Hello everyone! As per the usual disclaimer, I don't own anything- I'm just a fan writing some fiction! Please enjoy!

11- To The Letter

"Here you go. This is the shortest of the books Lorelei loaned me." Zara presented Enrique with a novel that still seemed pretty thick by the young Mazoku's standards, but he wasn't going to argue with Zara.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Totally! Now, you told me that you knew a few letters, right?"

"Eh; not really..."

"Alright, then! Instead of learning the whole alphabet at once… how about we start with vowels?"
Enrique blinked. "...what are those?"

"They're a type of letter, silly!" Zara laughed.

"...there are types of letters?!" Enrique put a hand on his head to steady himself. "Suddenly I'm not so sure about this..."

"No, no- it's easy. There are only five vowels; well, six sometimes."

"Sometimes?!"

"Don't worry so much! It's not that difficult!"

Zara spent the next several minutes teaching Enrique the different letter and their sounds. The teacher found it unbelievable how fast his student caught on- Enrique really was much brighter than he gave himself credit for, it seemed.

"So… those are the vowels… and these are the consonants… and that's it?" Enrique asked finally.

"Yes, that's right." Zara nodded. "Even if you don't quite remember all the sounds they make yet, you'll catch on faster if you jump right in. Should I read a passage, and then we can go through it together?"

"Okay..." Enrique looked like he were trying to slide down in his seat, as though he was planning to slip away under the table when Zara wasn't looking. His friend grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back up, then began reading- just the first two sentences.

Enrique seemed a little overwhelmed, so Zara took the piece of paper and wrote down the first two words on it.

IN MY

"These are good to start with." Zara said. "Every word must have at least one vowel and one consonant. So the shortest words are only two letters. Er... well... except for, like, one exception. But that's easy to remember, I promise. Why don't you sound out these words?"

"Well, the first one is… innnnn" Enrique went through the sounds slowly. "And the second is mm…mmy."

"Very good! You get the idea, right? Can you write the words yourself?"

Enrique nodded and copied the words, a little sloppily, but still an improvement from his earlier writing.

"Perfect! That looks great!" Zara clapped his hands. "You're getting really good at this!"

Enrique followed instructions, and they continued through the words until they'd completed the entire first sentence. It was slow going, but Enrique had finally caught on, and was beginning to be able to sound out short words with the key of letters that he'd written down. Finally, Zara read the sentence once more aloud, tracing the line of text with his finger, and asking Enrique to read it with him the second time.

"...advice... that... I've... been... t-turning... over... in... my... mind... ever... since." Enrique repeated, and then smiled. "Hey! It isn't so hard once you get the hang of it!"

"See? I told you that you could do it!" Zara chimed. "I've helped some younger kids in my hometown when they were learning to read... and it usually took them a lot longer to remember some of these letters- we'd study the alphabet and simple words for weeks before we ever tried to read any actual books. You, on the other hand, have caught on really quickly. You're really smart, Enrique!"

"S-smart...?" Enrique blushed. "You really think so? Like, for real? Because no one's ever called me smart in my whole life, so I figured that I must be pretty dumb, y'know? 'Cause I can't talk all fancy like Azarel and you do, and I'm not really good at doing much besides following orders, and... well..."

"A extensive vocabulary and grasp of language comes with reading." Zara replied. "And gaining experience through reading and absorbing knowledge will help you to gain more skills. You've got the capacity all right- it's just the opportunity that you were missing."

The two continued to make their way through the book, reaching only the second page after over an hour's work. This particular novel had a lot more big words than Zara had expected, and he constantly had to stop and explain what a certain word meant. Enrique, however, seemed more and more eager to learn with every word that he added to his vocabulary. Zara continued to read, stopping at every breaking point in a sentence to repeat the bit he'd just read with Enrique following along.

"If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures,"

"If... personality... is... an... unbroken... series... of... sus-suc-successful... ge-gestures..."

"then there was something gorgeous about him,"

"...then... there... was... something... gorgeous... about... him..." Enrique stopped and found himself staring inextricably at his reading partner. Zara finally noticed after a moment, and looked over at his friend with curiosity.

"Huh? Is something wrong?"

"Wha? O-oh! No! Of course not!" Enrique snapped his attention back to the book, rather red-faced. "I was just.. uh... I mean... I was thinking about how you have such a good girlfriend, that's all. Lorelei must love you an awful lot to let you borrow such a good book."

"You think it's good already?" Zara laughed. "We haven't even gotten to page 3- nothing's happened yet! But, I suppose it has an awfully intriguing introduction. It makes you want to read more, right?"

Enrique nodded. "I just... I don't know how long it'll take Azarel to get back. What if Az walks in here and finds you teaching me...?"

"Don't worry about that! I won't let you get in trouble, I promise." Zara stated firmly.

Enrique sighed. "...thank you, Zara... for everything. You've been... such a good friend..."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Zara enthused. "Believe me, it makes me happy just to be able to help you! So why don't we continue on and get to where the action is? Lorelei wouldn't have recommended this book to me unless at least two or three people meet a violent end. Let's see who they are, shall we?"
Enrique could only nod in reply.

"Azarel, huh? Sure is a pretty name..." Lyos murmured as he followed the young woman through the marketplace.

"It's actually meant to be a boy's name." Azarel replied. "But I think that I wear it very beautifully."

"You do, you do!"

Azarel giggled. "Oh, stop it, Mister Lyos! I'm flattered! Come on- let's hurry! I don't want to leave my brothers waiting long!"

She began running, looking back every few steps to make sure that Lyos was still following. He kept up rather well, given the crowded market, and never lost sight of her...

...that is, until someone grabbed his arm and tugged him into nearby side-street. Lyos opened his mouth to yell, but a powerful hand was shoved over it, making calling for help impossible. He could only struggle against his captor's grip- not that it did any good. A man that strong couldn't possibly be human.

Lyos was dragged an indiscernible distance- kicking and struggling all the way- before his captor finally released him in a narrow alley. Shaking with rage, Lyos pulled from the man's grip to finally get a glimpse of the person who'd pulled him halfway through town.

"What the hell d'you think you're doing?! What do you want from me?!"

"Hmph. You ought to be a bit more grateful to the person who likely just saved your life." Lyos' captor was a tall man, fairly young at that, who looked far too lanky to have overpowered his heavily-muscled captive. He couldn't be human, Lyos was sure of it.

"Saved my life?! I was just walking through the marketplace! I'd bumped into that girl there, and she was gonna introduce me to her brothers. She said that they were big fans of mine, and-"

"The girl's name was Azarel, right?"

Lyos blinked. "H-huh? How'd you know?

"Some Knight of the Aqualord you are," the man sniffed indignantly. "if you can't even tell a deadly Mazoku from a normal girl."

"What?!"

"That Mazoku," the man continued. "is highly dangerous and deceptive. Azarel can take any form she likes and uses that to trick people. She kidnapped my best friend's son, and is trying to find a powerful relic that has the ability to waken a Demon Lord who has been sleeping for over a thousand years- and to find that relic, she needs you! One of the 'brothers' she mentioned was probably my friend's son. She was going to use him and her other captives as a trap to lure you in and use you for her evil plans."

"...impossible!" Lyos ground his teeth in anger. "That sounds pretty far-fetched! How do I know you're not spouting some sort of nonsense in order to trap me like you're saying that girl was?!"

"I give you my word." the man responded, pulling a small insignia from the strap of the bag around his shoulder. "on behalf of the royal family of the Kingdom of Seyruun."

Lyos gasped, recognizing it immediately. "Th-the official seal? But how did you...? You must have stolen it! That has to be it! I knew I couldn't trust you! Only royalty of Seyruun has that seal!"

"Of course, you idiot! I'm a part of the royal court! You really are dense, aren't you?"

Lyos stiffened and stepped back, his blood boiling. "You calling me dense? I can call your bluff, you liar! I actually know the princess of Seyruun- and she knows me too!"

"Duh, Amelia knows you! Without her help, I never would have known who you were... though she never told me that you were so rude!"

The conversation stopped altogether for a moment, as Lyos began to realize that the man might be telling the truth. If he knew Amelia, then...

"Wait... so you're not-"

"Hey! Zelgadis!"

A voice that Lyos had unwittingly conjured in his mind just moments before rang out through the alleyway, and the bounding figure of Seyruun's princess descended upon the two.

"Why did you run off? I've been looking all over for yo- oh! Mister Lyos!"

Amelia's exuberance was overwhelming, and Lyos could do little save for shaking her hand when she grabbed ahold of his. "It' so good to see you again, Mister Lyos! So you've met Zelgadis already, right?"

Figuring that she was talking about the man who'd dragged him across town, Lyos nodded. "I uh didn't catch his name, though. Zelgadis, you said?"

"That's right!" Amelia chimed.

"So... what is he; your brother or something? He looks nothing like you-"

"He's my husband, silly!" Amelia tossed her arms around Zelgadis, who kept his cold gaze fixed on Lyos.

"I tried to tell him that, but he wouldn't believe me. Clearly I must have been lying." Zelgadis quipped.

"No one would trust you the way you acted!" Lyos defended. "Amelia, he grabbed me by one arm and dragged me through the marketplace! I thought he was trying to kidnap me or something, then started spouting some crazy-sounding story about how he was some sort of prince-"

"Oh, really?" Amelia asked with a smirk. "So you can be a prince when it suits you, hmm?"

"Those were not my words- and that's not important now! He was practically in Azarel's clutches! We don't want to advertise to her that we're on her trail, do we?"

"So... you actually saw Azarel?" Amelia pulled away from Zelgadis slightly, grabbing onto his hand instead.

"Yes, but she didn't look like the little kid we saw before. She was an attractive young woman..." The chimera glared at Lyos. "...perfect for seducing our friend over here. This is what happens when you let hormones get in the way of clear thinking."

Lyos looked ready to fight Zelgadis right then and there. "That's not what happened at all! At least hear the other side of the story before going off and making bogus accusations!"

Zelgadis just sniffed disdainfully in reply. Amelia, meanwhile, tugged at his arm.

"We need to find the others and get to the temple. Miss Azarel will clearly be looking for Mister Lyos now, and we can't let her find us..."

"You're right, Amelia." Zelgadis sighed and tightened his grip on her hand. "Lina's not going to be very happy that we didn't see Zara, but there's nothing we can do about it now. Lyos, I'm sorry to pull you out of the blue like this, but we need you to accompany us to the Temple of the Aqualord, and- are you even paying attention?"

"I am paying attention. I'm just confused." Lyos crossed his arms. "I still don't really understand what's going on, but if you want me to go to the temple, I guess I can go with you..."

"Hey! Amelia! Zelgadis! I found you!"

Lyos flinched. He recognized that voice, and it was the one person he really didn't need to see.

"Mister Gourry!" Amelia exclaimed, running up to her companion. Pestis and Shizuri were following behind him, though both were quiet as they watched the scene unfolding. "We found Mister Lyos too! Miss Azarel is here in Ti Toh after all, and we need to hurry back to the temple, or else-"

"What about Zara?" Gourry interrupted, and then turned to Lyos. "Do you know where he is? Have you at least seen him?"

Lyos scowled. "Way to be friendly after we haven't seen each other for years. I don't even get a 'hello, how are you?"

Gourry shrunk back a little. "S-sorry..."

"Leave him alone!" Zelgadis snapped. "You wouldn't have the patience for customary salutations either if you were in his situation!" He turned back to Gourry again. "Unfortunately we haven't seen Zara- though apparently Azarel spoke ambiguously about him, so we do have reason to believe that he's safely here in Ti Toh."

Gourry ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "What am I supposed to tell Lina? I really don't want to have to deliver bad news to her- she's already in such a fragile state..."

"Lina? Fragile? Surely you must be joking!" Pestis jumped in. "Besides; she probably will at least be overjoyed to hear that Zara is here in the same city. That ought to alleviate at least some of her worries."

"I suppose..." Gourry shifted uncomfortably.

"H-hey! What's wrong with Lina? Where is she?" Lyos broke in.

"She's at the Temple of the Aqualord right now." Shizuri spoke. "That's where we need to be too. Sorry to suddenly drag you off like this Lyos, but, as the Knight of the Aqualord, you're too important- both to us and the Mazoku."

"Yeah, that has already been explained to me." Lyos sighed. "Let's go ahead and get out of here, then. We're not accomplishing anything by standing around talking."

"Maybe you guys should go on ahead and I can stay in town to search for Zara some more..." Gourry suggested.

"Why are you so obsessed with this 'Zara' person?" Lyos demanded impatiently.

"Zara is his son, genius." Zelgadis interrupted, dragging Lyos away from Gourry. "You really don't know how to put two and two together, do you?"

Lyos paled. "...oh. I see. Couldn't someone have said that in the beginning?"

"We'll explain everything back at the temple, don't worry." Shizuri assured him. But right now... I don't want to hang around to meet this Mazoku that I've heard so much about." She then turned to Gourry. "Please come with us. I know that you're worried about your son, but right now it doesn't sound like running all over town searching is the wisest course of action."

Gourry sighed sadly. "Alright; fine... but Lina isn't going to be very happy about this..."

"She laughed again as if she said something very witty,"

"She... laug-g-g-hed... again... as if... she said... some-thing... very... witt-t-y..."

"and held my hand for a moment, looking up into my face,"

"...and... held... my hand... for a... moment... lo-ooking... up into... my... face..."

"promising that there was no one else in the world she so much wanted to see."

"...promising... that there... was no one... else... in the... wo-world... she so... much... wanted... to..." Enrique paused for a moment and frowned. "Wait- didn't he say that she was, like, his second-cousin-once-removed?"

"And the fact that she's already married to his friend isn't worth mentioning either?" Zara responded curtly. Enrique seemed to stiffen, and Zara laughed. "Lorelei told me that this book is full of drama and love triangles- knowing her, I'm willing to bet that not one of them ends happily."

"That's depressing. I want a happy ending." Enrique pouted. "I like the main character already. He's funny."

"He's also good at describing things- here, let's look at this." Zara continued on to the next line, tugging on the sleeve of Enrique's coat to get his attention. "It says, This was a way she had... It seems like the hand-holding scene isn't so much of a romantic encounter as it is a description of the very nature of this girl's character. I'm thinking that he's saying that she treats everyone like this, and that is supposed to help the reader get to know her a little better."

Enrique blinked curiously. "You got all of that information just from that one sentence?"

"Well, of course." Zara chuckled. "Reading and gaining information from what you read isn't a passive activity. You have to take an active role in processing and analyzing the information that is given to you so that you can get more out of it. When you read, you get out what you put in."

"So... even if you can just read the words... you won't learn anything unless you're putting effort into understanding what it means?" Enrique asked timidly.

"Exactly."

Enrique gave a sigh and leaned back in his chair. "Gee... I always thought that reading was such a simple thing... that if I could just understand the words, then I could learn things and be smart. I never knew that it took all this... this thinking."

Zara frowned. "Is that bad?"

"No! I love it!" Enrique banged his hands on the table. "This is the most amazing thing I've ever discovered! Reading isn't just reading, it's thinking and reacting, and that's what makes people who read so smart! I've never understood it before, but now everything makes sense!" The boy clapped his hands together excitedly. "If practice makes perfect, and reading gives you practice thinking, then the more you read and think, the smarter you'll become! That's the secret behind reading!"

Zara couldn't help but smile. "Do you realize... how many people can read, and yet don't understand what you just told me? Usually it takes years and years of learning to read before they're old enough to truly comprehend this... I told you that you're really smart, Enrique!"

Enrique blushed madly and buried his face in the book. "You... should stop telling me that, y'know. I'm not used to it. I don't know how to respond. Maybe if I thought it was actually true, I might be a bit more accepting; y'know? But I just... I've never-"

The door slammed open and a blast of cold air blew the papers and pencils across the table. Enrique dropped the book and shoved it off the table as well.

"H-hey, Azarel! What's going on? We were just sitting here and, uh... well... we were..."

"I was reading a book to Enrique." Zara replied calmly, walking over to where the book and the pile of papers were. He set the book back on the table and carefully folded up the pieces of paper so that it was impossible to see what was written on them.

Though it didn't seem like Azarel cared at all.

"Boys, you need to put away your cute little toys and help me regroup. It seems like someone is out to sabotage our mission... and I'm pretty sure that I know who it is."

"What? Who would do that?" Zara gasped, pulling the book and papers closer.

"Pathosmaster." Azarel sniffed indignantly. "I'll be willing to bet that he's searching for the Key of the Aqualord too. There's nothing he won't do to accomplish his goals- he's ruthless to a fault, even for a Mazoku. He hates my guts, and I gladly return the favour."

Enrique was tossing confused glances back and forth, but while Azarel was speaking calmly, Zara had turned very pale.

"Th-that's impossible. It can't be Pathosmaster. Lina killed him."

"Your precious Lina killed Vireas." Azarel responded. "He was an idiot and didn't deserve to be Pathosmaster in the first place. But his successor, on the other hand... the one who sealed me away..."

"Successor...?" Zara breathed.

"Sealed you away? What are you talking about?" Enrique asked confusedly.

Azarel's countenance suddenly jumped back to that of amiable cordiality. "Oh, it's nothing! I'm afraid that you must put away your books and stuff, boys; we have planning to do! Chop-chop!"

Zara and Enrique glanced at each other and then back at Azarel.

"...okay, then..." Zara murmured, bunching up the papers that he was holding and making a run for the staircase in order to put the book away. After he was out of sight, Azarel placed a hand on Enrique's shoulder, causing the boy to jump.

"What were you and Zara doing while I was away?"

"Wh-what?! It was just like he told you! He was reading me a book! That's all, I promise!"

A sly smile spread over Azarel's lips. "...lying now too, are we? I'll admit that I'm proud of you, but I'm not the one you'll want to tell lies to... not that it matters, of course. You're easy to read."

"What does that mean?!"

"It means that I'm proud of you!" Azarel affectionately slipped an arm around Enrique's shoulder. "You're doing well. Just a few months ago, I'd have thought that there wasn't any hope for a lonely rogue Mazoku like you."

"Then why did you take me in?" Enrique's eyes narrowed in distrust.

"Because I saw your potential." Azarel quipped, giving him a pat on the cheek. "Your fervent emotions give you a great potential for hatred. Hatred leads to destruction. Destruction is inherently Mazoku. And yet... so few Mazoku are capable of true hatred. That's why you're so special."

Enrique shook his head slowly. "What…? I... don't understand..."

Azarel smiled. "You will. And when you do, tell me. I want to hear your take on it. Then, you will understand why I chose you- and why sweet little Zara is far more important to our plan than meets the eye."

Enrique took a step back. "Wh-what... are you going to do to him...?"

Azarel just grinned with a dismissive shake of the head. "Don't trouble yourself over it. Besides, right now, I need to schedule a meeting with someone very important..."

(A/N: What's that we learned the vowels with? AEIOU and sometimes Y? Yeah… anybody else love the book they're reading? The new movie was really good too, but the book is just… oh man… I need to read it again. Hah…)