As always, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy.


20-

Once she'd separated from Zelgadis and Jaime, Amelia cut across the mountainside, using a weak Levitation spell to make it easier to climb over the rocky ground. She didn't want to use any strong magic until she knew what they were up against, not wanting to draw attention to herself or her companions. But if she got hurt, she'd be in even bigger trouble.

The initial blast that prompted her to break off from the group had sounded like mine work, but it wasn't followed by any more. Amelia eventually made it to the side of the open pit area, but it was too big to see very far in the dark. She listened closely for the sounds of other people, but with the blasts having died down, a cacophony of insect noises had resumed. If there were any faraway voices speaking, they were drowned out by the sound of crickets.

Unsure where Zelgadis and Jaime might've gone, she decided to continue east toward Senagra. The sky was clear, and the stars twinkled placidly, too far away to care about the trouble at the mine. Looking at them helped Amelia keep calm- that was, until a shadow passing over the sky caused her to freeze.

It was small and fast-moving and seemed to be scanning the area in a grid-like pattern. It had already noticed her if its change in speed and direction was any indication, and she prepared herself to run if needed. However, a voice from the creature relieved her fears.

"AMELIA?"

"P-Pokota…?"

Pokota flew down and settled on Amelia's outstretched arm. Even in the darkness, his confused expression was clear.

"What are you doing out here? I thought you were helping at the Botanical Institute?"

"I was, but the unexpected mine activity this evening put us on alert," she replied, looking up to see the two women approaching her. "Oh, Miss Adelaide! And you are…?"

Pokota motioned to her. "This is Mrs. Lydia Morue. She works for AVA, the Mazoku group who owns the mine."

"Mazoku group?!" Amelia stiffened and took a step back. "But she-"

"Please, ma'am, I'm not your enemy!" Lydia bowed, her hands clasped tightly together. "AVA has held me captive as an employee for years, and now they've kidnapped my daughter. I just want to make sure my little girl is okay."

"A friend of ours has been kidnapped too," Adelaide added. "He's really sick from an infected wound. If we don't get him to a hospital soon, he…"

"Say no more!" Amelia interrupted, her posture having returned to normal. She took a step back toward Adelaide and Lydia, stretching out her hands to them. "You know, Miss Lina and Mister Gourry are out here too. If we can find them, they'll definitely-"

"They went down to the bottom level of the mine," Pokota interrupted. "We weren't sure where the Mazoku took Holly and Michael, so we're trying to cover as much ground as we can."

"Michael?" Amelia repeated. It was the name she'd heard from Zelgadis, and while a somewhat common name, it was unique enough that she might as well ask. "Is he from Senagra?"

Adelaide nodded. "Do you know him?"

"I… know of him, I think. Does he have a son named Jaime?"

"Yes, that's him!" Pokota exclaimed, hopping up onto Amelia's shoulder. "You know Jaime?"

"Jaime was at the Botanical Institute with us. He was all alone and ended up latching onto Zelgadis, so we've been caring for him-"

"Zelgadis is here too?" Adelaide interrupted. "I thought he was still working for Ruvinagald."

"He is, but he and Dr. Wilson happened to have come to collect a research sample from the Botanical Institute when the earthquake happened. He and Jaime came out to the mine with me this evening, but they got separated. Jaime isn't feeling well, so Zelgadis is probably going to take him back to his parents in Senagra… but if Mister Michael really has been kidnapped-"

There was a sudden flash of light from deeper in the mine, and the group turned abruptly to look. Within a few minutes, Lina and Lucan had made it up to the ledge again, Lina helping another woman along the way. Amelia ran over to meet her, waving frantically.

"Miss Lina!"

"Amelia?" Lina stammered, letting go of the woman once they were securely on the ledge again. Lucan was greeting Amelia with his usual tail-wagging enthusiasm, so the woman looked at Amelia and then to Lina again.

"A friend of yours?"

"Yeah, and- um…" Lina seemed to have something else to say but decided against it. "Amelia, what are you doing here? I thought you were working at the Botanical Institute-"

"I heard you were investigating some problems here at the mine and wanted to help. Ze-" She stopped, her attention having moved from Lina to the woman standing beside her. The light was dim, but even so, Amelia could see a vague familiarity in the woman's features. If Michael was out here, Jaime and Zelgadis' mother might be as well. She had to ask. "I'm sorry, I haven't met you yet. My name is Amelia. And you are… Mrs. Belmonte?"

Carmen perked up. "Y-yes. Carmen Belmonte. Did our friends introduce me-?"

Amelia shook her head. "No, actually I know your son Jaime. He was at the Botanical Institute-"

"Is he safe?"

At Amelia's revelation, Carmen lunged forward to clasp her hands. Amelia was surprised, and it took her a moment to regroup. "He… yes. He's with my husband right now. They're on their way back to Senagra, but if you and your husband are both here, then-"

"We have to find them!" Carmen turned back to Lina. "Miss Lina, please, can we put your plan on hold until we make sure that Jaime is alright? I don't want him out here while we're fighting Mazoku."

"Of course we can find them, but…" Lina paused and looked over the group, noting Adelaide, Pokota, and Amelia as she did so. "...no, this is good. With Amelia and her husband, we can make this work."

"Plan…?" Pokota hopped across from Amelia's shoulder to Lina's. "What are you talking about? Fill us in."

"Will it help us find Holly and Michael faster?" Lydia interrupted. "I don't think we should be making any elaborate plans until we've done that."

"She's right," Adelaide agreed. "Michael is really sick. We can't waste any more time getting him to a doctor."

"I get that!" Lina snapped, causing Lucan to whine. She paused, taking a moment to calm down before continuing. "But remember, last we knew, the Mazoku had them both. If we want to free them, we have to do something about the Mazoku. And that's what this plan is going to do."

"What kind of plan is it?" Pokota asked.

Lina turned around and pointed to the mine, digging into her pocket for the map. "There are human workers at the bottom of the pit here," she instructed, pointing to the map and then out into the dark expanse in front of them. "That's where Gourry is now, helping coordinate their efforts. They have a lot of explosives with them, and I think it's just what we need to get the Mazoku's attention. If they create a large enough explosion, their Mazoku bosses will come to find out what's going on. That's where we come in- and why I need help from Amelia and Zel."

"Zel," Carmen whispered, and Amelia wondered how much Lina had told her. Lina seemed to notice it too, but only momentarily before she turned back around to show them the map where she'd drawn a quick circle with her compass.

"Adelaide, Pokota, Carmen, and me… with Amelia and Zel, we have six magicians capable of casting White Magic. Sorry to leave you out, Mrs. Morue, but-"

"No, no, I'm no mage," Lydia answered. "Only my daughter."

"Six white mages…" Amelia murmured. "...Miss Lina, you're not thinking of creating a ward-?"

"Bingo." Lina smiled and nodded, pointing to her sketch on the map. "Six white mages, each casting at a point of a hexagram like so. Any weak Mazoku within the sphere of influence will be completely destroyed."

"Like the ward around the White Magic city of Seyruun?" Carmen asked. "My father used to tell me about it. It's an ingenious plan, but it'd force us to split up…"

"Besides that, how will Gourry know to organize the explosions?" Adelaide added, looking up from the map. "Have you set up a signal with him?"

"We discussed it, but I had to come back here to find out how viable the plan was. Remember, as far as I knew, I was still missing one or two white mages and would have to go back to Senagra for reinforcements. Having Amelia and Zel here will make things a lot faster."

"If Zelgadis isn't already in Senagra," Pokota pointed out, and Carmen once again froze up at the name. Amelia tugged at Lina's sleeve, her expression uneasy.

"Miss Lina, may I speak with you privately for a moment?"

"Huh? About the ward-?" Lina began, but Amelia pulled her aside and whispered in her ear.

"The Belmontes… Miss Carmen and Mister Michael… Zelgadis believes they are-"

"His parents?" Lina whispered back. "He knows?"

"You know?"

Lina glanced briefly at Carmen. "Carmen is Rezo's daughter. She mentioned that she had an older son who died- supposedly- and everything clicked. The Belmontes moved and have been living in a new village under a new surname for years because the loss was too much for them. Gourry and I mentioned to Carmen that her son might still be alive, but she's reluctant to get her hopes up."

"So that's why they didn't come looking for Zelgadis… they did think he was dead." Amelia murmured. "Jaime recognized Zelgadis as a big brother figure immediately, but it wasn't until we spoke with the other villagers about Jaime's family did he realize that Jaime really is his little brother."

"So he knows his parents are alive, then?"

"Yes. That's why he refused to leave Jaime alone. He's-" Amelia stopped and smiled. "-he's a very protective big brother."

Lina covered her mouth to stifle an amused laugh before turning around and waving back to the group. "Okay, here's the deal! Our first priority is rescuing Michael and Holly from the Mazoku, so we're going to execute this plan as soon as possible. I'll go talk to Gourry and set up some sort of signal while you all go find our sixth mage. Agreed?"

"Wait!" Adelaide protested. "Where do we even begin looking?"

Lina held up her hands. "Don't ask me. Amelia would-"

Before she could finish, the conversation was cut off by a loud bark from Lucan. The hair on his back stood up, and he bolted off into the darkness, the echoes of his frenzied barking echoing off the sides of the walls. Lina wasted no time in running after him, pointing in his direction.

"Scratch that- I have a feeling he knows."

Amelia looked back at the others and shared a nod before they followed after Lina too.

Whatever Lucan had found, it was either a friend or foe- and at this point, they had to take that chance.


Jaime stumbled over stones along the path as he desperately tried to keep the kitten in his sight. She was running at full speed, her fur standing on end and her body pressed against the side of the rock wall. She was much more nimble than Jaime, who was unsteady on his feet and tripped over loose rocks more than once. Each time he was able to right himself, but each time was slower and more laborious. Finally, his foot slipped on a loose patch of soil and he tumbled over onto his side. Exhausted and dizzy, he stayed where he was and began to cry.

Through his weak sobs, he was vaguely aware of a quiet meow and the feeling of tiny paws on his arm. The kitten's rough tongue rasped against his hand, but he didn't even have the energy to be relieved. All he could do was cry.

Eventually, he was able to turn enough to look at Pickles. She stopped licking his hand and jumped back as she met his eyes, but seeing him make no further movements, she approached again and sat down beside him. It helped to calm him, and he sat up slowly.

Pickles began to rub against his side, but she stopped suddenly and hissed at something behind him. A shadow passed over top of them, and Jaime felt a sudden rush of cold air. He turned around slowly and screamed.

It was a dark creature, vaguely humanoid in form but with no discernable features. It floated above him, a sense of darkness emanating from it. That darkness was accompanied by a sense of dread, one that held him in place as he stared.

The figure floated down beside him and extended a hand toward his forehead. Jaime was frozen to the spot, his breath caught in his throat.

But the hand stopped just before Jaime's face. The sound of a dog barking gave the creature pause, and by the time it turned around to look, a large yellow dog had lunged at the creature, teeth bared. The creature turned back to the dog, preparing an attack, but a spell fired from a short distance away stopped it short.

"FLARE ARROW!"

The attack made a direct hit and sent the creature staggering back. The woman who'd fired the spell caught up, putting a protective arm around the dog that had jumped up to greet her.

"This'll teach you to threaten my baby- DISPEL!"

There was a hissing sort of scream as the creature dissolved into a dark mist and disappeared into the night. Jaime stared at the woman as she patted the dog on the head and then turned to look at him.

"What are you doing here, kid? You could've gotten really hurt." She knelt down next to him and offered a smile. "Are you okay?"

Seeing a friendly face, Jaime lost his composure once again and shifted to wrap his arms around her. "I… I…" he sobbed, "...I had'ta find Pickles… but Nii-nii… an' Daddy… an' I dunno where they went… and… it hurts…"

Lina was completely lost as far as his story went, but she examined him for any sign of injury that might be causing him pain, but besides a few scrapes along his arms and legs, he didn't seem to be hurt. His face was flushed, however, and she pressed a hand to his forehead only to draw it back in surprise.

"You're burning up, poor kid. You should be home in bed, not in a place like this. What's your name, anyway?" She had a feeling she knew, but she didn't want to assume and potentially scare him.

The little boy sniffled and wiped tears away from his eyes. "J-Jaime."

"Jaime, huh? Your mother is really worried about you, you know that?"

That statement made him perk up. "Mama? Where is she? I gotta find Nii-nii an' Daddy…"

"Your dad, huh? And your brother? Zelgadis?" Jaime nodded and Lina paused a moment to think. "They're together, hm-?"

"Lina!"

She heard the rest of the group approaching, so she stood up, lifting Jaime in her arms. The kitten that had been beside him started meowing plaintively, but Lucan stepped in and began licking the kitten's ear, and it was enough to calm her. Lina, meanwhile, pushed past Amelia and Pokota, toward the back of the group. "Carmen?" she called.

Adelaide was helping Carmen up the slope, both concerned with watching where they stepped. But as soon as Carmen heard her name she looked over to Lina and her eyes lit up. She pulled away from Adelaide, frantically stumbling to close the distance between them.

"J-Jaime! Oh, Jaime!"

"Mamaaaa-!"

Lina released Jaime into his mother's arms, and he clung to her with renewed sobs. For a sick child, he could certainly cry- but this time it was happy tears.

Amelia pushed her way back over to where Jaime and Carmen were standing. "Jaime? What are you doing here all by yourself? Where's-?" She stopped short as she noticed Lucan trotting over, carrying a kitten by the scruff of the neck. "Pickles? What is she doing here?"

"You know this cat, Amelia?" Lina motioned over to them. "Lucan's taken a liking to her."

"That's Zelgadis' cat. She should've been at the Botanical Institute with Dr. Wilson." Amelia answered Lina and then turned back to Carmen. "Jaime, where's Zelgadis? How did you get separated?"

Jaime sniffled and looked back at her, seemingly unaware of his mother's visible discomfort. "Nii-nii was helping Daddy… but then Pickles ran away… an' I was 'fraid I'd never see her again…"

"You saw your daddy?" Carmen asked, choking back all her other questions. "Where is he? Can you show us?"

"W-was he alone?" Mrs. Morue joined in. "Or was there a little girl with him?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Jaime began again, his voice unsteady. "That girl… she was nice…"

"What did she look like?"

"Um… um…" Jaime reached up and pulled his hair into short pigtails with his hands. "...hair like this…?"

"Let's not overwhelm him," Lina interrupted. "He must've come from that direction, judging by the footprints. Zel and the others shouldn't be far behind."

Pokota volunteered to fly ahead, and within a few minutes, he'd looped back around, directing them north along the cliff wall. A small group came into view along the cliff ahead of them, the silhouette of a little girl followed by two men, one carrying the other on his back. Mrs. Morue broke off from the group, running frantically ahead to meet the girl halfway.

"Holly! Holly!"

By the time Lina and the others caught up, Holly and her mother were caught in a tight embrace, Lydia whispering words of reassurance that seemed to be more for herself than for her daughter. Amelia was the first to approach Zelgadis, extending her arms in an offer to help with Michael.

"Don't worry, we've got Jaime and Pickles," she assured him. "Miss Lina helped, along with your- uh, mother…"

Zelgadis was looking back and forth between where Holly was talking with her mother and Adelaide, and Lina and Pokota were checking on the animals. Past all of the commotion, he could see the figure of a woman holding a little boy, and he froze.

"Michael?" Carmen asked, stepping forward. Jaime leaned toward them, stretching his arms out, and Amelia helped carry Michael over to where Carmen could sit down examine him. Holly was yelling about Michael's condition, and her mother and Adelaide scolded her for talking too fast to understand. But Carmen didn't seem to be listening, instead staring across the group and over at Zelgadis. Jaime noticed, and he looked over and waved.

"Nii-nii!"

Lina watched the exchange, secretly disappointed that Gourry wasn't there to watch. They didn't exactly have time for a tearful reunion, but no one made a move to interrupt. Zelgadis approached slowly, eventually reaching Carmen and kneeling down beside where they'd set Michael. Carmen looked up at him, staring wordlessly for a moment before she finally spoke.

"...Zelgadis?"