Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers. I don't own much else either. Hint hint.

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Lina's hands were bleeding. For the past several hours, she had been digging shallow graves for the residents of Cruso. She could have done it with a fireball she supposed, but somehow that didn't seem right. There were only a few to do really. After the explosion last night, there weren't many bodies that hadn't been incinerated.

She looked up from her task. She walked over and sat under a tree taking a rest. She had one more grave to do. She looked over at the last body covered with her cloak and felt the tears well up again. How did this happen? It didn't seem real.

Lina shook her head trying to keep it together until she could finish this job. To take her mind off of it, she looked over at the last living Cruso villagers. The children had been crying all night. Now they were finally asleep. Good. She wanted to keep this private.

She spent the rest of the afternoon digging an especially deep grave. She had tried to do a good job on the others, but she found the idea of animals getting to Gourry especially unbearable.

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Back at his laboratory, Zelgadis was wrecking everything that wasn't bolted down and a few things that were.

Xellos watched with a bored expression on his face as Zelgadis ruined what he estimated was at least five years worth of research. Considering how cool and aloof Zelgadis usually acted, he was being pretty childish right now.

"This isn't helping anything, you know." Xellos quickly ducked as a workbench went flying over his head. Hmm. Zelgadis must be madder than Xellos thought. That bench was pretty heavy.

"It was all my fault!" Zelgadis screamed at Xellos. "I've lost everything."

"Oh? Do tell." Xellos sidestepped a flask of fluid. He turned to see it burn a hole in the wall behind him.

Zelgadis collapsed into a chair. "They were the only friends I had and they're gone."

Xellos chuckled to himself "Friends? I was unaware that friends didn't correspond for thirty years at a time."

"Shut up." Zelgadis buried his face in his hands.

Xellos smiled. It was time to get Zelgadis on his feet and moving on with the plan. "The events in the village were." Xellos paused for a moment. "Unfortunate. This isn't your fault you know. All you wanted was your cure. Is that so wrong?" Xellos walked around behind Zelgadis's chair as he spoke. "You didn't want Gourry to die."

"I made the creatures that attacked the village. I was responsible for their actions. I may as well have killed those villagers myself."

Xellos rolled his eyes. He was thoroughly enjoying Zelgadis's misery, but he had business to attend to and this stupid chimera was holding him up. "Think about this. What right did Lina have to deny you your cure? How long have you suffered? Who is the victim here? The chimera that just wants to be normal? Or the arrogant sorceress who has taken life for granted and snubbed you for decades?" With that, Xellos disappeared leaving Zelgadis to ponder his words.

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Hours later as twilight was falling over the land, Lina scraped the last bit of dirt into the hole. Afterwards, she dragged the stone she had chosen for a marker over. She looked at the vast space. What to write? She pondered for a moment.

"Gourry Gabriev. Heir to the Swordsman of Light. Loving. . ." Lina thought for a moment. She and Gourry had never actually been married. They had always planned to one day. She slammed her fist into the ground. Tradition be damned! They had loved each other more than most married couples. She finished the sentence. ". . .Husband and Father."

After she finished carving the stone with a spell she sat back and looked it over. It was simple, but she thought Gourry would have liked it. She smiled a little as the tears came again.

Lina heard movement behind her. Were the kids awake? She turned around and standing there was an attractive young woman with a large sack slung over one shoulder.

She had long red hair that was braided and hung over one shoulder. On her back she carried a broadsword that looked far too big for someone of her stature. She wore a simple crimson outfit with light armor covering her torso. Over her shoulders she wore a long cape that was a darker shade of red than the rest of her outfit.

She dropped the sack and Lina saw gold coins and valuable trinkets fall out of it. Lina and the girl stared at each other for a moment before the younger girl broke the silence.

"Mom?"

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Xellos leaned against the wall, partially hidden by shadows, while the man gave his report. It was nothing he didn't know, but Xellos knew it wouldn't hurt to make the man feel important.

"My agents have reported that the object we seek was recently unearthed by a mining company in Zoana. Of course they don't realize what they have." The man chuckled.

Xellos was glad that the man couldn't see the wicked grin on his face. He was so arrogant! As if the he had any idea of what the object was capable of.

Xellos doubted that he did, but he would find out. And by then, it would be far to late to do anything about it. He put on his most charming smile and stepped out of the shadows. "I knew that a powerful man like yourself would have no problem discovering the location of the artifact. Now, we only need to find the other one."

The man looked at him with a surprised expression. "Other one?"

Xellos nodded regarding the man with one eye. "Oh. Did I forget to mention that? No matter. I assume that the first piece will be here soon?"

The man nodded with an annoyed expression on his face. He didn't like being uninformed. "Yes. The part found in the desert beyond the old barrier should be arriving in several days."

Xellos clapped his hands once. "Excellent! When we have all three pieces, your ambitions will be realized."

The man grinned wolfishly.

Xellos bowed and stepped backwards through the wall and into astral space.

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Lina sat at the table with her head in her arms. She hadn't said anything since Emily had found her at Gourry's grave.

Emily had tried to comfort her mother as best she could, but she was in a state of shock as well. How could her father be dead? After several hours of trying to talk to Lina, she had given up and started to cook some dinner. She was sure that the kids were hungry and some food might help Lina as well.

Lina sat and thought. Contrary to what Emily thought, Lina wasn't thinking about Gourry right now. There would be time for that later. Now, all that Lina could think about was Zelgadis.

She kept replaying the scene in her mind. Gourry dead and Zelgadis just standing there. She remembered looking him in the eye and telling him that she would kill him. Then Zelgadis had fled. How could she find him?

Lina remembered Zelgadis saying something about some artifact that would cure him. The Soul Render. She knew that she had destroyed whatever he was after in the church, but maybe there was another one. It was a long shot, but if she could find what he was looking for, eventually Zelgadis would come to her.

Lina sat up and pounded the table with her fist. "That's it!"

Emily, who had been making soup, jumped when her mother yelled. Somehow she managed to keep the soup from spilling into the fire. "What is it mom?

Lina pointed at her daughter. "Pack your things Emily! We've got places to go and treasure to hunt!"

Emily looked at Lina with a shocked expression on her face. "How can you be so self centered? Treasure hunting?! Now?!" She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Lina moved over to the fire where Emily was cooking and clamped her in a vicious headlock. "Yes now! If we don't hurry Zelgadis will find the Soul Render first and then I'll never catch up to him."

"Gaak! Damn it mom! Let go of me!" Emily struggled helplessly in her mother's grip.

"Don't take that tone with me!" Lina put a little more torque on Emily's head preventing any further complaints. She dragged Emily out the front door and slammed it shut behind her.

The two children sitting by the fire exchanged frightened glances.

Suddenly, the door burst open and Lina came back in still dragging a protesting Emily. "New plan! First we eat! We're gonna need all our strength for the hard road ahead!" She then looked down, noticing that there where kids in the room. "Where the hell did you come from?"

Emily gasped for air. "I brought them mother. We couldn't very well leave them out in the cold could we?"

Lina noticed that her daughter was starting to turn blue and released her. Emily promptly collapsed onto the floor.

Lina scratched her head. "I suppose you have a point. Anyway, let's eat!"

Moments later, Emily was watching her mother inhale the soup directly from the pot. She wondered when Lina would notice that the cauldron was still unbearably hot. Right about now she guessed. She was right.

After Lina had run screaming out of the house to cool her hands off in the river, Emily secured some of the soup for herself and the children. She looked the kids over. They couldn't have been more than six years old. She smiled at them.

"You must miss your mommy and daddy huh?"

The kids nodded. The boy said, "The bad man hurt them."

Emily assumed that they were talking about Zelgadis. "I know. We're gonna find the bad man before he hurts anyone else though." Emily thought for a moment. They couldn't take the kids with them. She had an idea. "Do you have a grandma or grandpa anywhere?"

The boy answered. "Grandpa lives in Seyruun."

Emily smiled. "Maybe we'll go and visit him then. Does that sound nice?"

The kids nodded.

At that moment, Lina came storming back into the house. She considered grabbing the pot again, but thought better of it and grabbed a bowl.

"Good idea mom," Emily said sarcastically.

Lina shot her an evil look and sat down at the table. "We leave first thing in the morning."

Emily winced. She hated disagreeing with Lina, but she had to say it. "The kids say that they have a grandfather in Seyruun. I was wondering if?"

Lina cut her off. "You want to take the kids to Seyruun." She finished off her bowl and quickly spooned out another. "Fine by me."

Emily was shocked. Her mother was thinking of someone else for once?

Lina continued. "After all, we're going to Seyruun anyway. I need to check their libraries for some information on the Soul Render."

Emily shrugged and continued to eat her soup. That was closer to what she had expected.

Outside the window, a certain mysterious priest watched the Inverses eat with a smile on his face. A cloud passed over the full moon overhead and when the light returned he was gone.

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Next Chapter: Emily reflects on her childhood and Zelgadis chooses his path.

Notes: Um, so is anyone reading this? If you are please tell me what you think. I accept everything from "Oh my gosh! This is the greatest thing I've ever read!" to "This is garbage!" I only ask that you tell me why it's garbage. Thanks for reading!