Gourry and Amelia had seen the blast set off by the fireball and came running to the scene. They knew that Lina was responsible, but were curious as to exactly why she fireballed someone. But when they saw the toasted Xellos, not even Gourry had to ask questions.

"Xellos-san! Zelgadis-san!" Amelia chirped. "I didn't realize you were here! Are you helping us rebuild this city too?"

Lina smacked a hand to her forehead and sighed. "Amelia, when are you going to catch a clue that none of us are doing this voluntarily?"

"I am," Gourry offered. Bonk.

"Oh, how wonderful!" exclaimed Amelia. "In times of crisis, we always manage to find each other! Now we have once again joined forces to fight for the cause of justice!" She struck a few poses.

In the midst of this, Sonjia took the opportunity to attempt to sneak off. However, she realized that someone had a firm hold on the back of her vest.

"Going somewhere?" said Zelgadis, narrowing his eyes. "I don't believe any of us gave you permission to leave."

"I didn't realize I needed permission," she replied, glaring back at him. The glare revealed to Zelgadis that she did indeed have violet, slit-pupiled eyes.

"Zelgadis-san!" Amelia interrupted. "Who's that girl?" She noticed he was holding her by the back of her vest. "Zelgadis-san, if you want to keep people working, you don't need to beat up on them like foreman-san does."

"Hello!" called Xellos, grinning despite the fact that Lina still had him in a choke-hold.

"She's not a worker," said Zelgadis dryly. "She's just annoying and suspicious." Sonjia glared at him.

"That's Sonjia," Sylphiel explained. "We accidentally released her from some sort of seal in the old lab we found."

That piqued Xellos's curiosity. "Old lab?" He tried to get a good look at the girl while still in Lina's Death Grip. Finding that it was utterly useless to struggle with Lina Inverse, he simply teleported from her grasp, and reappeared right next to Zelgadis. "A lovely find, Zel-kun," he teased.

Zelgadis growled. "Get away from me, Mazoku bastard...."

Sonjia blinked and looked at Xellos. "Mazoku?"

Lina stalked over to them and beaned Xellos on the head for escaping her grasp. "Yeah, Xellos is a Mazoku."

Sonjia regarded Xellos intently, looking him up and down. After a few minutes of staring at him, she announced her observations. "He sure doesn't look like a Mazoku."

Everyone fell over, groaning at the Gourry-ish deduction. "Of course he doesn't look like a Mazoku!" Lina shouted. "He's just in a human disguise!"

"Really?" Sonjia reached out and tugged on Xellos's face. "Must be a mask or something...."

Everyone fell over again. "It's a MAGIC disguise!" Lina huffed, stating the obvious.

"Anyway," said Xellos, not really caring what anyone thought he was, "you mentioned an old magic lab. I'm curious to know what was down there."

"Why am I not surprised?" sighed Sonjia, throwing her arms into the air. "I've been sealed away for over a thousand years, and I haven't been released for even ten minutes yet and it's already back to the same old shtick. Go Away," she said forcefully.

Xellos was in the process of trying to figure out what sort of word "shtick" was when Lina interrupted, "Well, if she won't tell you what was down there, to save everyone's sanity, I can. It wasn't exactly exciting, though. There were just some useless storybooks, even more useless swords, some bricks, a desk, and Little Miss Sunshine over there," she said, listing them all off from memory. "And, aside from the stone spell, absolutely no magical items whatsoever. Heck, I felt even less power down there than at your average buffet restaurant."

"Wouldn't there be power at a buffet you were at?" reasoned Gourry. "I mean, you'd be tearing the place apart."

Lina thought a moment. "True... but I'd probably get more power eating the chili at that buffet than taking anything from that lab." All this food talk was starting to make her hungry.

"I see," said Xellos. He then snapped his fingers in excitement. "Well, looks like he was wrong!"

"Who was?" said Lina.

Xellos put a hand behind his neck and grinned. "Well, Jadarin, the Mazoku underling that destroyed this city, happens to be one of my associates. Actually, up until recently, he was just a brainless grunt. However, a little less than a year ago, he suddenly gained some form of sentience, and has been trying to move up the ranks ever since."

"And what exactly happened that made him change?" wondered Lina.

Xellos wagged a finger. "That's a secret," he answered, which in this case translated as "I haven't a friggin' clue", but there was no need to let the others know that.

Amelia's cheeks puffed out. "So you mean that Mazoku just blew up this defenseless city just to impress you master? That is by all definition evil! Lina-san, we must stop this threat, in the name of Justice!"

Lina sweatdropped and waved her hand absently. "Well, it's not really my problem is it? I don't really want to get involved in some rivalry business between Mazoku. They can sort it out themselves." But, to please Amelia, she appended, "But, if that gangly garbage heap ever tries attacking me again, his butt's gonna be on the other side of the moon in two seconds flat!"

"Actually," said Xellos, "he wasn't supposed to destroy the city. This level of destruction is far beyond what his status will allow."

Lina almost laughed at the thought of destruction limits among the Mazoku. An image flashed in her head of a super-deformed demon announcing, "Congratulations! With this promotion, you are now allowed to destroy three city blocks instead of just two!" She surmised that some sort of order of authority had to be kept amongst them. "So," she said out loud, "if he wasn't trying to destroy the city, what was he doing here?"

Xellos shrugged. "He's trying to win the favor of my superior, so claimed that there was an old lab here that contained information about power that could be used to destroy the world. I made a bet with him that there was no such information, and it looks like I won!" He suddenly opened his eyes and jabbed an accusing finger at Sonjia. "That is, of course, unless you have it!"

Lina fidgeted and whispered to herself, "That would be a good reason to seal someone away. Crap..."

Sonjia looked around her, unsure if such a remark was meant for her or not. "Me?" she questioned. "Why the heck are you always asking me?! First of all," she said, holding up a warning finger, "I'm not exactly the supreme magic user in my family. My sister and brother were more skilled with spellcasting than I ever was...."

Lina rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Oh, so you have a brother now, too?" she commented, starting to completely doubt the girl's sincerity.

"Had," Sonjia corrected. "He was gone long before I was even sealed away. The Mazoku got him. Anyway," she said, turning her attention back to Xellos, "Even though my sister was the strongest spellcaster of the three of us, she specialized in defensive magic. Shields, wards, cloaks, and the like. So, unless this 'Jadarin' is looking for a really big wall to sit behind, he's out of luck," she concluded, hoping that her suspicions were correct in that they had no idea who she was or what she was talking about. That right there might have already been too much.

"Your sister was the most powerful, and her wards didn't even work," Lina said. "That's pretty pathetic."

Sonjia clenched a fist a growled. "Alright. That's it.... I'm tired of you people criticizing me and asking stupid questions! Just let me be, okay?" She struggled to get out of Zelgadis's grip, but wasn't making much progress.

"We wouldn't ask you stupid questions if you didn't give us stupid answers," he said coldly.

Sonjia glared at him. And then did something she wished she'd done from the very start. She smacked him right across the face.

Amelia flinched. That girl wouldn't have done that if she'd known any better. She'd have a few broken fingers after that. Amelia looked back up, expecting to see Sonjia nursing a broken hand, and Zelgadis looking annoyed at her....

Instead, in the momentary shock, she'd broken free of his grasp, and none the worse for wear. Of all people, Zelgadis was the one nursing an injured cheek, looking rather surprised.

"There. Now leave me alone," she stated firmly, looking positively ticked. With that she stalked off.

"My dear, I believe you're missing something!" Xellos teasingly called after her. He then playfully held up her ribbon, which he'd managed to swipe in the confusion after she'd shown her "appreciation" for Zel.

Sonjia went pale, and immediately stopped in her tracks. She turned to face him. "You'd better give that back, if you know what's good for you," she threatened.

"Oh dear, how unpleasant," said Xellos, floating up a ways over her head and dangling the ribbon out in front of him. "But you've exhibited such a wide variety of negative emotions today, and frankly brought out the worst in all my fine friends down there. The Mazoku will dine well tonight," he teased. "I can't end it just yet."

Sonjia threw a rock at him, which he easily dodged. "Get down here, you ignorant lunatic!" she yelled at him. "Give that back!"

"Temper temper," he scolded, holding the piece of silk just out of her reach. "What makes you so attached to this silly thing, anyway?"

Sonjia blinked. That Mazoku seemed sincere in his statement that he had no idea what the ribbon was. Had it really been so long that everyone had forgotten? "It's my sister's, that's all!" she stated flatly, while picking up a piece of wood to swat at him with.

Gourry watched the commotion and scratched his head. "She must be a baby bird," he reasoned to Lina.

Lina looked at him. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, my grandma always told me that baby birds take after whoever they see first when they hatch. And you said that when you pulled her out of the stone, you were the first thing she saw. So, she must be taking after you." For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, Lina whacked him.

However, Gourry wasn't the only one watching this. From atop one of the finished buildings, the Mazoku identified as Jadarin watched in amusement. Sonjia was throwing things at Xellos, Lina was throttling Gourry, Amelia was looking confused, and Zelgadis looked annoyed. All in all, it was total chaos. He watched Xellos flit around with the stolen ribbon and smirked.

"That's right, you just keep that up," he said. "You think you won the bet, do you? Hmph." He stood and clapped his hands together. "I think it's time we upped the ante. I'll raise you a hundred human lives." With that, he teleported away while Xellos was still distracted, and before he caught on to what was going on.

Back on the ground, Sonjia was still using just about anything she could get her hands on as a Mazoku swatter. "I'm warning you... Give that back!"

Xellos grinned, highly enjoying his little game. "And what are you going to do if I don't?" She swatted at him again. "Ha! Too easy!" he exclaimed. "I could dodge your throws blindfolded!" He then looked at the ribbon he just happened to be holding. "In fact, that sounds like fun!" He tied the ribbon around his head, covering his eyes. "You may fire when ready," said Xellos, saluting.

No sooner had he said that, something did in fact hit him. And rather hard as well. It appeared that the ground had somehow snuck up on him while he wasn't looking. Upon closer examination, he realized that his levitation spell had completely lost effect. Sonjia stalked over to him and yanked the "blindfold" off his face.

"I hope that taught you a lesson," she said, reprimanding him.

"Hold it!" said Xellos, rubbing his backside. "Did you just do that to me?"

Sonjia gave him an indifferent look. "You did it to yourself, moron," she chided, tying the ribbon back on her wrist. "I just woke up from a few thousand year stasis. Don't mess with me when I'm cranky."

"No, seriously, how did you do that?" asked Xellos.

Sonjia wagged a finger mockingly at him. "That's a secret."

Xellos pouted. "Hey, that's my line! It's copyrighted!"

Sonjia turned her back on him. "If you can steal my ribbon, then I can steal your line," she reasoned to him.

Lina stood by in silence, completely astonished at what just happened. "She broke a Mazoku's spell without even uttering a word," she said to herself. "It didn't even look like she was casting a spell. Is she really that much more powerful than she's letting on?"

"Well, if she could slap Zelgadis without getting hurt, I'd say she's pretty strong," said Gourry, nodding. "I bet she could even beat me arm wrestling."

For once, the classic "Gourry-missing-the-point" comment gave Lina an idea. "Hey, Gourry," she said. "She obviously isn't too fond of me, Zelgadis, or Xellos. And considering her earlier observations, you two seem to be thinking on the same wavelength. So, why don't you go talk to her?"

Gourry was hesitant. "But what if she beats me up?"

Lina grabbed his collar. "If you don't get over there and get some information out of her, I'll beat you up personally!" she shouted. "If she really is some sort of threat to the world, I don't want the blame for it on my shoulders for the rest of my life!" She released her grip on Gourry, and he obediently jogged over to where Sonjia was standing.

Sonjia's first impression of the group wasn't a very positive one. She stood against a wall of a building, arms crossed, looking like she was ready to rip someone's throat out. So, she wasn't too thrilled to see Gourry coming over to her. "What do you want?" she grumbled, looking away.

Gourry scratched his head. "Lina said your name before, but I think I forgot what it was," he remarked.

Oh, that really impressed her. "Sonjia," she said, still not looking at him.

Gourry pulled out a pen and paper. "Uh, how do you spell that?" he asked.

Sonjia fumed. "Do you people insist on mocking me?!" she shouted at him. "Back in my time, people were usually supposed to be a little more polite to people they first meet, especially if said person is... well, anyway, has politeness died out over the thousand, two thousand, ten thousand, or L-sama-knows-how-many thousand years I've been sealed away?"

"But you haven't been very polite, either," Gourry observed truthfully. He smiled and held out a hand. "But that's okay! I'm Gourry Gabriev, and I don't want to be impolite!"

Sonjia was silent a moment, her back still to him. "What do you want?" she finally asked, a little less harshly than she had the first time.

"Oh, Lina wanted me to talk to you!" he said with enthusiasm. "She said that she thought that you and I think alike, so I would be the best one to talk to you. And I heard you were stuck in a rock for a really long time. And now that you're out, you don't know anyone and everything's different." He thought to himself briefly about that. "I bet if I was in that situation, I'd want someone to talk to, since I'd been alone so long. So, I guess that's why I'm supposed to talk to you!" He felt proud of himself for being able to figure that much out on his own.

Sonjia didn't say anything for a long while. For a moment, Gourry wondered if she'd heard him or not. But then she spoke. "Alone, huh? I guess you could say that... L-sama knows I've had my share of time alone. I lost my brother at the beginning of this whole mess, and my sister while I wasn't watching. So now I'm the only one left here...." She finally turned to Gourry, a questioning look on her face, and a hint of annoyance at the pressing questions. "But why do you want to know?"

"I don't know," said Gourry, sitting on the ground to ponder. "Lina just wants me to find out stuff about you. She thinks you're suspicious."

Sonjia smirked and slid down the wall to sit on the ground as well. "So I guess I've gotta stop acting suspicious if I don't want people asking questions a mile a minute," she admitted. "But if someone treats me like a jerk, then I act like a jerk. Trust me, I have good reason to expect that everyone I come across will pester the hell out of me."

"Because they don't want you to destroy the world?" Gourry wondered, voicing Lina's suspicions she had told him. Sonjia fell over.

"No, Mister Gourry, I don't think destroying the world is anywhere on my 'to do' list." These people really were clueless. She just couldn't decide if that made them more or less annoying.

Gourry stood up, beaming. "Well, that means Lina will be happy! She was worried you were gonna do something bad."

"There's a first," Sonjia muttered. "Someone's happy that I'm not gonna destroy everything."

"Are you supposed to?" wondered Gourry curiously.

Sonjia gritted her teeth like someone had just given her a blow to the back of the neck. "Drop it, blonde boy," she said, irritated.

However, Gourry wasn't going to drop it just yet. Even he had started to suspect there was something more to this, and if it concernced the world's safety, it concerned him as well. "Did you do something bad?" he asked, cautiously.

Sonjia scooted on the ground to turn her back to him. "I don't happen to think so. But it seems everyone else has a problem with it," she grumbled.

"What'd you do?" Gourry asked, trying to be reassuring that he wasn't accusing her of anything.

Sonjia was silent again for a moment, looking like she was looking for the right way to phrase what she wanted to say. Gourry waited paitently until she finally said, simply, "We did the right thing.... But sometimes when you want to do the right thing, it just doesn't work out."

"I know how that is," said Gourry, sitting back down and leaning his head against the wall. "When I first met Lina, I thought she was a little kid, so followed her around as her guardian. She's beaten me up lots of times for that. But she's still a good kid at heart."

"I see," said Sonjia. "You seem a decent fellow, though. Bad judge of character, but a decent fellow. Trust me, I don't get along with hu... people very well."

Gourry shrugged and grinned. "Even though we all got off to a rough start, I bet you'd be happier meeting new people! Lina usually says she doesn't like people, either, but when something bad happens, it's amazing what she can do. I bet when something goes wrong, you use your strength for the good of others!"

Sonjia snorted. "A helluva lot's gone wrong, but I've only ever looked out for myself, hot shot. Besides, what strength?"

"Oh, you know," said Gourry, cheerily. "You hit Zelgadis with your bare hands and didn't even flinch! That's pretty impressive, considering he's made of stone."

"He's.... made of stone?" asked Sonjia, looking over to where Zel was standing. "Sure didn't feel stony when I hit him." She shrugged. "Maybe I hit a soft spot."

Gourry nodded. "Anyway, why don't you go meet everyone, since you're all alone? And since your sister used magic, maybe you could tell Lina about your family's spells, since she'd probably be more interested in them than me."

"No!" shouted Sonjia, a little more forcefully than she meant to. "I mean, if it'll get you people off my back, I'll go meet them, but I'm rather protective of my sister's legacy. Lina would be better off not knowing about the spells. They were all defensive, anyway, so there's not a whole lot of power value to them."

"Okay!" said Gourry, getting up. "I bet people would like you better if you introduced yourself when you met them instead of beating them up."

"I don't know...." said Sonjia, scratching her head. "First impressions tend to be lasting impressions."