Amelia looked outside the rather large window at the beautiful spring day, and wished she were out in it with her family rather than stuck indoors with a bunch of diplomats. It was strange to be away from Justina. She was constantly worried about how she was and what she was doing. And she was so anxious to be away from her that it was hard to focus on work as all around her representatives from every kingdom in the Inner World gathered around the buffet and grabbed pastries.

Amelia gave a wistful smile and reminded herself that the reason she was here was to make the world a safer place for Justina. She repeated her purpose to herself a few times and then she took a deep breath and decided it was time to focus on finding someone to work with when she overheard someone say, "Of course, The Eternal Queen would want us to crown her progeny."

Amelia turned in the direction of the voice to see King Moros talking with several other sovereigns from the Coastal Alliance, all of whom were nodding their heads in agreement. "This all seems like a huge power grab for Zeferia." The Duchess of Pembra agreed.

"Come now, the Mazoku threat is very real." Said the representative from the Elmekian Empire, a balding man named Ellege.

Amelia walked up to join the group as Moros said, "Oh, I agree that the Mazoku threat is very real! Xoana has suffered heavily during the uprisings, and my sources in Dils tell me the situation there is quite dire. But that does not mean that the Eternal Queen is not seizing this opportunity to expand her territory and her power."

"Princess Maeve's betrothal to the Duke of Durring, in addition to joining the two people with the best claim to the throne in Dils in matrimony, is also intended as a check to Zeferia's ambitions." Amelia stepped in, "Ralteague has not exactly been friendly to Zeferia."

"And this is enough for Saillune?" King Moros asked haughtily.

"It is." Amelia confirmed.

"And what is Saillune getting from this relationship?" The Duchess of Pembra asked.

"The opportunity to rid our lands of the Mazoku menace. Which benefits all humankind." Amelia said, "It is enough."

"Saillune has lost its nerve." King Moros said. "And gotten way too cozy with Zeferia, if you ask me."

"Saillune was infiltrated by Mazoku several years ago." Amelia shot back, "They nearly succeeded in assassinating my father. The threat that they pose to all of our existence is greater than our disputes over land and borders. Justice demands that we put our earthly concerns aside and unite."

King Moros and the Duchess of Pembra laughed, and Amelia's hand bunched into a fist as tears of righteous indignation formed right as a bell chimed, and Amelia realized they were being brought to order. Grateful for the interruption, Amelia took her seat and worked to focus on what The Eternal Queen and the King of Ralteague were saying rather than what she really wanted to say to King Moros and the Duchess of Pembra.

"Thank you for making it to this meeting. And thank all of you for pledging troops to liberate Dils. King Arthur and I will start this meeting by talking about our plans for ensuring Dils' stability once it is liberated. Then General Ardith will join us to talk about our campaign to liberate Dils. Currently she is meeting with your other generals to go over the plans."

Amelia listened, but kept an eye on King Moros and the Duchess of Pembra as The Eternal Queen presented her plan. Both of them listened respectfully until the Eternal Queen introduced her plan to put Maeve on the throne, and then King Moros interjected, "I must protest!"

"Excuse me?" The Eternal Queen said.

"This is a power grab by Zeferia!" King Moros said as he stood up, "I must insist that someone else be put on the throne in Dils."

"Princess Maeve is within the direct line of succession." The Eternal Queen said calmly. "Further, she is a trained and accomplished sorceress who helped to fight none other than Deep Sea Dolphin. Whoever we put back on the throne in Dils will need to be able to defend the throne against Mazoku attack."

"But Princess Maeve is not the only one who meets those criteria." King Moros said.

"Who else can you name that does?" The Eternal Queen asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"My niece, the Duchess Oriana." King Moros said. "Her mother was also a princess from Dils. And Duchess Oriana is a trained sorceress."

"There is a difference between the ordinary training that a sorceress receives and one that Princess Maeve has received." Amelia jumped in.

"Yes, yes, the illustrious Luke and Milina School or whatever," King Moros said dismissively. "A mere finishing school created by the Eternal Queen to bolster Princess Maeve's resume, it would seem."

"The Luke and Milina School of Sorcery and Swordplay is no mere finishing school!" Amelia protested as she stood up, "It is an elite academy to train people specifically with the skills to kill Mazoku!"

"Princess Amelia has a point." Said Ellege. "I am wondering, how many Mazoku has Duchess Oriana fought?"

"She has distinguished herself during the demon uprisings quite nicely." King Moros said.

"There's a difference between lesser demons and a full fledged Mazoku!" Amelia protested.

"King Moros, you make a good point." The Eternal Queen said, and Amelia sat back down, "So let's put this in the hands of fate. When we regain control of Dils, I have little doubt that Mazoku will quickly try to regain control of it. To prevent this, can we agree that whoever assumes that throne will have to be an accomplished warrior?"

Around the room people nodded their heads in agreement. After a moment, the Eternal Queen continued, "So let the person who assumes the throne prove herself in battle. Princess Maeve will lead a contingent of troops, the main one even. I know General Ardith is relying on the Kingdom of Xoana to provide a battalion after the main thrust as a surprise, to catch Dils off guard as they say. Duchess Oriana can lead that battalion. Both of them will have the opportunity to show off their prowess in battle as well as their ability to lead and command. And whoever performs the best shall win the throne and marry the Duke of Durring. Would everyone in this room conclude that that is fair?"

Amelia smiled as King Moros's mouth twitched. King Moros was all pomp and bluster, and while Amelia had not met Oriana she had little doubt that she was any different. Around the room the other representatives concluded that it was fair, and King Moros looked like a cornered man as the Eternal Queen asked him, "This appears to be acceptable to the majority of the council. What about you, King Moros?"

"T-that seems fair. I will let the Duchess Oriana know." King Moros stated, his voice an octave higher than usual.

"Now that that is decided," The Eternal Queen said coolly, "Let us move on to the next order of business."

"I finished reading the book on prophecies that Sylphiel lent me." Zelgadis said as he baited his hook, "And it doesn't sound as though you are having a prophecy. They tend not to happen in dreams for one thing, and not repeatedly like what you are describing."

"So this is all in my head then?" Gourry asked. And in that moment, he desperately wanted to believe it regardless of what his gut was telling him, "I mean, last night I had a dream that Lina was smoking!"

"I can't ever see that happening." Han grumbled.

"I don't know about it being in your head." Zelgadis said, "The twins do have an unusual nature and since they have been born have been manifesting powers never seen amongst humans before. We can't rule that out."

"But Lina was smoking!" Gourry persisted. He didn't want to believe that what he saw could be real. That Lina could ever grow into the woman he had seen in his dream.

"I'll admit, I can't see her smoking." Zelgadis agreed, "But did she explain why she picked it up?"

A chill went through Gourry as he looked at Han, Zel and Rick, and he felt strangely reluctant to tell them more about the dream, even though he couldn't explain why. After all, if he was somehow seeing the future, they would have to know, "She said that after the Demon King of the North was revived that Han started the habit again and she figured she might as well too."

"The Demon King of the North!" Han exclaimed as he nearly dropped his fishing pole, "Yeah, yeah, that would do it for me. Still don't see Lina picking up the habit."

Gourry shifted uncomfortably as he continued, "She also said that other people said that an injury affected her head, though she didn't believe it. She said her memory was fine, unlike mine, which was affected."

"Whoa, Gourry, slow down!" Rick jumped in, "You're not making any sense."

"There was an accident and they involved purple flames. The reason I keep losing my memories in the dream is because my head was hurt. And Lina had severe burns. She says her mind wasn't affected, but she also complained about other people saying her mind was hurt. But she was so different in the dream. I just can't see her growing into a person like that."

"Gourry," Zelgadis said, "There are spells that can cause personality changes, and if these are the tunnels below Maninstit that were built by a researchers whose findings have been lost, who knows what nasty spells were in those flames and the impact they could have on a person's mind. And if a head injury was involved, well, those can also change people. One of Rezo's minions had a pike go through his skull when they were excavating for his liar. Somehow he didn't die instantly and was saved. But since then he was a completely different person. He was abstinent before, religious reasons, but after he took to drinking heavily. He used to be polite and kind, but after the accident he was cold and cruel."

"Look," Rick said in response to the horrified expression on Gourry's face, "We can't say for sure whether or not Gourry is seeing the future. But if there is a possibility that the Demon King of the North will be revived, then shouldn't we tell Lina? This is getting serious."

Gourry squirmed, but he couldn't argue with what Rick was saying. But he also felt as though he was being alarmist and he didn't want to risk burdening Lina unnecessarily. But before he could say anything, Han jumped in, "What else was in this vision? Any clues about how he would be revived?"

"There was a warning, not to trust someone." Gourry said as a pit of ice formed in his stomach as he realized why he was reluctant to say anything. He wanted to protect Midas. The thought of sharing that the name of the person not to trust began with an M made him feel as though he was condemning his son before he had even reached his six month of life! How could he do that to him? And besides, how could he be so sure the first sound of the name was an M anyway? And even if it did, there were plenty of other names that began with M. "But I woke up before I could get the name."

"Damn," Han said, "Well what else?"

"There's not much else." Gourry said, grateful to get away from the topic of the person they shouldn't trust.

"There's one thing bothering me, Gourry." Rick said, "You mentioned that you and Lina were hurt by an accident involving purple flames. In an earlier dream you said Syl had burns. Were these connected?"

Gourry felt his stomach flip, "Yes. Lina said that Sylphiel was in the tunnel with us when it happened."

"The tunnels!" Rick exclaimed as he stiffened in alarm. Gourry felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as Rick must have picked up on something written on his face, "You mean the tunnels that were just discovered?"

"I don't know. Did I dream it because we'd discovered them or…"

"Damn it, don't turn into a philosopher all the sudden! Syl is drawn to tunnels! They were her sanctuary as a child. Damn, I'm not sure she'd stay away from the even in her condition though I told her I didn't like the idea of her going there right now…" Rick's voice trailed off as he saw the look on Gourry's face, "Gourry, what are you hiding?"

"Lina said that she had a still birth in those tunnels." Gourry said in a hushed voice.

"But we just found those tunnels, and Sylphiel has just a month left to go! That's a narrow time frame" Rick said as his face flushed as he set his line down.

"Well, it's simple isn't it?" Gourry said. "If I was with them when it happened then if Sylphiel decides to join us in the tunnels, I'd say no, right?"

"You idiot! What if the reason you are getting these warnings is because the future can be changed? What if it doesn't matter if you are there or not!?" Rick shot back as he started to run, "This baby is all our hopes and dreams, we can't lose it!"

Gourry felt slapped by Rick's words as the other man disappeared down the trail, and then he felt the sting of guilt. Why hadn't he considered the possibility that Lina and Sylphiel might go into the tunnels without him and suffer the consequences? If Lina was hurt, if Sylphiel lost her baby, it would be all his fault for not passing on the warning! Without checking to see what Han and Zelgadis would do, Gourry started to run after him.

Rick didn't acknowledge him as he caught up, and quietly they ran together towards Maninstit, with Gourry hoping to see Lina and Sylphiel sitting on the grounds, talking amicably and laughing at how worked up he and Rick had been. That would be what would happen, Gourry told himself. All this would be for nothing and Lina and Sylphiel would have a good laugh at them.

As they drew closer it was obvious that neither Lina nor Sylphiel was outside enjoying the beautiful day. But then, there were plenty of places in Maninstit they could be safe in and enjoying. This was still not the time to panic. Rick reached the front door first and pulled it open, calling, "Sylphiel!"

"She's in the tunnels." Pippi said as she looked at Rick and Gourry, confusion written on her face.

"What?" Gourry asked as the bottom dissolved from his stomach as the room seemed to elongate as time warped and slowed.

"She went down with Dame Lina." Bruce added, "Indy and Jean-Luc never returned for supper and they were worried so they went down to check on them."

"Damn!" Gourry said as he and Rick raced to the basement, hoping against hope that it wasn't too late.