Chapter 21

Lina's little announcement had come just as Amelia entered the room. She paused, hearing that, and then sighed. "If that's the case, Lina, then you know the only thing you have left. It's the only spell that you know will work."

Lina turned to look to Amelia, seeing the same bleak acceptance in the younger girl's eyes. They may have been at odds before, but Lina knew they were far closer in spirit now than they had ever been. "I know, Amelia. But the world can't afford to have the Lord of Nightmares unleashed on it. Even Zelgadis on a rampage is better than the Golden One dissolving everything."

"There is another possibility," Sylphiel began. When all eyes shifted to her, she flushed scarlet, but continued. "Some believe that the rumors of the Avatar of Shabranigdo are simply rumors. But others believe that it is a possibility, that the Avatar could return the power of Shabranigdo to the world."

An uncertain murmur rose up as Amelia, Lina and Naga all opened their mouths, but Sylphiel lifted her hand and raised her voice. It startled them all into silence. "There are Artifacts, items that were crafted and held aside for the possibility. No-one knows if they will work. But they exist. We may be able to use them."

Lina nodded thoughtfully, reaching into her cloak. "And there's this…" Her voice trailed off as her fingers felt the empty pocket. "What? Where did it go? The Heart… I had it in my cloak… it's gone!" Her stomach sank as she realized that it must have fallen out of her cloak in the Tower.

"It's in the Tower. It's the only place that it could be. It had to have fallen out when Jedah destroyed Xellos. I fell… rolled…" She didn't notice the effect her words had on the others, largely because she was still hunting in her cloak, desperately hoping it had landed in another pocket. "Damn it!" Lina looked up to see everyone staring at her as if she'd suddenly grown wings or something. "I told you that when I came back. I told you that Jedah had destroyed him."

"We heard," Naga replied quietly. "I think we all thought you were in shock." If Jedah had destroyed Xellos… She looked across to Amelia. Her sister's eyes were bright, her chin lifted as she struggled through knowledge that she didn't want to accept. "Amelia…?"

"Jedah said that he wasn't safe anymore. That we shouldn't be near him, that he was only likely to hurt us." True, he had said 'her', but that didn't matter right now. "I learned…" She paused, shaking her head. "I learned more than he wanted me to. He was planning something, but I didn't get the chance to figure out what it was." She could tell, could feel it in the desperation that pressed his lips against hers.

"He didn't have anything else to lose." The voice was Gourry's, the words strangely framed by the momentary silence. "He'd already lost it all." He moved the chair out of the way and walked over to look at the women. "When I confronted him, back when Lina was hurt, he was almost cradling Xellos. If he's had to destroy the one that he loved…" Those blue eyes, usually so innocent and open lifted to Sylphiel, and then he looked to Lina. "He'd lost everything." There was nothing more dangerous than a man who had lost everything… or perceived that he has lost everything.

"Gourry, I watched him lift his hand and release some sort of spell that didn't touch me, but it hit Xellos full on. He let go… it didn't feel like he could keep hold of me. I didn't see what happened, but I felt it. And the look in Jedah's eyes…" She knew now how she had looked when Zelgadis was gone. When she'd clung to Jedah in desperation some scant few days ago? No… a month… It had been a month since Zelgadis vanished.

Silence filtered through the room, and then Lina lifted her head. "The Heart didn't fall out of my pocket. Jedah took it. He had to have. He knew better than any of us what it was, and he knew how to use its powers. It was guarded, though, with that trap that Zelgadis had set on it…"

That trap had nearly killed Lina once, tore Xellos in half, and had possibly sprung on Jedah… the original target of the spell. Amelia's breath caught in her throat, and she forced herself calm as she spoke. "Then we must accept the probability that it has done what it was intended to do. The only thing we can do now is prepare for the reasonable eventuality of the Avatar of Shabranigdo."

Lina lifted her head and looked to Amelia sadly, but before she could say anything, there was a clatter outside in the hallway. Everyone looked to the door, but Gourry was who moved, one hand on the hilt of his sword, the other lifting to the door handle. It was silent as the blonde moved out into the hall, and then Gourry's voice was clearly heard in exclamation. "Hey, are you okay?"

Sylphiel and Lina managed to hit the door at the same time, even though Lina had started from a seated position on the bed. Amelia and Naga were directly behind them, and all four came to a skidding halt when they came up next to Gourry, who was kneeling next to a prone figure on the floor of the hallway.

"Gourry… roll him over." Lina said quietly, her heart in her stomach. His brown hair was familiar, slightly longer than his collar, askew from his collapsing. She felt as if she knew the jawline, knew the cheekbones and the shape of his nose as Gourry put the sword down to roll the young man over onto his back.

"You should back up, Lina. All of you." Gourry said, not entirely convinced that the man that he suspected this was wouldn't leap up and attempt to blast them all to the far ends of the world with an attack. As they did so, Gourry began to roll the figure over.