I want to start out by being frank about this particular story. This is a very self-gratuitous fic; that is, it's something I'm writing primarily for my own enjoyment. Really, most of my fanfictions are such to a lesser degree, but this one is just something I've had brewing in my mind for several years now and really wanted to write down. I felt like some of my character hadn't really completed their character arcs, that I'd left some loose ends on some of my other stories, and that I just wasn't quite done with the chronology I'd been weaving with all of my chaptered stories to date. When I finished Pathos a couple years back, some people requested a sequel. Since I also wanted one, here it finally is- a testament to how long the brainstorming and pre-writing process actually takes. This story is going to be long. It's going to be OC-heavy. It's going to be very dependent on the plotlines of my previous stories, as well as drawing pieces from the original novels and the Knight of Aqualord manga series. But… I've spent too much time and effort on it to give up on it now. So, if you do decide to read this story, proceed keeping all of this in mind. Thank you so much just for reading this through, and if you decide to continue on with the story, I hope that you enjoy it just as much as I'm enjoying writing it!

1- Clouds on the Horizon

The blood-strewn battlefield was silent in the moonlight. Not a sign of movement showed among the bodies- human, dragon, and even Mazoku.

A small figure sat, examining his work. He should have been proud of what he saw, taking pleasure in the death and discord that he'd created... but he wasn't.

Phibrizzo grimaced as he clutched one shoulder, taking in the whole scene.

This was it. This was the end of the war he'd worked so hard to create. Shabranigdo within the Great Sage had been sealed in ice, and the Demon Dragon King within a human body. All of his subordinates, gone, all his work, destroyed.

Everything was gone. Everything.

He spied a small bit of movement out of the corner of his eye, and looked up to see a black-cloaked figure, watching the scene in amusement. The man didn't look threatening, but what really bothered Phibrizzo was his affiliation- and it was an unmistakable one.

"Hey! You!" Phibrizzo called, and the man turned to face him. "You're Pathosmaster's lackey, aren't you?"

There was a moment of silence, and the figure answered, his voice a sharp contrast to the morbidly silent valley. "And what is it to you if I am, Lord Hellmaster?"

"Tell me- where is my general?"

"Your general?" the man's voice echoed. "Why?"

"We were taking on those dragons and lost sight of one another, but the dragons are all gone now. It's not like my higher-ups to not report back yet."

The man's grin widened into a sarcastic sneer. "Aww~ is little Hellmaster worried about his beloved general? That would be a first, wouldn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" Phibrizzo countered, his stone cold countenance never wavering. "I want to know the whereabouts of each of my underlings- especially my most trusted advisor and talented subordinate. This war would've been lost long ago if not for 'that kid.' Tell me where my general is- you seem to know."

There was a long silence. "The dragons," the Mazoku replied. Phibrizzo frowned, knowing what was likely coming. "they recognised your general as one of those who slew so many of their kind. Lord Beastmaster's Priest slipped through their fingers, and they weren't going to let that happen again."

"So... that means..."

"Your general almost died, Phibrizzo."

"Almost?"

"Well, yes."

Silence enveloped them for a few moments before Phibrizzo narrowed his eyes and continued.

"What did you do to my general?"

The Mazoku merely responded with a sly smile.

A gust of wind from an open window sent a flurry of papers flying all over the hallway in the western wing of the Seyruun royal palace.

"Oh no! Now they're all out of order!"

Amelia dropped to her knees, shuffling through the pieces of paper, trying to reorganise them based on page number. The wind kept blowing, dishevelling the pile of paper even moreso, so the princess got up and pushed the window closed, tossing the curtain in front of it for good measure.

"I don't understand where this cold wind came from. These past few days have been the hottest of the whole summer…" Amelia muttered to herself as she managed to get the papers into a somewhat manageable stack and began leafing through them one by one to make sure that none were out of place.

"Hey, do you need any help there?"

Amelia felt a tap on her head and looked up to see that someone was handing her an envelope.

"Zelgadis! I'm fine; I just dropped the papers accidentally. What are you doing here? I thought you were working in the library."

"I came to bring you your mail." Zelgadis replied, retracting the envelope, as it was clear that Amelia didn't have a free hand to take it. "I was in the library, I just wasn't working. Today's my day off, so I thought I'd organise the files. They're a mess."

"Organise things? Isn't that what a historian does?" Amelia asked, setting the stack of papers down on a table to the side so that she could reach for the envelope.

"No, no- I have to have things organised so that I can do my job properly."

"That seems like an awfully boring thing to do on your day off. Don't you ever get tired of doing boring things?" Amelia sighed, taking the envelope. "Huh, that's odd. This has Miss Lina's return address, but I don't recognise the handwriting."

"It's Gourry's." Zelgadis responded, leaning over to examine it again.

"Why is Mister Gourry writing the letter? Miss Lina always does that. I hope she isn't ill." Amelia began tearing open the letter, a little nervous.

"Lina? Get sick? I've only seen her sick once in her life, and that took the influence of a disease-controlling Mazoku lord." Zelgadis laughed. "I'm sure that you don't have anything to worry about."

"But with her fragile state of health right now…" Amelia protested, pulling out the letter to begin reading it. "…oh… ah… okay, I see… that's a relief…"

"What is it?" Zelgadis walked around beside her to get a better look at the letter himself.

"She's just in a bad mood; that's all. And, on top of that, she's been keeping herself busy with the desk portion of her job- inventory, trade routes, etc. She's getting antsy and it's making her irritable- but, other than that, her health is fine."

"Antsy? Didn't they just get back from a trip last month?"

"Yes, but it's probably the knowledge that she's not going to be able to run off on any more trips for the next three or four months. You know how Miss Lina is." Amelia huffed in an awfully condescending manner.

Zelgadis ignored her, instead running a hand through his hair. "Gosh; it's frightening to imagine that, in such a short amount of time, we might have a miniature Lina to deal with."

"Hey now!" Amelia protested. "She's not that bad! And, besides- the baby might take after Mister Gourry instead."

"That's even scarier."

"Zelgadis!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Zelgadis held up his hands in submission. "I really do wish the best for them. You know that."

"I know, I know." Amelia sighed, glancing down at the letter. "I'm sure that they'll be fine. They seem very happy, at least."

"Well, as long as Lina isn't driving her boys up the wall, I suppose so." Zelgadis replied.

"I told you, she isn't that bad!" Amelia snapped. "Listen to me once in a while, will you?!"

There was a long pause, and both tried to avoid making eye contact. Zelgadis cleared his throat and took a step over to the table, straightening out the pile of papers Amelia had been carrying.

"Uh, anyway, I really need to be getting back to work. My desk is still a mess, and whoever you were taking these papers to probably needs them soon. Sorry for delaying you, I just thought you'd want the letter."

"No, no! It's fine! Thank you for bringing it to me!" Amelia put on a big smile again, placing one of her hands over his. "I'm sorry. Don't work too hard, okay?"

Zelgadis sighed. "Alright, I won't. I promise. You don't let yourself work too hard either, princess. If you ever need help carrying something, just let me know-"

"AMELIA! ZELGADIS!"

The two stopped what they were doing and looked up.

"D-Dad? Is something the matter?" Amelia asked in concern, running to grab onto her father's arm, seeing his distress.

"Look out the window! Just look!" Philionel seemed well-composed enough, just shocked. Zelgadis pulled back the curtain that Amelia had closed and gasped in surprise as the cause of his father-in-law's panic became apparent.

"…it's… snowing…?!"

"Th-that's impossible!" Amelia exclaimed, leaving her father's side in order to push the window open again. Small white flurries settled on her face as she looked up to examine the weather. "…no way… b-but it's summer!"

"I couldn't believe it either, when I first saw it!" Phil exclaimed. "It just came out of nowhere! I've never seen anything like it!"

"Zelgadis, you're the royal historian." Amelia spoke, glancing up at the chimera timidly. "Has... anything like this ever happened before? Maybe it's some sort of cyclical event-"

"No." Zelgadis shook his head. "I've never seen anything in any records about a summer snowstorm. Even the date of the earliest recorded snowfall in the city is still almost three months from now."
There was a silence for a moment as the three of them stared out the window. The snow made a soft tapping noise as it landed on the windowsill, somewhat like rain, but softer.

"It's beautiful..." Amelia breathed, finally breaking the silence.

"I don't like it." Zelgadis commented in reply. Amelia elbowed him with a critical frown- the one that she always gave him when he was being overly-pessimistic. "I mean the concept! Yes, the snow is beautiful, but..." The chimera reached out and pulled the window closed again. "...something about this feels wrong."

"You think?! It's SNOW! In SUMMER!" Philionel seemed as though he was ready to panic.

"Dad, calm down!" Amelia grabbed onto her father's arm. "I'm sure that there's a perfectly plausible explanation."

"Well, if the circumstances were different, I'd think that this was all Lina's doing." Zelgadis mused. "But I'm afraid we can rule that out."

"So what's left?" Amelia asked.

"I'm going to go consult some of my advisors. This strange weather could have a disastrous effect on some of our agricultural regions if it sticks around." Philionel seemed to have calmed down enough to think and speak clearly.

"Could you take these papers over to the north wing?" Amelia asked, picking up the stack of papers and handing it to her father before he could answer. "Thank you very much!"

Phil just gave a confused nod and hurried off down the hallway. Amelia watched him and then turned back to Zelgadis.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"…that this whole thing seems suspiciously like something that the Mazoku race is up to?"

"Well, something along those lines; yes." Amelia rested her chin in her hand. "I wonder if we should contact some of our friends- people who've had experience in dealing with Mazoku."

"Lina might at least be able to give some advice." Zelgadis offered. "Meanwhile, I can check some of our reference books- there must be something in the library about the sources of abnormal weather and ways to deal with it." He glanced out the window, seeing that the small flurries had thickened tremendously in the past few minutes.

"...I guess it's alright to leave my desk a mess for now."

"Oh man, why does summer have to be so hot~?" Lina complained as she took a big bite out of her slice of watermelon. "At least we have a nice breeze today." The sorceress rested her head on the small table that sat on the family's back porch, listening to some of the decorative wind-chimes that she'd collected on her travels.

"The breeze is nice, but it's a little strong. I'm scared that our food might fly away." Gourry commented, reaching for another slice of watermelon from the plate in the centre of the table. Lina snatched his hand away, grabbing the slice for herself.

"Mine." she defended, giggling selfishly.

"No fair! You've had enough!" Gourry protested, snatching another piece from the plate. She could have chosen to take one that he hadn't already touched. It would be the proper thing to do. But, then again, it wouldn't be Lina without her playfully inconsiderate nature. She was only teasing him, after all.

"Hey, everyone! I brought lemonade!" a little boy's voice called from inside the house. He rushed out, carrying a tray with three glasses on it, but nearly tripped and fell on the threshold of the door. Righting himself carefully, he placed the tray on the table and sat down on the cushion along with the others.

"Be careful there, little guy." Lina chided. "You could've fallen and messed up your adorable face." She put a hand on his head, and played with his hair, then quickly snatched up a glass of lemonade. "And, more importantly, spilled our precious lemonade. We wouldn't want that, would we?"

"Of course not, Lina!" he laughed, and then paused. "About the lemonade, I mean... Do you need me to get more watermelon?" Zara asked pleasantly.

"No, no. It's fine. This is enough. Here." Lina handed Zara a piece of watermelon, which he gratefully took and began munching on. Lina chuckled as she watched him, and set her head down on the table, sighing sadly. "I can't believe that summer is almost over..."

"What, are you sad about it now?" Gourry asked. "You were just complaining about the heat."

"Of course I'm sad!" Lina exclaimed. "When summer ends, so do the summer foods- like watermelon, and strawberries, and blueberries... and melons and cherries and blackberries..." she clutched the watermelon rind in her hands as though it were going to disappear with the changing seasons.

"But Autumn has so many good foods too!" Zara pointed out. "There are apples, pumpkins, sweet potatoes..."

"Now you're making me want pie~." Lina sighed. "All those things make such good pies..."

"I could make a blackberry pie. There's a bunch on the bushes near the front porch that I haven't picked yet." the boy offered.

"Ooh, we could make ice cream with it too!" Gourry added.

"What? Blackberry ice cream, or ice cream to eat with the pie?" Lina questioned.

"I was going to say ice cream to eat with the pie, but now that you mention it, blackberry ice cream sounds really good too." he responded, sounding like he was beginning to daydream. "Ice cream is good on a hot day like today. We should save the pies until it gets cold."

"That's another reason I don't want summer to end." Lina pouted angrily. "I hate cold weather."

"But Lina, you were JUST complaining about the hot weather." Gourry pointed out.

Lina grabbed a watermelon seed and threw it at her blond companion, hitting him squarely in the forehead. "Haven't you been paying attention? I've been complaining about everything recently."

"It has been hot, though." Zara commented. "These past few weeks the other kids and I haven't been able to play ball as much as we used to."

"So how are the other kids doing anyway?" Lina asked curiously. "Still playing cricket when it's not too hot?"

Zara groaned and rolled his eyes. "Cricket is old now, Lina. Right now it's all about baseball."

Lina frowned, not happy to be talked down to by a little boy. "Okay, sorry I'm not up-to-date on all the adolescent fads nowadays. What is baseball like?"

"Difficult." Zara sighed. "I don't like it. It's too hard to hit that little ball with a bat, and it's even harder to score runs. I always strike out… But at least in baseball, you get three strikes, so if you don't hit it the first time, you can try again."

Lina just nodded. "Sounds like fun. I'd like to play with you guys sometime."

"But not anytime soon." Gourry interjected.

Lina glared at him, but sighed. "Yeah. I'm no good at running a lot now anyway. There's a lot of running in baseball, right?"

"Yes." Zara nodded. "You have to run all the way to first base, then second, then third, and then back to home base."

"So you score three runs then?" Gourry asked.

"No. Just one." Zara replied.

"This game sounds boring. I like cricket better." Lina commented. "But, hey, who am I to tell kids what games to play? Maybe they like the challenge. Speaking of kids, though, how is Lorelei doing? I haven't seen her lately. Have the two of you been meeting up at other places, or is she just not around...?"

There was a long pause.

"Lorelei… has been busy lately." Zara sighed sadly. "She gained a lot of status for her efforts in the fight several months ago," He didn't dare say the name 'Pathosmaster' or 'Vireas,' for fear of upsetting Lina, as she'd declared that she never wanted to hear anything more about the Dark Lord as long as she lived. "and so she's been doing a lot more for Beastmaster. I hear that she's vying for an important position, and that it would be a huge deal for her." He was quiet for a moment and then continued. "I wish the best for her and everything, but... I just wish she wouldn't focus so much on her work all the time. I never see her anymore... it's frustrating..."

Lina chuckled, tousling Zara's hair sympathetically. "You know, you sound like a middle-aged woman complaining about her husband."

Zara's face turned red, and he turned his head away. "I do not."

Lina tugged on the long braid of brown hair that fell past the boy's shoulders. "You do, and you know it. But that's not a bad thing. It's called an obstacle, and every relationship has them."

"What should I do?" Zara asked, gently snatching his hair back from Lina.

"Forget about her. She's not your type." Lina joked, only half-serious.

"Ask her out on a date sometime, and tell her what you just told us." Gourry suggested. "She likes you enough that she should understand where you're coming from. She probably doesn't even realise that her absence is making you sad, if she's really as wrapped up in her work as she says."

Lina and Zara stared at him for a long moment. "That's... very intuitive of you, Gourry..." Lina murmured, still unsure of where he had gotten such good advice.

"Thank you, Gourry! I'll try that." Zara nodded pleasantly. "I think it'll work." He grabbed his glass of lemonade to take a sip, when the doorbell rang out loudly.

The doorbell was a fancy contraption from the Outer World, that Filia had given them as a present. It consisted of a large metal object placed in the door- on the inside of the door was the bell, and on the outside was a knob for turning the bell and making it ring. It was very convenient, as simply knocking on the door might not be heard very well, in a house as big as theirs was.

Lina made no effort of getting up to answer the door, glancing back and forth between Gourry and Zara to see who would get it first. Gourry responded quickly, but Zara, being smallest, was first on his feet.

"I'll get it!" he enthused, a big smile on his face. Both of his parents knew the reason why, but he stated it anyway. "That's probably Lorelei right now!"

Lina turned to Gourry as he settled back down, knowing that someone was going to get the door, and he didn't have to. "Where did that come from?" she asked.

"Where did what come from?"

"That advice." Lina clarified. "It was... intelligent. That's not like you."

Gourry was so used to people saying things like that, he didn't even take it as an insult anymore. "Well, I read about it in one of those parenting books that Filia gave us- it said that a parent should be prepared to give serious advice on relationships to a child, no matter the age, because pre-teen romance is what eventually leads to the formation of relationships as an adult, and that, if they have a good foundation, they are more likely to form healthy relationships as they get older. Or... something like that..." He looked confused as he tried to remember exactly what the book had said.

Lina brushed him aside. "That's great, and I'm glad you've been reading those books- I thought you were just looking at the pictures because all the kids were cute. But... Zara isn't a... a..." she struggled with the word for some reason. "a... pre-teen. He's just a little kid."

"He's almost nine years old, Lina. That's defined as a pre-teen in all of the books I've read."

"Th-that's not true! He's only eight and a half! Besides- every kid is different!" Lina protested defiantly.

"Zara is just… just… just a little boy! So there!"

"Maybe so." Gourry nodded. "But he still deserves advice, just like anyone else."

Zara bounded excitedly to the door, suddenly having second thoughts about his appearance. It was summer, so he wasn't wearing any shoes- not that Lorelei would mind it, he was just being overly self-conscious. He realised that Lina probably messed up his hair when she was playing with it, and for a split second, he entertained the idea of unbraiding it, but decided against it. It would take too much time anyway."

Grabbing the doorknob, he eagerly opened the door, however, he was taken by surprise by the person who greeted him.

"Hi there, Zara!"

"Oh, uh, hi Miss Imia. Wh-what are you doing here?"

"I just came by to pay a visit." The young woman paused and then pulled a bag from over her shoulder. "Emil's cousin is in town for a visit, and he brought back some peaches from Taforashia. I thought I'd bring some by here, to see if you'd like them- we never did thank you properly for running those errands for us back in February."

Zara brightened up a little at the mention of the fruit. "Ooh, peaches! I'm sure that Lina and Gourry would love some! You can come in- we were just relaxing on the back porch. Would you like some lemonade?"

"That's so sweet of you! I probably won't stay long, but thank you for the offer!" Imia followed the boy out toward the back porch, where Lina and Gourry were pleasantly surprised to greet their friend.

"Hello everyone! I can't stay long, but I wanted to bring you some peaches! Emil's cousin brought them from Taforashia." she chimed, placing the bag down on the small table.

Lina pulled herself to her feet in order to embrace her friend. "Oh, Imia, you're the best! We were just talking about summer fruits earlier- oh, we'll have to bake a pie with them or something!"

"Well, if you'd like, I've got plenty of recipes that you could borrow. Just let me know!" Imia turned and waved to Gourry. "Good afternoon."

"Thank you so much!" Gourry waved and smiled in return. "I haven't seen much of you lately! How have you been?"

"Plenty busy, that's for sure." Imia replied. "Which, I suppose, is a good thing. It's just a pain having to work by the ovens when it's so hot outside."

"I understand. Trust me." Gourry gave a nod. "At least it's cooler today."

"It's windy today." Lina interrupted. "But pleasant, I suppose."

"Umm…" Zara raised his hand and began to say something, but no one seemed to notice.

"Y'know, if the cooler weather holds out, Emil was talking about taking the kids out on the lake to do some fishing sometime." Imia offered. "You guys would be invited if you'd like to come. We'd have to make an early start of it, but it would be pretty fun, I'd think."

"Uh…"

"Ooh, fish! It always tastes even better when you've caught it yourself. I'm up for it!" Lina exclaimed.

"Er, uh… guys…?"

"How early exactly will we have to wake up? I'm not really a morning person…" Gourry questioned sheepishly.

"H-hey, you guys!"

Lina, Gourry, and Imia turned to Zara, having finally noticed the fact that the boy was trying to speak. He pointed outward, off the porch, into the garden.

"Is it just me… or… is it snowing…?"

All heads turned back out toward the garden, where a few assorted flurries were just beginning to descend upon the rose bushes.

"Wh-wh-what is this?!" Lina leaned on the railing of the porch and stuck her hand out to catch some of the falling flakes. "It can't be!"

"It is." Gourry stood beside her, looking just as baffled. "I don't believe it!"

"Do you think it came from somewhere up north?" Imia asked.

"Where else might it have come from?" Zara offered.

"…the north…" Lina murmured thoughtfully. "…I don't like the sound of that…"

(A/N: This was actually a really long chapter, and it shouldn't have been because nothing much happened. I had filled it up with casual small-talk, and actually had to cut out a good chunk of that during the editing process. So this chapter is a good deal shorter than it was originally… good thing, too, huh? Anyway, I will try to keep updates twice a week; I'm not completely sure when, but I'll figure it out. Thank you so very much for reading!)