"This is too weird," thought Lina, "he's never been like this before Since when does that fruitcake care about anyone, let alone Fuhoko?" Lina punctuated her frustrated, confused thoughts with a heavy sigh. A mere second later she ran face-first into Gourry's back. Her eye twitched in irritation.
"Oi, lamebrain, why did you stop right in the middle of-" Her angry inquiry was cut short as she noticed the strange person standing several yards away. The rest of the group stood still and quiet, watching the girl.
The stranger stood firm, silently waiting. She looked roughly Lina's age, and wore a blindfold. She faced them as though watching them, as though she could see them through the cloth. For nearly a minute, no one said a word or moved a single inch. Then Amelia stepped forward.
"Hello," she said with a small, welcoming smile, "is there something we can-" She froze, and suddenly the mysterious girl was just past her. Everyone stepped back, surprised. No one had seen the stranger move. After a few seconds, a rip appeared in Amelia's shoulder, and a bit of blood spurted out. She cried out and clasped her shoulder, wincing.
Taiyo moved to aid her. The blindfolded young woman moved swiftly, slamming into Taiyo. Taiyo yelped in shock and pain, stumbling back. She ran hard into a tree and crumpled. Zelgadis' eyes narrowed. He glowered at their attacker.
"Hey, what's your problem?" He growled, staring hard at her. The girl said nothing. Zel clenched his fists.
"Answer me!"
Finally a response came. In the form of a fierce, unrecognized spell. Zel choked out a pained gasp as waves of strange, blue-black power coursed through him. Lina snapped, attacking the enemy with a fireball. The girl dodged and countered, knocking Lina back several feet. Then, without a word, she disappeared.
Several hours later, the group sat around a campfire, tired and confused. Gourry incessantly asked if everyone was okay, eventually receiving a smack on the head from Lina. He retreated, rubbing the newly formed bump on his head and muttering about "only trying to help..."
Xellos sat aside from the group, thinking quietly to himself. He gazed into the crackling flames, trying to work things out in his head. An encounter with a strange assailant, and no luck finding Fuhoko. "...I went through so much to save her, and now she's gone again " He scowled. "Damn...Damn MAD...I'll make him pay if it's the last thing I do...He just had to push his luck, didn't he..." He stood and wondered off into the forest. No one paid him any mind. They were used to his random wanderings.
Lina was grumbling.
"What the hell was that about? What'd that crazy little brat want from us, huh? Geez "
Zelgadis was gently holding Taiyo, being protective despite her protests that she was fine. He softly kissed her head, and she finally settled down, flustered and blushing.
Amelia stared in frustration into the fire.
"It just doesn't make sense " she mumbled, "why would a random stranger show up and attack us like that? It isn't right!"
Gourry looked at Lina, concern and intense confusion showing in his eyes.
"Hey Lina," he said, "do you think we're being targeted again? You know, like when we first started out?"
Lina frowned.
"I'm surprised a goldfish-memory like yours could hold that " she muttered grouchily. Then she sighed. "I just don't know...Maybe. Pretty likely, given the messes we tend to get into..."
"Which are usually YOUR fault..." Zel mumbled.
Lina ignored him. "But then again, those were always big groups, and they were lame-o's who didn't have an ounce of power. This chick kicked our asses without breaking a sweat!" The red-haired sorceress growled, the thought enraging her. Her cheeks puffed. "Agh, what the hell is going on?!" she shouted.
Everyone wanted to figure out what was going on, but it was clear that doing so without dinner and a decent night's sleep wasn't happening. So they cooked some food Amelia had bought at the last town, ate, chatted briefly, and then headed into their tents for the night.
The next morning, they all packed up and continued on. Lina was still trying to come up with a plan. Xellos had not yet returned, but that was normal and therefore of little concern. Everyone walked on, all thinking the same thing: How do we deal with all the insanity going on? Just what IS going on, and why does it keep getting weirder?
Hours later, they had a chance to figure out an answer. Yet again the girl with the blindfold showed up, blocking their path.
Gourry's brow furrowed.
"Man, not again " he mumbled. His eyes widened- and he barely managed to block- as the girl came at him, claws of dark energy digging into his blade. He pushed her back and slashed, narrowly managing to make a cut in her shirt. The girl bounded back, then vaulted off a nearby tree and slammed her foot into his stomach. Gourry grunted and stumbled backward. Amelia attacked with a small but fairly strong spell, catching the enemy off guard. The girl seemed only momentarily fazed, then lunged, determined to launch a ferocious counter attack.
She was caught off guard again when Xellos stepped out from behind a tree, standing directly in her path. She faltered, and then swung her clawed hand toward him. Xellos, wearing his usual smile once again, simply caught her wrist.
"Oh my," he murmured, "this won't do at all, will it? You should know better than to attack anyone here, especially me..." With that, he reached around her head and grasped the end of the scrap of tattered cloth which covered her eyes. As everyone stood behind him, watching closely, the violet-haired mazoku gave the cloth a quick, firm tug.
The entire group stood in shock as the blindfold fell away to reveal the one person they'd least expect would ever attack them...