Cursed? Iris theories?

Red and blue eyes regarded each other across the table, a silent battle of wills, a test of strength ensuing. At the same moment the hands belonging to each pair of eyes reached out and picked up a knife and fork, but that was all they did, until they got the signal…

"There you are!" The waitress said, putting the last plate down precariously close to the edge of the inconveniently small table. "If there's anything else I can-" She blinked in disbelief realising the plate she'd delivered was now completely empty, along with the other thirty-three plates she'd just put on the table.

"Yeah!" Lina exclaimed, picking up a menu, "I'll have seconds of this, this and this… then everything from here to here!" She requested indicating over half the menu

"I'll just have the same as before please, triple portions." Gourry added. The waitress nodded dumbly and collected the plates again, heading back to the kitchen to inform the chef. At the table right next to theirs Zel and Amelia's waiter was having a much easier time.

"Would you like the dessert menu Ma'am?"

"Yes please."

"Sir?"

"No thank you, just another cup of coffee."

The waiter nodded and after taking Amelia's order, moved off to tell the chef himself and comfort his seemingly distraught co-worker.

"It feel's strange, not sitting with Lina-san and Gourry-san. But I don't suppose the tables here are big enough for all of us and the food…" The princess remarked, watching her comrades' table start to fill up again.

"On the bright side at a separate table we get a separate bill." Zel replied dryly, not envying Gourry for a moment; then turned back to her. "You said before you were the one with information on Iris? What do you know?"

Again Amelia dug the parchment out and handed it over, just as their orders were arriving. She watched Zel's eyes scan the page briefly before moving back to study it in more detail.

"It's not much" She said, after swallowing her first mouthful of double fudge cake with ice cream "But it gives the rough location of the temple, and Lina-san is trying to translate the last lines."

The chimera let his eyes jump to the end of the page and looked over the words at the end, the conversation he'd half overheard earlier starting to make sense.

"This is what you were talking about in the library?"

Amelia nodded, mouth too full of fudge to talk clearly, she chewed rapidly, then swallowed so she could give a verbal answer too.

"Yeah, Lina-san said she recognised it but couldn't translate it directly. I don't suppose you can?"

"As a matter of fact-"

"He---y! Waiter! We're ready to order the main course now!" Lina called out suddenly. The full staff had by this time been called in to take care off the infamous duo's needs and they were only just managing to keep up with the demands. The chef was nearly in tears when he heard they were just getting started, and Gourry was in tears when Lina ordered a bottle of Zephilian's famous import sixteen-eighty-two red wine.

"I won't be able to afford to breathe after this!" he moaned.

"Then you shouldn't have dawdled so much! You ought to know better than to keep a lady waiting!"

"Since when did you become a lady?" Lina repaid the jibe by swiping the last of his salad while they waited for the next order to arrive. Gourry just glared at her, unable to retaliate as she had already cleared all her plates. Lina smiled smugly knowing she'd won.

"By the way, what were you talking about back there?"

Gourry frowned and concentrated for a moment before the memory returned and his face brightened.

"I wanted to know what this thingy-ma-jig we're looking for does. Zelgadiss said I should ask you."

"Thanks a bunch Zel" Lina thought darkly, a blush starting to creep up over her face; she sighed and rested her elbows on the table, lacing her fingers together to support her chin.

"The Heart of Iris… A mystical gem with great power… It was created by the Priestess Iris, a Sage of the time-"

"Isn't sage something you eat?"

Lina's head hit the table with a clunk as she internally cursed her friends mentality, or lack thereof.

"Not that kind of sage. She was like Rezo, only not evil." Gourry's face continued to look blank so she sighed and elaborated further "Iris was very talented magically and very wise, she travelled and healed people, fought off mazoku and so on, and thus earned the title Sage. Like…like how Amelia's title is Princess and Phil's is Crown Prince." Gourry nodded, not understanding completely but enough to continue with "Before she died she created the gem that enhances the strength of spells and also… stops sorceresses, priestesses and shrine maidens losing their powers at 'thattimeofmonth'" She added hurriedly in a voice barely above a whisper. Gourry nodded thoughtfully

"Unfortunately it's said this effect is because of a curse that was put on Iris, preventing her from having children and thus ending her bloodline when she was killed at the start of the Kouma Sensou… Of course that was only a rumour -documents from then are hard to come by. No one knows for sure if she was cursed and if that curse was transferred to the Heart…"

Lina trailed off and frowned thinking this through properly for the first time; she certainly didn't like being without her powers at anytime, but she wasn't so sure about the price if the Heart really was cursed. She wasn't ready to settle down and have children now but someday maybe… maybe. In any case she wasn't willing to cut her options so short for a few days convenience each month if it came to it.

"I kinda see why you and Amelia are looking for it then, if it works, but why Zel?"

"I said Iris was a very powerful healer, jellyfish weren't you listening?" Lina said softer than she usually would have, glad the conversation was turning her away from the line her thoughts had been taking "It's possible she would have devised a counter curse strong enough to cure him –if she did at the least a record of it would be kept in her temple. And as the temple was so close to the barrier -if Amelia's right about it- the magic around the area should be fairly strong. It's probably the best lead he's had in a while."

"Okay then" Gourry said and grinned, instantly taking a portion of Lina's food as it arrived and she dropped all thoughts of Iris and curses –the war was back on!

Amelia tilted her head to read the words Zel had written beneath the last lines on the paper also managing to avoid the fork that flew in her general direction from Lina and Gourry's table.

"It seems like a set of instructions… I wonder if 'my heart' means the Heart of Iris, or if someone else wrote it?"

Zelgadiss re-read his translation again, making sure he had the words down right.

"It would make sense if it was Iris, of course it could all be a huge hoax. That wouldn't surprise me." Amelia shook her head at him, waving a finger under his nose

"You should think more positively Zelgadiss-san. At least we have a clue now, even if we're not entirely sure what it means…" She read the paper again, committing the words to memory.

"Frah dra cih crehac vnus uh rekr, tu hud reta vnus dra mekrd. Creha ed uh so raynd, dryd oui syo caa dra dnidr uv so paehk"

"When the sun shines from on high, do not hide from the light. Shine it on my heart, that you may see the truth of my being"

"Ironic that the skills Rezo taught me are the useful ones" Zel said sadly, eyeing the paper and not realising he had spoken aloud until Amelia looked up at him. Unable to face her he stood and pushed his chair back in. "I'll go to the inn across the road and organise rooms for tonight."

"Ah, wait Zelgadiss-san, I'll come with-"

"No, you should catch Lina and Gourry up on this." He interrupted, his voice carefully even. Amelia watched sadly as he left then sighed and dragged her chair across to join Lina and Gourry –after leaving enough money to cover their bill on the table.

Lina didn't notice Amelia for a full minute as she sat next to her quietly, and when she did notice the surprise caused her guard to lower enough that Gourry was able to steal her banana split.

"Amelia? Ah, damnit Gourry that was MINE!"

"You looked away, that means you're done." He replied around a mouth full of whipped cream

"Zelgadiss-san was able to translate those lines" Amelia interrupted the fight that was about to start, and handed the paper over "although they're not much use at the moment."

Lina took the paper and nodded thoughtfully "Well, that doesn't change the plan then." She folded it up and passed it back to Amelia "We'll head out to Krimson first thing, get supplies and get back here. Shouldn't take more than two days and then we can get started…" She trailed off to frown at Gourry who had started snoring now that he'd successfully eaten all of his dessert AND finished hers, he would pay for that… Oh how he would pay… She blinked, suddenly realising the absence of the other male in the group "Where'd Zel disappear to?"

"Oh, he went ahead to get rooms" Amelia supplied, a tad too brightly and Lina's eyes narrowed on her.

"In other words; he's brooding again?" The bright façade dropped and Amelia sighed –answer enough for Lina "Jeez he's so frustrating! Guess I'll have to knock some sense into that stone head of his." Suddenly she rounded on the younger girl with a wicked grin "And while we're on the subject of our dear depressed Zel-kun, what's he doing with your bracelet, hmmm?"

Amelia flushed slightly at the implications Lina was making. It wasn't like that at all! It seemed when the sorceress had put two and two together earlier she'd made five… or possibly seven from the suggestive expression on her face…

"It was a gift, so Zelgadiss-san would remember that even if we weren't next to him, we're always his friends. I knew you and Gourry-san would stop by in Saillune sooner or later but I didn't expect any of us would see Zelgadiss-san so soon." She blinked twice, a proverbial lighting spell going on in her head "Wait, you mean he still has it? He kept it?"

Lina nodded, not sure how else to answer those questions, and Amelia smiled, her usual air of cheerfulness taking over again. "That's good then, even if he is brooding he knows we care. Well, I'm going to turn in now. Sweet dreams Lina-san, Gourry-san too." She added then skipped off out the door and to the inn across the street.

"'Night Amelia" Lina called before she was too far gone, signalled for the bill and began to poke Gourry awake feeling oddly content –she was back with friends, well fed and going to sleep in a bed tonight instead of going rough.

Yep, nothing could possibly go wrong.

I absolutely refuse to let tomorrow be anything other than perfect! You hear me fate? W-wha? What do you mean there's a dragon? And… oh no… it can't be!

Next time on Slayers HEART: Dragon attack! At the worst possible time!