****
I do not claim to own certain characters. I'm sure if
I did, a few other certain people would have a few
other certain lawyers on me and I really don't want
that. So I don't own Slayers and I don't want to be
sued. *generic other don't sue me stuff* Okay,
back to the happy fanfic writing.
****
A Past to be Forgotten
By Murasakikaze
Chapter Six
The Past is Forgotten
Zelgadis watched as Lina and Gourry slept and stepped
out cautiously from behind his hiding place. Kako was
gone and Mirai was out of sight, it was the perfect time to
act. Slowly, he made his way to Gourry and tried to pull
the constraints off him to no avail.
< You�ll have to inject them both with this or they�ll die the
second they�re removed from stasis.> Naria�s words
came ringing back into his mind and he removed the
syringe. It would have been safer if she had given him
two, but it was the best she could do, he reasoned.
Uncapping the needle he prepared to stick it into Gourry�s
arm.
"I can�t let you do that."
Zelgadis turned and saw Kako holding a small metal
object next to Lina�s head.
"This is called a self destruct mechanism for the stasis
machine. If I turn it off, you can save one, but not both.
Now, drop the syringe," his voice was icy and he smiled
as his first experiment dropped the needle reluctantly.
"I�m glad you�re here. Now we can install the leash in
you too. Oh, Naria has served me well and I�m sure
you�ll serve me even better."
"I won�t serve someone who is willing to kill my friends,"
Zelgadis retorted.
"I�m not _willing_ to kill them, but I will do what is
needed." The cynical smiled widened and he tapped
the small metal band wrapped around Lina�s forehead.
"Glad my drone told me about her or I would have been
in a world of hurt. These little artificial magic blockers
are wonderful, aren�t they?"
Zelgadis turned his head to Gourry and noticed
something before returning his gaze to Kako. The
scientist was watching him like a hawk and it didn�t
look like he was going to move anytime soon.
"Containment chamber. Now." He motioned for Zelgadis
to enter the small room and laughed. "You�ll be able to
see what happens to you before it actually does. This
should be interesting."
Just before he left, Zelgadis pushed the small blue
button underneath Gourry�s constraints and saw the
tight metal bands relax slightly. That�s all he would
need.
Suddenly the doors burst open and the same clone
that Zelgadis had passed earlier came running in.
"I�m late! I�m late! I�m late!" it screamed and kept running
past Kako. Soon after the small scientist followed
screaming for it to stop.
"C4! This is where you�re supposed to be!!"
The drone stopped and turned around. "Really?"
The scientist was rudely interrupted by another young man
slamming open the doors and running into the room.
This was another of the drones and he was carrying a
small black piglet with a yellow and black bandana.
"WHERE THE HELL-oh. Hi!!" The chimera waved and held
the piglet up. "I made a friend and I think he needs hot
water.."
During all of this, no one noticed a quiet young woman
pick up the needle and empty half the contents into the
sleeping man�s arm. Her blonde hair fell in front of her
face as she silently passed the syringe to Zelgadis. He
just stared at her as she disappeared again, back into
the walls from whence she had come.
"ALL OF YOU OUT OF MY LAB!! NOW!!" Kako screamed
and picked up both chimeras, throwing out the now broken
doors. Then he turned to the scientist. "And as for YOU-"
Kako stopped as the technician dropped to the ground and
grabbed his leg. "Please, don�t fire me, sir. I don�t want to
go back to mother as a failure."
Needless to say, Kako sweat dropped. "I was going to ask
you to escort C1 to the containment chambers�and do
you really live with your mother?"
The scientist nodded and was quickly thrown out the door
after the other two creations.
"I didn�t need to know that�"
----------
Naria watched the screens and felt a hand fall onto her
shoulder. She didn�t even have to turn around to know who
it was.
"Thank you�" she whispered.
"I had to," Mirai replied and smiled down at the young girl.
"Yes, but thank you�Mother�"
----------
Zelgadis stepped forward and unsheathed his blade. It
wouldn�t be hard to kill this guy�he would just have to forget
about Lina dying. No, not hard at all, he thought sarcastically
and waited for Kako to draw his sword. Kako had accepted
the challenge he had set forth and he was honor bound not
to break his oath of not killing Lina unless he won.
"En guarde, Zelgadis." Kako smiled and pulled his blade
out from beneath his robes. They met each other in battle,
each wielding similar double-edged swords. The
clashing metal echoed off the high walls and made a
very groggy person wake up.
Gourry sat up and pushed the constraints off him as if they
were blankets. He rubbed his eyes and yawned before
noticing the battle taking place in front of him. That didn�t
concern him half as much as Lina did. She was still
unconscious and a fluid yellow mask was placed around
her nose and mouth.
"Lina?" He slid off the table, unnoticed by the duelers, and
made his way over to her. "Lina�please be okay�"
Gourry couldn�t help but wonder why her eyes were open
if she wasn�t awake.
----------
"One is awake. Lina should awaken soon if the
transformation isn�t complete," Naria entered a password
into the computer and waited for it to respond. Silence
stretched out in the command center like death�s grip and
Mirai coughed uncomfortably. "What is it?"
"Aren�t you going to help him?"
Naria paused for a second and shook her head. "He
doesn�t want my help�and I don�t want to give it to him.
I still hate him even if I told him I didn�t�"
"Do you think that�s fair?" Mirai assumed the role of angry
mother and crossed her arms in front of her disapprovingly.
Naria didn�t answer and kept her eyes on the computer
screen.
"Well?"
"No�but I don�t know who else to blame�" Naria pressed
the enter button and caught the snarl at the back of her
throat when the Abort/Retry/Fail system kicked in. She hit
the Fail key; one system down.
"Listen, for however long I�ve known you, I know that you
are a good person for whatever we did you to and I wanted
to genuinely apologize for what I did." Mirai�s hand
dropped down onto Naria�s shoulder, forcing her to look
up. "I didn�t think he would take away your soul."
"If you didn�t think it, then you were wrong. I know that once
upon a time he was human at least for a few minutes when
they changed him. Why didn�t I get the same luxury? I had
to be brought out a chimera and never be able to feel the
wind on my skin or feel anything at all, but something tells
me that I�m thinking wrong�" Naria returned her gaze to
the computer and continued deleting files. On one
computer screen it showed a paddock gate opening a
hundreds of confused chimeras rushing out into the open
air.
"Deleting leash files," the computer chimed. "Deleted."
"You can leave if you want. I�ll deactivate all of the leashes
from here. Although you�ve deleted the time frame, they
can always be redone. You go, I�ll stay." Mirai sat down as
Naria stood. Then she watched in amazement as Naria
grabbed one of the swords leaning against the rack on the
wall.
"You changed the subject. Was I ever human?" she asked
as she strapped the sword to her belt. Mirai was silent for
a moment and only slightly nodded when Naria turned.
"Was he?"
Again only a small motion, this time Mirai shook her head.
"We wanted to try something the first time, so we took a
human soul and put it into his body and gave him a mind.
It worked too well and the soul and mind merged to make
one person and he took off. So instead we removed the
soul and made you into drones�"
"I�ll have to tell him that." Naria smiled and left through
the open doors.
"Naria�" Mirai watched her go before turning back to the
computer console.
----------
Metal clashed against metal, but it still sounded dull to
one person. That one person tried desperately to hold
back the anger and helplessness that he felt. She was
still asleep and someone was rapidly changing her skin
to a light blue color. Gourry stared down at Lina�s
sleeping form and again tried to break the metal bindings
away from her. Her eyes were what really haunted him.
They were wide open and yet so empty looking. The
normal fire he saw in them was gone, as if smothered by
an unknown source.
"Lina, come on, wake up. Zelgadis needs our help�" He
knew he was still groggy and maybe that was why he
wasn�t reacting like he thought he should be. Again he
tried to open the constraints to no avail.
"Stand aside, human." The voice was icy and calm.
Gourry looked up and saw a young girl standing next to
him. She was looking at him, but her blue bangs
obscured half of her face. Gourry couldn�t quite place
where he had seen her before, but he decided it didn�t
matter.
"I said move, Gourry Gabriev," the girl ordered and shoved
him aside violently. Gourry fell back and was amazed at
how she was. "The anesthetics are going to make you
weak for a long time and you won�t be of much help to her.
Now go. There is a boat waiting for you at the water�s
edge."
"I won�t leave her," he managed to say as he felt his old
strength dimming again.
"You won�t. Just go and I�ll give her to you soon enough."
The girl turned and Gourry was just barely able to see
the benevolent smile on her face. "Go."
She waved her hand in front of him and Gourry slowly
stood, against his will, and left the laboratory. The girl
turned back to Lina and removed the mask. The yellow
fluid ran down her face and Lina abruptly stopped
breathing. A few seconds later, a slim needle found its
way under her skin and the contents were emptied into
her bloodstream. The maiden carefully cleaned Lina
up and carried her over to the door.
"STOP!!"
The girl turned in time to see Kako finally realize what
was happening. She set Lina down outside and
manually locked the doors.
"Lock authorization code needed," the console droned
out its old message and waited for the reply.
"Authorization code 64. Password: 8388270122 Naria."
"Doors locked."
Naria unsheathed her blade and stepped forward. Her
eyes seemed to have a hollow quality to them and Kako
shivered slightly as he looked down into their blue
depths. He had seen this before, but never on her own
will. Either she had done this or Mirai and Mirai was
strongly against this program.
"You did this to yourself, didn�t you?" Kako muttered
under his breath.
Naria barely nodded. "Assassination program running.
Objective one: kill Kako Eienjo. Objective two: destroy
Garrou Compound Number Six."
----------
Lina felt herself getting carried and wet leaves were
slapping her in the face. She slowly opened her eyes
and watched the ground rush past her for a moment.
The dirt mixed with leaves suddenly gave way to air, then
sand. Lina was roughly dropped to the ground and she
sat up in time to see a blur of yellow disappear again.
"Lina!!" She turned and saw Gourry running up to her. He
seemed to be okay. She gratefully took his hand and
stood. "Are you okay?"
Lina nodded and pointed into the words. Her muscles
were still groggy from the drugs that Kako had given her
and pointing was all she could do.
Gourry didn�t pay attention to her and lifted her up off the
ground. "You�re too tired to walk and we�re getting off
this island. You�re going to stay here while I go back, okay?"
Lina didn�t reply, but it was clear that she didn�t appreciate
being talked to like that. In her current state, all she could
do was shake her head feebly and try to stay awake.
Gourry set her down gently into the boat and spread a spare
blanket over her. He smiled for a moment, then disappeared.
Lina tried to get up, but the rocking of the boat was so
relaxing and she was tired�
Gourry hurried back to the castle/compound and finally
reached it in time to see the very big explosion that made the
compound no longer exist.
----------
Twenty minutes earlier�
Naria joined Zelgadis in battle and both of them went
against their creator. Kako was good, but not good enough
to hold back two perfect warriors. Blow upon blow was rained
down upon him and each one he desperately tried to block.
Slowly but surely more hits began to find their way home and
bit by bit, Kako�s resistance was failing him. The combined
fury of both Zelgadis and Naria was too much. He couldn�t
help but admire the way they fought together in perfect
synchronization. Each blow came after the other so that no
opening was left to have an offense. He smiled to himself
for having created these perfect soldiers and swordspeople.
The final blow came from Zelgadis as his sword cut through
Kako�s simple lab robes to his stomach. The sword
clattered to the floor and Kako followed its descent soon
after.
Naria stopped and wiped the blood from her sword on her
shirt, then sheathed it and turned away. A heavy hand
prevented her from leaving.
"Thank you," he said simply and let go.
Naria stared at him for a moment and Zelgadis noticed the
small change in her eyes. The way that they were no longer
dull anymore and the deep blue had lost its icy touch.
"You need to know your past in full. That is what you came
here for." Naria once again pulled back her bloody sleeve
and removed the fake stone from her arm. The barcode
was still there, but it was slightly blurred now; as if
something had changed in her. Zelgadis did the same to
his arm. He wasn�t as apprehensive now, knowing that
this was just part of who he was. "Before I tell you
everything, let me say that it was an honor to fight by your
side and that these memories aren�t going to be the
ones you want, but they are the truth. I was once human,
but you were not."
Zelgadis barely had enough time to flinch before she
pressed their arms together. All of her knowledge
emptied itself into his mind. Everything from when she
was first created to the moment when they were sharing
their memories at the present. All that she had learned
and had discovered. Every detail about the way of life
here, the pain she and the others endured by being
slaves. All of it was his now as much as it was hers.
He slowly stepped back and pushed his sleeve down.
The images still fresh in his mind. She turned and
began to leave again, but he stopped her.
"So you don�t hate me then."
Naria hesitated briefly at the door and shook her head.
"No, I was blind then. In all truths, I love you like the brother
I never had. Now go. Get away from here and never think
about this again. We are the past you are to forget. As far
as I am concerned, your grandfather turned you into a
chimera and you are searching for a cure."
Zelgadis watched as she disappeared around the corner.
The quiet echo of her footsteps melting into the silence of the
aftermath. A few minutes later, the laboratory was empty
save for the dead body of an insane genius.
----------
Amelia again tried to rent the boat, but the man refused.
"I saw what you did last time! It was shot to hell and I won�t
allow you to destroy my baby again!" he yelled.
"Anou�it was already like that," she muttered under her
breath and reluctantly brought out the seal of Sailoon. "I
am Amelia Wil Telsa Sailoon and by order of the royal
family I order you to lend me that boat!"
Now, you must understand that Sailoon was a major power
and that a lot of people respected the White Magic Capital of
the World. However, there were a few people that were just
plain ignorant or didn�t care. Amelia had run into one of
those people.
"Listen, Ms. I-Have-A-Badge, on this dock, royalty isn�t what
passes for payment or credit. Now, your credit is already
shot with what you did last time. I�d have to ask for three
boxes of Pocky this time, not just one," the old man laughed
and crossed his arms. "If you want to get to Garrou, you
pay your way."
Amelia sighed and began to cast the levitation spell when
a loud boom caused her to fall off the platform backwards
along with the cranky old man and a very upset duo of a
chimera and a little black piglet.
----------
Naria sat down at the control panel and watched Mirai dash
off with Lina. It was better that way. Zelgadis was soon
following in suit about three minutes behind. The young
chimeran drone sighed and began deleting files left and
right. Any information about any of the seven compounds
on the island were gone in the blink of an eye and all the
chip data, personality information, and rank and profiles
were gone too. She smiled at her handiwork and watched
in amazement as the blond haired man came running
back. Mirai had disappeared, knowing what Naria was
going to do.
"It�s now or never," she whispered and flipped open the
covering of the button with the little caption next to it. She
disregarded the whole Heero Yuy thing. If Heero wanted
to push the damn button, he�d be there already.
"Goodbye, Zelgadis, Mirai, my family. Take care of
yourselves in the new world."
With that her finger depressed the button and the
compound went up in a ball of flames.
----------
Lina sat up very quickly as the explosion rocked the island
and the fire began to spread. A few seconds later, Gourry
emerged and began running back.
"Where�s Zel?" she asked and started to get up. Her nap
had revitalized her and she was ready to kick
somebody�s butt for putting her under.
Gourry coughed and pointed at the large stack of smoke
rising above the flames. Lina stared at the demolition in
amazement. There was no way that he was caught in that.
They had all survived Shabranigdo, Gaav, Phibrizo, and
bad restaurants just to have one of her friends get caught
in an explosion of a laboratory.
Gourry bowed his head slightly and so did Lina. Neither
of them thought that he was capable being killed like that.
Gourry raised his eyes for a moment and reflected for a
second, which was rare indeed, but he managed.
"What are you all staring at?"
Lina turned and was about ready to Dragu Slave the man
standing behind her.
"Dammit you scared us to death!" she screamed and
smacked him on the head with a bunny slipper pulled
conveniently out of nowhere.
"Glad to see you�re not dead," Gourry said and smiled
at him.
"Yeah, well�did she get out?" Zelgadis asked, looking
back at the chaos erupting from within the island. "Did
Naria get out?"
Lina stared at him for a moment then shook her head.
"You�re the only one we�ve seen."
He nodded solemnly and sat down inside the boat.
"Let�s go then."
Lina sat down and Gourry pushed them off. He jumped
in at the last second and he and Zelgadis began
rowing back to the mainland.
Mirai watched them go and smiled. Yes, things had
turned out perfectly. The Angel of the Past was dead
and now the future was secure. Her eyes closed slightly
and in a flash all that remained were a pile of rose
petals that were caught up in the sea breeze and carried
out to the blue waters.
----------
Six Days Later�.
"Zel, you never explained what happened back there,"
Lina said and stretched her arms out. They had long
since left the seaside town after finding Amelia and her
new pet. The black piglet bweed happily in her arms
and she adjusted the little bandana on his forehead.
"Yeah, Zelgadis-san, Champion wants to know too,"
Amelia said and held the piglet up for everyone to see.
"Hai, Champion-chan, you are the avenger of Justice
and loyal ally to the kingdom of Sailoon!"
The piglet sweatdropped slightly and bweed again.
Zelgadis stared at her for a moment and shrugged.
"I can�t really remember that well," he said calmly.
"What do you mean, you can�t remember?! You blew
up half the island and you can�t remember?!" Lina
stopped the whole troop on their trek through the forest
and faced off against the stony faced chimera.
"Like I said, a piece of shrapnel hit me in the head and
I can�t remember what happened there very well," he
sighed and pushed past her. "Let�s go. If we�re going
to make it to the next city in time we can�t waste it arguing."
He continued off down the path without them and moaned
softly about why he stuck with them. He stopped and
thought about that for a moment. They�re my friends, he
told himself, and I�d do anything for them. He smiled a little
at this thought and tried to hide his surprise when a small
piece of paper hit him in the head. It was neatly folded and
shaped into a ninja star so it could travel well.
Zelgadis picked it up and opened it, reading it silently at
first, then reading it aloud a second time.
"�Don�t worry about me and remember, your angel is
watching you from above. Don�t lose your memory of us, but
don�t tell them either. I liked your story about the shrapnel, but
with your thick head, I don�t think a flying hunk of metal could
do it. Take care of yourself, love. I�ll be there if you ever need
me. Forever yours, Naria Eienjo Graywords.�" He smiled and
refolded the paper, sticking it in his pocket.
"Hey, Zel! If we�re going to make it to the next city on time, we
can�t waste it reading love letters!" Lina teased as she ran past.
Amelia followed after her and a sympathetic Gourry after that.
Zelgadis smiled again as his friends ran down the path
towards Atlas City. It was good to be home.
Somewhere above him a young girl sat in the crook of the tree
and smiled at his happiness. She pushed her blue bangs out
of her eyes and watched him walk off after his friends.
"Yes, it�s good to be home�" she whispered and took off into
the forest in the direction of Atlas City.
~~Owari~~
The end of A Past to be Forgotten. Please tell me what you
thought. Email me with Comments, Criticisms, Jokes, MSTs,
and yes, forthose of you who didn't like it, flames. Thank you
for reading and I hope you enjoyed my first real long fic that
was ever finished.
Murasakikaze
muteki@juno.com
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