Slayers 1. Chapter 1

Author's note: This is my entry for Earthstar_chan's challenge at LiveJournal. It is admittedly rough, but I am needing to get it posted under the deadline. I hope to come back and improve on it later.

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Amelia had always liked the marketplace in Seirune. Being that the city was an important world center it had always had its share of strange and wonderful things come through it. And now that the so called "mazoku barrier" was broken, even stranger and more wonderful things had come in from the outer world. That new fabric called "silk" for example.

Or Amelia's personal favourite, chocolate...

Anyway, she was merrily sucking on a dainty morsel of said treat as she went through the fair, looking here and there at the various wares and items for sale, everything from garden vegetables to exotic pets. She turned the corner, and found where the magicians had set up their booths. She always loved this part the most, you never knew if something new or different would show up. She set to with a will, going over all the merchandise on offer.

It took awhile, and, disappointingly, the pickings were slim. It wasn't the best day she had ever had. An old scroll that that had a few minor spells on it, more of a curiosity really, and a magic amulet that had a low level protection spell on it, but it was pretty, and might make an interesting gift for someone, someday. She sighed. This was a bit of a bore, really. Finally, she came to the last stall.

This stall was different. The merchant was someone she had never seen before, and judging by his strange garb he was from the outer world. The outer world was not known for its magic, indeed, magical items were the usual export stock from the kingdoms that had been inside the barrier, so it was strange to see someone selling things from outside here in Seirune. Amelia looked over his wares curiously. Most of it was junk, well, it might have been good stuff where he came from, but, not here.

"How's business?" she asked, trying to strike up a conversation with the merchant.

He sighed. "I'm doing quite well, when it comes to buying, but I see we have far to go to catch up to you people in this part of the world. Still, I can't complain, I have learned a lot on this trip, even if it hasn't enriched me. Pardon me, Miss, but you have the look of a white priestess about you."

Amelia smiled. "You have a good eye, Sir. But I must insist, for all our power we are actually lacking in true white magic, the mazoku barrier was erected to keep the true white power out, and we had to develop shamanistic powers which we called white that we could use for good purposes. If you want to make sales you should try to bring in true white power magic."

The merchant nodded. "I have come to think that was so, and I will remember it for next time, Miss. Thank you for confirming my suspicions though."

Amelia nodded, then she noticed a small box carved with ornate, but mysterious symbols. "Oh my, what is this?" she asked as she picked it up.

The merchant smiled and said "Um, I don't think you would want that, Miss, it is just a shriveled up old monkey's paw. It is said to have a spell on it that makes it grant three wishes to whoever owns it. It's rather unremarkable to look at, ugly even, and I wouldn't have bought it normally, but I found it in a box of items I bought from an estate sale. It took me a while to find the tale that went with it, and I've kept it as a curio, but I've always hoped to sell it as an oddity if I could find a collector."

Amelia found the catch and opened the box. The merchant was right, inside was a shriveled little hand from some sort of animal, maybe it was a monkey, but it was so mummified it was hard to say. Still, it seemed to radiate a faint magical power that Amelia could detect, just.

"How does it work?" she asked.

"Well, uh, apparently you hold it in your right hand and make a wish." replied the merchant.

"Have you used it?" asked Amelia.

"well, truth to tell, no, so I don't even know it if really works. Let me explain. See, it grants wishes, or so it's said, but it apparently does it with an evil twist, so you don't always get what you actually want. For example, one owner apparently asked for a sum of money, and was given it, but not by the coins falling from the sky. His son was killed in an accident, and the settlement for the loss was the sum he had wished for. So, I've been afraid to use it myself. Still, I haven't heard that it was always evil, so if you are a strong hearted person who will only wish for good things perhaps it won't hurt you, that is, if it really works."

Amelia couldn't explain why, but she felt intrigued by the thing. At the very least she wanted to figure out what the faint magic she felt really was. "How much?" she asked.

"Really?" asked the merchant. "Well, I don't know, say, a hundred gold?"

Amelia smiled. It was nowhere near worth that much, but bartering was part of the process. And, as many merchants had found out, Amelia was good at it. In the end she got it for 10 gold, which she figured was about nine gold, nineteen silvers, and eleven coppers too much, but, she was happy. She left the market and went home to the palace for her lunch.

After greeting daddy and eating a wonderful meal she indulged in another small piece of chocolate and went to her chambers to examine her purchases. The amulet was easy, it would protect against minor bad luck and was a good gift for a child. So, maybe it could be for a small relative on a birthday, or maybe a commoner's child could be the lucky recipient, she'd think on it. Then the scroll. It turned out to be a lot more interesting than she had thought. It was all about the Lighting spell, about as simple as you could get, except the author had delved into the mysteries of manipulating the spell. Soon Amelia was laughing as she made balls of different colours of light glide around the room and even made dancing spotlights. This was actually a good find.

Then, she turned to her major find of the day. In truth, she had done the others first because she felt herself a bit scared off by the merchant's warning of possible evil. Finally she convinced herself that it was her duty to examine the thing, after all, if it was evil, it needed to be destroyed, in the name of Justice, of course, and if it gave wishes, it might be a truly valuable find.

But most likely it was just a poor joke that had taken on a life of its own.

Amelia spent some time prodding the thing, reading books, and trying various spells. But try as she might, she couldn't crack the mystery. Finally, she decided the only thing to do was to test it. But, how to test it without unleashing evil? She reached into her pocket. A bit more chocolate to help her think, that was it.

BUT HORRORS!!! She had eaten it all!

Then, a happy thought. "A perfect test! What could go wrong with chocolate?" She took the paw in her right hand and wished "I wish I had some pure chocolate."

She gave a yelp. The paw, she was sure it had suddenly twisted in her hand...

She looked around carefully. Nothing had happened, bad or good. No curse, but also no chocolate...

She sighed, the giggled. Silly. And she must have twisted the paw somehow by herself, right?

She decided to take a break from the macabre and go for a walk. She went out to the palace grounds to get some sun and some air. After a bit she came to the back gate just as a delivery was arriving. She went over, curious about a small package that had marks from some outer world merchants on it. "What's this?" she asked the steward who had taken possession of the delivery.

"Oh, Your Highness." said the steward with a bow. "Why, it's just a delivery of some chocolate..." he started to say.

"Oh my! I got my wish after all!" said Amelia, instantly happy. "Please, let me have a piece?" she asked.

The steward hesitated. "But, Princess, it's pure chocolate..." he tried to explain.

"Just what I wanted." enthused Amelia, cutting him off. "Please? Just a tiny piece, that's all I want."

"Uh, as you wish, Majesty..." said the steward, not daring to refuse. He opened the wrap and broke a piece off, which he handed to Amelia.

"Thank you!" she said, giving him a happy smile, then she went her way.

"So, I got my wish, but no evil here, and I got it the usual way too, so, looks like you lose, Mr. Monkey's Paw. Three wishes, yeah right. Amelia, admit it, the merchant was a good story teller and you were just so bored looking for a treasure you let him take you, he, he. Oh, wait until Zel finds out. He'll give me such a frowning."

Then she had a naughty thought. She reached into her pocket again and removed the paw. After all, it didn't work anyway, why not have some fun? She wished "I wish Zel would become human again, with no evil happening to him because of it."

Again with the weird twist...

She felt a chill run through her, despite that it was a sunny day...

"Oh well, whatever." she said finally. She put the paw away, and popped the chocolate into her mouth...

"I-I tried to warn you, Majesty..." sputtered the steward who had given her the chocolate when Amelia confronted him a few minutes later. "I said it was pure, and pure chocolate is always bitter. You need to add milk and sugar to make it sweet. I'm sorry, I thought maybe you knew." he gulped.

Amelia looked stunned. "No..." she said finally. "No, I didn't know that. I'm sorry." she finished.

She wandered away, a sense of fear tickling her heart. It was a coincidence, right? The paw didn't do that, right? She had asked for pure chocolate, and by coincidence that was what she had gotten. What else would the cooks buy? They'd add their own sugar and milk. It was all a silly mistake. She gulped several times, and went back to her room. She put the paw away. If Zel was human now, she'd know soon enough. She prayed he'd not get touched with any evil by the wish.

If it worked.

She felt foolish and didn't want to be seen, so she locked her door and lay down on her bed. She wanted a nap, yes, that was it, then she'd feel better, and all would be right with the world when she awoke.

Wouldn't it?


	2. Chapter 2

That afternoon there was a small deal of confusion in the castle. It seemed that the Princess had for some reason locked her door and now would not open it for anyone, telling all of them to go away as she didn't feel well. They had to finally give in and tell His Majesty Prince Philionel. He made his way at once to his daughter's door and asked for admittance, only to receive the same answer. He had tried to insist, and in a rare move, Amelia had actually gotten upset with him and told him everyone was making it worse by not leaving her alone and would they all please go away and stop being such annoying pains...

Phil was taken aback, but decided to trust her. "Alright, then we will. Please have a good rest and feel better in the morning, dear daughter." he finally said.

"I will... try..." was the somewhat enigmatic reply that muffled its way through the door...

The next morning things were no better and eventually Prince Phil again found himself before her locked door. Again she refused to let anyone come in. Prince Phil decided he had had enough. "Amelia, I don't know what's wrong, but I can hear the stress in your voice. If you need some time to compose yourself I will give you that, but if you don't let me come in by this afternoon, I will get in anyway, even if I have to have the door broken down. I know something is wrong, but I can't help you if I don't know what it is. Now, please let me in."

There was silence. "Amelia?" he eventually said.

"G-give me a bit longer then, please Daddy, I beg you." she quavered.

Phil frowned, more that usual. He nodded. "Alright, Amelia, you have until four o'clock this afternoon, then the door opens, one way or the other." He left, leaving someone at the door in case Amelia should want something.

At three o'clock there was an excited scurrying in the castle. A rider had come from somewhere, and was demanding to see Amelia. He was brought to see Prince Phil. The Prince gave the stranger a once over, he seemed familiar somehow, but, he didn't think he had met the young man before, or had he? He wasn't sure.

"My daughter is indisposed at this time, why do you need to see her so urgently young man?" he asked, using his best princely voice.

The young man stared. "Do you not recognise me, then, Your Majesty? It's me, Zelgadiss Greywords. Somehow, without warning, I became human again, just yesterday, upon awakening from an unexpected nap that I took in the afternoon. Please, let me see Amelia. I'm sure this news will cheer her up if she's feeling badly.

Phil got up and went down to the young man. The closer he got the clearer it became. "By all the holy gods, it is you, Mr. Zelgadiss... and a miracle too!" he said, amazed, and happy. He clapped Zel on the shoulder. "Fantastic news, and good for you, Sir. Come, you are right, Amelia will want to know right away."

He was taken quickly through the palace to the Princess' room. Phil knocked on the door. After a minute Amelia was heard to say "Oh Daddy, please, it isn't four yet..."

"Never mind that, there's someone here to see you, daughter, and I don't think you'll want to keep him outside." He nodded at Zel.

"Amelia?" said Zel. "I've come here with wonderful news! Please, please let me in."

There was a pause. "I know Zel, I know." she said finally.

Zel and Phil looked at each other, totally perplexed.

Amelia spoke again. "Okay, I'll let you come in, Daddy, and Mr. Zelgadiss too. But no one else. And no one is to be by the door to see anything. Then I'll explain everything."

Phil shrugged, then shooed the servants, healers, and guards away. "Okay, Amelia, it's just us." he said.

The bolt drew back, and the door swung open slowly, as if timid. Phil and Zel entered the room and the door closed behind them, and the lock was applied. They turned to find Amelia was standing there, shrouded from head to toe with a blanket.

"Daughter, what...?" Phil began. Amelia pointed with a shrouded hand to her desk. "There, that thing, the monkey's paw. That's how I did it. He warned me it might be evil, but I didn't believe him. Now I know he was right." she said in a strange tone of voice.

"Who? Did what? What evil?" asked Zel in slight alarm.

"The merchant from the outer world that I bought it from yesterday. He said it would grant three wishes but that it could make them turn out evilly. I didn't believe him, and so I was careless. I made a wish that didn't come true instantly, so I thought the thing a fake, and jokingly wished you were cured, and that no evil would come to you as a result. It was after that that my first wish came to me and was evil. I was careless, and now I pay the price." explained Amelia.

"Price?" asked Zel, softly.

Amelia sighed. "Please don't be alarmed, since I asked no evil to come to you, it came to me instead." she explained.

She dropped the blanket.

Underneath was the same old Amelia, dressed in her usual white pants and top.

Same that is, if you discounted the hair now made of wire, and the blue skin with stones embedded in it...

For a minute there was dead silence, then there was a loud thump.

Zel seemed to have fainted...

A few minutes later he came around to find himself lying on Amelia's bed, and Prince Phil and his now chimeric daughter sitting by the bed, looking at him...

"Uh, sorry..." he said. "I..."

Amelia smiled. "It's okay, I did that too the first time I looked in the mirror after it happened. I have often wondered how you felt about being like this, now I know. And now I know why all my assurances that you weren't ugly fell on deaf ears. But how wonderful to see you as a man, Mr. Zelgadiss. YOu are even more handsome. I really mean it. I am glad I could heal you, no matter what the price to myself." A happy tear trickled out from her eye, followed by several more, and soon she was weeping, and smiling, and feeling joyful all at once. Zel was healed...

Zel was up in a flash and caught her into a big hug. "Now it's my turn to have my words fall on deaf ears, but it's true, Amelia, you are as beautiful as ever. Yes, You've changed a bit, but you are still beautiful to me."

He then got on his knees before her and said "I have promised myself that this is the first thing I would do when I got healed." he said, taking her hands in his. He looked up at her and into her Cerulean eyes. At least those hadn't changed. "Amelia, you have always believed in me, and seen the real me, not the outer shell. I have been very reserved about expressing my feelings, I hope you can understand why now, but that doesn't mean that I didn't have any." He gulped. "I love you Amelia, and, if you'll have me, I want to marry you, chimera or not..."

Phil cocked an eye and waited to see Amelia's response.

Amelia took it all in, and realized there was only one way to answer this. No speeches, no dramatic poses, just a heartfelt hug, and one word.

"Yes."

After a pause she added "I, uh, want to see about a cure first..."

Zel nodded and smiled at her. "I understand, believe me I do."

There was a pause, then a tentative first kiss...

"Are you sure?" Phil asked softly.

"Yes Daddy, no doubt about it, he's the one." she replied.

Her father nodded. "I wondered how long you two were going to take..." he said.

"What???" said the two of them together.

"You think you kept this a big secret?" he smiled. "Heck, everyone knows, daughter, and you two seem to be the only two that don't realize that. Well, well, but how long will you wait for this cure? Will you be like Zel, and wait forever?"

"I-I don't know, daddy, I'll wait for now." she replied.

I guess the question is where to start looking?" Phil went on. "Should we get the white healers in?"

"That bunch of gossips? NO, please no Daddy. At least, not today, I'm not ready to have the world know, not yet." said Amelia.

Zel looked thoughtful. "We might ask Sylphiel if she's about. She's not given to spreading tales, as far as I know." he said.

"Maybe..." said Amelia, looking doubtful.

There was silence for a bit as they all thought about it. Zel stood up, and paced around the room. As he did so his eyes fell on the monkey's paw. He picked it up and studied it for a long time.

"No, Amelia, you are right. White magic can't help, or the healers could have healed me by now." He held up the paw. "This was caused, I suspect, by black magic. At least that's what I think the faint aura around this thing is made of. In that case, we need an expert in black magic to help us."

There was a bit of silence then Amelia sighed. "I, don't know, I wondered about that aura too. It makes sense, but who should we get? Who can we trust?"

"Trust? No one, not completely." he answered.

"Miss Lina?" ventured Phil.

Amelia gulped. "I have reservations, but perhaps."

Zel was silent for a space. "I think there is someone else who might be of more help, but I don't trust him at all, and I'm not sure he'd help. At least not without charging a hell of a price. Still, I suppose we could ask, if we had to. I know he couldn't, or wouldn't help me, but I don't think Rezo used black magic on me, this might be different."

"Who is it?" asked Amelia.

Zel turned to her, raised his finger, and replied "That's a secret..."


	3. Chapter 3

A week later Zel and Amelia left the palace quietly. Amelia's secret was still hidden from the world, though, of course, a few more people were in on it now. After all, preparations and plans had to be made. After long and studied consideration it was determined that to try for Xellos directly was the less scary alternative...

Priests and priestesses who had divination talents had been consulted, and all had agreed he was somewhere in the east at the moment. Final preparations were made, goodbyes said, and the couple were sneaked out in the early morning on the day of their departure.

Now, to tramp east until they bumped into the trickster priest.

Simple, really.

Too simple, they had all agreed, though no one had any other plan.

Amelia had jokingly offered to wish for him, hoping something evil would befall him, which would be good, but not enough people got the joke...

They crested a small hill and took some time to just watch the sunrise. Somehow it seemed to be a sign of hope, the sun was still rising, spreading light, and warmth, and life itself it seemed, to the people of the world. It promised to be a clear, cloudless day.

"So pretty..." mused Amelia. Zel smiled and looked at her. "Yes. It's the second most beautiful thing I've seen this morning." he replied.

"Oh, what's the first?" asked his companion, looking around.

"You'd need a mirror to see it..." he said, softly.

"Huh? Oh, Mr. Zelgadiss..." replied the Princess with a blush.

And a smile.

"Thank you." she whispered. It was still hard to accept her new form, and even though Zel's complement had been a bit on the cheesy side, she still appreciated it. She certainly didn't feel very attractive. She shook her head. She had known it had bothered Zel to be a chimera, but now it was finally becoming apparent just how much.

She moved on when he did. As she walked along she couldn't help but notice for the proverbial "umpteenth" time how differently her new body moved, even after a week of getting used to it. Not that it was stiff or inflexible, but it was, well, different. Things swung, and bent, and jiggled, and bounced, and touched, and grasped, and a whole bunch of other things, all differently. Heck, she was even aware of silly little things like blinking her eyes. This would take some getting used to.

They followed the main road that tracked due east across Seirune. It was decided they would go by that route and listen out for news. If they reached the boarder with Elemikia they'd have to decide if they continued on, or turned north or south.

They might have flown if they had known where to aim for, but since they were after an elusive quarry they felt there was better news to be had by staying on the ground. They could only hope that he wouldn't move off before they found him.

Their other issue was trying to hide Amelia in plain sight as best they could. Certainly she was actually safer on the road and away from the prying eyes of the palace, but she still was shy and, like Zel in his day, she hid herself with a cloak and a veil.

Zel, on the other hand had adopted a freer form of dress. He was still in grey, but now he wore a hat and left his face more open to the world. He hoped that by doing so it would increase the chances that anyone talking to them would tend to deal with the person whose face they could see.

It also just plain felt good...

Walking along they talked about everything. That, in and of itself wasn't so unusual, but now Amelia noticed that Zel had more to say, or that he was more open with his words at any rate. He laughed more easily, and there was even what tried to pass for a smile on his face most of the time. He was just plain happy to be healed. She smiled at this. True, it was not nice that she had become the chimera, but now that she could see what it had meant for Zel to be restored she was glad that it had happened. If she had to remain a chimera for life in his stead the fact that he was happy made it bearable. She would do it, and gladly.

And so, several days passed as they traveled along. They asked as discreetly as they could if anyone had seen a priest in black robes with a peculiar staff, but they got little information, and what they did get was conflicting. How like the Trickster Priest to be able to keep his whereabouts a secret, even if he wasn't trying to. Mind you, when they did find out where he was they'd have to do something equally annoying, like go and meet with him...

The day they got their break they were deep in the eastern part of Seirune. the Elemikian boarder was only a march or two away, and there they'd have to make a decision.

It was then that they managed to stumble over a mazoku who was terrorizing a group of travelers for some nefarious purpose or other, at a crossroads. Naturally, justice called for an intervention, and they both agreed, later, of course, that it was a welcome relief from just walking along, looking for someone they couldn't find. Zel had his sword out and cast an Astral Vine on it while Amelia powered up an Ra Tilt. They launched their attack simultaneously.

Amelia's spell was sensed, and dodged, but just, and the surprised monster swirled around in time to be slashed by Zel's sword. It turned out that the creature had a rather gelatinous body, so the sword stroke didn't do as much damage as it might have done to other kinds of mazoku, but it was enough to set the thing back a pace or two, and enrage it.

Mind you, it didn't really take that much to make a monster mad at you at the best of times...

"You vile and wretched humans! How dare you interfere? You will pay for this!" it yelled at the duo.

"Hmmm, pretty standard stock dialogue..." commented Zel.

"Yes, can they not come up with something more original?" asked Amelia.

"What are you going on about?" snarled the confused creature.

"Your choice of threats. It's pretty standard stuff and denotes a distictive lack of creativity. Not so good for the image, really."

"Oh, like you're some kind of image consultant I suppose?" was the sneering reply.

"No! We are travelers who believe that Justice will triumph over all!" said Amelia in a tone of voice that Zelgadiss knew too well. She was warming up to a speech...

"Oh no... It's the Princess..." said the mazoku, blanching.

"Huh?" said Zel.

"What's that supposed to mean?" added Amelia, breaking off in mid gesticulation.

"Look, just blast me with a spell rather than a speech okay?" said the monster. "I mean really there's only so much we creatures of the dark side can take."

Zel tried not to laugh too much as Amelia went into a little rage. "And what are we implying?" she yelled. "Justice speeches are an old and honourable perogative of the royal family of Seirune! They are not to be taken lightly, or be made fun of by the likes of you! Their purpose is to communicate to would be miscreants and other evil doers the true nature of their sins..."

Zel clamped a hand over Amelia's mouth. "Had enough? Or shall I unleash her full fury?" he asked,doing his best to ignore the fact that Amelia was biting his hand,and looking even more outraged...

The monster looked a bit green. "Look, is there something you want? Or shall we just get on with the fight?" it asked, sounding stressed.

"Well, one, we want you to stop picking on helpless travelers, and two, where can we find Xellos?" replied Zel, with a pained tone of voice, as he shook the pain out of his fingers. Chimeric teeth really, really hurt!

"Serves you right." huffed Amelia, giving Zel the "evil eye" treatment.

The creature did a double double take. "You want to what???" it said, shaking its head in disbelief. "Why?"

"That's a secret..." said Zel.

The creature stared. "Copyright infringement? And you call yourselves "Just" while complaining about my dialogue??? Speaking of which, remember that so called group of helpless travelers that I was just playing with? The ones you want me to be nice to? Do you two need glasses or something? Their BANDITS! They thought I was a traveller, and tried to rob me. I was having some fun with them until you two idiots showed up. Sheesh!"

There was a silence from the humans, then an "Oh..." and maybe an "Er..."

Amelia sighed. "I think my Justice sense has gotten less sensitive lately..." she said.

"Uh, well..." put in Zel helpfully.

"Fine, then, much as I'd like to stay and chat, I have a busy day of mayhem planned, so I'll just be on my way." said the mazoku as it turned to go.

"And Xellos?" asked Zel.

"Why should I tell you?" the creature said, looking back.

"Well, up to you, I suppose." said Zel. "But, if we really do have business with him, and you didn't direct us, well, how many gelatinous mazoku are there anyway?"

The monster shrieked with rage. "You'd do that? You blackmailing fiends! Alright! He's in Dulce, halfway between here and the Zepheilian border. I'm not sure why he's there, and I don't want to know, but I think he's going to be there for a day or two more, if you hurry you might make it. Now, that's all I'm saying, fight me or let me go." The creature turned and walked away.

Zel and Amelia looked at each other. "Uh?" asked one. "Uh." replied the other.

"I guess letting him go would be the just thing in this case?" asked Zel.

"I... don't know..." replied Amelia.

They turned to the north road and started walking.


	4. Chapter 4

Shortly after they had turned north the weather turned to rain and the going was very wet indeed. Zelgadiss found he had forgotten just how cold and wet being cold and wet could be, whereas Amelia was amazed at how dry she felt even in the middle of the downpour. Indeed, what Zel now found to be a rather chilly deluge was not much different to her than a warm summer shower would be. Thus Amelia began to appreciate in earnest how a chimera's skin worked. But she couldn't decide if that was bad or good...

However, they both agreed that the mud was atrocious to walk through, especially as they were in a region where the soil was clay and had turned to a viscose, even vicious, thick mud they had more of glue than soil about it. The locals called it gumbo, which Zel concluded had to be derived from an old term for a different type of unpleasant substance, until Amelia told him to stop it.

"We're never going to get to Dulce in two days at this rate." sighed an exasperated Amelia as she kicked about a ton of mud off her boots for what seemed like just about the "infinityeth" time in the past quarter mile. "Why don't we just fly?"

"Well, if you know where Dulce is well enough to find it from the air through a thick bank of storm clouds, lead on." smiled Zel, a bit grimly. "Otherwise, we had better stay down here and slog on. Sorry, I'm not that familiar with this part of the world." he added.

Amelia nodded. "Alas, I'm not able to see through cloud either. Oh well..." she sighed. There was a silver lining though, as Zel reached out and gave her a hug.

"Do you think your sister will come home for the wedding?" he asked trying to get their conversation to sunnier topics.

Amelia cocked an eye then thought a bit. "Assuming she hears of it in time, the answer is a definite maybe. I don't know, Gracia is taking far too long for someone just having a walkabout to learn about magic." She was silent for a space, then added. "I don't think Daddy's told me everything about the night she went away. I understand she is traveling under an alias but I have never been told what it is. I know we get the rare letter home from her, little news, especially lately, and usually asking for money. To be honest, I don't think she means to come home for a long time, if ever. I used to be afraid of that, but, it's fading with time, and I don't think I care much one way or the other any more. As long as she is happy that's all I can ask for."

"I'm not sure you've convinced yourself of that..." replied Zel. He fished around for another topic. "Well, then, do you think Lina and Gourry are ever going to tie the knot? They've had a long time to do it, but no movement yet."

Amelia smiled. "Are you trying to build up to some question about our wedding, Mr. Zelgadiss?" she asked. "We have no choice, it's going to be a state royal wedding with the whole populace out to see it, I'm afraid."

She blanched a bit, envisioning herself in a beautiful white dress, one that set off her blue skin very dramatically...

She went on. "But Miss Lina and Mr. Gourry? Do you want my honest opinion? I think they have already secretly gotten married but don't intend to tell anyone until they are ready to settle down, not even her parents, or sister. Certainly not the likes of us."

"That would make sense." replied Zel, thoughtfully. "Do we dare invite them to our wedding?" he chuckled.

Amelia gave a happy laugh and replied "Do we dare not? Royal fireworks are one thing, but I don't think we need them capped with a Dragon Slave."

Zel nodded, smiling, and added "Or worse, her blubbering how cruel we were not to think of her."

"Yes." said Amelia shaking her head."There are somethings worse than the Dragon Slave." She was silent for a bit then turned to her traveling companion.

"I'm curious, Zel. Were you ever attracted to her yourself? I mean, in someways you two might have made quite a couple." she asked.

Zel thought a bit then replied "Well, at the first, this was before I met you, there was something, but, Gourry was already in the picture, so it never had a chance. I don't regret it, they are happy with each other, and I got someone even better instead." He gave Amelia a warm smile.

She gulped, and smiled back. "I thank you for that Zel. I hope you did, I intend to do my best." She was quiet, then, sounding a bit pensive the asked "What if I don't get cured?"

"Then, when you can stand it, you name the date, we get married, and get on with our lives, like I should have done before now." he replied, reaching out and taking her hand. "Look, I know what you are feeling, and it is all new, and scary and horrible. Remember that, I know what you are going through, okay?"

"I'm just feeling a bit weak, I think it's this lousy weather." she replied trying to sound brave.

"Sure, okay." said Zel quietly.

They trod on for the rest of the day with no break in the weather, nor anything to uplift their spirits except each other's company. Still, that counted for a lot, of course, and even when they were forced to go to ground when darkness fell they still managed to have many a good chuckle over things big and small. Even the trouble that soaked through wood presented to making a fire was funny, even if it did take several reasonably large fireballs to finally light their fuel. And with the warmth of the fire, the relative dryness of their shelter and hot food and drink to warm them they were willing to concede it wasn't all that bad by the time they turned in to sleep.

After all, tommorrow would be another day, and Xellos might still be found...


	5. Chapter 5

When the next morning arrived, Zel awoke to see the fire still blazing away. He turned in surprise to Amelia, who was all curled up in her robes. "I didn't realize you had gotten up to feed the fire..." he yawned at her. "Thank you."

Amelia mumbled something incomprehensible from under her blankets.

Zel crawled out from under his kit and put his boots on, and his jacket, then, grabbing his sword, he crawled out from the shelter. He stood up and looked around. The rain had stopped, but a bitterly cold fog clung to the landscape, obscuring the vision after more than a few yards. He yawned and reached into the tent to get the food bag. It would only be fair for him to make breakfast if Amelia had kept watch over the fire. He grabbed the bag and dug around, finding the frying pan, but to his puzzlement he couldn't find the kettle...

He got out again and looked around. Walking closer to the fire to warm up he found the missing gear. It was on the fire, and the water was nearing a boil. This wasn't right. Amelia might have snuck out to feed the fire, but setting up water then crawling back in bed to sleep?

He reached for his sword...

"My, my, nothing like a hot cup of tea to celebrate a meeting of old friends, is there? I hope you don't mind my borrowing the kettle to put the water on..." said a cheerful voice from the mist.

Zel gulped. Their quest was over. "Nice of you to drop by, Xellos, fancy meeting you, here." he replied, trying to sound calm as he did so.

"Oh, no accident I assure you." responded the trickster priest as he, well, coalesced, for want of a better word, out of the fog. "I had it on good authority that I was being sought, so I decided to see what this was about. I am curious that you, of all people would want to find me, Mr. Zelgadiss Greywords. And the Princess too, if I am not mistaken. So, to what do I owe this honour? Missed me, did you?"

He looked at Zel with his creepy closed eyes and big smile. "I see you seem to have changed somehow, Zel. Had a haircut perhaps?"

"I doubt you are that blind Xellos." said Zel, warily. "You owe this honour to the fact that we need help in dealing with black magic, and didn't feel we could risk going to Lina.

Xellos cocked an eye, and stared at Zelgadiss. "I'm safer that Lina Inverse? I don't know whether to be flattered, or insulted, to be so honoured." he said. "Well, well, perhaps we should cut to the chase then. I am rather busy actually, and one big reason I had for coming was to make sure you weren't here to interfere."

"With what?" asked Zel, before he could catch himself. He face palmed and said "Sorry..."

Xellos smiled again. "Well, at least you are quick on the uptake. Now, tell me how you want me to help you, and what you would be willing to pay for it?

"Zel? Who are you talking to?" asked a sleepy Amelia as she crawled out of the tent.

"Oh my! What has happened here?" asked Xellos as he bowed in greeting to the Justice Princess. "Most becoming, Your Majesty, but shouldn't you have used gems instead of granite?"

Amelia gave him a hard stare as she replied "I didn't exactly have a choice..."

"Well, the tea water is ready, what say we make a pot then you can tell me all about it. This grows more interesting with each new revelation." Xellos said, indicating the now steaming kettle.

In short order they were seated around the fire, each sipping at the cup of tea they were holding in their hands. The story was told. It had been agreed before hand that they wouldn't get help from Xellos unless they told him everything, so they did just that, though guardedly.

Xellos smiled away as they told the story. When it was done he was silent for a space of time, as if in thought. Finally he shook his head in wonder. "Let me see this marvel." he said.

Amelia gulped, the dug out the monkey's paw, and handed it over.

"I have heard of this thing, actually." he said finally as he looked at it. "It was believed to be lost to the world aeons ago. An estate sale hey? I wonder..."

He gave it one more look over then said "And what do you want me to do?"

"Can you advise us how to turn Amelia back?" asked Zel.

Xellos sighed and shook his head. "She has transferred the curse from you to herself." replied the mazoku priest. "I can no more heal her than you. Your only chance is to hope that the paw can do it."

"We realize that much." said Amelia. "The trick is doing so without calling down any more evil on ourselves. That's the point where we need help. If the price is right."

Xellos smiled again. "Ah yes, the price... Let me think." he said. For awhile he was silent as he studied the monkey's paw once more.

After a time he said "You cannot wish with this thing and not have bad come from it. The merchant was wrong, or lying, on that point. The wishing power, I sense, comes from a curse. No good can come of it. I can tell you how to use your last wish, but I cannot prevent the evil. If you can accept this then my price is as follows. I want to be invited to your wedding, though whether as Best Man or as Maid of Honour I haven't decided yet, and, after you make your last wish, I want the monkey's paw for myself, to use as I want."

Amelia cringed back and gave Zel a helpless look.

Zel spoke up and said "You have us over a barrel, but we can at least tell you which direction to turn it. It's not worth it for you to mock Amelia, so, make it Best Man."

"I wouldn't be mocked, but you must promise not to use this thing for you, or anyone else, to wish for the end of the world, or else what's the point?" added Amelia, doing her own bit of bartering.

Xellos smiled. "Well, a hard bargain. People in dire straights should be careful about what they demand of the one they come to for help, but I guess I can concede your point in this instance. Very well, no world destruction. Otherwise I can do what I want with it. But I will still decide on which roll I want." he said, smirking.

They looked at each other and realized they had the best they could get. "Done." they said, together.

Xellos smiled with an irritatingly smug look of satisfaction. "Now to business. As I warned you, you cannot get away from being cursed, but you should have learned from the wish that got you into this mess to begin with thay you can direct the type of bad luck you get. The question is one of what can you live with?" he said, getting serious, while pouring more tea for all of them.

"What are the options?" asked Zel.

Xellos got even more serious, which was scary, and replied, saying "Well, I would take it from what happened to the Princess that the Paw transfered the curse from you to her. To be frank, I find it doubtful that it can cure the curse, though you can try if you dare. But you will run the risk of getting something equally bad, or perhaps even worse, as a consequence. The most likely option is, I'm afraid, for one or the other of you to take the curse on full time until you find a cure. Or, you can split the curse somehow. Either take turns carrying it, say one by day, the other by night, or every other day, something like that." he councilled, handing the paw back to Amelia.

Amelia and Zel looked at each other, thinking fast. "Let me take it back." said Zel. "Please, Amelia, I can bear it better than you can, it was made for me."

"Absolutely not." said Amelia with a strong note of finality. "I have seen you so happy these past few days, and that means the world to me, Zel, never mind just my body. I will keep it."

A passionate, but rather hopeless argument started, and in the end they were right back where they started.

"Then, let us split it." said Zel, finally. "I can't bear the thought of you being like this all the time. Let me give you some relief at least."

Amelia gulped, then slowly nodded. "I guess that's the best option isn't it?" she said. "Or at least the lesser of several evils. But how?"

"Be whole by day when people will see you." said Zel. I won't mind it by night, and you can be in public."

"No, that's what I want for you, Mister Zelgadiss." protested Amelia. "You've been denied the right to walk around openly as a man for too long. You take the day."

Zel shook his head. "This won't do, we will have another useless argument. How about we split it every other day?" he asked.

Amelia looked defeated. "I suppose..." she sighed. She looked to Xellos and asked. "Any insights you'd care to share?"

The trickster priest smiled, as usual, and said "I take it the problem you each have the most trouble with is for the other to appear in public as a chimera? There is a way to fix that..."

It took a bit of convincing, but in the end Zel and Amelia agreed that Xellos had the most workable solution. With his guidance they oh so carefully worded the final wish, hoping they got it right. Xellos agreed to hang around to make sure it worked and even offered to let Zel have the use of the monkey's paw if things didn't work out right, so they could try again. Soon, a deep need for sleep settled over the couple and they tucked in for a short nap, realising the magic was about to work upon them. "See you after we wake up..." muttered a sleepy Amelia.

Zel was yawning too hard to reply. In another minute they were both asleep. Xellos had a good long chuckle and threw a few more sticks on the fire. This would be interesting if nothing else. He studied the paw some more, and thought about how he might best use it.

It was just as well the two sleepers couldn't see his evil grin.

Less than half an hour later they awoke. They wordlessly, and shyly, turned away from each other and checked themselves out. It had worked, perfectly.

Curses...

Zel turned back and opened his shirt, revealing a normal upper body, a transition from below the ribs to the navel, and from the navel down to his pants, he was obviously a chimera. Amelia smiled and delicately lifted her own shirt just enough to show her own belly. She had the same division. Thank goodness Xellos had helped them word the wish so that neither of them ended up with the top half as the chimeric body.

"Well, I guess we are made for each other now..." she giggled.

After a minute Zelgadiss began to laugh. "Yes, we are. Let's go home, and get on with our life." he replied. Amelia nodded.

They climbed out ans showed the Mazoku Priest the results of his handiwork. He smiled. As usual.

Amelia turned to Xellos. "Thank you." she said.

The mazoku stood up and bowed. "A pleasure to be of service, Your Majesty." he said, courteously. "Now, please pardon me, but I simply must be getting back to my work. I thank you for this pleasant diversion, and I'll see you at the wedding." With that he faded from view.

"I wonder what he's got planned for that thing?" asked Amelia.

"I think we are better off not knowing." replied Zel.

Zel and Amelia sighed. They made a quick breakfast, then they packed up the camp and set off back down the road to home.

"Did we win or lose?" asked Zel.

"I think we broke even..." his companion replied. A few minutes later they broke out into laughter. There was really nothing else to do. A quick hug, a kiss, their first one with human lips to human lips (so it was justified, and don't you forget it...), a taking of hands, and they walked away.


End file.

Slayers