Lina looked at her reflection in the mirror and was a bit relieved to find out that she could still look stunning. Since the twins were born she'd not paid much attention to her clothing, which usually ended up covered in breastmilk, spit up and snot. And part of her had been a bit nervous that when she would dress up for the naming ceremony she would look a bit too matronly. But the gown was designed with her status as a heroine in mind and, if anything, echoed her wedding dress nicely. Only her current dress was made of red velvet, the color families wore when celebrating the arrival of a baby.

From the bed Midas gurgled, and Lina glanced over at him, bedecked in a white gown trimmed with real gold. Across the bed a wet nurse fed his sister. Lina smiled as she shook her head, "I sort of want to pick you up, but I'm scared you'll spit up all over our very expensive clothes."

"You won't want to forget these then." Naga said as she waved the breast pads in front of Lina. "These functions go on for longer than you could believe, and you'll be so busy schmoozing you won't have time to nurse them."

"Right!" Lina said as she grabbed them and stuffed them down her bodice. "The outline doesn't show?"

"You look fine." Naga said as she waved a hand, "Who would have thought a shrimp like you could wash up so well."

"I guess that's as close to a compliment as I'm getting from you." Lina muttered as she picked up a brush and started combing her hair, "And hopefully leaking through my top is the only emergency we'll have to worry about today."

Naga watched her for a moment and then sighed, "Here, let me help you style that into something a bit more fashionable."

Lina didn't stop her, but she was a bit skeptical as Naga took over. "You didn't have a maid do this for you growing up?"

"Amelia and I always did each other's hair." Naga replied as she grabbed a handful of hair pins and started piling Lina's hair high on her head. Lina stared at their reflection in the mirror and thought about how different Naga looked now that she was wearing a white dress with a red and gold shawl. It was low cut and form fitting, but compared to what she usually wore seemed exceedingly modest. The affect was so pronounced it even seemed to mellow her personality a bit.

Gourry walked into her room, wearing a shade of red that matched Lina's dress. "Perfect timing!" Naga purred as she placed the final hair pin and backed away from Lina, who turned to face her husband. "Look at how even the homely become stunning under my hands!"

Lina paid little mind to the slight, though. She was more interested in how Gourry's eyes sparked as he looked at her and his appreciative grin. "Hey, beautiful." He said as he came up and wrapped his arms around her.

"You're looking good yourself." She replied as he kissed the top of her head and then moved down to her lips. She grabbed him by his elbows and pulled him closer and returned the kiss deeply.

"Hold it!" Naga said as she picked Midas up and held him before her, "There are innocent babies in the room."

Lina pulled away and Gourry gave her a final kiss on the forehead and then walked over to scoop Midas up from Naga. "Morning, little fellow!"

"How is Trudy?" Lina asked.

"No change. The healer is hopeful though because she isn't fading."

"That's a relief to hear." Lina replied.

"I think she's full." The wet nurse said.

Lina went to pick up Aurelia from her as Naga said, "We'd better get going then, we don't want to keep your sovereign waiting."

As if on cue, someone knocked on the door. "Yes." Lina said.

Luna walked in, "You ready?"

"Yeah." Lina said, "Lead the way."

"You chose some nice outfits." Luna said as she looked them over.

"Yeah, I'm pleased." Lina said. "Any word about a place of our own."

"I've narrowed it down to a few locations." Luna said, "Does this mean you're planning to leave Maninstit?"

Lina shrugged, "Still haven't made up our minds yet."

"Is leaving Maninstit something you're wanting to do?" a new voice said, and Lina's grip on Aurelia tightened as she saw Trudy walking down where the hallways made a t intersection towards them. She was wearing an elaborate emerald dressing gown and a scarf to cover her baldness and, despite what she had been through, somehow managed to look stunning. Even If a nervous looking healer followed her every step.

"Trudy!" Gourry said, "You're awake! Is it okay for you to be up?"

"I'd rather get her back to bed!" the healer insisted.

"Family is important!" Trudy snapped at the healer, "Family is there for each other, and really, there's been so much strife in our family. I want to start to mend it, and being there for my brother while he formally welcomes his children into the world is where I want to start!"

Lina moved to stand beside Luna as she noticed Gourry smile a little as he reached forward to pull Trudy into a hug as he said, "I can't argue with that."

Trudy pulled away and smiled at Midas, "Is this my nephew?"

"Yeah," Gourry said, and Lina felt a brief moment of panic as Gourry let Trudy hold him.

"Wow, look at those eyes! Like liquid gold." Trudy observed.

"They are extraordinary children." Luna said.

"I've heard." Trudy said, and then she sighed, "I'd love to hold him a bit longer, but I don't have the strength right now."

Trudy handed him back to Gourry and the healer took the opportunity to firmly grab her by the arm. "Come on, we don't want to keep the Eternal Queen waiting." Luna said as they continued down the hallway as Gourry took a minute to explain to introduce Trudy to Naga and Luna. "Empress Gertrude, we are relieved by your recovery. We are also wondering, what do you remember about what happened to you?"

Trudy exhaled, and then she started fidgeting with the headscarf she was wearing. "For awhile it was amazing. All of the sudden I was gifted with powers, powers that helped me to consolidate my claim to the Empire. But for those of us not born with those gifts nothing comes without a price it seems."

"Such as losing your mind." Naga said.

"Slowly enough for me to realize it was happening." Trudy replied. "I could hear another being's thoughts in my head. I tried to ignore it at first but it grew louder and more powerful. And then it started to take over in small ways. I started losing time, started finding myself in places with no memory of how I'd gotten there. I knew I needed help but as Empress of a country like Elmekia I couldn't be open about it. So I told the only person I trusted, my husband, and fled, hoping I could get here before it fully took over. Looks like I wasn't soon enough."

A haunted look crossed Trudy's face, "I am so sorry about your driver. I don't know what amends can be made for such a loss, but if he has any family…"

"He didn't have a family, none that we've been able to track down." Gourry said.

"Somehow that makes me feel worse."

"You were taken over by something you couldn't control." Gourry said as they came upon Han, Leia and Moe standing by a set of ornate doors.

"There are my babies!" Leia squealed as she ran up to put a hand on Aurelia's back. "Oh, she looks so pretty! You and Gourry need to have more babies! The world needs more pretty ones."

Lina stepped back as she yelled, "Be grateful for what you have! These two were a lot of work!"

Leia scooped Aurelia up and snuggled her, "Oh but this stage goes by so fast!"

Lina glanced over at Luna, "Do you miss it?"

"No." Luna deadpanned as she walked over to knock.

"You're not helping." Leia said, and then her eyes fell on Trudy. "Are you Gourry's sister?"

Gourry took over the introductions as the doors opened and Aliciane came out, "Good timing. We've got quite a crowd out there."

Naga, who could see over most of the people gathered by the door and to the balcony nodded, "Yeah, for a commoner this is quite a turnout."

"It's more notable when the crowd isn't here because of some accident of birth." Luna said.

"You call someone as magnificent as me an accident?" Naga retorted as she ran a hand through her long, luxurious hair.

"Good morning." The Eternal Queen said as she walked over to them, and Lina did her best curtsy. "Empress Gertrude, it is a relief to see you up and about."

"Thank you for opening your castle to me." Trudy replied.

From outside the crowd started chanting, and the Eternal Queen smiled, "Let us get this started."

Leia handed Aurelia back to Lina, who still couldn't quite wrap her mind around the fact that the crowd was for her and her children, and not her sister. Still, she walked through the Eternal Queen's apartments and to her grand balcony. Aliciane opened the doors, and the Eternal Queen walked out and raised her hands in a call to silence the crowd. Once they had calmed she said, "My dear subjects. Zeferia has been blessed with its share of heroes. But now our greatest heroine has birthed not one, but two remarkable children who have already fought back against their share of powerful Mazoku. Let us welcome once more Dame Lina Inverse, and her husband, Sir Gourry Inverse."

The crowd cheered, and side by side with each of their children in their arms, they stepped forward onto the balcony. Somehow Lina remembered to smile and wave at the crowd as she scanned the crowd to see if she could find Zel and Amelia, but they were lost in the sea of people. Midas started crying. Gourry started to give Midas a comforting pat as Aurelia turned in Lina's arms towards her brother and started crying with him. Lina and Gourry shared a tired smile as the rest of their family filed onto the balcony, along with the High Priest, Naga and Moe.

Luna stepped forward and raised her voice to be heard over the babies, though to be honest Lina wasn't sure how effective she was. "We live on a world where two powerful beings are locked into a perpetual battle. One, Shabranigdu, fights for our destruction. The other, Ceiphied, fights for our survival. We gather here to offer thanks and pleas to Ceiphied, the God who has chosen to fight for our existence and we acknowledge what it has cost Ceiphied to secure our existence. Yet what is not as well known is the existence of another, more powerful force, one who created both Ceiphied and Shabrangidu. More powerful, but also indifferent to whether or not we survive. The Lord of Nightmares."

Lina shifted uncomfortably. While it wasn't as if this was nothing that the Mazoku already did not know, it also wasn't something she wanted talked about so openly. But if there was one good thing about the babies crying, it was the possibility that they would drown it all out. Meanwhile, Luna continued, "While those born with a shard of Ceiphied in their souls are rare but well recorded, until now there have been no comparable people with shards of the Lord of Nightmares in their soul. But Dame Lina channeled the full power of the Lord of Nightmares through her body to save the life of her beloved husband from a powerful Mazoku lord, Hellmaster Phibrizzo."

Out of the corner of her eye, Lina saw Trudy's jaw drop as she turned to look at them. Trudy moved to Gourry and she could just barely hear her whisper to him, "Really?"

"Yeah." Gourry said.

Trudy backed away and smiled at Lina approvingly as Luna continued, "By channeling this power Dame Lina's body was altered and when she conceived, it imbued her developing children with powers no human has had before. These children are blessed with a shard of the Lord of Nightmares in their souls. And while the Lord of Nightmares may be neutral, they are human. And already, they are our greatest assets in this fight against Shabranigdu."

Lina felt her smile falter, and she reminded herself that soon she would not have to deal with this much longer as Luna continued, "Yet they are warriors second. First and always, they are my sister's beloved children and deserving of all the love and tenderness that can be bestowed upon them. And though they may be exceptional, they will also need to grow as other children do, with love, friends, challenges and boundaries. Which is why, in the traditions of our nation, we will welcome and name them in the custom that every other child is welcomed and named."

The high priest stepped forward with two bottles of Zeferian red wine. He held one bottle over Midas, the twin who was born first, and said, "In the tradition of Zeferia we gift you with this wine, bottled in the year of your birth, and to be consumed when you come of age."

Midas stopped crying as he eyed the way that the light filtered through the bottle and he started to open his fist. Gourry took the bottle and thanked the priest as he asked, "Who receives this gift?"

For a moment Lina worried that Gourry would forget the few words he was supposed to say. But Gourry simply replied, "Our son, Midas Inverse."

So far so good, but the real hard part is coming. Lina thought anxiously as the priest smiled and said, "Welcome Midas, to this world, to this kingdom, to this city. And who do you appointment to guide and protect him as he experiences the challenges of the world?"

Naga and Moe stepped forward. Until Maninstit had been attacked Lina hadn't had considered either of them for the role. They'd not known Moe for that long, and Naga was Naga. But after the way that Naga and Moe had risked their lives to fight for their children, Lina knew that she had found the people who would protect them just as fiercely as Gourry and herself. There was simply no other choice for this honor.

If only her idiot husband could remember their rather long names and titles.

"Princess Gracia Ul Naga Saillune and the Knight of the Air Lord, Moe Travers."

Lina relaxed, and felt as though if they could get through this then the rest of the day would be smooth sailing. The priest took a turn with Naga and then Moe asking if they accepted the responsibility placed before them, which they did. And then the priest presented another bottle of wine to Aurelia, who continued to cry and was unmoved by the new object. Still, he repeated the greeting he had given Midas and when he asked, "Who receives this gift?"

Lina replied, "Our daughter, Aurelia Inverse."

She accepted the bottle from the priest as he said, "Welcome Aurelia, to this world, to this kingdom, to this city. And who do you appointment to guide and protect her as she experiences the challenges of the world?"

And to Lina's horror she felt her mind draw a blank. While it likely only lasted a few seconds, it felt like it dragged on for hours as Lina struggled to remember the name, that name. And then it rose and she opened her mouth to spit it out, and then noticeably croaked as she realized that goldfish poop was not the correct response. Aurelia continued to wail as Lina's tired and exhausted mind tried to remember the name that even Gourry remembered!

Gourry leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Princess…"

"Princess Gracia!" Lina yelped, and then blushed as she added, "Ul Naga Saillune and Knight of the Air Lord, Moe Travers."

Lina's stomach flip flopped, and she hoped that over Aurelia's wailing no one would notice it, or just forgive a tired new mother for her rather public brain fart. Gourry wrapped an arm around her as the priest talked to Moe and Naga. Gourry, meanwhile, whispered, "I think I'm rubbing off on you."

"Shut up." Lina muttered as he squeezed her tightly.

"Don't worry, even if you lose your smarts I'll still love you."

Lina elbowed him while Moe replied to the priest, "I will."

The priest turned to the crowd and lifted his arms as he said, "May I present the Inverse family and their new children, Midas and Aurelia!"

Automatically, Lina and Gourry walked forward and waved once more, and Lina hoped that no one would expect them to lift their children high to be seen. She simply wouldn't do it. Fortunately the crowd seemed content to merely see them wave from the balcony. After Lina felt enough time had passed she turned with Gourry and walked back into the Eternal Queen's apartments and left the thundering crowd to their celebration.