Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Slayers franchise, and am making no money from this fic. I am simply doing this for fun.

"Hey...where's Mister Zelgadis?" Rii asked as she looked around the table she and the others were sitting around in the tavern. "I haven't seen him since we bought our rooms for the night."

"Oh, don't worry about him," Lina said as she shoveled food into her mouth. "He's just up in his room pouting about not finding a spell that'll turn him back to normal."

"You should be a little more sympathetic, Miss Lina," Amelia scolded. "Poor Mister Zelgadis," the princess said with a sigh. "He was so excited at the possibility of finding a spell that could help him."

"Hey, Lina, you think he'll ever find a cure?" Gourry asked.

Lina sighed after washing down her food with a long drink of water. "I have no idea, Gourry. We don't know what kind of spells and magic Rezo worked on Zel to make him what he is...especially seeing as how he was an extremely powerful sage who wasn't exactly in his right mind. If we find one spell that works, who's to say that it'll undo all the spells Rezo used? It might only just undo one part of Rezo's magic and still leave Zel far from normal."

"Too bad his lab got destroyed," Amelia said softly. "But even when it was still standing, Mister Zelgadis couldn't find anything useful in his library..."

Lina sighed again as she absently traced a finger around the rim of her mug. "I hate to say it, but it could be very possible that Rezo took the secrets to Zel's cure with him to his grave..."

"Hold on, Lina...are you serious?" Gourry asked in disbelief.

Lina sighed and stared down into the depths of her mug. "I wish I wasn't..."

Nell sipped her tea. "It is a very real possibility," she mused softly. "And you have no idea at all as to what kind of spells were used? Or what type of magic was tapped into?"

"Not a one," Lina said with a shake of her head.

"And the Claire Bible wasn't of any help?" Nell asked.

"Well none of the manuscripts we managed to find had any spells that would work. And the true Claire Bible itself, well..." Lina sheepishly averted her eyes. "I was so shocked when I learned the truth about the Giga Slave that I completely forgot to ask about how how to help Zel...and then Gaav attacked, so asking once my shock wore off was out of the question..."

"Ah, yes," Xellos mused. "Gaav and Saigrum did have the habit of showing up at the worse possible times, didn't they?"

Amelia nodded. "You can say that again."

Lina sighed. "And the Claire Bible was no doubt destroyed in the battle between Gaav and Auntie Aqua...I mean, the Water Dragon King."

Nell sighed softly. "I see. That would be a problem...then there's also the fact that some spells can only be broken by the one who cast them in the first place."

"Yeah, that's true," Lina agreed with a small nod. "I didn't think of that."

"What? Why?" Gourry asked.

"Think of it as a sort of lock, Mister Gourry," Xellos explained. "With the sorcerer's aura or personal energy being the key. Some sorcerers don't want their spells tampered with, so they invoke a sort of binding magic that binds them to their spell."

"As a result," Nell added. "Only they can break the spell, or curse, or what have you..." she looked to the handsome swordsman. "You get it?"

"I think so...man...if that's the case, then Zel will never turn back to normal, huh?"

"Exactly," Lina, Nell and Xellos confirmed together.

"Poor Mister Zelgadis," Amelia said softly. "hat's horrible! How terribly unjust of Rezo to do such a thing to his own flesh and blood!"

Lina sighed. "Yeah, well...he didn't exactly have both oars in the water at the time, Amelia."

All throughout the discussion, no one noticed Rii make a plate of food and leave the table. No one saw her leave the tavern and go up the stairs towards the inn's bedrooms...


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...Zelgadis' inn room...

Stripped down to nothing but his trousers, Zelgadis paced around his room. His frustration beat at him relentlessly. Why did this always happen to him? Was he doomed to spent the rest of his life as a freak? Would he never be able to walk aroundi n broad daylight without feeling the scorn of other people's gazes and their off-color remarks?

Zelgadis cursed himself for having taken being normal for granted all those years ago. If he had only known this was going to happen to him, he would not have been so vain. He would have lived his life to the fullest and done all the things he had always wanted to do but never got around to doing. That was out of the question now...

Nothing else mattered but finding a cure. If he had to search for the remainder of his life, Zelgadis would find a way to turn his body back to normal. He refused to die like this. He refused to die looking like a freak.

Stopping in front of a mirror, the chimera gazed at his reflection with abhorrence. His entire frame trembled and it was with a growling roar that he drove his fist through the glass--shattering his image into several pieces. Zelgadis ignored the blood as it oozed from his knuckles--fighting down the urge to cry out in agony as his multitude of smaller reflections gazed back at him as though mocking his plight.

The soft knock at his door drew Zelgadis' attention from the shattered pieces of glass.

"Mister Zelgadis?"

The chimera recognized Rii's voice. "What is it?"

"Are you all right? I thought I hear a crash."

"I'm fine," Zelgadis answered perhaps a little more harshly than he wanted. "Please just go away."

"Can I come in?" Rii asked tentatively. "You missed dinner...so I fixed a plate for you..."

Zelgadis was genuinely touched by the gesture, but he was not yet ready to stop feeling sorry for himself. "Thanks, but I'm not hungry. Please just go away, Rii."

"But Mister Zelgadis, you really need to eat something. We had a really long day--"

"I said go away!" Zelgadis snapped, as he angrily turned his back on the door and crossed his arms over his chest as though furthering his point to his desire to be left alone. He did not however expect what happened next. Upon hearing his locked door swing open, he turned in surprise to find Rii standing in the doorway...a plate of food in one hand. "How...? How did you...? How did you do that?"

Rii smiled and held up her other hand to reveal the small pick. "I'm a thief, Mister Zelgadis...I've been picking locks since I could walk." Her eyes widened a little and she felt her heart race when she took in the sight of the handsome chimera's bare chest...sculpted and leanly muscled...the scattered clusters of dark blue stones on Zelgadis' powder blue skin did nothing to detract from the chimera's unique, physical beauty, rather they added to it. Rii's gaze was distracted by something red, and her eyes widened when she caught sight of the blood on Zelgadis' hand. "Oh, Mister Zelgadis...you're hurt!" She hurriedly closed the door behind her and rushed over to the chimera, putting the plate of food down on the bedside table. "Let me see..." she said softly as she gently took Zelgadis' much larger hand in both her smaller ones.

Zelgadis was only too aware of how close Rii was standing to him, and he could not help deeply breathing in her scent...it was stronger now since it was just the two of them together. She smelled so good...like a field of wildflowers on a warm, spring day. "You really don't have to--"

"I don't mind," Rii said with a shy smile before carefully picking the small shards and slivers of glass from Zelgadis' hand...all the while trying not to stare at his washboard stomach. "How did this happen?" she asked softly. She could not help but notice how beautiful the chimera's hands were...how long and graceful his fingers were.

Zelgadis sighed softly. "I couldn't stand staring at my reflection...here, I can heal it now that you removed the glass," he said as he slowly removed his hand from Rii's and held his free hand over it--a soft, white glow appeared as he healed his wound.

"Oh, Mister Zelgadis," Rii said softly. "You really shouldn't judge yourself so hard."

"Easy for you to say," Zelgadis said dryly. "You're beautiful." The words were out of the chimera's mouth before he could stop them, and his face immediately darkened with his blush as he hurriedly averted his eyes and finished healing his hand.

"But Mister Zelgadis...so are you," Rii said softly as she lightly placed a hand on the chimera's bicep. "I just wish you could see it..."

"How can you say that?" Zelgadis asked softly as he shivered under Rii's gentle touch. "I'm a sideshow freak."

"Mister Zelgadis..." Rii blushed to the tips of her ears. "You may see yourself as a freak, but to me...you're so uniquely beautiful...so exotic looking..."

"Rii...you don't know what you're talking about," Zelgadis said softly as he tried to ignore the fluttering of his heart.

"Yes I do!" Rii exclaimed with a stomp of her foot. "Don't treat me like I'm a little kid! If I didn't know what I was talking about, would I be able to do this?" She stood on tip toe and threw her arms around Zelgadis' neck--pressing herself against the length of his strong body as she pressed her lips against his.

Zelgadis was so shocked by the small thief's actions, that he tripped and fell backwards onto the bed...taking Rii down with him. "Rii...what are you...?" he managed to ask once the kiss had broken. There was a slight growl to his voice. How long had it been since he had kissed a girl? Zelgadis remembered the exact moment. It had been two weeks before his transformation...that had also been the last time he had ever bedded a woman....and yet, here he was with a lovely girl laying on top of him. "Rii...you should move...leave and go to your room...right now." Zelgadis tried to keep his voice calm, but it had been so long...too long, and Rii was so soft and warm against him...and she smelled so good!

The chimera's self-control was hanging on by an ever-thinning thread.

Rii's eyes widened a little when she felt the hard evidence of Zelgadis' arousal pressing against her and she could not stop the whisper-soft moan from escaping her lips as she felt her own body respond to his. "Mister Zelgadis," she whispered softly against his lips before kissing him again.

Zelgadis growled softly...his hands tangling into Rii's hair and gripping the long, brown, silken tresses as he deepened the kiss. One hand moved down to the small of Rii's back and pressed her against him, before he managed to regain a fraction of self-control and break the kiss--just barely managing to ignore the voice in his head screaming at him to throw the small thief down and ravage her again and again. "Rii...this isn't a good idea."

"Why not?" Rii asked softly...an ache forming deep in her abdomen at the sight of Zelgadis' blue eyes darkening to a dark indigo as his desire rose.

"It's been a long time for me, Rii...I won't be able to stop myself from..."

Rii lightly pressed a finger to Zelgadis' lips before sitting up so she was straddling him. Smiling sweetly down at the chimera, the small thief unclasped her cloak--letting it fall carelessly to the floor before undoing the fastenings of her short, fitted tunic...exposing her soft skin to Zelgadis' hungry gaze, inch by inch. "I don't want you to stop yourself," she whispered as she shrugged out of her tunic and tossed it carelessly aside.

Zelgadis could not believe his eyes. Rii was so beautiful...and she wanted him! Tentatively, his hands reached up and cupped Rii's breasts...as though afraid she would suddenly disappear like a cruel dream sent to torment him.

Rii smiled and slowly caressed Zelgadis' arms with her fingers before gently pressing his palms against her breasts. "It's okay, Mister Zelgadis," she whispered softly. "I want you to touch me..."

The chimera's hands were more certain now as they cupped the soft weight of Rii's breasts. They were not as big as Amelia's, but they were nevertheless exquisite, and they fit so perfectly in his hands. A soft growl of triumph rumbled in his throat upon hearing the soft whimper slip from Rii's lips as he slowly teased her nipples with his thumbs. Sitting up suddenly, he crushed Ri''s small body to him and suckled one of those pert nipples into his mouth as his thumb continued its gentle torment upon the other.

Rii gently bit her lower lip and moaned Zelgadis' name as she cradled his head to her breasts...her back arching in building pleasure. Her eyes widened and a squeak of surprise escaped her lips as she found herself suddenly pinned on her back with Zelgadis looming over her--looking almost primal as he unfastened her fitted trousers and pulled them off along with her short boots in one motion...leaving her in nothing but her delicate panties for two heartbeats before sliding them down her smooth, silken legs. Leaning up, Rii lightly nibbled one of Zelgadis' pointed ears as her hands worked furiously at the fastenings of his trousers.

Zelgadis growled in rising pleasure as Rii's little teeth teased his ear, and shifted just enough so Rii could push his pants and boxers off. Once he was completely nude, he sat back on his heels between Rii's legs and hungrily drank in the sight of the small thief who was so willingly giving herself to him. He could feel the heat radiating from the vulnerable triangle between her legs, and his hard length twitched in anticipation of being sheathed within that warmth. "So beautiful..." he growled softly.

Rii slowly swept her gaze over Zelgadis' nude body before coming to rest on his hard length. Blue like the rest of the handsome chimera's body, it was completely smooth and perfect...and it only added to the unique beauty of the chimera's body. "So are you, Mister Zelgadis," Rii whispered softly with a sweet smile as she reached up for him...crying out in pleasure and wrapping her legs around his narrow waist once he buried himself within her. Zelgadis felt big inside of her, but there was no pain. There was only pleasure. "Yes...!"

Gods! Rii was so tight around him, it took all of Zelgadis' restraint not to spill himself inside her right then. He stayed like that for several moments, simply savoring the feel of a pleasure almost forgotten. "Oh, Rii..." He captured his young lover's lips in a deep and hungry kiss as he began moving within her--Rii's whimpered moans of building pleasure spurring him on to thrust harder and deeper into her.

Rii's back arched her back and moaned with reckless abandon into their kiss--the combination of both normal and rock covered skin rubbing against her was driving her mad. Breaking the kiss, she trailed nipping kisses down Zelgadis' neck and dragged her nails over his back--her eyes widening as she felt her chimera lover hitting her inner-most pleasure point over and over again. "Zel...Zelgadis...!" She was so close...

Zelgadis growled in building ecstasy when he felt Rii's nails dragging across his skin, and his thrusts became harder and faster as he nibbled her delicate collar bone...his hands tightly gripping her hips as he pounded into her mercilessly--working off years of sexual frustration. "Rii...Rii...!" The handsome chimera could not hold back any longer, and managed one more thrust before he exploded inside his lover's warmth--throwing his head back and roaring wordlessly with unbridled pleasure of release as he spilled his seed into Rii's womb.

Rii's back arched and she dug her nails hard into Zelgadis' skin as she threw her head back and cried out Zelgadis' name--her small body trembling from the intensity of her orgasm as she clung to the handsome chimera's lean and strong body.

Sliding out of her, Zelgadis rolled onto his side, taking Rii with him. He rested his forehead against hers as their legs tangled lazily together--the both of them simply basking in their afterglow. The handsome chimera was silent for several moments as he gazed into the small thief's sapphire pools. When he did speak, it was a simple question spoken softly. "Why me?"

Rii smiled sweetly as her hands tenderly caressed Zelgadis' face as she gazed into his eyes of midnight blue. "Because I like beautiful things," she said softly before softly kissing her lover's lips. "And you, Mister Zelgadis are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

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