Hey everyone. Well thanks for those reviews. I mean you shouldn't put "Me" down just because s/he is expressing his/her point of view. My POV of Slayers Next is that everyone is has a crush on a certain person, but doesn't want to admit it. L-sama said that Lina gave her life for Gourry. Gourry is always protective of Lina and gets mad pissed when he thinks/knows she's dead. It's sorta easy to tell Amelia has a crush on Zel beacuse in Next she is always around him. I mean with Hop pot and their outfits look similar and, I've heard, in Slayers, she jumps infront of Zel to make like a barrier to protect him. And Zel is always saving Amelia, plus he gets mad when Hellmaster kills Amelia.

Also I resent what 'Me' said about Amelia. I have to come out and said it, Amelia isn't all annoying. She has a noble heart and the reason I think she is so hooked on justice is because of her mother's unjust death, her father's influence, and her sister running away. The group cares about her even if they don't admit it. Everyone saves her consently, especially Zelgadiss, so that means they want her alive and around. So now Sailor Moon isn't that bad either but I ain't getting into that now. :sweatdrops: I wrote too much. Stupid me. Well on with the fic...

Disclamier: I don't own Slayers or the charaters. Please don't try to sue me cause I got nothin'.

Lina and Gourry arrived in Seyruun two days after getting the message Amelia was missing. "Excuse me miss but I can not allow you to pass through these gates." One of the palace guards told Lina as she approached.

"Look I'm the beatiful, talented sorcesress, Lina Inverse and we were summond by Prince Philionell to help find and bring back Amelia." she told the guard, who backed off and opened the gate.

"Same old Lina." Lina and Gourry whipped around to find a certain chimera they knew.

"Zel! What are you doing here?" Gourry asked, receiving a bash on the head by Lina.

"He's here for the same reason we are, yogurt for brains!" she told the blond swordsman.

"Oh, so Zel came to help look for Amelia with us." Gourry figured out for himself while Lina and Zelgadiss sweatdropped.

The group was about to converse some more until Prince Philionell gathered them all up in a bearhug, "I knew I could rely on such justice serving people as you to come and help bring back my Amelia. Lina-san, why are you turning blue?"

Prince Phil was still clutching the three travelers for dear life while all of their faces turned blue, well except for Zelgadiss who was already blue, he turned somewhat green. "P...Phil...could y..you plea..se let go." Lina managed to choke out before the Crown Prince of Seyruun let go.Lina, Gourry, and Zel were gasping for air for acouple of minutes before they recovered.

"Now Phil, tell me exactly what happened the day Amelia was kidnapped." Lina said as she grabbed a corndog from a passing vender. "Well Amelia and I had just finished a sparring session and she had gone to her room to change. After a few minutes of silence, a huge explosion happened." Phil pondered on the events the happened when his second daughter was kidnapped. "Alot of villagers saw what had happened and saw Amelia fall out of the window. The also say that they saw a woman float out of the window after Amelia."

Lina thought about the situation while chopping on her corndog, "Well, were their any clues to who it was?"

"Not to my knowledge. You can look if you like." Philionell offered the group.

Lina signed as she rubbed her forehead. Searching Amelia's room would take too long and she was sure Phil had the best people inspecting the room. "I guess I'll have to take your word on it. Well Phil, we will set out on the search for Amelia tomorrow, but for now we need a place to stay." Lina said to the weird looks from Gourry and Zelgadiss.

"Arigato Lina-san, Gourry-san, and Zelgadiss-san. You can stay and rest at the castle until tomorrow." And with that, Prince Phil ushered the three friends into the castle.

"Soon. Soon I shall have my revenge on you my dear Zelgadiss-sama for all the pain and suffering you have caused me over the years. And once I finish with you and Lina Inverse, I'll move on to the little princess here and that swordsman." The woman said as she moved her hair out of her mazoku eyes, staring hatefully at the sleeping princess who was hanging from the ceiling, bound by ropes. "If she tells me another justice speeech about how love, friendship and justice shall prevail, I'll kill her before Zelgadiss-sama and Lina Inverse get here."

Smirking evilly, she levatated up to Amelia's sleeping form and began slapping her awake. "Get up sleeping beauty," the mazoku's voice dripping with sarcasm as the princess awoke into another nightmare. "I have a surprise for you, Amelia dear. You are about to cause your friends a slow painful death. They are about to start looking for you and soon they will find you and die cause you were too weak to stop me from kidnapping you in the first place."

The mazoku cackled as tears welled up in Amelia's face. "You're wrong...," she whispered, "YOU'RE WRONG! Lina-san, Gourry-san, and Zelgadiss-san have justice on their side and they shall triump over evil and that means you. They will come rescue me for it is the just thing to..." Amelia was cut short as she felt a sharp, stabbing pain in her stomach where the dark-haired mazoku stabbed her with a small knife.

"Can it rusty, your story is getting old. It's just sickening how you think that everything will come out for the best. It didn't the first time you met me and it's not going to work this time. Now I can not fail. Now I, Kira Yamagumi, shall have my dear, sweet revenge." Kira began to laugh her head off.

It's been a day since they left the castle and they questioned about 20 bandit groups, but found out nothing. Most didn't even know the princess was missing. The group then decided to settle down and make camp. Zel and Gourry set up the tents and got the firewood while Lina sat on her butt directing them. Later Lina took off the bag she was carrying to reveal that she had brought food for them to eat. The group sat infront to the fire, Gourry munching on food, Zelgadiss sipping coffee, and Lina, holding a piece of bread in her hand, staring into the fire.

"Who could have done it?" the petite soceress asked no one in particular.

"Wo coud ave don wha?" Gourry asked Lina, his mouth full of food.

Zel bopped him on the head with his rock fist, "Kidnapped Amelia, Gourry. The reason we are out here in the first place."Zel explained.

"I mean, it couldn't be the bandits cause she's more skilled than to be caught by them, all of the countries have a treaty of peace with Seyruun, Alfred isn't in the picture anymore, and Amelia isn't one to make enemies, so that leaves us only one group left..." Lina cut off.

"The mazokus, but what would they want with Amelia?" Zel finished for the dazed Lina.

"That's a good question." a voice answered from beside Zelgadiss, making him spill his coffee on himself.

"Damn mazoku! Where did you come from?" Zel shouted, not knowing where the voice came from.

"Sore wa himitsu desu." Xellos said as he materialized before the group. "But I didn't just come to annoy you Zelgadiss-san. I have a letter for you and one for Lina-san left by Amelia-san's kidnapper. I suppose you would like them, so here you are." Xellos handed Zel and Lina their letters as the two rip open their envelops and read to themselves:

'Dear Zelgadiss-sama,
I am a long lost friend of yours and you have hurt me dearly in the past. You have caused me a lot of pain and that will cause you either your and Lina Inverse or Princess Amelia Wil Telsa Seyruun's life. I have taken her prisoner and if you do not show up by the 20th of this month, I shall begin killing the brat. You can find my hiding place about ten miles outside of Siren. Trust me you'll know it when you see it. Well for the princess's sake, hope to see you there.'

'Dear Lina Inverse,
You have defeated me in the past but now I shall have my revenge on you or your friend for what you did to me. If you and Zelgadiss Greywords do not appear at my manor outside of Siren by the 20th, your princess friend shall begin to die. It is either her life or both of yours. You should make the decidsion quickly for I captured the girl on the 14th. Decide what means more to you. Goodbye for now.'

Zel and Lina looked at eachother, both staring into eachother's eyes and nodded as if reading eachothers thoughts. "Looks like another adventure where monsters wanna kill us." Lina said as she threw her letter into the fire.

"I see you already figured out that a mazoku is behind this, but I can't even tell who it is." Xellos said, putting on his serious face.

"But one thing...who could it be? I mean someone that wants both of our lives?" Zelgadiss asked out loud before going for more coffee.

"Well I think we should think about it in the morning. It's all hurting my head with thinking." Gourry said before heading to his tent. "I'll take next watch. Good Night." The blond entered his tent and immediatly fell into a nightmarish hell of a dream.


Well that's it for now. Remember an authoress loves reviews, even if some are bad. So please keep those reviews coming. Everything will make sense to you soon enough. Well I've made a reason of how Gourry knew about Xellos being a mazoku and all. Find out in the next chapter. Ja ne.