Some time later, Zelgadis had needed to go prepare for his trip. This left Amelia alone, but she didn't mind. Now that her Zelgadis wasn't here to be embarrassed it was time to celebrate out loud! And so she was. "Life isGREAT! Life is WONDERFUL!" She bounded through the palace, almost hitting the ceiling with each jump.

Down the hall, Lina chose that inauspicious moment to round a corner. The same corner that had, until just moments before, hidden her from Amelia's view. Lost in thought as she was, Lina just barely noticed the approaching sound. "Miss Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiina!" Looking up, Lina had no time to dodge. Amelia tackle hugged the poor, unsuspecting bandit killer. The princess then grabbed Lina's face and turned it to face her. "I! Love! Zelgadis! Greywyrds!"

"Uh, that's great..."

"And He loves me! He loves me! He loves me!" At this point, Amelia was bouncing up and down in place, her red-headed friend helpless in her grip.

"Can't... breathe..." Fortunately for Lina, her troubles were about to be over. Amelia spotted someone else down the next hallway.

"Daddy!" And with that, the Crown Princess of Seyrune bounded off, leaving a very confused sorceress in her wake.

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Zelgadis once again found himself standing before a mirror. He had with him the widest assortment of clothing that Seyrune could offer. On his head rested his treasure, the Circlet of Animalia. In one moment, the face looking back at him out of the mirror was his own. In the next moment, he concentrated and his body shifted. Suddenly the face staring back was that of Prince Phil.

The heartless swordsman chuckled to himself before shifting back. He cycled through several of the courtiers and servants he'd seen, searching for the right look.

Then, out of the blue, a thought occurred to him. So far, all he'd used the Circlet to turn into were proper animals, and humans. But was that it's limit? After all, it let him turn into his chimerical form too. Steeling himself, Zelgadis focused his thoughts on something different... on a Mazoku.

At first, nothing happened. But the shaman could feel the Circlet... trying, for lack of a better word. Maybe if I focus on a particular Mazoku... Unfortunately, there was really only one Mazoku that Zelgadis knew well - Xellos. Moments later, Zelgadis was both pleased and disappointed. Pleased, because the mirror now revealed a perfect likeness of the trickster priest. However, he was disappointed to find that he had only managed to take a human form that looked like Xellos.

Sighing, he shifted back into his human form. So, I can look like any human... At that, yet another unbidden thought came to mind. Surely... that would work too?

Zelgadis was never one to let small things like embarrassment get in his way (at least when there wasn't anyone looking), so he concentrated once more on the power of his headgear. When he finished, sure enough, he was several inches shorter, with short purple-black hair and wide blue eyes. Amelia's face stared back at him. (Or was it her?) Sure enough, all the necessary... parts... seemed to be there.

"Hey Zel?" From the other side of his door came the voice of Gourry. Blushing, Zelgadis quickly resumed his proper gender.

"Come in, Gourry." The swordsman did so, looking strangely sheepish. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, I was just kinda wondering..."

It was at this moment that Lina came up to Zelgadis' door. She'd wanted to talk to Zel one more time about the coins they'd all been given before he had to leave. She was mildly surprised to her her bodyguard's voice coming from the Shaman's room, but what she found even more odd was what he said next.

"Can you show me where that Court place is so I can take Lina?"

Lina stopped short, unable to believe what she was hearing. Why would Gourry want to sue me? Hey, no one ever said Lina didn't have her dumb moments too.

Zelgadis didn't catch on too quickly either. "What? Why would you want her anywhere near a courthouse?"

"Well, Amelia just seemed so happy when you said you'd take her... so while I'm really not sure what you do there, I thought maybe Lina would like to go."

Wait, he wants to... WHAT? As Lina realized what the swordsman was saying, her face grew redder than her hair. She knew she should go in at this point, but something stopped her. She was surprised to realize that she really wanted to know if Gourry meant this...

"Um, Gourry? You do realize I wasn't talking about a courthouse?"

"Well, what did you mean then?"

"I meant... ugh..." Zelgadis paused, trying to find a way to put this so that his friend would actually understand. "It means Amelia and I are going to get married someday."

"Oh..." Three people passed a moment in silence. Lina couldn't see anything, and was desperately waiting for Gourry to say something. Zelgadis was, truth be told, a little embarrassed at having to explain this to his friend.

"... do you think Lina would like that?" The voice that came from Gourry's mouth was so small, so quiet, that Lina barely heard it.

"I... I honestly don't know, Gourry. Getting married is a huge thing, and..." Zelgadis sighed. "Unfortunately, I think that the only person who can answer that question is Lina." The Sorceress in question couldn't see the downcast look on Gourry's face, but Zelgadis could. "For what it's worth, though... I'd be happy to see you two married."

"Really?"

"Yup. And I promise I'll say nice things at your funeral if she says no." Only the laughter coming from both men in the room held Lina back from the murderous rampage she now wanted to go on.

Idiots! It's not like I'd literally kill him... Just make it really painful... and who said I'd say no? Lina snapped out of her trance in an instant. Did I just think that? Of course, she had. Needing time to think on matters that suddenly seemed far more important than some stupid coin, she turned and ran away.

"Hey Zel, did you just hear something?"

"No. Of course, my hearing's nowhere near as good as it used to be."

"Huh."

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"You mean you and Mr. Gourry are leaving too?" Amelia stood by the small caravan that was preparing to leave for Sarn. As was apparent in her voice, she had not expected Lina and Gourry to be leaving Seyrune at the same time.

"Well, it's not like there's going to be anything going on around here, right?"

"Well, no... but..."

"Aw, come on Amelia! It's not like we'll be gone that long. Oh, that reminds me! If you don't invite us to the wedding, I'm gonna be pissed!"

Amelia blushed, and unnoticed in the background, so did Gourry.

"Well, we haven't really... talked about that yet."

"Bah! I know you haven't exactly set a date or anything, but we all know it's coming. Just the thought of all that food is so romantic!"

Gourry chose to change the subject. "Hey, where's Zel? I thought he was going on this trip?"

"I'm right here." Though the voice was unfamiliar, and the face was one none of them had seen before, both the attitude and the silver Circlet of Animalia revealed Zelgadis to those who knew him well.

"Zelgadis!" Exclaimed both the girls.

"Well, for now I'm Jonas Wylia, head servant to Seyrune's ambassador."

"Oh, do be careful my dearest!" Despite the unfamiliar body, Amelia gave Zelgadis an enormous hug.

"I will."

"Aw, Zelgadis! You aren't going as Miss Lulu?" Lina teased.

"I considered it, but I couldn't act feminine enough to pull it off. Lina?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you have any plans for the next few weeks?"

"Um, not really."

"In that case, can I ask you to look into the Lord of Riddles while I'm in Sarn?" Lina caught herself short; after last night she'd let that mystery completely slip her mind. "It occurred to me that the other remaining dark lords might be a good place to start, and you shouldn't have any trouble getting to see them."

"Is that safe, Lina?"

"Probably not, but Zel has a point. After all, no Mazoku can kill this beautiful sorcery genius!"

After saying all their respective goodbyes, Lina and Gourry found themselves walking out of town. A semi-comfortable silence had descended, as each of the pair was lost in thought. So it was that an old woman driving her wagon found them.

"Are you two kids headed west?"

Gourry spoke up first. "Yes ma'am, we sure are!"

"You fine young folks fancy a ride as far as the next town?"

Lina bowed, eager at the chance to get off her feet. "Much obliged, granny!"

Hopping in the cart, Lina looked over at her swordsman. Just when did I start thinking of him as mine, anyway? After another mile or so, Lina decided that even if the idea of marriage was still kinda scary, that didn't mean she had to do nothing! So, she got up off the hay bale she was sitting on and deposited herself on Gourry's lap.

"Uh... what?" Gourry, for his part, was frantically trying to decide what reaction wouldn't get him fireballed into oblivion.

"The hay's uncomfortable, Bait-for-brains." And with that the sorcery genius curled up against her Gourry and settled in for a nap.

Well, this isn't so bad... I just hope she doesn't overreact when she wakes up. Minutes later, the swordsman was asleep too.