AN: OK, so this next plot arc that I'd been struggling to put together and was less than enthusiastic about finally came together and yeah. Those of you who've follow me for years are probably laughing because it seems like every time I'm all, "I'm out of steam, I'm going to take a hiatus" my muse is like, "oh no, I'm going to provide you with writing fuel too tempting to ignore!" What can I say, she just loves to be contrary and make me look fickle.

Lina wasn't there when Gourry woke up, and for some reason he found it perturbing. It wasn't uncommon for her to return a twin to the nursery in the night now, but it was uncommon for him to not hear her get up. Had he really been that tired last night? With a sigh he grabbed his robe and put his feet in his slippers and didn't even bother to glance at himself in the mirror. Something felt wrong, though he couldn't put his finger on what. Finding Lina was his sole thought.

He opened the door and walked into the hallway and then towards the nursery and his sense of unease grew. The manor felt a lot colder than it usually did. It was also eerily quiet for this time of the day. Usually he could hear the sounds of children getting ready for school from the foyer during this time of the year. But it was eerily silent. Had everyone else slept in?

He opened the door to the nursery and then he stopped in his tracks as his mind worked to figure out what he was seeing. Instead of cribs and rocking chairs there was a row of neatly made children's sized beds. For a wild moment Gourry wondered if he'd gone to the wrong place. But then he looked at the walls. Memories of Lina and Amelia debating the right shade of blue for the nursery flooded him. But they'd easily agreed on the idea of painting cute animal pictures on the wall. Those pictures were still there, but faded as though decades had passed since they were applied.

Gourry stumbled backwards. "Lina!" he cried, alarmed. "Moe? Marlena?"

There was no reply, and no sense of a presence in the nursery. But given the large number of babies that they currently housed at Maninstit someone should have been there! The nursery hadn't been empty since the twins were born! And Gourry couldn't even begin to explain why it looked so different. What had happened during the night as he slept?

He needed to find someone. Figuring that his odds of finding someone would increase if he went downstairs he headed towards the stairs. "Lina!" he yelled.

He'd just reached the stairwell when he heard someone approach from behind him, but it wasn't Lina's forceful stride. Before he could turn around a young woman asked, "Daddy?"

He turned to look at her and he felt his jaw drop. She looked like a taller version of Lina, but her coloring was fairer, with strawberry blonde hair. But it was her eyes that arrested him. They were gold, just like Aurelia and Midas's eyes. But he'd never met anyone else who had eyes like them! They were unique because of the circumstances of Lina's pregnancy. Surely it was impossible for someone else to have eyes like theirs!

Was she a Mazoku? She couldn't be. She didn't smell like one. "Who are you?" he asked as he stepped back from the shock, and she flinched as though he had slapped her as tears welled in her eyes.

"Not again." She said as she wiped them away. He froze, unsure of what to do. He didn't sense any malevolence from her, but none of what was happening made sense. She squared her shoulders and forced herself to smile as she reached for his hand, "Let's visit Aunt Sylphiel."

"Sylphiel? Where's Lina?" he said.

Her eyes widened once more as her tears fell again and dissolved her smile. Suddenly it seemed to be too much for her as she turned away from him, "Let me find Aunt Sylphiel. Wait…"

"I'm here." Sylphiel said, and Gourry felt as though his legs would buckle beneath him. She was no longer pregnant. If anything, she now looked so old that he was certain her days of childbearing were behind her. A network of burn scars lined the right side of her face and her hair was more grey than black now, but her eyes were still the same shade of green.

This has to be a joke, Gourry thought as he stared at her in disbelief. Some sick joke!

"Sir Gourry, please come with us to the sitting room. There is much to discuss."

"Sylphiel?" Gourry said, the disbelief thick in his voice. "What's happening?"

"Telling him…it gets worse every time." The golden eyed woman said as her lip trembled ominously as she squeezed her hands together. But she could not stem the flow of the tears that fell as she buried her face in her hands. And Gourry felt the paternal urge to hug and comfort her rise within him as she mumbled, "I'm sorry."

Sylphiel moved to put an arm around her, "Have strength, Lia. We will get through this!"

The scene before him melted away into darkness with a suddenness that left him even more unsettled as a man with brown hair and gold eyes stepped out of the inky black night that had fallen. "Lia," he said as he grinned with a ruthlessness that chilled Gourry to the core, "Do you really think you're strong enough to pull this off without me?"

"Midas!" Gourry yelled as he shot up in bed. With a frightening sense of déjà vu he found himself back in the master bedroom. But then he realized that Lina was beside him, stirring as she nursed one of the twins. He took a deep breath and allowed himself to relax.

"Midas?" Lina repeated sleepily as she put a hand on his arm. "I have Rails with me."

"A dream." He said as he ran a hand through his hair. But the word 'dream' didn't sound right. "Nightmare, really."

But if he was truthful, 'nightmare' didn't sound right either. It hadn't felt like a dream. It had felt like more like a memory. But 'memory' didn't quite describe it either.

"Well, you're safe now." She said as he looked at her and soaked in the reassuring sight. Why was he overthinking this? Just because it was vivid didn't mean it was anything more than a dream.

"You never took her back to the nursery?" he asked as he put a hand on Aurelia's head. Aurelia. There were so many diminutives of Aurelia. He and Lina had never agreed on one. Somehow Lia had never made it to the discussion table. But as he gazed at Aurelia he found that it suited her.

"Yeah." Lina said with a sheepish grin, "It's stupid, really, but I felt so guilty about not getting as much time with them now that school is in session, I just couldn't bear to send her back to the nursery. Look at how big she's getting! How did that happen?"

"I can top that! I dreamt she was all grown! It was horrible!" Gourry said as a strong desire to see his son overtook him, "Her and Midas both."

Lina laughed. He tried to laugh with her, but his heart wasn't in it. Still, he must have been convincing enough for her to get up and say, "Oh Gourry, you would see our kids growing up too fast as a nightmare."

Gourry picked Aurelia up and watched as Lina walked past the mirror, catching his reflection as he did. That he felt so much relief to see that he was still young disquieted him. Why was this dream clinging to him so persistently? Why did he have an urgent need to see Midas? Somehow he managed to keep it to himself. He didn't want to worry Lina, not with all that she was worried about. She didn't need to worry about him and his dreams on top of it. He needed to cast the dream from his mind and move on with his day.

But as he studied Aurelia's features, he could see how she could mature to look like Lia. But then, Han and Leia had both said that Aurelia resembled Lina when she was a baby. How surprising was it that he would imagine Aurelia as resembling Lina as an adult?

Lina finished dressing and took the baby from him as he got up and got dressed, finally finding something to take his mind off the dream. Once he had finished, Lina chatted about how the various students were doing as they walked to the nursery, and when they opened the door Aurelia and Midas started grinning and reaching for each other the moment they saw each other. The sight was reassuring. Those two were so close. They'd fought tooth and nail to stay with each other and with him and Lina. Surely there was nothing that could come between them to split them apart.

Gourry picked up Midas from Moe, relieved to see his friendly, smiling face. He never wanted to see that cold expression, that smirk on his son's features. And as Gourry started lifting him up and playfully throwing him up into the air and catching him, he wondered if he could just provide enough love if he could prevent that. Or would it spoil him? Or did it even matter what he did? What if it was destiny? That bad blood that so many in his family carried? What if it manifested in his son?

Gourry closed his eyes. He couldn't think this way. He couldn't let a dream impact him so. What if he started treating Midas differently and pushed him into becoming an evil person because of it? He couldn't let that happen! He had to focus on the baby he had, not the phantom in his dream. Midas giggled as Gourry played with him, and then brought him close for a snuggle. Right now Midas was a sweet little baby. And there was no reason to think that he would grow up to be anything other than a sweet young man.

Eventually the time came to set the babies on their blankets in the middle of the floor. Moe had placed a bunch of rattles and blocks in the center, and Justina was already attempting to grab one of them. Midas cooed as he saw the toys while Aurelia seemed more interested in grabbing his fist. Eventually she stole his attention, and he turned towards her and they rolled to each other and embraced.

"They are so sweet!" Lina exclaimed.

Gourry smiled as a sense of relief washed through him. Aurelia and Midas were twins. They were also unique. They shared a bond so unusual and profound that surely nothing could come between them. Why was he worrying so much about a silly dream?

But as he walked with Lina to the dining room for breakfast they passed Adora as she vented to Ripley, "My brother is such a stubborn ass! I hate him!"

Gourry felt a chill run through him as he reminded of how easily bonds could be severed. He looked at Lina, who thankfully seemed oblivious to his distress. Yet looking at her was far from reassuring as he remembered how she was strangely absent from his dream. And suddenly he realized what was wrong with his bed when he woke in the dream. Lina's side of the bed was immaculate and unslept in. Where had Lina been? Gourry was sure that he could face whatever challenges lay ahead if she were by his side. But in the dream she was gone.

Gooseflesh formed on his arms as his chest suddenly felt tight at the mere thought of facing a future without her. Lina stopped in her tracks and looked at him, "Are you okay?"

He wasn't! The walls felt as though they were closing in and it was difficult to breath as he started to break out into a cold sweat. Lina grabbed his hand, and he held onto it, worried that on top of everything he collapse in the middle of the foyer. A few of the students even stopped to watch as Han and Leia came up. "You okay Gourry?" Han asked as he grabbed his arm and started to walk him outside even as Gourry couldn't get any words out, "Stay back, he needs some space."

Gourry was silently grateful as Han guided him outside as Leia and Lina followed them, and he took a deep breath of the bracing morning air. He touched the stone wall and found its texture oddly reassuring as he ran his hand up and down it. No one said anything as Gourry took some time to ground himself. It had been years since he'd had an attack like that, and before it had never happened in front of others. But finally he was settling down, embarrassment over letting a dream affect him so replacing the panic he had felt.

Eventually Han said, "Would you like to let Zel and Rick do the class this morning? We can get some fishing in."

"No," Gourry said. He needed to stop obsessing about the dream. "I need to get out of my head right now. But later? This weekend."

"You're on." Han said as he clasped him on the shoulder, "And if you need to talk before then, you know where to find me."

Gourry smiled as he relaxed further. With in-law like Han and Leia, how could he steer his family down the wrong path? "Thank you."

"Are you feeling better now?" Leia asked.

"Yes," Gourry said with a shaky smile, "I don't know what happened I…" he trailed off for a moment when he saw the expression of concern on Lina's face, and he squared his shoulders and held an arm out. As she walked over to hug him he said, "I'm just glad that you're here."

"Ace is getting on my last nerve!" Zelgadis ranted as he entered his chambers and tossed his books on the table. "Ever since she 'rescued' Trudy she's had the biggest chip on her shoulder. If I say to do this, she does that! So impertinent, I'm about to fire her…Amelia?"

She hurried wiped her eyes on her handkerchief, "I'm sorry. It sounds as though she's giving you a hard time."

"Well I'm worried about you now." He said as he joined her on the couch and wrapped an arm around her, "What is it?"

"It's silly really." She said, and then she started rambling, "As a royal woman I feel privileged to get to spend as much time with Justina as I do. Some babies are sent to live away from the family as soon as they are able to travel in case they are attacked or a plague strikes so that the bloodline can be preserved. I always knew that Justina would be raised by nannies and…"

"Whoa, Amelia!" Zelgadis said as he pulled away from her, "What do you mean, we're not sending Justina away!"

"Oh no! No," she rushed to assure him, "It's just, the Eternal Queen requested that I accompany her to Wherise to meet with the representatives from allied kingdoms as we strategize our attack in Dils. She's planning to leave in two weeks. And I can't really take Justina with me, can I?"

Zelgadis let out a breath. Instantly he knew Amelia would have to go, though he didn't want her to. But she had to. The future of their world was at stake and she had to represent the interests of Maninstit and Saillune, and was the best person to do that. For a wild moment he thought of suggesting that Naga finally step up, but he nixed the idea before it fully formed. In the confines of his own head he could be honest that he didn't trust Naga with this the way he trusted Amelia. So though it meant being apart for a few months, it was something they had to do.

But as he looked at Amelia's tear stained face he was reminded that it wouldn't be easy. He fumbled and tried to think of something comforting to say, well aware of the fact that this was not his strong suite, "Well, no, but it will be okay. I'll be here, and Moe will be here and all the wet nurses. She'll be fine!"

"But I won't be here!" Amelia wailed as Zelgadis stiffened, unsure what to do. Then she calmed herself down enough to say, "I'm sorry, it's stupid, I mean, I'll be back in a month, two months, tops! I'm lucky it's only two months! I'm very lucky to get to spend as much time with Justina as I do! But two months…she's growing so fast, and I'm going to miss so much! What if I come back and don't recognize her? What if…what if she doesn't recognize me?"

Amelia started to wail again and Zelgadis put a hand on her back and wondered if it would be totally callous of him to run and find Leia or Sylphiel. After a few minutes of fumbling he finally figured out something to say, "I'll write to you every day about what she's doing."

Amelia continued to cry, and Zelgadis added, "And I'll read your letters to her! I'll show her your picture! She won't forget you because I won't let her!"

Amelia suddenly collapsed against his lap and wrapped an arm around him as her sobs quieted, "You promise?"

"I do." Zelgadis assured her and he ran a hand through her hair.

She sniffed and wiped her eyes again. "Thank you."

Gourry threw his fishing line into the lake, and watched as the ball bobbed up and down on the surface. He took a deep breath as he continued, "Since that night I've not had a long dream like that, I've just seen…snippets? Yes, snippets. Disturbing snippet. Two nights after that dream I saw a snippet where Lina and I were having a horrible fight. And I couldn't figure out what we were fighting about, but Lina had burn scars, like Sylphiel did. It wasn't like any fight I ever remember happening, but it felt like a memory."

Han and Zelgadis shared a look, and Gourry could sense their unease as he continued, "And then last night, there was a snippet where a woman was screaming, like she was being tortured. I was in a tunnel, but my head was spinning and I couldn't move to see what was happening or to help."

By now Gourry's hands were trembling so badly that he felt as though he would drop his fishing pole. He tightened his grip as a chill ran through him. He tried to smile, but gave up midway through as he said, "Why is this affecting me so badly? Why am I having dreams like this?"

Han pulled a cigarette from behind his ear and put it into his mouth, and any hope that Gourry had that his father-in-law would tell him that this wasn't anything to worry about or something that new fathers went through vanished. Zelgadis was looking similarly unsettled as he took a fish off the hook and put it in the bucket. Eventually Han said, "I don't know much about them, but you've never had a prophecy before have you?"

"What?" Gourry said, "No! No, this can't be a prophecy."

"But have you ever experienced that, well, that so-called gift?" Han pressed.

"No, never! Never has anyone in my family!"

"Well, not that I've ever experienced one, but I have read a little about it, though it's not my specialty." Zelgadis said, "And while there are some things that fit about this being a prophecy, others don't. But, like I said, I'm not an expert here. For that we'd have to talk to Sylphiel. She's a priestess, and she's experienced a prophecy. She'd be able to tell us if this has the makings of one or not."

"I can't go to Sylphiel right now!" Gourry said in alarm, "What if that is the future? She's pregnant. What if learning that she's going to suffer severe burns causes her to go into early labor or something?"

"Sylphiel is generally levelheaded." Zelgadis said, "But she did lose her entire hometown not too long ago, and already came close to losing her pregnancy when the Mazoku attacked, in addition to being there when the twins were kidnapped. One more shock may not make a difference, but then, one more shock may also make all the difference?"

"I guess we should start inviting Rick to these things. He's going to be a father soon anyway, and he could tell us how her nerves are holding up." Han said.

"I'm fine with talking to Rick." Gourry agreed.

"Or I could ask Sylphiel for a recommendation for a good book about prophecies." Zelgadis offered.

"I'd appreciate that, too." Gourry said.

"Still, they don't usually come through dreams, from what I understand. And they are one time occurrences." Zelgadis mused, "But the level of details, and how linearly you described the events, how logical it was, it doesn't sound like a dream, does it?"

Gourry nearly dropped his fishing pole as Zelgadis managed to hit on the aspects of the dream that had disturbed him. Most of his dreams and nightmares were told as though they were a book that had fallen apart and been glued back together in random order, with people and scenes popping in and out randomly. But his first dream was one long scene where nothing that defied the laws of logic occurred. He'd never experienced anything like it before.

But this couldn't be their future! It couldn't!

Han clasped his shoulder and said, "Come on, the sun is getting low in the sky. We'd best call it a night."

"Right." Gourry said, and he pulled his line back. They were all silent as they started to pack their gear up as Gourry felt a chill that had nothing to do with the setting sun. Once everything was packed up, he glanced across the lake and felt his jaw drop as he saw Lia standing on the other side of the shore, looking like a ghost in her long flowing white dress. She put her hands around her mouth and appeared to call out to him, but whatever she said was lost in some invisible void. Still, the hair on the back of his neck stood up and he turned around, convinced for a moment that he would see an enemy behind him.

"Gourry?" Han asked as Gourry stared behind him, where there was nothing but trees.

"Did you see her?" Gourry said as he turned back around and saw that Lia was no longer on the other side of the lake. Only the gooseflesh on his arms remained.

"See who?" Han asked.

Gourry ran a hand through his hair, "Am I losing my mind?"

"Maybe we should talk to Lina?" Zelgadis suggested.

"No!" Gourry said, "She's doing enough right now. I don't want to burden her with this unless we know there's an actual threat."

"I think she'd want to know." Zelgadis said.

"Gourry's got a point." Han said, "Let's get more information first. I mean, it could just be a dream, though my gut is telling me differently. But let's research this a bit first before we bring more people in on it."

"Right." Zelgadis said neutrally, and they gathered their stuff and walked back to the manor.

Zelgadis and Han started talking about Amelia's upcoming trip, but Gourry tuned them out as he obsessed over the image of Lia at the lake. The dream hadn't felt like a dream, a nightmare or a memory. Since he'd had it, he'd struggled to find the right word to describe it. But suddenly as he considered Lia's movements, how she had called out to him as if she was issuing a warning, it clicked. He'd not had a dream. He'd received a warning.