Disclaimers and Useless/Useful Stuff To Know:

Don't own Slayers. Never will. Wish I did.

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Slayers SILENCE
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Episode Ten:
"A Sibling, a Parent, a Promise! To Zefilia, City of Memories."

She was waiting.

Seated upon a rock, she gazed toward nothingness. It was fake. Yes, this life was fake, but best she made use of it while she could instead of complaining about it. She had one more thing to tell him. One more thing to say, which she hoped would get through before Vrumugun had to do what he swore to do.

She would wait as long as it would be needed. She knew that he would come.

When he would be told, he wouldn't feel like something wasn't whole. He needed to be told as soon as possible...

Katherine Montoya would wait forever if that was what it took.


Face it. You're scared shitless, Zangulus confirmed in his thoughts.

It was morning, and he was still just lying down and staring up at the sky. He spent most of his time reminding himself that Hey, today is that day. Now what?

What the hell was he going to do? The original plan, before he found out that it was his mother waiting for him, was to beat the crap out of the impostor. It turned out there was none, but he never really worried that much about what he was going to do. He never had much time to worry.

It caught up to him, and it had occurred to him awhile ago that he might have to kill her.

Amelia faced her cousin, Lina says Zel had to deal with his two old friends, Sylphiel... Zangulus's thoughts drifted. Gods, I'm so glad she was able to handle it. It's never been fair for her.

Another thing had just sprung up. Just how bad off is Mother? Am I... gonna freak out...?

Idiot, you already are.

Zangulus scowled a little. I'll just have to wing it and go on gut feeling. I feel so unprepared...

He sat up, shaking his head. There wasn't anymore need to lie around thinking.

As Lina walked by, she told him, "Nice hair."

Zangulus recalled very quickly that in the night before Sylphiel had, for some reason, bows and decided to use them for a change.

Grumbling, he marched away to a nearby pond to hopefully rid himself of the embarrassment before anyone else decided to admire Sylphiel's handiwork.


"Zefilia... Wow. I never thought I'd even come within one hundred miles of this place ever again," Lina murmured as she got onto her toes to peer at the city. "But, I guess there isn't much of a choice at this point, is there?" She slapped her hands together. "SO! Where to first? I'm just gonna... ah... peek at my sister for .04 seconds tops to make sure she isn't dead, then I'm running like hell, but Zang needs to make his stop, too... so... like..."

"I'm in no rush; go check on your sister," Zangulus said immediately.

"Ohhhh, no you don't! We can see your mom first," Lina told him, narrowing her eyes.

"Do forgive me for interrupting, but as it is you must not postpone this any longer," Vrumugun directed his attention to Zangulus. "We have already been delayed by many things. Significant as they are, you cannot waste anymore valuable time."

Zangulus adjusted his hat rather uncomfortably. "I know... but what can I do? What should I say? I haven't been here for ten years. I left almost immediately after she died, so..."

He then found himself being led down the hill by Sylphiel, and rarely had anyone found her so demanding as to pull someone by the hand like that.

"Mr. Zangulus, I'm sorry, but you really need to see her. You can't keep her waiting like this," Sylphiel apologized. "I'll be there, so do what comes to you."

Zangulus wasn't sure what to say. After a few blinks, he murmured a thanks.

"I'll check on sis along the way, soooo..." Lina decided to procrastinate some more.

"You had best do so soon, and fast. Luna is not one to forget things like running away in the middle of the night," Vrumugun told her.

Lina nearly turned blue. "How do you know about that?! N-nevermind... I don't wanna know..." She grumbled and stomped away, talking to herself about how creepy a certain wizard tended to be.

"Almost everyone seems so reluctant going in," Amelia observed quietly. "Do you think everyone will be okay, Mr. Zelgadis?"

"After all that we've gone through, everyone had better," Zelgadis responded. "C'mon. I haven't been to Zefilia for a long time, either, and I don't know my way very well. We'd better follow."

Gourry had already taken off after Lina, Zelgadis and Amelia went to follow, leaving just Vrumugun and Xellos. The mazoku had his closed eyes, but his mouth wasn't quite the usual annoying smile that seemed to know everything.

"True, true... everyone is reluctant, isn't that so, Mr. Vrumugun?" Xellos not-so-queried.

"You already know about that," Vrumugun told him bitterly, not having forgotten the trial.

Xellos rubbed the back of his head. "Well, do forgive me about that, but he needed to realize it. He may even have figured out what you need to do here. Such a smart cookie, that Zangy!"

"I am sure he does," was all Vrumugun said. Then he took his turn to head toward the town of Zefilia.

Xellos shrugged and lamented, "Why are the beautiful unloved?" Then he recalled he liked it better that way because that was what he lived for. Beaming at his own intelligence, the Mysterious Priest followed the one he was ordered to protect.


Zefilia was, to say the least, not a swordsman's paradise.

There were temples with shrine maidens, priests, healers, etc. There were plenty of magic shops galore, and enough guilds to shake a wand at.

And one couldn't forget the infamous Zefilian wine. Neither Lina nor Zangulus could really forget that because by the time they both left, they were under age and never actually got to try it. Lina recalled making it, but that's a whole other ordeal. Remembering that he promised not to drink again during the trip, as hard as it was, Zangulus couldn't even try it then.

Anyway, other than that, Lina was checking all around the place, just in case her sister happened to pop up somewhere.

Gourry scratched his head. "Hey, Lina, aren't you panicking just a little?"

"I'm not risking it!" she grumbled. "I don't want her seeing me!"

"You do know she will be busy with her part-time job rather than wandering the streets," Vrumugun murmured.

Lina snorted a little. "Yeah, I know big sis better than you, Vrummy, but I remember that her favorite hangout is right near here... and where the heck are you leading us, anyway, Zang?"

Please meet me as soon as you can in Zefilia at your favorite spot. "Waterfall," Zangulus replied.

"The old waterfall? Why there?" Lina was curious, blinking a little. "Jeez, I hate that place..."

"Why's that, Ms. Lina?" Amelia asked.

Lina looked like she just had some orc meat. "Because a rotten older kid when I was about five hung around there."

Sylphiel felt she shouldn't have said anything, but she did become rather interested in that statement. "Um... did he throw mud at you once?"

Lina hmphed. "At which time? He shoved mud in my ear, threw it in my eye, rubbed it in my hair..."

Zangulus sounded like he swallowed a bug. "Can we not talk about that?" He grew a thoughtful look. "I always thought the slugs was a masterpiece..." he muttered.

Those who knew Lina well also knew that she had a keen sense of hearing. While people like Zangulus knew Lina, he didn't know well enough about those little... quirks she had. And Lina was not stupid, obviously. After hearing that, it clicked.

Older kid. Tanned skin. Dark hair. Only kid who wasn't interested in magic.

Lina almost became a human torch out of pure anger. Xellos felt very refreshed.

"IT WAS YOU!! I knew there was something I didn't like about you when we first met, and wasn't just because you were PUSHY, LOUD-MOUTHED, STUBBORN, AND IRRITATING!!!" Lina was practically throttling Zangulus. Sylphiel and Amelia tried their best to pry the sorceress away, but Lina was beyond just angry, mad, or furious. She was rabid, almost foaming at the mouth.

"Ms. Lina! Please stop!" Amelia begged. Lina's flaming fury blocked out most rationalized hearing as well.

"YOU RUBBED SLUGS INTO MY HAIR!!! YOU PUT IT DOWN MY SHIRT!! YOU STUCK THEM IN MY EARS AND NOSE!!!" Lina shrieked, strangling Zangulus. "YOU TRAUMATIZED ME FOR LIFE!! UN-TRAUMATIZE ME YOU SICK, TWISTED--"

"Sleeping!" Sylphiel quickly cast, not sure what else to do.

Lina fell asleep, but her hands weren't much looser. Gourry managed to pry her fingers away, wide-eyed. He wasn't sure he remembered the last time she was so furious.

"You must have really made her mad," Gourry observed. "Wait! Now I... sorta... remember! Lina was really scared of those slugs back at Hassletoe's place!"

Amelia sweatdropped. "That's 'Halcyform', Mr. Gourry..."

"Mr. Zangulus, deep slow breaths!" Sylphiel tried to help her friend.

"My, how eventful that was!" Xellos laughed. "What a nasty little child you must have been. Really, you must tell me about it so I can try it."

"To yourself or children?" Zelgadis dared to ask.

"Oh, a little bit of both..."

Zangulus seemed to have regained himself, because he said, "Now that I think about it, my favorite was what I did with that frog..."


Lina wasn't under the sleeping spell for that long. The minute she woke up, she almost bit off a few limbs, but found herself tied up so some sense was attempted to be talked into her. She rather reluctantly agreed not to cripple Zangulus until they were done in Zefilia, but a few evil stares were given to him.

"I said I was sorry," he grumbled.

Lina glared. "Sorry does not cut it, Mr. 'I think I can get away with ruining a little girl's life'! You owe me a feast! A big one!!" Her arms would not measure the length of the table that would be needed, so she just waved them wildly.

Zangulus glared. "I don't owe you anything!"

"And don't think I forgot about the frog!"

"Well it was my favorite incident..."

"What'd he do with the frog?" Gourry queried.

Zelgadis was a little bluer than usual. "I'd rather not that you asked that one. I don't wanna know."

"Mr. Zelgadis, didn't you have fun when you were younger?" Amelia asked.

"I was happy with reading, thank you," he said rather flatly.

Xellos sighed. "Oh, how I wish I experienced a childhood... but we mazoku aren't exactly created as children into the world."

"Mr. Xellos, that's so sad," Sylphiel said sympathetically.

"It explains a great deal," Zelgadis remarked.

"Excuse me."

The party stopped, eyes going to a generic old man. He squinted at the group. "I hope you don't intend to keep going. People are talking about a ghost hanging around up there." He waved his fingers all spooky-like for emphasis.

"Do you have to do that?" Amelia asked.

"YES!!" barked out the old man. The princess squeaked and hid behind her hands.

Interrupting, Zangulus talked to the old man, "That's kind of the reason why we're going. How long has she been there?"

"Over a good month. Scares plenty of folks just because she doesn't seem interested in anybody. Like she's waiting for something to happen or someone to come." The old man scratched his chin. "As a matter of fact, she looks a little bit like you. I recognize her. Never speaks, but I know her face. Katherine Montoya is her name."

Zangulus took off toward the waterfall. A little surprised but not wavering, Sylphiel and Amelia soon followed. Vrumugun apparently already teleported ahead, as did Xellos.

"Great. Well, I hate the place, but Zang owes me dinner whether he wants to or not," Lina said with a sigh, rubbing her head.

"Katherine's boy, eh? You take care there, little lady. I'm almost scared to see how that ruffian turned out..."

"Was he that bad?" Gourry asked Lina.

The old man answered with a frown. "Boy kicked sand in my own son's eyes."

"Well, he wasn't my favorite childhood memory," Lina agreed. "Anyway... let's go."


"Um, if you don't mind me asking, Mr. Zangulus..." Sylphiel started.

"Go ahead. Ask," he replied offhandedly, his mind barely paying attention.

"Why was the waterfall your favorite spot?"

"Kids learned not to bother me there." He paused for a moment. "Except Lina. Always stubborn, even then."

Amelia was a little confused there. "Why didn't you get along with anyone?"

"What do you think? I was the oddball here. Everyone wanted to be some great wizard or something, and I wanted to be a great swordsman instead. Magic never interested me," he replied, his voice rising a little. "My fondest memories weren't exactly playing with other kids, you know."

"It still isn't any fair that you drove them off," Amelia pointed out. "Differences shouldn't get in the way of a good friendship!" She had the driving urge to pose, but she was a little busy running.

Zangulus frowned. "Yeah, that would have worked if they didn't start the troubles."

"Sheesh, you're sounding like Zel, now," Lina complained as she caught up with him.

"Excuse me?" Zelgadis eyed the sorceress.

"Lina, you weren't any better," Zangulus replied. "Don't make me describe the frog..."

Lina turned blue. "Eeeggglll..." She shook her head and glared. "You didn't have to go that far when I told you what I thought about swords!"

"Of course I did! You insulted me!"

"You use a magical sword anyway!"

"Sh-shut up!"

"Would you two knock it off?" Zelgadis asked impatiently.

"But what did he do with the frog?" Gourry whined a little.

Lina snapped, "You don't need to know about the frog!"

Vrumugun appeared out of the blue ahead of them, almost making Zangulus worry with a twitch in his gut. He wouldn't kill her, would he...?

No. That's his job. Of course he will.

Zangulus picked up his pace suddenly with a burst of speed. Not before I get to see her. The letter was true...

It has been a long while, hasn't it?

Zangulus went through his thoughts quickly, looking up ahead. The waterfall was in sight. Should be there in a few seconds...

The human brain could think about so many things in one second alone. The letter was on his mind, what to say Jeez what can I say what to do, what should he think of?

I have to say that I'm very disappointed in the profession that you had chosen in the time I have been gone...

She's disappointed... but I don't blame her. She has all the right in the world to be.

Zangulus shoved aside a few branches, running into the clearing, stumbling a little to a stop as he realized he didn't need to go any further. His eyes were on the ground. He was there. She had to be there, too. Vrumugun was beside him, barely even moving to show that he noticed his presence.

Look up, stupid.

He heard the others appearing behind him, but it almost didn't matter. Zangulus looked up.

Sitting on a rock near the small lake formed by the waterfall was a woman who appeared about thirty or so. A royal violet and rather expensive looking dress was what she wore, having dark, wavy, long hair and green eyes.

Her head turned, and she smiled a little.

"H-hi..." Zangulus choked out the first thing that came to his mind. Yeah, real dramatic.

Sylphiel slowly stepped up to be beside her companion, looking pale and simply speechless for a moment. She swallowed hard. "Y-you're... Mr. Zangulus's..."

Katherine nodded.

"That can't be... I..." Sylphiel's thoughts weren't anymore organized than Zangulus's. "Father showed me a picture of my mother and she looked..."

"It is what you think. You wouldn't believe how relieved I was and how I realized how foolish I acted during my years in Zefilia," Katherine said, standing up from her seat where she had been for who-knew-how-long.

"This can't be one of those 'long lost sibling' things, isn't it? That's like a fairy tale," Lina remarked, simply disbelieving the idea that Katherine was nudging at.

Zangulus glared at her a little. "Let her talk, all right?"

"Hey, don't go talking to me like that, you... you traumatizer!"

"I don't think you have much of a right to talk to me like that," Zangulus grumbled.

Katherine laughed a little. "Lina, is that you? Oh, you should come over here, too. I haven't seen you in awhile, either."

Lina flushed. "Um... no, that's okay..."

"I suppose I should get to the point anyway..." Katherine brushed out her skirt. "I would love to talk for days and days, but I'm aware that Vrumugun has a job to do."

The mage bowed his head a little at being mentioned. "You do understand..."

"And have you been keeping my son out of trouble?" Katherine wondered.

"...Mostly," Vrumugun replied.

Katherine seemed to doubt that, but she grinned anyway. "I appreciate you watching him all these years." She sighed a little. "At any rate, I suppose I'd best explain. I truly am sorry for what happened, but Eruk feels the same way. After an accident that separated us, I never wanted to look back upon it. I didn't even want to search for Eruk or Sylphiel, so I left with Zangulus. I never reminded him because thinking about it hurt too much..."

She was rushing the news, she knew, but she needed to get it out. Get it out while she still could. No looking back. Zangulus and Sylphiel needed to know.


It was hard to breathe under the burning wreckage. Katherine couldn't see her husband or her daughter through the flames, much less hear them. She spotted her son, but he dove after something, thus quickly losing them.

She threw an Aqua Create at some flames, calming them just enough to go after Zangulus before they began to dance wildly again. Where was he?

A nasty sounding thunk was heard, causing Katherine to run over toward the noise. Her son had his head hit by a falling piece of debris, sprawled on the floor.

"Zangulus!" Katherine picked up her son, starting to cast a healing spell on his head. In this place, her concentration was limited. She needed to get out first.

She managed to, but unable to see any signs of her husband or daughter...

The worst came into mind. The fire wasn't just on their home anyway. It was all over the place...

How the fire had started in the first place was completely unknown to Katherine or anyone else at the time. With it on her house and many others surrounding her, she assumed the worst considering not many others were outside.

She wouldn't be able to handle the aftermath. She'd break apart, and she needed to keep away from that for the sake of her only child now.


"I remember," Sylphiel murmured softly, eyes lowering. "But you didn't wait...?"

"A foolish decision, I know. But I could smell the dead, and I feared seeing what I thought had happened. I felt I needed to leave. If I had stayed and if you were dead as I thought, I wouldn't be able to deal with the memories." Katherine shook her head a little. "Zangulus couldn't remember the incident well, or much less the faces of you or Eruk. I didn't want to remember, so I said nothing. I changed my last name back to my original family name, as well."

It was quiet for awhile. It made sense, very vaguely. Sylphiel was glad for a few reasons, though. She wasn't alone. She wasn't alone.

Zangulus was busy processing this, then looked green in remembering something. "I almost married my sister?!"

That went over Katherine's head. "What...?"

"No wonder I didn't want to do it... ew..." Zangulus eyed Lina. "And you with your innuendo!"

"Oh stuff it, you slug-lover," Lina grumbled.

Gourry tried to understand this. "So... um..."

Lina cut him off. "Sylphiel and Zangulus are siblings. Don't bother asking why."

"Oh..." A beat. "That's kinda weird..."

"Yeah, I know, but I guess it does explain some stuff," Lina shrugged. She eyed Sylphiel, who reddened a little. "I mean, c'mon, who else but Zang's sister would take the Blessed Blade from its shrine and hide it somewhere?"

"I, um... I mean..." Sylphiel stammered, blushing.

"You took the Blessed Blade?!" Zangulus was shocked. A moment later, he hugged Sylphiel with tears down the face. "I'm so proud..."

"Thanks," Sylphiel beamed. "Um..." What was she going to call him now?

"This is so wonderful and dramatic! Siblings reuniting!" Amelia wiped away a little tear. "I'm so happy for you two!"

Sylphiel smiled a little. "Thank you, Ms. Amelia... and I guess it really was for the best in the end that you left Sairaag anyway, considering..."

"Your father told me," Katherine assured. "He's glad that I wasn't there, either. Although he wanted to see his son become a priest after him, but I assured him that was a definite no. It was inevitable that Zangulus wouldn't be interested. He never was."

"Black sheep," Lina remarked. "One in every family..."

"Can't you lay off even for a minute? I'm sorry about the slugs! GODS!" Zangulus grumbled.

Lina crossed her arms. "I won't be satisfied until you feed me!"

"Get your head out of your stomach for a moment. Bug him about it when we're finished with this whole ordeal," Zelgadis rationalized. He eyed at Katherine. "Nothing personal, but we can't spend too much time here. We still have several things to figure out, and we don't need more places to end up like Rahns."

"No, I understand completely," Katherine shook her head. "Zangulus? I take back what I said in the letter. I was disappointed, yes, but you really have turned out for the best. You've taken good care of your sister. I'm proud of you both." She smiled softly. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to see either of you grow up..."

Zangulus wasn't sure what to say. Instead, Sylphiel spoke up, "It's all right. We don't blame you. I'm sorry what happened, too, but still... we can't really dwell on it." She squirmed a little. "Mr... I mean... um... big brother?" Was it appropriate to call him that?

Zangulus was a bit surprised. Whatever it was, it felt weird to be called that. Not wrong, just... odd. Zangulus rubbed the back of his head once being addressed. "Yeah....?"

"If I may... and if it's okay with Mother... I'd like to cast a healing spell..." Sylphiel stammered a little. It was a little difficult. She wasn't sure if it was right since she barely even remembered her mother, and technically she didn't even know her that well. And it was still actually a big shock to find out who her brother was...

Not that she was unhappy with that news.

Vrumugun nodded quietly, understanding. "It would be best. I am not excessive in white magic spells."

Katherine approved. "I would prefer it."

"Before you do... um... I'm really bad at this..." Zangulus sighed. Always God awful at expressing, aren't I?

"It's okay, Mr. Zangulus!" Amelia perked up. She certainly remembered how bad he was at telling his feelings, but the point was that he tried, right? "I'm sure she understands your love."

"I wouldn't really put it that way," Zangulus, with his head bowed, nervously twiddled his thumbs.

Katherine laughed a little. "It's all right. I know, Zangulus. But I should finally go now... I've been here long enough. Just promise me something."

He looked up, raising his eyebrows a little. "Y-yeah?"

"Take care of your sister," she told him.

Zangulus nodded numbly.

Sylphiel held out her hands, chanting a Resurrection spell.


"Where'd he run off to now?" Lina grumped grumpily as she grumped out of the restaurant (which notably was on the other side of town from where her sister worked).

After the event at the waterfall, it was time to find her sister and check up on her before deciding where to go next. She decided to get her energy boosted before doing so since it would take a lot of running afterwards to get away.

However, not everyone had joined stuffing their face or something similar. Idly, Zelgadis went to check out the town on his own, Amelia went with the chimera, Vrumugun was probably trying to get away from Xellos and said mazoku following him anyway, and Zangulus was just wherever, trying to let all the information from his mother sink in.

All of them had returned to wait outside of the restaurant, minus Zangulus.

"I saw a mob run him out of town," Xellos replied. "I was there." He pointed helpfully to his white T-shirt that stated I SAW A MOB RUN ZANGY OUT AND LIVED (with a little heart next to it, a sickened Lina noted).

Lina looked at the T-shirt and Xellos dully. "That's nice." She sighed heavily. "I can guess why."

"But Mr. Zangulus didn't do anything wrong! ...Um, right?" Amelia attempted to defend her companion.

"Why would they be mad?" Gourry wondered, naturally.

"Don't you-- no, never mind. Of course you don't remember," Lina waved that off. "Anyway, the old man we briefly met up with before we got to the waterfall knew that was Zangulus, and he didn't exactly get along with any of the other kids, including me. If they remember like I do, they're probably pretty mad."

Sylphiel frowned a little. Maybe she should have went with Zangulus, but she knew that he needed some time alone. "Why didn't you do anything?" Sylphiel looked at Xellos when she spoke.

"Well, I kind of have to keep my eye on Mr. Vrumugun," Xellos shrugged. "Isn't that right?" He slung his arm around the mage's shoulders like they were the best of buddies.

While Xellos went flying to go meet the Care Bears, Vrumugun lowered his arm. "Forgive me. A horrible reflex I have had for awhile," he said, more than likely apologizing to his fist more than Xellos.

"We'll catch up with Zang in a moment," Lina shrugged, oblivious to the mazoku in the sky. "I still have one more thing to do here."

"Fine. I'll meet you outside of the city," Zelgadis told her. "May as well go find Zangulus. Ridiculous, getting thrown out of his hometown for things he did as a child. How much worse could he have been all that long ago?"


Lying outside of Zefilia with a few bruises and just kind of staring at the sky without much care, Zangulus sneezed. He rubbed his nose a little. Great; he knew it was a little chilly with winter around the corner and such, but the last thing he needed was a cold.


Lina marched away toward the other end of town, grumbling to herself. This was the moment. The moment of... moments.

She slowly reached the door handle to the place where her sister, Luna Inverse, worked as a waitress. Lina gulped heavily.

Lina opened the door quickly. Spying briefly on her sister, she shrieked and immediately there was a dust trail left in place of herself as Lina ran the fastest she ever had in her entire life.

Luna looked over her shoulder. "Huh?"


"Mr... um... ah..." Sylphiel stammered a little, still not sure what to call him.

Zangulus waved his hand a little from where he laid. "Call me whatever you want, just without the 'mister'."

She nodded and folded her hands in front of herself. "I was just wondering... if you were all right..."

"Just daydreaming, really. It's not that I can't believe any of this. It's just hard for me to remember since I'm not really one to go dwelling much on my past. Besides, Zangulus Lahda doesn't really flow well off the tongue."

Sylphiel smiled, sitting down next to him. "You don't remember anything?"

"Not really. It's mostly a blur. According to Mother's story, I hit my head. I dunno; it seems like a lame excuse, but that might be part of the problem." Zangulus shrugged a little.

"I think I remember better than you. Like... do you remember me getting stuck in a tree?" Sylphiel attempted to recall.

There was a pause.

"How'd we get down?" Zangulus suddenly wondered, having recalled that memory somewhat.

"I really don't know."

Zangulus muttered a little. He couldn't really expect Sylphiel to remember. She was probably only about three or four when they were together.

Doesn't really matter. What happens now matters more than what happened then, anyway.

Stillllll...

"When was the last time I gave you a piggyback ride?" Zangulus asked.


"Okay..." Lina sighed heavily as she had given herself twenty minutes to recuperate. "Now what? I mean... yeah, I know, Halcyform is behind all of this, but where's the most likely spot he'll be at?"

"Atlas City," Vrumugun immediately replied. "Without even having to know him, I can sense him being there. I have also seen him through the Astral Plane."

Lina raised an eyebrow. "His lab blew up; where could he go there?"

"Mad as he is, he is not an idiot. Halcyform has several places in Atlas City without much knowledge of others. To keep down attention of people, he probably has not touched the city with any of his creations. Not yet, at any rate. If he runs out of people to test on, then he will have to turn to the closest place he is at."

"Why's that? There's plenty of dead people in the world. Not that I'm insisting on him making those things." Lina shivered a little.

Zelgadis was a step ahead. "He's probably realized that he's running out of time. We're not far at all from Atlas City, and considering our route he's probably realized this by now."

"Wheeeeee!" Sylphiel cheered, hugging her brother around the neck loosely as she rode him.

"Somehow this doesn't have the same feeling as it did back then," Zangulus muttered, going down the hill to join the remaining party members. He paused, looking back and forth at everyone gathered. "Shut up. Don't say anything about this or I'll go get Luna. She's just down there, after all."

Lina frowned. "You play dirty," she grumbled.

"We have a destination?" Zangulus jumped to a different subject.

"Atlas City," Lina responded. "Looks like that's our final stop, too."

"It's still light out. We can cover some ground today and get there by tomorrow," Amelia suggested.

With all the psychological happenings ever since the entire journey began, there were some doubts whether or not Zangulus felt like going right away.

However, he just shrugged and said, "Sure. Why not?"

Lina grinned a little. "That's the spirit! Let's get a head start!"

As the group began to head toward the road, Zangulus was still carrying a very happy Sylphiel. Amelia caught up with the two of them, looking at the male sibling. "Mr. Zangulus, what were you doing when we stopped at the restaurant?"

"Moving on and leaving my respects," he replied. "For both of them."

Amelia had to think on that for a moment, blinking a little. But then she smiled and nodded. She almost felt proud of Zangulus for how he had really changed from this journey.


In Zefilia, at the waterfall, two crosses were hand-made. It was a poor man's job of graves, but it still had some kind of sweetness to it.

Etched into one of them was "Katherine Montoya, the mother I cherish", which civilians of the city understood. They knew the name. The unlikely nice mother of a rotten little brat.

The other grave had a name that was not often heard.

"Eruk Lahda, the father I wish I knew."

-=-=-

As any good hearted series, this is to be continued in...

"The Heat Is On! We'll Fight 'Til We Drop!"
...where our heroes enter the lab of their foe, and find they have to fight something far more dangerous before they can fight Halcyform: themselves.

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Alba Aulbath
berry@adelphia.net