Author's Note: A present for y'all! I'm glad so many people enjoyed Gourry's chapter. The pace will a little more laid back in terms of cliff hangers now, but there will be plenty of mysteries to solve in the mean time. I hope you continue to enjoy it. And as promised—the prophecy in full and possible meanings to a few parts of it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers. Hajime Kanzaka does. And I don't really envy him. I just wish he'd lend me Gaverra. And maybe one or two of his main characters to teach me how to use it:)

Parchment littered the wide wooden table. Some of the writing was careful, with deep slanting curves. Other scrolls were filled with small spiky annotations. Those were the ones she'd written. The more careful ones had been written by the sorcerer sitting across from her. Lina listened intently to the soft scratching of the chimera's quill. It was about time he got his act together and met with her about the prophecy. Lina shifted on the comfy green upholstered chair she'd dragged across the room. There was no sense in being uncomfortable for hours. Even Zel had pulled up a nice chair for himself and he didn't usually indulge in small comforts like that. That action alone told Lina just how relaxed he felt in this place. It was starting to become a part of him. But comfortable or not, they didn't seem to be any farther in understanding the prophecy, let alone breaking it. She glanced at her stony friend, hoping he'd finish his notes soon.

There hadn't been any interruptions from any applicants today. Hopefully, their luck would last. Everything seemed primed for success. The sun was shining playfully outside, but no windows decorated this library. So the beautiful weather wouldn't distract them either. Even her beloved protector had decided to leave them in complete seclusion. A smile crept over the small sorceress' face. Gourry had come in about half an hour ago, looked at the pile of scrolls on the table, and excused himself almost immediately. He'd muttered something about training. She couldn't blame him though. He hated being cooped up and he'd never liked books. Some things never changed.

The petite sorceress had to admit that he would have been bored out of his mind. It had been over two hours since she and Zelgadis had chosen this library to study in. And all they had done so far was take notes individually. But she had long since ceased to find anything useful. What she really needed was a fresh opinion. However, Zelgadis claimed that he hadn't had a chance to study the prophecy in depth yet. Apparently, he felt there was something to be learned from looking for repeating forms. And then cross referencing them to things he already knew about. Hence, the stack of half scribbled notes in front of them. Lina looked up hopefully as the chimera let forth a long sigh.

There was a faint noise as Zel ran his fingers through his hair. His stone skin hitting the metal strands made a quiet rustling noise, like tiny chimes in the wind. Lina had always been fascinated by it, but it made Zel extremely self conscious. Once, shortly before they'd met Xelloss, he'd caught her staring at him running his fingers through his hair and he'd tried to stop doing it ever since. So it was only at rare times like now, when he was distracted, that she ever heard it. His tenor voice cut through her stray thoughts. The aggravation in it was obvious.

"Whoever wrote this was either extremely clever or completely incompetent. I can't decide which."

The sorcery genius snorted. He made it sound like the prophecy had been designed as a personal affront. She agreed, but it was nice to hear someone else say it. And hear other people admit that they were completely stumped too. After all, it would have hurt her pride if he'd breezed right through it. Especially after all of the hours she'd poured over it. She decided to have some fun with her cursed friend. It was about time she was allowed to talk. "And why do you say that?"

Zelgadis threw his copy of the prophecy down in disgust. His hand waved over it as he spoke. "There's no rhyme or reason to this thing." The chimera began ticking off each affront on his fingers. "It follows no meter, syllabic count, or rhyming scheme. The literary symbols it pulls on aren't consistent with any known method of spell classification or divination. The only thing is does consistently is contradict itself!"

"Welcome to my world, Zel." She looked at her stony friend in amusement. It was rare to see him so riled.

He looked at the offending document with stony displeasure. "So what do you think we should do?

"Well, if you are feeling well hearsed on the subject, perhaps the best thing to do is to pick it apart line by line. After all, the real key to winning the contest is finding the prophecy's weakness."

Zel nodded in agreement. "I wrote the rules specifically to allow you the chance to stalemate it again. If you can find away to void the prophecy, the contest is over."

"Thanks, Zel. Now we just need to figure out what it is."

"It might help to read the whole thing first and then start dissecting it." Zel reached for the parchment before Lina stopped him.

"No need. I have the thing practically memorized by now." The chimera's eyebrows raised in disbelief. Ever ready to accept a challenge, she cleared her throat and began.

Ancient soul eternally submerged in vivacious youth

Wielder of darkness, gatherer of light

Mistress of all destinies, possessor of none

Born herself to bear the destroyer of worlds

Rider of winter's waves, removing stone with heavenly sphere

Mercurial spirit tempered against flaming eyes of red

Dancer of golden flame upon the seas of chaos forever be

If not the Mother who created all, then the mother of their demise

A fountain lights upon sunshine's empty cup, one last time to fill

Temptation of a life forgotten, an onerous duty recalled

A change of heart, a gryphon is born

Conceived through the touch of a passerby

Storms clouds gather as the sound of rolling dice shake the sky

Silenced as they rest nestled amongst silent pools of blood

A kiss of darkness glories in the death of a world that will never be

While innocent eyes lovingly smile, unaware of treachery below

The hope of ancient ones winging, grasping at wispy ribbons in the sky

A glimpse of knowledge and forgotten dreams, for those in shadows dwelling

Battle of wills presided over by a judge of stone

Fate lost in chance unnumbered, borne upon wings of snow.

Zelgadis sighed. "That's a long prophecy."

She nodded. "Yeah—especially for an infant. Shall we start at the beginning?" She picked up the scroll. "Any idea what it is we're looking for?"

Zel rubbed his stone chin thoughtfully. "Prophecies are all about describing conditions that must be filled before it takes place. We need to figure out what hasn't come to pass yet. Maybe we can stalemate the prophecy by altering one of those events."

"Sounds like a shot in the dark, but it's a place to start. At the very least, we'll know what conditions have to be fulfilled before the prophecy fully kicks in." Lina cleared her throat for dramatic effect.

"First stanza. The first line is obviously about me. Old soul in a beautiful body." She decided to ignore Zel's surprised blink. He must have something in his eyes. Besides, even if he wasn't, she didn't really fancy using up her limited supply of magic on trivialities. Therefore, it must have been an unfortunate coincidence. Thus eliminating the need to maim her friend. She continued stubbornly. "Actually, I think the whole first stanza is. Look here." She pointed at the second line. "Wielder of darkness…that's got to be the Ragna Blade or the Giga Slave."

The usually stoic swordsman protested. "But what about 'the gatherer of light' bit then?"

"Have you ever noticed what it looks like when I finish casting the Giga Slave correctly?"

Zelgadis shook his head. "I never seem to be around when that happens. I'm always unconscious or casting another spell."

Lina had forgotten that. "Sorry—right. Just after it's successfully cast, it's a golden energy gathering into my hand and all about me. I have no idea what happens after that though. That's the point that I usually black out."

"So this prophecy predicts that you'd be able to draw upon the Lord of Nightmare's powers."

It was nice to have someone keeping pace with her. "Yup. Looks like it. But this next part puzzles me. How can you be part of all destinies, but not have one yourself?"

A low chuckle emitted from her blue friend. His eyes danced with mirth. And while it was rare for Zel to be so amused, it didn't change the fact he was laughing at her. Nor had he answered her question. The Dragon Spooker bit down a swell of displeasure.

"Care to share with the rest of the class?" She was only slightly mollified by his apologetic smile.

"Sorry. That was the same question the Keeper gave me for homework my second day as his apprentice. I nearly went crazy trying to solve it. It was a week before he finally gave in and told me the answer."

Lina tapped her foot impatiently, wondering when Zel'd do the same. Patience, that was the key. She would not strangle her friend. Otherwise, she'd she stuck here forever too. She wisely kept her small hands free of the fireball they were itching to hold. Zelgadis must have sensed her shifting mood because he quickly remedied the situation.

"Some moments in history are pivotal. There aren't many of them—well not in most worlds. Ours seems to be a little more prone to them than most. In any case, everything hinges one decision. You could say that that person had no fate at that precise moment. It's because their decision is what shapes every single possibility beyond it. Their choice influences everything. So technically, they are a part of every destiny as well. Those points in history are really rare though."

"Okay, so mystery solved. Once again I get to determine the fate of the universe. The next part is pretty self explanatory. This kid's gonna destroy worlds." This part made her nervous for a much different reason than most would guess. She tried to cover up her fear with a toothy grin. "Sheesh. And here I thought that was supposed to be my job description." Zelgadis let forth a short bark of laughter. Mission accomplished. He'd completely missed her anxiety. If only she could cover up the insecurities in her mind so easily.

Could someone really love a destroyer of worlds? On the off chance this situation went totally awry, would she be able to love her child? Her mother hadn't. How could she confidently say she'd be any different? The only solution to this she could come up with was to keep this all from happening. Lina became aware of the lull in her conversation and hurriedly cleared her throat. "Next stanza then."

Rider of winter's waves, removing stone with a heavenly sphere

Mercurial spirit tempered against flaming eyes of red

Dancer of golden flame upon the seas of chaos forever be

If not the Mother who created all, then the mother of their demise

Lina was intrigued. "Red eyes…that'd be me again, wouldn't it?"

Zelgadis shook his head. "No. The first time I read this I knew it the second line was about you. But I think those eyes refer to Lord Ruby Eye. Tempered implies that the person battled against him. And mercurial is a pretty apt description of your personality."

Chaos's poster child considered this. She'd been called a lot of worse things in her day. Enemy of all who live, Dragon Spooker, 'little girl.' She could probably live with 'mercurial.' Shabranigdo had been a pretty tough battle. That fight had tested her in more ways than one. It reminded her of her misguided fortune though. 'Alternately running from and into her destiny…' It almost made Lina sorry she'd killed him. But then again, she couldn't really just sit there and let the world be destroyed, could she? Zel derailed her train of thought.

"What I can't figure out is this 'wave rider' thing. Lina, what do you make of it?"

Lina was suddenly fascinated with the upholstery on her chair. How had they gotten the fabric such an intense shade of green? She could feel the faint flush crossing her face as she studiously avoided the sorcerer's gaze. But it didn't seem to be working. She hadn't expected to have to confess the mistakes of her childhood to any of her friends. At least, she'd never hoped she'd have to. That just wasn't her style. Now she was going to have to tell him. Then yet another person would be chiding her about carelessness. It wasn't like she'd done it on purpose. Lina briefly considered avoiding the subject completely, but she really needed his help. If she wasn't honest with Zel now, who knew what they might miss? "Well, that would be all about me too."

The room filled with expectant silence. Zelgadis let it stretch as he waited for her answer. He was good like that. Letting you talk as you were ready. But suddenly it also seemed a little like one of Xelloss' little traps. Waiting for someone to fill the silence with a hundred things they'd never meant to say.

"Well, I kind of accidentally cast the Giga Slave when I was much younger."

His voice was flat as he quietly echoed her. "Accidentally."

Lina tried not to sound defensive. "Look. I didn't really understand what it was. All I knew was that it was more powerful than the Dragon Slave. "

Then he asked the question she was dreading. "Who were you fighting?"

"No one."

Zelgadis' voice was level and his face was expressionless. "Exactly what where you trying to do?"

Lina started tracing an invisible pattern on the chair with her fingers. "Well, I was about eight. I was skipping my magic lesson. I'd actually wandered quite a few miles away from my home looking for something to do. Finally I decided what I really wanted was to go to another village and play. But there was this big cliff separating our beach from some neighboring ones. So I decided I would just get rid of it. But it was too big for me to get rid of with even a couple Dragon Slaves. So I tried a spell I found in one of my sister's magic books. I didn't know it would call on the Lord of Nightmares."

"What happened?"

Lina's mind pushed her back to that day. It didn't seem that long ago. But she'd kept herself from thinking about it for such a long time. "Well, I cast the spell. All I can remember now is a lot of water rushing around me and pushing me across the inlet. After that, I blacked out. I think I had a dream…but I don't remember exactly what it was about."

The small sorceress frowned as she tried to remember. Something about her mother? Nothing else came to mind. The memory was gone and Zelgadis' eyes shone with curiosity. "I woke up on a beach a little later. My sister was holding me in her arms. Her face was all blotchy. I think she might have been crying. In any case, the cliff was gone."

There was a funny look on the chimera's face. "So did you get to go and play?"

She shook her head regretfully. "Nope. The crater it made was filled in by the sea water. Even if it hadn't been, I was too drained to walk. That was the first time my hair ever turned white. I was nearly inconsolable for two days. I thought it would stay that way forever. My sister carried me home. And then she threatened to kill me if I used the Giga Slave ever again."

Zel gave her a questioning look.

"I won't tell her if you won't. Besides I think she already knows. Like most families, we just don't bring it up. Everybody's much happier that way. Besides, I don't think it counts if the whole world was going to be destroyed anyway."

"I see." He paused. "But it brings up an interesting point. Look here." He pointed to the scroll. "We know that the Giga Slave draws upon the mind of the Lord of Nightmares. That would be 'the Mother of all creation' as well as 'the golden flame on the sea of chaos.' But look, it's conditional."

He pointed at the words "if not" and "then" on the fourth line. Lina reread the line to herself. She was suddenly swept away by a flood of understanding. She could feel the astonishment taking over her face. "So this prophecy was only to take effect if the Lord of Nightmares didn't decide to keep my body herself. I wonder what stopped her." Lina had an idea, but it was painful. So she pushed it back into the recesses of her mind.

"So the first four conditions are fulfilled." Lina began ticking them off on her fingers. "I learned to harness the power of the Lord of Nightmares, blew up a cliff, defeated a piece of Lord Ruby Eye, and returned from the sea of chaos." Again, the reoccurring pattern of both running from and into the prophecy at the same time. It was disturbing—as if someone had planned it that way. "Well, that clears up the first two stanzas."

Zelgadis interrupted her before she read the next stanza. "I'm pretty sure everything from here on out is a condition."

Lina nodded. "That's the way I read it too."

He cleared his throat. "Let me read the next few stanzas. You're more likely to catch the symbolism than I am."

A fountain lights upon sunshine's empty cup, one last time to fill

Temptation of a life forgotten, an onerous duty recalled

A change of heart, a gryphon is born

Conceived through the touch of a passerby

Lina's ears strained trying to catch the slightest deviation from what she'd heard before, but nothing seemed any different. She shrugged. "It sounds the same to me as it did before. The only part I understand is the trigger. A single touch from any male is all it will take to get pregnant. But I don't know anything about gryphons or fountains."

Zelgadis frowned. "I have about twenty theories, all as unlikely as the next. I was hoping you could shed some light on it. There aren't any gryphons in our world and there never have been. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to turn up anything about them in any of the libraries. Have you?"

Lina regretfully shook her head, red tresses swaying. "I'll keep looking though."

Zel grimaced. "The part about sunshine's cup doesn't make any sense either. I'm afraid this part is a lot tougher."

Lina's gut instincts kicked in. "Skip it then. We can always come back to it later."

Zelgadis nodded and continued:

Storms clouds gather as the sound of rolling dice shake the sky

Silenced as they rest nestled amongst silent pools of blood

A kiss of darkness glories in the death of a world that will never be

While innocent eyes lovingly smile, unaware of treachery below

He looked up. "Anything sound familiar?"

Lina surprised herself. "Actually, yes. The fortuneteller I blew up mentioned something about dice." Her forehead bunched as she thought. "What was it…I've got it. 'You play dice with the gods.' That's not very helpful though. We already knew that."

Zelgadis thought for a moment, muttering to himself. "Dice with the gods…silenced by blood. That usually implies a sacrifice." His eyes looked troubled.

Lina saw no reason to tiptoe around the subject. He winced as she bluntly confirmed his thoughts. "Someone's going to die."

Zel tried to smile. "We don't know that. It could be a sacrifice of kind instead. Or the offering of blood."

The small sorceress just shook his head. It wasn't like Zelgadis to ignore reality. "I'm inclined to believe it's a little more ominous. Especially since it's followed by the 'death of the world.' Sounds more like your department than mine though. What's with all these worlds being destroyed? Does it happen often?"

Zelgadis shook his head. "No. Well, yes and no. They eventually all come to a close, but it isn't common that they're willfully pushed out of existence. It tends to be a more gradual thing. You have to admit it doesn't sound that positive though."

Lina nodded to herself. "The real thing we need to keep our eyes open for is 'treachery.' As tempting as it is to believe that Xelloss' comrade has taken care of that, I wouldn't count on it."

Zelgadis nodded grimly. "We should keep an eye on that fruitcake of a mazakou. He does an amazing job of rearranging the truth to suit his purposes."

Lina nodded. "Agreed. My turn to read." Zel nodded his consent.

The hope of ancient ones winging, grasping at wispy ribbons in the sky

A glimpse of knowledge and forgotten dreams, for those in shadows dwelling

Battle of wills presided over by a judge of stone

Fate lost in chance unnumbered, borne upon wings of snow.

The sorceress extraordinare felt her lips twist into a sardonic smile. "Want to give me your insights on this one, Zel? You seem to have gotten more out of this part than I did."

Zelgadis looked embarrassed. "Well, the phrasing kind of became obvious once I knew both requests had to be granted. The ancient wings had to refer to the dragons. I just didn't know that the dragon would be Val." He smirked. "This prophecy seems to be much more literal than I originally thought. The hope of the dragons is obviously connected to those of the gods.'"

Lina broke in with a smile. "…and their enemies, the monsters, dwell in the darkness or shadows. Good job, Zel."

"So the battle of wills would be this contest…"

Lina finished for him in a rush. "…and you're the judge of stone." Zel's smile only held a trace of the cynical mockery it usually did. That was good—because she hadn't quite managed to bite back her laugh. "Although, unless it's my imagination, you're softening."

For some reason, Zel seemed to tense. Then he began to loosen his fingers from the tight grip he had on the quill in his hand. His voice was guarded. "Yeah—maybe I am. Just a little." He ran his fingers along the edge of the upholstered chair contemplatively. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

The best thing about it was that he hadn't noticed he was doing it. Zelgadis was slowly overcoming the shell he'd put around himself. Last time she'd seen him, he would have bristled like an angry cat at that last comment and sulked for days. But here he sat with a small sheepish smile. Lina wished she could slap him on the back. He'd finally learned to relax a bit. The chimera had always taken things so personally. He was so serious, all business and no play. But every once and a while he'd forget about his curse and, for a brief moment, you'd see the person trapped inside.

Funny. Zelgadis wanted so much to be human, but he purposely separated himself from humanity at the same time. That had always been the true curse—the emotional shell he'd put around himself. He only thought it was his looks. It made her jealous. He could outgrow his curse. Even if a cure didn't exist, he'd eventually learn to live around it. Meanwhile, it was her destiny to fall into her curse. Unless, by some miracle, they stalemated it once again. A feat which had never been done before. And while she regularly cheated fate, at some point her number would be up. Lina shook her head, trying to free herself from negative thoughts. She was slowly becoming depressed again. It was time to hear about somebody else's successes.

"Zel how did you do it?"

He jumped, looking guiltily at his fingers. His voice shook. "Do what?"

She played with her glove. She hated sounding weak, but she knew that if she didn't ask him, she'd pass up the opportunity to learn more about him. And miss the chance to look at her situation differently. "Start growing out of your curse."

He opened his mouth to deny it, but apparently thought better of it when he saw her stormy expression. It was rare that she ever asked anybody about emotions. Zelgadis was not going to mess it up by launching into his familiar "still cursed" refrain. He was getting better, but obviously he still hadn't been cured of his gloomy attitude. He must have been naturally pessimistic even before Rezo changed him. Lina waited for the chimera to collect his thoughts.

"I wandered around the outer world for about a year, but there was nothing new. I'd seen it all before. Magical development and research there is so far behind. I guess the long lack of mazakou visitors is to thank for that. I had hoped that there'd be something hidden in the Desert of Destruction. But all I found was a few ruins guarded by forgotten monsters. I ran into a mummified basilisk at one. Truly a fascinating little mummy… I was careless though and scratched myself one of its teeth. I thought nothing of it since my skin was made of stone, but that was a mistake."

She glared at him. "Idiot. Basilisks are supposed to be able to break stones apart."

Zel managed to look sheepish. "I guess that slipped my mind. I'd gotten used to my stone skin protecting me from things like that. The poison got into my blood. It was weaker after death than it would have been alive, but it was enough. Walking day and night through the Desert of Destruction didn't help either. I was low on food, water, and rest. I stumbled upon a cave at the desert's edge and stayed there while I healed." He paused contemplatively.

Lina wasn't surprised. However, that didn't make her any less irritated with his stupidity. Zel always thought so much about the goal he occasionally forgot about the rest of reality. While she understood a one track mind quite well, he really needed somebody to keep an eye on him. It was rare that anyone ever survived a basilisk's poison though. So maybe he had something going for him after all. "How did you manage to survive?"

"Some locals found me. They took care of me until I healed enough to take better care of myself."

Lina gave a low whistle. "Sounds like you lucked out." There were very few villages anywhere near the Desert of Destruction.

"More than you know." He smiled softly. "I guess you'd say I had a vision of what my life could be like. Both for the better and for the worse. I found peace. I was ready to live in that cave for the rest of my life." He swallowed loudly before continuing. "But it wasn't meant to be. I had some loose ends to tie up. And I promised myself I'd find what I really wanted out of my life. I finally realized that my perspective was all wrong. Not just my situation. I'd been using my curse as a crutch to keep myself from having to decide anything else about life."

Lina nodded. That was true enough. Maybe what she needed was a change in perspective. But she failed to see how her thoughts about being forced to have a child were ever going to change. The choice was all gone. Perhaps, if it had been Gourry's child…Feelings of bitterness started rise again. If she ever had a chance to talk to Cepheid (sans Luna), he was in for an earful. That she swore.

Zelgadis' soft voice broke through her inner musings. "Hope is what you have when you don't have any direction. Resolve is what you get when you do."

Startled by this comment, the sorceress looked over at him in surprise. But Zelgadis was in a completely different world, lost in remembering. Lina had to smile at her bemused friend. The lines of worry had disappeared from his face. It was tenderer than she'd ever seen it before. Even when he been watching Amelia.

The moment was gone all too quickly. The lights flashed blue and then purple. Zelgadis snapped out of his reverie, looking a tad irritated. "Oh no! Not again."

Lina couldn't help but snicker. "Got lights here of every color. Someone come to visit?"

He waved his hand dismissively. "The blue's just for the lady who helps around the house. But the purple is a headache in the making. Someone's sent me another message by mirror." He groaned.

"That doesn't sound too bad, Zel."

"You wouldn't say that if you'd been present for the last call I got." He sighed. "Unfortunately, it was interrupted. I think they've called back." The sorcerer looked mournfully at the pile of papers in front of him. "We just got going too."

Lina barely heard him. Had Zel said the cleaning lady was back? Lina immediately thought of a certain bundle in her room. "That's okay Zel. I think we've gotten about as far as we possibly can today. The rest will need a lot more work to crack. We've still got some time. What should we do about all these notes though?" She gestured to the table in front of them.

Zelgadis' chair scraped noisily across the floor as he rose. "We can just leave these here. She never bothers with the libraries, except to dust occasionally. She's too old to do it all. But she tries to be pretty thorough about the main living areas. I wouldn't be surprised if she kept a running inventory in her head." He chuckled.

Was it her imagination or was this library starting to run short on usable air? A running inventory? Lina had to get back to her room fast. "Well, I'm gonna go check on Gourry." The sorceress extraordinaire strode nonchalantly towards the door. Zel waved her out as he disappeared on his own task. Satisfied he was out of earshot, Lina booked it up the stairs and down the hallway to her room. This place had a lot of spare rooms. She'd probably beat the old woman there. Besides, there was no way the cleaning lady would notice. As long as the evidence was missing.

She came to a screeching halt as she thrust the door open. Good. She'd beat her here. Now all she had to do was get rid of it. She yanked up the soft blue cover on her bed and reached for the lump under it, only to scuttle back in horror as it emitted a yelp. She leaned back, heart racing. A split second later, her adrenaline converted into usable anger.

"I don't know who or what you are, but I suggest you come out here and start explaining yourself before I lose my temper."

A small figure scrambled out from under the bed. For a moment, she thought it was a small gray monster with four legs, but as it straightened she realized it was a small boy. Albeit a very dirty and dusty one. The small sorceress scrutinized her unexpected visitor. He looked to be about six years old. His eyes were a misty gray under tousled hair that looked like it ate combs for breakfast. There were smudges of dust on his pale little face. He was obviously scared, but was determined to be brave whatever might happen. Lina instinctively liked him for it, but that didn't absolve him of sneaking into her room and hiding there. She decided to play it tough. It would be interesting to see how he responded.

"What were you doing in my room?"

"Playing." He was trying very hard to look innocent. Lina knew the look from experience, having done the same as a child. And, occasionally, as an adult.

Lina felt her eyebrows raise in disbelief. "Were you now? I don't suppose you were touching any of my things." She walked over calmly to the dresser and opened her bag. Not that she was worried that he might steal from her. But there was one thing in particular she didn't want anyone touching. A weight lifted itself from her shoulders as she saw the little black bottle there, sealed and undisturbed. She would need to put it in a safer place. She turned back towards the small offender still sanding in front of her bed.

His face was the picture of wronged innocence. He answered her indignantly. "Of course, I wasn't. I never touch anything when I'm in here."

Lina frowned. "So you've been in my room before." One look at his panicky face told her everything she needed to know. "Why?"

He looked remorsefully at his little foot as it shuffled against the floor. "I was bored and lonely. There's nothing else to do when Lyssi-ma comes."

Lina relaxed. He must be the cleaning woman's grandson. That was good to know—but it still didn't absolve him of guilt. "Why come here?"

"You're interesting to watch. You always do different things. Even when you're sleep. You're Lina Inverse, right?" He babbled on too quickly for Lina to deny or confirm her identity. "Lyssi-ma told me stories about you. Can you really kill dragons with one spell?" He looked both awed and delighted at the prospect. Privately, Lina wondered how he managed to breathe when he talked. But his interest in her was flattering, if only natural. However, this watching her sleep thing had to stop. It explained the odd feeling she kept having that someone was watching her though. It had happened several times since she arrived here. But she'd never been able to find the watcher.

"What were you doing under my bed?"

He gave her an accusatory glare. "You scared me when you came running in."

"That's what you get for going into other people's rooms uninvited. I'm afraid you'll have to be punished."

The boy's eyes grew large with fear. All the bravery fell away in undisguised panic. "Please don't tell my daddy! Or Lyssi-ma! I wasn't supposed to bother anyone while I was here. Or she'll never let me come again. I get lonely all by myself. I didn't touch anything. I swear!" His lower lip quivered.

Lina's stomach clenched in terror of the crying that was sure to come. This was one reason she never wanted kids. They were loud, dirty, and worst of all, they leaked constantly. If not from the nose, then the eyes, or other places best left unmentioned. Desperately, she tried to forestall the fountain of tears that were starting to form. Besides, the infamous "Lyssi-ma" should be along any second. This encounter was eating up precious time. She decided to kill two birds with one stone. "Tell you what…what is your name?"

He sniffed a few times. "Grey."

The petite woman looked at the door anxiously. "Look, Grey. I'll make you a deal. Coming in here without permission is wrong. But, if you're good, you can come any time you want."

Grey's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Really. But in exchange, you need to show me where they keep the spare linens."

Lina grunted as she pulled the sad pink lump out from under her bed. Grey scrambled over to get a good look at it. The thread bare spots in the middle looked even worse in full daylight. Even her attempts to mend it had failed. She wasn't a bad seamstress by any means, but this was beyond her. It looked as if a horde of angry mice had attacked the middle of the frilly pink comforter and left the surrounding edges completely intact. She hadn't meant to beat it so hard. For once, it had actually been an honest mistake. This room had been absolutely filthy when she'd moved in. It had seemed like a practical and constructive use of her anger to clean it. But all that dust had made it hard to see what she was doing. And she'd been really angry with Zelgadis for tricking her. So beating the comforter dust free had ended in disaster. She'd stolen some soft blue velvet blankets from another room. But she hadn't been able to figure out what to do with the ruined comforter.

The boy whistled. "You made a mess of that."

Lina could only nod in agreement.

"Whatcha' gonna do with it?"

It was embarrassing to have to tell a six year old she was trying to cover up her mistake. "I'm going to put it with all of the other blankets."

"Why?"

Another reason she found small children trying. Endless questions. "You don't like being lonely do you? This blanket, erm, misses being able to talk to others of its own kind."

Grey snickered. "I think you're just trying to get out of trouble."

Lina felt her patience evaporate. "Then we can be in trouble together."

His face transformed into a horrorified grimace. "No problem. I know where the blankets go."

"Good. I thought you'd see it my way."

He was anxious to help. "Do you want me to take it there?"

Lina listened hard. It sounded like someone was walking down the hall. His grandmother was almost here. She looked down at the tiny lad. The blanket looked almost as big as he was. "Are you sure you can you carry it?"

Grey gave her a great big smile. Then he squinted his eyes in concentration. The comforter slowly levitated about two feet off the ground and hung midair. He shot Lina a look of pride. "I'm gonna be a great sorcerer someday. Maybe I'll even be as good as you."

"You're welcome to try kid. We could always use a couple more good ones. Now get going." She pointed at the side door. He nodded and walked slowly with the blanket trailing behind him. "I'll keep her distracted."

Grey paused once both he and his package had made it safely through the side door. "Can I come see you next time?"

Lina gave him a tight smile, trying to keep a lid on her impatience. "Sure."

He gave a thrilled shriek of joy and scurried away.

Lina shut the door behind him, not a moment too soon.

Lina sighed contentedly. The air was fresh and crisp. Her room afforded her an unobscured view of the two moons rising in the sky. Things were definitely looking up.

Grey's grandmother had turned out to be quite a nice old woman. Alice was kind of like Auntie Aqua—easy to talk to and endlessly helpful. She'd helped the sorceress extraordinaire finish putting her room straight. She'd even hauled Gourry in to move furniture. Now she had clear access to the window and most of the extra furniture was gone. Alice had left not long after that, saying she'd return soon to work on a few more of the guest suites. With the number of people visiting recently, it seemed as if more rooms would soon be in demand. She'd wanted to do more, but after cleaning Gourry's room (he'd been sleeping on top of the dusty covers) it had been obvious that cleaning up the guest suites would be a major undertaking. Lina had even volunteered to help her. It would help alleviate the boredom of being stuck here. She couldn't spend all her time trying to crack the curse or she'd go crazy.

For now it was nice to just sit and think. Lina was sure if she could just clear her mind that she'd be able to find a way around the curse. Or at least a solution to her problem. Her mind returned to her conversation with Gourry last night.

She'd been overwhelmed with the direction things were headed. Now she had a fixed amount of time to break the curse. A monster who occasionally backstabbed her and a man whose past life had been devoted to her entire destruction were both competing to be the father of the child she didn't want to have. And now Gourry, the one person she'd been told she couldn't have, had joined the contest.

A large part of her still yearned to choose him. It would be so easy. It was so tempting. But she couldn't do it. Not when it meant the death of their entire world. Pillars had to stay in their own world. Or the core of power that fed all life would eventually fail. Lina couldn't help but wonder how much power was slowly draining off of their world right now. Were people and animals slowly starting to feel weaker than normal? Or was magic leaving bit by bit, inch by inch, leaving complete patches void of life? Perhaps that was the original cause of the Desert of Destruction. Someone had removed a pillar. Gourry still wouldn't talk about the details of the vision Cepheid had shared with him, but she'd heard him muttering in his sleep. Whatever he'd seen wasn't pretty.

She'd made a choice like this before and chosen Gourry over the entire world. But this choice was different. Phibrizzo's aim was to return the whole world to chaos. He would have eventually destroyed the whole world anyway. It was just a matter of time. And, had she failed, no one would have been around long enough to know the difference. But this would be the definite and willful genocide of everything she loved on her world. For the sake of one man. Even if she'd been selfish enough to do it, Gourry would never forget the sacrifice. That betrayal of duty would eat away at him, until he was no longer the man she knew and loved. So she'd decided to give him up. For the sake of his future well being and that of their world.

Yet here he was making things more difficult. Tempting her resolve. She didn't understand why he was doing this. Didn't he understand? Had he seen a glimmer of hope he hadn't shared with her? What had Cepheid showed him? She'd sat scrunched up in the corner of the stairs pondering just that when he'd returned.

It was dark. All of the lamps had been completely doused. Zelgadis was off in his study casting protective spells on the signed essence contracts. Lina's own feelings were at odds with the bright cheerfulness of firelight, so she hadn't bothered to light them either. She watched her protector as he entered the manor alone. He moved slowly, quietly with the air of a warrior who'd survived many battles. Ever courteous, he removed his sword belt upon entering, but still held it ready for battle should it arise. His golden hair swished softly in the dark as he walked towards the stairs.

She'd whispered in the darkness just as he past her. Her voice was soft and raspy with unshed tears. "Why?"

He stood still for a moment. Then he shook his head. "Because I love you."

"Did you see something you haven't told me? Is there still hope? For us?"

His voice was sad, but sure. "No."

"Then Gourry, what do you think you are doing?" She could hear the anger and hurt confusion spilling over into her voice.

It shouldn't be possible to hear people smile. But Lina could swear she heard him do just that.

"I'm doing what I do best. Stalling just long enough for you to finish putting all of the puzzle together. Because you'll find a solution. I know you will."

With that he climbed the stairs and left her alone with her thoughts.

A knock at the door roused her from the edge of a troubled sleep. "One moment."

Lina peered curiously around the edge of the door. Zelgadis stood there looking at a slip of paper. An odd expression decorated his face.

"Lina, I thought you'd want to know. Val's already requested to meet with you."

So it all began. "When?"

"Tomorrow." Despite the ordinary nature of the message, he looked disturbed.

"It's a little faster than we'd anticipated, but I don't see any problem with that." Zelgadis still seemed unhappy. "That's not all…"

"What else does he want?"

Zelgadis cleared his voice uncertainly. "He's petitioned to live here with us until the contest is over."

A/N: Take special note, because I was taught that plagiarism is one of the 7 deadly sins that was somehow overlooked in the first compilation of such lists. Lina's background story about blowing up a cliff as a child is NOT mine. It's from "Upon the Sea of Chaos" by Yuki Tuskihana (currently on pg 37 of this archive). I spent more than 7 hrs looking for it, both manually and through the search engine because I wanted to use it so much. I read it about a year and a half ago and fell in love with it. It is being used with Yuki Tuskihama's permission. It's highly entertaining and I strongly recommend you take a look at it. It's a real gem.