Amelia's eyes were wide with disbelief. Lina was skeptical. Gourry was scratching his head.

"Y-You mean, II/i was a princess??"

"Umm, and II/i was a mer-cen-air-eee?"

"And I was a feisty little sorceress," she quirked a brow, "Destroying Dark Lords and basically getting myself into trouble with everything and everyone?"

Xel smiled, "Basically, yep!"

Zelgadiss frowned. IDammit!/i He Iknew/i they wouldn't believe a word of it. And, amazingly enough, the Trickster priest had actually told almost the whole truth! This was not going to work...... "Look, I know it sounds kind of strange, but....."

Lina laughed, short and quick, almost a bark, "Kind of? Buddy, you have got to lay off on the liquor. But I'll give you this," She patted him on the shoulder, making him blush slightly at the touch, "You may be drunk, but your creative. If that tale wasn't so stupid I might be able to believe it. Man, you should be in politics......."

"But it's true," Zel couldn't keep a slight whining tone from his voice.

"Sure," Amelia scoffed, "And I'm the queen of England!"

"Actually, you're the princess of Seyruun....."

"Mister, don't get smart with me, or my dad'll......"

"Oh? I what do you think Prince Philionel could do to me? My master holds at least six times as much power as he does, plus she's not afraid to get her hands dirty....."

"P-prince?"

"Master? Hmm, kinky........"

Xel glared at Gourry, amethyst eyes open and burning, "Insult my master again you'll have no tongue to spew garbage with, mercenary!"

Lina stepped between the two warring parties, "Hey! You," she pointed at Gourry, "Back off on the crazy guy. And you," She whirled to Xelloss, "Take your weird little friend and get your ass back to The Slave......"

"OH-HO-HO-HO-HO! Did my little buddy Lina say she was going to go down to The Slave? And she wasn't going to invite the Serpent??"

Sweatdrop, "Naga, go away."

The scantily clad bar-goer just grinned and hugged Lina between her massive chests, "Now, now Lina, I'm sure you were just on your way to my house to get me to come with you," She flexed her breast muscles, "Isn't that right?"

Lina paled, "No! I was going home, really!"

It was then that Naga spotted Zelgadiss and Xelloss. She moved beside a rather stunned Gourry, putting a friendly arm around him while giving him a more then ample view of her womanhood. She cracked her gum and examined the two, "So, you finally picked up some men," her eyes trailed over Zelgadiss, going lower, lower, lower........She grinned, "Damn, Lina. They may be dressed weird, but Ithat/i one's got what it takes....."

Zelgadiss blushed profusely and tried to cover himself any way he could. Xel giggled. Naga, forgetting about Gourry for the time being, slinked to Zelgadiss, who stiffened ((AN: *whack* IHENTAI/i)). She trailed a hand from his forehead, down the side of his cheek, across his chest, around his stomach, and pinched his ass. Her voice was an errotic growl, "You don't want the flat kid. If you want a real woman," She moved her face closer, blowing slightly in his ear, a move which made poor little Zel blush even harder and flinch, "Come down to The Slave, I'll show you a real fun time......." Xel cackled.

Naga was then clobbered into the dirt by Lina, "What the hell are you doing?! I don't even know these guys! Now your going to scare them off......." IWait a second/i "Uhhh, I mean, continue what your doing. Heh." She helped the serpent to het feet and brush off what little clothes she had that Lina felt comfortable touching.

"Humph, I get the picture Lina, there Iyours/i, hands off, right?"

"Naga....."

"Fine, I can respect that. You should come down to The Slave later, that's where I'll be." She pushed past Gourry and threw Amelia to the ground, hard, "Rich bitch." With that Naga was gone, walking back through the park.

Amelia held back tears. It really hurt, and it really made her mad. Why didn't Naga like her? She's never done anything to.....

Zelgadiss took her hands and helped her to her feet. They stood for a second, looking at each other. IThere's something so familiar about his touch,/i Amelia thought, IAs if this has happened before.../i He half-smiled at her, and mouthed a word, something like "Ra-Tilt" or "My Belt" or something. There was a tingle in the back of her mind. She then realized he was a weirdo and pulled away from him.

Lina rubbed the back of her neck, "Uh, sorry about that. Naga's a bit...out of it, I suppose you'd say. But, umm, we have to go now. Isn't that right, guys?"

Gourry and Amelia nodded quickly and started inching wound the other two. Line chuckled and turned, walking away.

Zel ran in front of her, "Wait, let me.... Ius/i come with you. We have no place to stay and need to figure out what's going on here."

Lina's jaw dropped, "Let me get this straight. IYou/i, want to come to Imy/i house? And you expect me to let in? Umm, let me think about that for a second. Hmm, let's see, let's see, thinking, thinking, thin...NO!"

Zel rubbed the bridge of his nose. IHow/i could he get her to understand....

Xelloss was getting nervous. They obviously didn't believe their pasts. Then again......He smirked. Perhaps he was being too general before. He moved close to Zelgadiss, and spoke quietly, but loud enough so Lina could hear, "Hey, Rocky, maybe you could spark a memory....remind her of something that happened....."

Zel couldn't help flinching when Xel got close. Even here, the bastard made his skin itch. But he did have a point........

"Lina," He took a step towards her, she took a step back.

Gourry made a defensive stance and Amelia put her hand to her mouth, somewhat afraid.....but also attracted to this weird guy... IWhat am I thinking?? /i

Getting the point, Zel tried to look as least threatening as possible, "Lina, Tell me, does anything I say strike a memory? Maybe something that's been suppressed?"

"What? You're my psychiatrist now?"

"Psy-chee-ah-what?"

Ignoring the quip, Zelgadiss continued, "My Grandfather, Rezo. He was a blind man, a great mage. Perhaps Ithe/i most powerful mage on earth. H-he....." Damn, even after so long, it hurt to talk about it, "He turned me into a chimera. Part golem, part human, part...." He spat, "Demon. You were stealing from bandits......"

Maybe that's a little too Imuch/i detail....Xel decided to speed things up, and shoved Xel aside, continuing the story, "You stole a really ugly statue that actually had a really powerful rock in it. Zel here kidnapped you, and let you get your head slobbered on by a giant fish. Then he escaped with you 'cause he found out dear old gramps was out of his gods-damned mind. He threw you into a tree, burned your food, blasted you with a spell when you tried to help him, and kept ditching you off. But he actually had a crush on you," Xel made little kissy-kissy motions with his face, "And he wanted to have hot, steamy, kinky, dirty Se....."

"Liar!"

"But Zel..." Xel was whining now, "I was just making the story better....."

Zel mumbled to himself, "Enigmatic bastard......"

Gourry was completely lost, as was Amelia. Lina was just as confused, but as the two told the story, something tugged at her, some memory, taunting her mind. She reached for it, but it retreated just out of reach again. IDamn, what is it that's so familiar about all this. These guys are just freaks.....But how come I'm not afraid of them, then. Sure, that priest, if he even is one, makes me nervous, only I don't think he'd hurt me. And that other guy.....He's the weirdest, but he's the most familiar. Like a brother, or an old boyfriend... She blushed at her own thoughts, He is cute though.....NO! He's BNOT/b cute, he's a psycho. Damn, now all I have to do is convince myself that's true.../i

She cleared her throat self consciously, and couldn't help from keeping a slight waver from her voice, "This Rezo guy..." Rezo.....Why was that so familiar, "What did you....I do to him..."

Zel stared at her like she had just grown Naga-sized breasts, "Y-you killed him Lina....You completely destroyed him with the most powerful known spell in existence. The Giga Slave....."

"G-giga Slave?" She was getting nervous now. The memory danced in front of her, so close she could see it for a second before it whirled away, only to bombard her again.

Zelgadiss nodded, it looked like he may finally be getting through to her, "Yes, the Giga Slave. It channels power from the Lord of Nightmares herself. You saved the world Lina...."

She looked at him, tears making her eyes shine, "But I could have destroyed it...."

That made everyone pay attention. Xelloss smiled, she seemed to be making progress. Zel looked at her sympathetically. "Yes, that's true, you could have. Lina, what do you remember?"

Lina Inverse looked away, "I remember the feelings. I had the Sword....the light sword....Gourry had given it to me. I felt fear, nervousness, it was my last hope.....I spoke the words...Darkness beyond blackest Pitch, deeper then the deepest night......The sword's power went into me...elation, happiness.....Gourry." Sweat beaded her forehead as she spoke, her voice soft and distant. She tried to bring coherent words to her emotions, tried to make all of them understand, "Then....Darkness, all was lost....I had to make the words right.....Let the fools who stand before me destroyed by the power you and I possess........the sword became unstable, wanting to throw the energy into oblivion....I had to make the words right....keep my thoughts on my goal....another presence.....Rezo....He gave his life for the world...." Tears fell freely now, making small wet dots on her shirt, and beading on the grass like an early dew, "Sword accept this darkness and obey my command....Power, darkness, light.......an explosion.....An honour given to me by Ruby-eye.....His death.....then.....Relief, exhaustion......chaos......" She then fell to the ground, unconscious.