He sensed... he sensed wind. Across his eyelids. How long had it been since he'd felt that? But--no, it wasn't wind, exactly. Something softer.

"Zelgadis? You still in there?"

Hair?

It took a moment before he could gather enough strength to open his eyes. At first he thought there was a thin film of blood across his vision; then he realised it was Lina's hair, brushing against his face.

"Lina..." The word came out brittle and cracked. His throat was parched, but on the whole he felt a lot better.

"Sorry to get you up early, but I thought we should go over what we're gonna tell the guys."

She leaned back a little, and her whole face swam into view. He smiled slowly, without really knowing (or caring) why.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi yourself. Now get up and help me think of something."

He blinked away the smile, feeling more awake and a touch more embarrassed, then lifted a hand to push his bangs back from his forehead. "The truth seems a bit too blunt."

"And too gory. I don't want you bleeding all over breakfast."

They both laughed, Zel a little nervously. He was having difficulty dispelling the unpleasant thought of having to dodge the Sword of Light.

"Anyways," Lina went on, "you can always sort of hide out from the group for a while. As long as--well, as long as he doesn't show up, I can tell the guys that you're holed up with a potential cure."

A vague sense of unease briefly settled across Zel's throat. A potential cure... oh, hell, what if this was it?

"Zel? That okay?"

"What? Uh, yeah, that sounds fine." He coughed and did his best to shake the feeling. "If you could go out to the library and bring me something on astral projection..."

"No problem. Right on it."

"And," he added, "see if you can persuade Gourry not to use the hot tub after breakfast. I think it's been a while since Xellos had a bath."



When he was reasonably sure nobody was looking, he slipped down to the hot tub, sticking close to walls and doorways lest anyone notice. Luckily, the corridors were deserted, as were the baths; once there, he was quick to strip off the mazoku's robes and dive in.

The feel of water on his skin was one of the few things that hadn't changed when he'd become a chimera. True, his wire hair was more likely to rust if he tried to wash it, but the feeling of immersion never changed. It was one of the few things that could almost make him forget his condition.

He surfaced, and breathed deeply.

If it wasn't for the face, he would be glad to stay this way. Well, the face wasn't the whole problem. He didn't know how much mazoku was left in Xellos's body, and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out by staying. And he was almost certain that Xellos had more enemies than he did, enemies who might even be full-blooded mazoku (and who would sooner pan-fry him than listen to the truth).

And then there was Lina.

He allowed himself to sink again, closing his eyes against the warm water. Not now. He couldn't deal with this now. He had much bigger problems to worry about--and besides, she was working with him, not against him. He should just be grateful for her help and get on with solving this damn puzzle.

Some puzzle, too. How did a purebred mazoku end up in a half-human form? He could understand the body-switch now: if Xellos felt himself weakened by a mistake this big, he would need to buy himself time to reverse it with as little risk as possible, which essentially meant stealing a stronger body.

He rose to the surface again, and started to climb out of the bath. The fever he'd had immediately after the switch was an interesting problem. Xellos was powerful; he shouldn't have burned up so much magic on a spell... unless his new human blood was affecting his ability to cast spells. Maybe he'd tried to enhance his spell-casting powers and ended up reducing them.

Perhaps I ought to run a little test, later, he thought, grabbing at a towel and bathrobe. Right now I'd better just get back to my room, before--

But before he could finish that thought, a wave of anger, irritation, and confused hatred poured into his mind. And then:

"Mr. Xellos, what in the name of all that's holy do you think you're doing in the girls' bath?!?!"



Back to the "Pure Evil" index