Shadows Under Starlight
                              
                          Chapter 7
                              
                        "Reflection"

By Adam Christopher Leigh
Distributed by Tempest Creations

A Crossover of Epic Proportions

***

     It should be daytime, however the skies are black,
shrouded in thick clouds summoned by the devil's magic.  She
is angry and the world will feel her wrath, she demands it
all, and few stand in her way.

     He is one of those who stand before her.  He wears the
flawless armor of a Paladin and wields a sword infused with
a magic that even he does not understand.  She doesn't fear
him, as he would think she should, because it is not his
destiny to kill her, however, he stalls for the one who
shall.  She laughs at him and tries to send him away but he
stands strong.  His sword parts the waves of energy and
strikes back.

     She is unfazed and continues to laugh as her hand forms
a fist to crush him with.  He raises his sword as if to
spear her hand as it descends upon him.  He does not fear
her wrath as others do, even if he does not understand the
magic around him, he understands the purpose he is to serve.
The sword above him glows with a holy light and the clouds
above part for just an instant allowing the holy light of
the moon to empower him.

     She withdraws suddenly, her swing incomplete, and
stares in abject disbelief at the man she thought powerless.
Again, she does not fear, however she is concerned with the
delay he is providing.  One of his fellow warriors holds up
a glowing sword and moves forward to attack.  She dispatches
him at once, his power cannot withstand her as the Paladin's
can.

     He waits for her attention to return to him.  He feels
the power around him, he knows he must help the defeat of
the one who wishes the world to be destroyed, but he also
knows his power will never be enough to do it himself.  His
power was created for another purpose and is merely being
used while that other purpose lay dormant.  It would be the
worst luck if that purpose were to arise now, in the moment
of destruction.

     She turns back to him, the devil, and with wide eyes,
she slams her fist into the ground.  Beneath him, the earth
opens and engulfs him.  He almost does not have a chance to
save himself.  Sacrificing his sword, he pulls himself back
up out of the crevice only to see it seal itself shortly
after.  He looks up at her with a look of defeat as she
raises her hand again and brings it upon him.

     The pain is so quick it is nearly nonexistent.

                             ***

     Leon awoke from his nightmare with sheer terror in his
heart, never before had he been so afraid of his
surroundings.  Whatever this magic was, it surely had the
ability to do great evil and great good at the same time,
but it seemed, lately, only to do evil.  All around him were
beings of great power, people with the ability to destroy
the world in a heartbeat, and Leon in the center, the only
mortal, the only powerless one.  Or was he?  The nightmare
slipped away from him quickly, but gave him the feeling one
equates to having someone walking over their grave.  Was his
nightmare merely that, or was it something more?

     "Are you okay?" a man's voice said to Leon.  In
response, he looked up and around at the room he was lying
in.  It was a simple, single roomed house with a bed, which
Leon was lying on, a table with a few chairs in the center,
and several piles of hay in the corners that looked to have
been converted into beds.  Leon's heart leaped into his
throat as he saw, lying on one of the piles, was Shayla.

     "Hey?" the voice repeated and Leon looked up at the man
who was now standing beside the bed.  He looked to be just a
bit shorter than Leon himself, wearing a long off-white
cloak that covered most of his body with the exception of
the very bottoms of his boots, clasped together at his neck
with a similarly colored hood, drawn over the man's head and
an extra piece of cloth that was wrapped across his face
leaving only his eyes and a small frock of light purplish
hair visible.

     Leon had been a MegaTokyo Police officer longer than
he'd been an AD Police detective so he knew that when
someone covers up that much of their features it's only for
two reasons: 1.) they have something to hide, or 2.) they
don't want to be identified after committing a crime.  Leon
wondered about both options and was relieved to find, after
moving his elbow slightly against his side, that his gun was
still in it's holster.

     "I'm fine," Leon said in his smoothest voice possible.
Actually he had a headache the size of the AD Police
building, but at least his legs didn't feel like they were
on fire anymore and the pain in his ribs was gone. A bit of
concern to creep into his voice, "How is she?" He motioned
towards Shayla.

     "I'm not sure," the man said, his voice was soothing in
a way, almost a whisper of sorts.  He could be trying to
mask his voice the way he was masking the rest of his body,
Leon thought.  "She was hurt very badly when I found you,
I've done my best to keep her alive, but she requires the
aid of a white magi if she is to recover."

     "Thanks for your help," Leon said.  "Say, what's your
name?"

     "My name," he said turning away from Leon and moving
over to Shayla, "is Zelgadis."  Bending down, he placed a
gloved hand on Shayla's head, pushing away the strands of
hair.  Leon noticed that Shayla was wearing a tunic and a
pair of loose slacks now, much different than just his
blazer when he first arrived in Prun.  "No thanks is
necessary, I couldn't just leave you lying there."

     "Zelgadis, huh?" repeated Leon. "Any reason you keep
yourself covered up like that?"

     "That's none of your business," said Zelgadis, not
moving from Shayla's side.

     "I'm Leon, say, have ever heard of a man named Diviner
Valney?" Leon asked.  Zelgadis was quiet for a moment then
stood and turned to face Leon.

     "Yes, I have," he said.  "He lives in the mansion at
the top of this mountain.  He starts the Ceremony of Lights
every year in this city.  But he's locked himself up in his
mansion until the start of the Ceremony so if you want to
see him, you'll have to wait another five days."

     "I see," Leon said.  "I take it you've tried already."

     The cloaked man nodded.  "I've traveled a long distance
to see this man," he grumbled, "and he turned me away.  I've
been patient for long time however, I can wait another
week."

     "You don't sound too satisfied by that," Leon
commented.

     "There is nothing I can do," replied Zelgadis.  "I can
hardly ask for help from the man if I force myself in to see
him."

     "Of course not," said Leon.  He swung his legs off the
side of the bed and sat to think for a second.  Zelgadis
seemed nice enough, but the way he talked about seeing
Valney made it seem like he had no doubt he would be able to
force himself in if he wanted.  The last thing Leon wanted
was another powerhouse around, all these magic toting
children were really getting him jumpy.  Although, Zelgadis
seemed much older and the sword strapped to his side seemed
to indicate that perhaps he was a talented swordsman instead
of a firework.  Closer to Tenchi than to Kazuki...

     Oh, gods!

     Leon stood suddenly and his headache reached such a
peak he nearly fell right back onto the bed.  He put a hand
to his temple and shook his head, tossing aside the nausea
for a second.  "Listen, Zel, I left a few of my friends
behind last night, I've got to go back for them.  Watch over
her for just a while longer, will ya? Thanks."

     Leon bounded to the door and stopped at the frame to
shake a bit more of the dizziness away but found it harder
than before.  He blinked a few times as the edges of his
vision blurred.

     "Either you're about to pass out," Zelgadis said
walking up behind him.  "Or you'll collapse just outside the
city, either way you won't help your friends one bit."

     "That might be how you feel, but I can't leave them out
there."

     Zelgadis sighed, "I'll go get them, just tell me where
they are and what they look like.  You stay here."

     "That's too much to ask," Leon said, but not believing
it as the pounding in his head got a little worse.  He could
use a break actually, this was far much more work than he
got out of an average day of busting boomer crimes.

     "Forget it, now tell me where you left them."

                             ***

     Zelgadis walked silently through the Fordim Plane, or
rather, what was left of it.  Leon's story seemed rather...
uneducated, reminding Zelgadis of many of Gourry's rather
inane tales.  But here it was, just like he explained, an
empty plane, a smoky smell, and the eerie feeling of death
all around.  He felt his magic slowly leaving him, his
Shamanistic abilities stifled by the lack of nature.  If
there was ever a place to get attacked where he'd be at the
most disadvantage, this would be it.

     Thankfully, the odds of that seemed slim in Zelgadis'
mind.  He was far from anywhere anyone could have recognized
him, in search of two strangers to him who Leon said hardly
anyone would have a reason to be after (which apparently
wasn't true since there was quite a powerful battle going on
here), on a plane where he could see anyone approaching for
miles.  The last place anyone would come looking for him.

     Glancing around the plane however, he wondered how long
it would take for nature to reassert itself.  Things were
not just rough, they seemed impossible.  Why would anyone do
such a thing, he would have to ask Leon about it when he
returned from this crazy missing persons search.

     And it *was* crazy.  Crazy for him to have considered
it, crazy for him to have accepted, crazy for him to have
*suggested* it.  Why the hell was he doing anything for some
bum and his girl he found lying in the streets of Prun this
morning?  He didn't care about Leon or any of his friends,
he didn't even care if that beat up woman he was with were
to turn over and die right now.

     That was, perhaps, the reason he was doing this at all.
Valney was a good bet, the power of another wise man might
be able to counteract Rezo's bloody curse and finally turn
him back into a human, but something that Lina said the last
time he was with her seemed to stick in her mind.  He still
remembered the last time they parted perfectly.

     It was just after another crazy quest to find a cure
had turned backwards and involved the fate of the world
again.  He'd been searching for the Scepter of Holy Light,
which had been said to be able to revert any curse or
disease with a simple touch.  He'd been excited, for the
first time in a long time, he was excited.  Then, just when
he thought he'd had it, he carelessly became infected with
`The Plague' and gotten so sick he could hardly keep up the
quest on his own.  So he went to find Lina only to be
captured by that Dark Lord Uther and used as bait to get
Lina to find the Scepter for him.  Eventually, she did get
the Scepter, and managed to cure herself enough to break
herself and Zelgadis free before turning it on the woman who
was pulling Uther's strings. She turned out to be the
corrupted form of Ceiphied, the Water Dragon.

     It worked on her, so Zelgadis was hopeful it would work
on him.  But when Lina turned the Scepter on him, it cured
him of the Plague, but he was still a Chimera.  He was so
devastated he was about to blow himself away with a Ra Tilt,
then, quite uncharacteristically of her, Lina put a hand on
his shoulder, looked him in the eyes with compassion, and
apologized.

     "Y-you..." Zelgadis swallowed in response.  "It's not
your fault, Lina, the Scepter simply isn't strong enough to
battle Rezo's curse.  At least it cured me of this cursed
Plague.  I'll just have to keep looking for my cure."

     "You know, Zel," Lina said softly.  "I don't mean to
insult you, but, why do you want to be human so much?"

     "Because it's what I *am*," Zelgadis replied shortly.
"I'm not this half-breed, I'm a human that was tricked into
getting this hideous body."

     "But were you tricked?" Lina asked, her voice smaller
than a mouse.

     "What?"

     "Zel, you asked Rezo for a power, an ability to make
you strong, and he granted you this body, just like you
asked."

     "I didn't ask-"

     "You asked for power."

     "That's right," Zel said.  "That's all."

     "No," Lina said defiantly. "You asked for more, you
just didn't know it.  Much of a person's appearance and
ability is reflection of their inner self.  In order to give
you power, Rezo had to change you into something that would
accept the power he had to give.  The body was a necessary
ingredient for power."

     "You certainly don't look this way," Zelgadis quipped.

     "No, you're right, I don't.  But I have other ...
deficiencies that were sacrificed."  She looked down
momentarily then back up to Zelgadis.  "It's a balance, Zel,
that's why whenever we come up against these evils we win,
because there must be a balance."

     "To be blunt, your deficient chest size is hardly
comparable to my chimera body," Zelgadis said.

     "But it is," said Lina.  "Don't you see, we loose the
things we care most about in exchange for the power.  I
wanted to be big and adult-like, more than anything, I
wanted to be the bigger one so that I could get back at Luna
for all those times... well, anyway, when I found magic, it
found what I cared about most and put a dampener on it so it
wouldn't develop correctly.  The same thing happened when
Rezo gave you your power, it found what you would miss the
most and changed it on you.  It changed your body."

     "I would gladly give up all this power to be human
again!" Zelgadis yelled, not even sure why he was yelling.

     "But you need to do more than that, now, it's harder to
go back after the change has been made.  Zelgadis, every day
you've spent in that chimera body, you've become a colder
person.  Each time we meet, you've become more heartless in
some way.  Just now you were about to kill yourself. *Kill*
yourself, just because the Scepter didn't work right.  Does
that sound like the same person you were before Rezo gave
you that body?"

     "You don't understand," Zel turned away.  "It's hard
dealing with this every day, it's different in so many ways
and so difficult in many more.  I just want it to end, but I
can't make it end, I have to search endless for a cure that
possibly doesn't exist."

     "Zel," Lina said, putting her hand on his shoulder and
turning him around to face her.  "The magic doesn't work,
and it won't work until you start acting more like the
humans you so wish to rejoin.  Try being kinder, Zel, don't
go running off this time, stay with us for a while.  Learn
about the good parts of life instead of simply moving
between the bad parts.  Then, maybe, with time, I can use
the Scepter on you again and it will work.  You've got
nothing but time and I'm willing to help if you say with
us."

     Zel hung his head low and turned back around.  "I'll
give what you said some thought, Lina Inverse," he said
then, with a deep breath, started walking away from her.
"Good-bye again."  He didn't look back, part of him said it
was cold to act that way to such a good friend, part of him
accused himself of wanting to live a painful lifestyle.  But
a very small part of himself understood, perhaps that was
the human side of him that somehow managed to survive, that
the real reason he wouldn't turn back, was because he was
afraid he'd made her cry and if he saw those tears, he
wouldn't have a choice at all, he would have to go back.  So
he kept walking, right out of her life.

     He did give what she said a lot of thought, and in the
end, decided, that despite her young age and somewhat
immature behavior, there was merit to what she was saying
and tried, at least in some manner, to be nicer each day.
It was that slightly pleasant attitude that got him in the
position to learn of Diviner Valney, and it was that same
attitude that convinced him to help Leon when he was in
trouble.

     Zelgadis slowed as he saw a figure in the distance
standing in the middle of the road over two unmoving forms.
He definitely saw three people and since Leon only talked of
two, he decided that one of them must be the enemy that Leon
referred to once or twice.  He threw his cloak over his
shoulders, turning it into a cape, and kept a hand on his
sword as he walked nearer to the three figures.

     As the features of the standing figure resolved,
Zelgadis drew his sword in rage and pointed it at them.  He
moved quickly over to the three, never dropping his guard,
moving with such agility he was nearly silent over the
blackened earth.  In the last second, the standing figure
turned to face Zelgadis, and all the fight drained out of
him.

     She was not the same as when he last saw her, her face
was badly burned and slightly bleeding through her cracked
skin.  She was nursing an arm so badly charred it looked
like she would never use it again, standing with all her
weight on one foot while the other was just resting,
bleeding from several cuts and scrapes, most of which had
been curiously cauterized.  She was staring down at one of
the two boys at her feet, the one that looked most like what
Leon described Kazuki to be.

     "Kyri," Zelgadis said with venom in his voice.

     "Zelgadis," she croaked, her voice almost unwilling to
respond to her commands.   "How coincidental, meeting you
here, of all places.  I was to kill you, you know."

     "I recall," grumbled Zel as he lowered his sword but
without sheathing it.  "I thought you died along with your
master in the caves of Zanaffar.  How did you survive?"

     She seemed to ponder the question for a moment before
slightly shaking her head.  "It doesn't matter anymore," she
said.  "I got out, I received a new assignment, to get this
boy, and his lady friend did this to me.  She was good, very
powerful, very quick.  I was better, at least, I thought I
was, I didn't know she had that last one up her sleeve."
She slowly moved her head to look up at Zelgadis.  "It's too
bad, I'd have liked to have gone once more against you, you
were always a good opponent in a sword fight."

     "As you have been as well," acknowledged Zelgadis.
"You're dying."

     "Very observant," she said trying to smile but only
making the bleeding worse.  "It takes a lot to kill a
Shadow, that's why Uther chose us to do his work.  I thought
I might survive this one, but apparently I will not."

     Zelgadis looked down at his sword in his hand, then
back up at Kyri.  She seemed to be fading, her arms were
becoming slightly translucent, then fading away into
nothing.  He blinked to make sure he was seeing correctly.
A thought struck him.  "Kyri, your master, Uther, if you
survived, he could as well.  Did he survive?"

     "It doesn't matter."

     "Did he survive?"

     Kyri blinked slowly.  "You are aggravating me, go away,
play with your demon sorceress."

     "Tell me!"

     "I will not say either way, but I'll tell you this,"
she said as her legs and torso faded away.  "Even if he did
survive, which I wont tell you if he did, he wouldn't be
after you."

     Zelgadis' eyes widened.  "The boy.  What does he want
with the boy?"

     She was gone.

     Zelgadis looked down at the two boys in the crumbling
dirt.  They seemed average enough, about Lina's age, one of
them dressed rather unusually to have come from Ionia but
there was hardly any style there to talk about.  Not
outstanding here, but in a crowd of people from Prun, they
would be obviously outsiders.

     Zelgadis knelt between the two boys and cast his
Raywing spell against the forces of the plane working
against his shamanistic magic.  The bubble rippled once then
carried him, Kazuki and Tenchi off back towards Prun.
Zelgadis pondered the situation the entire way back.

                             ***

     Similar to digging a hole in the sand while the tide is
coming in, Tenchi felt like he was fighting a losing battle
to regain consciousness.  It shouldn't have been that way,
however, his sleep was self-induced while he was under the
influence of the Light Hawk Wings, he should have been able
to break from it with the snap of a finger.  But everything
seemed backwards to him, he couldn't seemed to find the
right push to wake up again as if he'd suddenly become wall-
eyed and tried to type on a keyboard.

     Then suddenly, it all became easy and he felt himself
almost pulled back to life, back to consciousness...

     The world snapped into focus around him forcing him to
sit up suddenly and take in a heaving breath.  Life giving
air filled his lungs like it never had before and he felt
refreshed and ready to combat a hundred Kagatos and Dr
Clays.  Looking around, he saw that he was lying on a stack
of hay in a single roomed house with meager furnishings and
currently sharing the room with four other people.  Shayla
he recognized immediately as she was lying right beside him,
although she had changed her clothes for some odd reason,
then he saw Kazuki, who was standing in the opposite corner
of the room washing his face in a small bowl rather
vigorously.  Finally his eyes lifted to find the faces that
belonged to the four legs that were standing pretty much
right in front of him.  One of the faces was Leon's, awfully
recognizable with that goofy grin on it, and the other was
some strange guy that was covered in a beige cloth as to
obscure his face with the exception of his eyes and a bit of
his hair.

     Tenchi analyzed the situation and decided not to speak
first.

     "Good morning," Leon said, squatting down beside him.
"How you feeling kid?"

     "Rather well actually," replied Tenchi.  "Much better
than I've felt in a long time."  He turned to look at the
man that was standing beside Leon, now walking over to check
on Kazuki.  "Who's he?"

     "The tall guy in the cloak?" Leon affirmed.  "He's
Zelgadis, he helped me out when I came here with Shayla and
when all the way back to retrieve you guys afterwards."

     "What do you mean... back to retrieve us?" Tenchi
asked.  "You mean you just left us lying behind and brought
Shayla here to this town?"

     "Of course," Leon said.  "She was in much worse
condition than you seemed to be and I could only carry one
person.  It all turned out okay though, you all right now
and so is Kazuki ... well, in a manner of speaking anyway."

     "How's Shayla?" Tenchi asked and saw a shadow drift
across Leon's face.

     "She's... still asleep.  Her wounds aren't fully healed
but Kazuki hasn't tried any of his magic on her yet.  She
seemed to take the brunt of the blast."

     "I figured."  Tenchi gazed past Leon for a second to
see Zelgadis and Kazuki talking in the corner.  "What's
wrong with Kazuki?"

     "Huh?" Leon asked.

     "You said, that Kazuki was all right `in a manner of
speaking.'  What's wrong with him?"

     "Oh, well, he seems a little depressed.  I think he was
hoping he wouldn't need your help defending us from that
massive attack earlier, broken ego type of stuff."

     "Ah," Tenchi said with a nod.  "I tried to let him
handle it as long as possible before using the Light Hawk
Wings, but his field was far too weak.  I had to take over."

     "The Light Hawk Wings?" asked Leon.  "Is that what you
call those three white beams of light?"

     "Yes," nodded Tenchi.  "It's the power I inherited from
my grandfather through my mother.  He was a member of the
Royal House of Jurai, a distant planet deep in our galaxy.
His people have the ability to use those wings generated by
the Holy Tree of Life, Tsunami.  However, he was only able
to use one, this hilt was his link to access the power,
somehow I got the ability to use three."

     "But you weren't using the sword before," Leon said.
"You dropped it to the ground."

     "That's right.  Not only am I able to use three, but
somehow I'm able to generate the wings myself, instead of
relying on Tsunami to generate them and then accessing them
with the Master Key."

     "The master key?"

     "Oh, it's just another name for this sword.  It's also
called..." he hesitated. "Tenchi."

     "Hmm," Leon thought aloud. "Coincidence?"

     "You wish."

     Leon sighed and stood to face Zelgadis and Kazuki.  All
this mystical stuff was getting very strange and it was
about time he talked to the resident expert.  "Hey, Kazuki!"

                             ***

     Kazuki sulked in the corner as Leon tried to wake
Tenchi up.  He wasn't really sulking, actually, just
thinking rather sadly.  A lot of things had been his fault
recently and it was starting to weigh heavily on his mood.
Bringing Leon and his friends here, the death of Gomo,
Kyri's attack, Shayla's injury, and it all seemed to be
because of that stupid book he had to go and get in order to
eat breakfast the next morning.  It was all stupid. Stupid,
stupid, stupid!

     The young boy's hair stood up on the back of his neck,
alerting him to proximity of someone else far before that
someone decided to say anything.  "Kazuki," the voice said,
which sounded unusually hoarse and wispy.

     Kazuki spun around quickly and saw the tall man dressed
in beige robes standing behind him.  He was covering his
entire body with the pale cloth, but Kazuki wasn't fooled,
the strange magical aura he projected almost wrote the truth
in bright lights.  "You," Kazuki breathed, sounding a little
terrified despite his promise to himself that he wouldn't.
"What are you?"

     "I'm Zelgadis," the man replied, pushing his frock of
purple hair away from his eyes.  "That's all you need to
know."

     "You're a chimera," Kauzki said without thinking.

     "How do you know that?" the much larger man said,
sounding just a little bit angered.

     "I don't," replied the boy quickly, before calming
himself and regaining his posture. "I mean, I - I could feel
it.  You have the wild cunning and skill of a demon but the
silent, unmoving strength of a golem.  I-I didn't mean to
pry."

     "Then don't," snapped Zelgadis.  "Just tell me what you
know about the Dark Lord Uther."

     "Who?"

     "Last night you were attacked by Lady Kyri," Zel
explained.  "She's the right hand operative of Uther and
never does anything without his saying.  She was trying to
capture you, but why?"

     "I-I really don't know," Kazuki admitted.  He swallowed
and pulled at his collar a bit.  "I guess it could have
something to do with the book I stole for Gomo..."

     "Who's Gomo?" Zelgadis pressed.

     "Uh, he's just this guy I was working for," replied the
frightened magic user.  "He mentioned that he wanted me to
get the book for someone who could have been Uther, I don't
remember much, he only mentions his buyers in passing to me.
I don't think he even the guy before this job and was
probably under the impression that after it was done he'd
never hear from him again."  Kauzki looked at his feet.
"But now he's gone, killed by that Lady Kyri you just said.
Listen, I really don't know anything more than that.  That
lady just attacked me out of the blue and never said exactly
why she was doing it other than that she had to bring me to
see someone.  I'd never seen her before then, honest!"

     "What was the book you had to steal?" said the chimera.

     "I'm not sure exactly how important it is, but it was
called the Grimorum Goetia.  It was a really powerful
magical book, at least from what I saw of it, looked real
old too."

     Zelgadis rubbed his chin through the cloth covering it.
"Ancient powerful magic books seems his style," he mused.
"Do you have any idea where he or the book are?"

     "No," said Kazuki.  "We came here to see if Valney
knew, you see, we kind of want to get the book back."

     "Really," asked Zel. "Why?"

     "Hey, Kazuki!"

     Kazuki quickly lifted onto his toes to peer past
Zelgadis to Leon who was waving him over suddenly.  "Excuse
me," he said as Zel stepped to the side allowing Kazuki to
slink past, slightly shaking.  He didn't like the chimera
very much, he thought he was too cold, too all-business for
him.  People like that tended to turn into obsessive maniacs
and his all too intensive interest in whoever it was that
was trying to kill Kazuki and his new traveling companions
seemed to be the first signs of that.  Of course, there were
a few other obsessive people in this group.

     "How are you feeling, Kazuki?" Tenchi asked as Kazuki
walked up to Leon and Tenchi.  "You took quite a fall there,
I hope you're not too burned out.  That was quite a powerful
spell you were defending us against, very formidable."

     "Uhh, thanks," Kazuki said, putting a hand behind his
head.  "Um, I'm fine, just a little tired, but Zelgadis says
that we can't see Valney for a few days anyway."

     "Well," Leon interjected.  "We'll see about that.  But,
in the mean time, have you taken a look at Shayla yet?"

     Kazuki paled.  These were the sort of leads he didn't
want to engage in, but he knew that Leon wouldn't stop
question him unless he answered at least a few.  "She seems
pretty bad," Kazuki admitted, looking down at his heads.
"Zelgadis set her arm properly and if it wasn't for the
hundred other injuries she has, it would have begun to heal
by now.  But those wounds are still there, and that's just
the blatant physical damage, she may have mental or magical
instability that we simply can't see."

     "Can you heal her?" asked Leon rather bluntly.

     "I-I," he began, not looking up from his hands.  "I'd
rather not."

     "Why not?"

     "I'm not sure I can do it.  I don't want to try and
mess something up to make things worse.  She's in such a
fragile condition she may die if I do something wrong.  I
don't want to risk it.  I'm not very good, I told you that.
Every now and then I do something spectacular, but I can't
control it, and it's usually damaging to those around me."
He turned away and moved over towards the single window in
the room.  "I tried to use those powers to keep that shield
up, but they refused to do what I wanted.  I held the
strength in my hand, but I was just too weak to bend it.
I..." he trailed off and looked up out the window.

     Outside, a simple street ran through a village, one-and-
a-half story cottages lined each side, and beyond them,
leading up into the clouds, sat Fairfather Mountain...

                             ***

     He lay there, unmoving, simply soaking in what had just
happened to him.  As strange as it may sound, he'd just been
created ... no, summoned.  He felt like a boy, almost ten
years old, but he knew he was born mere hours ago.

     Borne from darkness, wrought from hate, blessed with
light, and set to rampage.

     That was the incantation that he first heard.  The
short man who was walking beside the stretcher he was being
carried on was the one who said it.  Short seemed dressed
like some sort of magic user, his hands neatly folded, his
wrinkleless robe flowing smoothly to the ground.  There was
an air of pride about the man, no doubt happy that the boy
laying on the stretcher had been successfully summoned.

     The Boy felt somewhat attached to Short, who had
created him.  As he gazed about, he noticed he was being
brought down a gentle slope and before him, behind Short and
his faceless companions who were carrying the stretcher,
stretched a mountain into the clouds.

     Short turned to look at the Boy and noticed his active
eyes.  Immediately frightened, he rose his hand and touched
the child on the stretcher's forehead.  At first, it felt
calming to the Boy, but then the hidden malice intent shown
through as he felt his mind being drained.  His first few
hours of existence being wiped away just as soon as he'd had
them.

                             ***

     Kazuki doubled forward, resting his hand on the
windowsill as the other occupants of the room he was in
rushed to his aid.

     "Kazuki," said Tenchi, gently holding him up.  "What's
wrong?  Are you okay?"

     "Where's the pain at, kid?" Leon said.

     Forcing the uncomfortable feeling aside, Kazuki looked
up again at the mountain, some flicker of recognition
burning in the back of his mind.  Of course he should
recognize it, he'd been there many times before, but somehow
it looked different.  As if the tall mansion at the top
should really be a long castle with huge banners the colors
of red and yellow...

     The feeling washed away, and with it, the images in his
mind.  Tenchi helped him back up and he stood, staring at
the mountain again.  Something big was going to happen
there, Kazuki could feel it.

     Either that, or it already happened.

                       -End Chapter 7-

Authors Notes:

     Another chapter finished, although you'll probably find
more problems in this one than your average chapter.  The
reason?  Lots of setup being done here, I'm trying to get
together most of my ideas so that they can begin to weave
with the main story and create a more... in depth
experience.  I'm sure it's all confusing to you right now,
but things will clear up in the future.

     As for the events that Zelgadis remembers, they
occurred in my short fanfic `Slayers Requiem', written at
least a year ago.  You can't find that fanfic anywhere
anymore and that's because I pulled it from public release
due it's inferiority to even my first fanfic: Adventures of
Darien.  However, it's getting a new infusion of ideas and
story telling tactics and a newer, revised version will be
out soon.  Watch for it.  In the meantime, Zelgadis will
continue to try to help the reader along with events he or
she hasn't experienced yet.

     Once again, thanks to everyone who's been sending me
C&C.  I enjoy it greatly and it is all influential, trust
me, I'm not one to stand firm on ideas if better ones come
along. :)

     `El-Hazard: The Magnificent World' was created by
Hiroki Hayashi and Ryoe Tsukimura and is copyright c1995 by
AIC and Pioneer Entertainment (USA/JP) L.P.  "Bubblegum
Crisis" was created by Suzuki Toshimichi and is c1987 by
A.I.C., Inc. & Youmex, Inc. Licensed to AnimEigo by Youmex,
Inc. for English Translation, Dubbing, and manufacturing.
"Tenchi Muyou! Ryo-ohki" was created by Masaki Kajishima and
is Copyright by AIC, Pioneer Entertainment LDC, INC., and
the Tenchi Muyou Committee.  Manufactured for, distributed,
and dubbed by Pioneer Entertainment (USA) L.P.  `Slayers'
was created by Hajime Kanazaka and Rui Araizumi and was
produced by TV TOKYO, SOFTX.  It was released in North
America by Software Sculptors Ltd. and is c1995. While this
story contains characters and situations from this anime and
used without permission, this work is c1999 Adam Leigh.  Not
for sale or trade.  All Rights Reserved.

Adam Christopher Leigh
Omicron@sprynet.com