly he turned and spotted Amelia peeking around the corner with Pokota in her arms.
Oh great!
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“Okay Gourry,” Lina whispered as they huddled by the bushes. “You understand the plan right?”
“Sure, but Lina do you really think I can pull this off?”
Lina folded her arms. “It’s not like we have a choice Jellyfish brain. I would do it, but I doubt they’re going to believe that a kid is Amelia’s parent. So, that only leaves you to bail Amelia out.”
“But Lina, wouldn’t the guards just take her back to the inn.”
“Sure and probably ask a lot of nosey questions. Besides, I don’t want to take the risk of Wizer finding out where we are.” She stroked her chin. “He said he was working with the city guardsmen, so we should get Amelia out before Wizer comes back and recognizes her.”
Gourry’s eyes narrowed. “Again, how exactly were you caught?”
Lina snarled in frustration. “Look, I promise I’ll give you full details later. Let’s just save Amelia first.”
Gourry climbed to his feet. “I hope my acting skills aren’t too rusty.”
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“Let me see if I get this straight,” Guy replied, staring at the two children. “You two are brother and sister and your family is traveling through town on your way to your grandparents?”
“That is correct,” Zelgadis replied.
“And your parents have no problem letting you two wander alone in the middle of the night?”
“I would like to know why she called him ‘Mister’. Isn’t that a weird name for a brother?”
“Luke, be quiet,” Tear replied.
Amelia cleared her throat. “Actually, Mister Zelgadis snuck out when he wasn’t suppose to.” She shot the chimera a glare. “And I went after him to bring him back.”
Zelgadis coughed.
“And then you got lost?” Tear asked.
Amelia nodded. She felt a little guilty for not saying the whole truth, but it was generally true.
“Oh, I get it,” Guy said nodding, looking to Zelgadis. “That’s why you didn’t want us to bring you to your parents because you wanted to sneak back without getting into trouble.”
“Something like that,” Zelgadis muttered.
The colonel said nothing. Since they entered, his gaze had been locked onto Pokota. It made the small creature anxious.
“That’s a remarkable doll, you have there.”
Amelia smiled. “Oh, thank you.”
He leaned back, never removing his gaze from Pokota. “It’s very realistic. If I didn’t know any better, I would say it was alive.”
Amelia and Zelgadis joined Pokota in sweating.
“May I have a closer look at it?”
Amelia bit her lip. If he looked at Pokota, he would figure out Pokota was alive and then what would happen?
Excuse! Think of an Excuse! Amelia thought frantically.
“Excuse me Colonel,” Natalia popped her head in the doorframe. “A man wishes to speak to you.”
The colonel’s expression never changed. “Tell him to wait Natalia, I’m still dealing with our young charges here.”
“Actually, this concerns them. He claims to be their father.”
Amelia and Zelgadis exchanged shocked looks.
The colonel stood up. “My, now that is interesting.” He looked to Zelgadis and Amelia “Would you two please stay here while the rest of us deal with this?”
As they left the room, Zelgadis, Amelia and Pokota raced to the door and peaked open a crack.
“It’s Mister Gourry!” Amelia whispered.
“How did he know we were here?” Pokota asked.
“Who cares,” Zelgadis replied, feeling relief for the first time in hours. “It means we can get out of here.”
The colonel titled his glasses at Gourry. “So, your name Sir?”
“Um…Gourry Gabriev. Can I have my daughter now?”
Uh oh, thought Zelgadis.
Tear frowned. “You mean your daughter AND your son right?”
Gourry blinked. “Son?”
“She and her brother are both here,” Natalia replied, sounding wary. “Are you saying you didn’t know they were both missing?”
Gourry’s eyes widened a moment, but gave shaky smile. “Oh, sure! I meant both. I’ve just been scared to death and not thinking straight.”
“Of course,” Jade replied. “Otherwise it would seem very suspicious for a father to take one child home and not the other.” He grinned. “Don’t you agree Sir?”
“Um…yeah…”
Amelia swallowed. “I think Mister Gourry might be in trouble.”
Zelgadis growled. These guards were not idiots and the way things were going he would have to take matters into his own hands. There was one idea that was certain to work, but he would rather have his teeth yanked out then do it. He would save it as a last resort. Maybe Gourry could still pull it off.
“Say, how did you know your kids were here?” Luke asked. “It wasn’t that long ago we brought them in and we haven’t asked any of the local inns if anyone’s missing a kid yet.”
“A fair point Luke,” Jade replied, with his arms folded behind his back. “It does seem rather convenient you knew exactly where to look for them.”
“Well, that was just a hunch. When I realized they were missing a few hours ago, I figured they must have been brought in.”
“So, why didn’t you ask us straight away once you found them missing?” Tear asked.
Gourry sweated.
Zelgaids stomach lurched. “Dammit, I’m going to have to do it.”
Amelia and Pokota stared puzzled. “Do what Mister Zegadis?”
The chimera stared at her. The seriousness in his eyes scared the princess. “Amelia, Pokota, I’m about to do something that I’m going to regret for the rest of my life.” He placed his hands on her shoulders. “That said, I want you two to swear to never tell a soul of what you are about to witness me do.”
Pokota stared baffled. What was this guy planning? “What are you going to do?”
“Swear first!”
“All right, I swear!” Pokota cried, raising his paw. Amelia also swore.
Zelgadis took a deep breath. “Fine, here goes.” He flew open the door. In a very high pitched voice Zelgadis, once named a heartless sorcerer swordsman, cried at the top of his lungs “DADDY!”
Amelia and Pokota’s jaws dropped.
Zelgadis ran forward. Refusing to let any of the guardsmen stop him, he leapt and clung to Gourry’s leg.
The swordsman stared dumbfounded. The only logical explanation was that this was not Zelgadis but a kid or a copy that looked exactly like him.
Cringing on the inside, Zelgadis buried his face to Gourry’s leg. “I was so SCARED! I’m so glad you found me, Daddy!”
“Zel-Zel?”
The chimera looked up and gestured to the door where Amelia and Pokota stood. Once Gourry saw them, he understood and began to play along. He patted Zelgadis’s head. “Aw, it’s okay SON. Just don’t run away again.”
“Okay, Daddy!”
“Um…” Luke started, uncertain to believe what he was seeing. “Is this the same kid that had been glaring and yelling at us for the last couple of hours?”
“It appears so,” Guy replied, who was also unsure of what to make of this. “Kids can be odd.”
“Um…” Amelia entered the room. “Does this mean we can go?” She stared at Zelgadis’s back. It felt very, very odd to see her normal serious friend act like this.
“I would say this is enough proof,” Tear replied, although she sounded hesitant.
“Yes, you may,” the colonel replied and was remarkably the only person who wasn’t affected by the sight before him. “You may take your children home Sir, but I suggest you keep a closer eye on them.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that.”
Gourry walked out, with Amelia close behind and Zelgadis still clinging to his leg. The chimera didn’t let go until they were outside and across the street. Zelgadis jumped off, blushing bright red.
“I have never been so embarrassed in my entire life!”
“But it was a good performance Mister Zelgadis,” Amelia replied. “It was very convincing.”
“What was?”
The group turned to Lina, tapping her foot with a smirk on her face. “I didn’t know you were arrested too Zel.”
Zelgadis sharply turned away, without saying anything.
Lina went around to see his face. “So, what were you doing hanging on to Gourry’s leg?”
“None of your business!”
“Come on, tell me!”
“I’ll rip off my arm first!”
“Tell me! Tell me!”
Gourry yawned. “Whatever, can we just go back and sleep now? You kids are exhausting me.”
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The next morning, Lina was too tired to lift her head off the table. She stabbed her fork into her pancake. “I don’t ever want a repeat of last night. My body couldn’t take it and I need my beauty sleep.”
Amelia calculated on a piece of paper. “Considering how long it took to find you and Mister Zelgadis, then when Mister Zelgadis and I were picked up by the City Guardsmen and then having to wait for Mister Gourry to get us out-“ She added up the number. “We only got about three hours of sleep last night.”
Zelgadis grumbled. He felt even crummier because the waitress again refused to give him a cup of coffee. He glared at his cup of milk. “What makes it worse is that we’re going to have to do the whole thing again since SOMEBODY dropped the spring water.”
Lina buried herself in her hands. “Don’t remind me.”
“No we don’t,” Pokota replied, cutting into his sausage.
Gourry nodded. “Right, because we’re going to another town-“
“No, because we can just go to the source.”
Lina rolled her eyes. “Oh sure, we’ll just take a short month long trip to Miposs Island. Great idea Pokota!”
Pokota chewed and swallowed. “No, I mean we can just go to the girl who lives outside of town.” The entire group drop their utensils.
“Say what?” Zelgadis asked.
Pokota sipped his drink. “Yesterday, I heard some merchants talking about how there was a girl trying to sell spring water to the shops, but no shops would buy them.” He poked his fork at his eggs. “That’s probably where Talus got his spring water. So, we just have to find her.”
Lina gripped her fork tightly. It took all of her will power to not jab her knife into the small creature’s head. “Pokota,” she said in a stressed tone. “Why didn’t you mention this twenty-four hours ago?”
Pokota crossed his arms. “I tried, but nobody cared to listen to me. I figured I would wait until you guys were ready.”
The rest of the morning went by very quickly. Time flew by as Gourry held Lina back from choking Pokota, Pokota ducked behind Amelia for protection and Zelgadis banged his head against the wall.
