"You see? You see?! The Cliffs of Sudden and Unexplainable Mental Illness!!"  It was looking good, but then again, that Eris always had a brain about her. "NYA HA HA HA!!!"  Yes, she was well on her way to victory and preferred to celebrate by breaking it down into an inspired pre victory jig.

"O.O" Gourry refrained from commenting, preferring to watch Eris jump up and down, and up and down and up...

"What're you looking at? " Eris screeched, seeming to forget about her 'Hey, Look At Me!' ensemble. Lina rolled her eyes as Eris pummeled Gourry into the ground for staring at her 'assets' a bit too long.  One of the many, many reasons tight leather wasn't good for traveling. "Noonsa! Stop the ship! Get a hold of that thing! And that other whatchamicallit!"

"But I don't know anything about boats!" the fishman whimpered, confused at the numerous watchamicallits.

"What do you mean you don't know anything about boats?" Lina asked.

"I'm a fishman... we kinda just swim around, you know."

"Oh."

"JUST DROP THE DAMN ANCHOR!"

"You people are a circus trio," Lina grumbled.

"Shut up, you! My plan is perfect! The entrance is too narrow for ships, Noonsa will swim us to the cliffs and then carry us up."

"I'll do WHAT?!"

"Swim us to the cliffs and carry us up," Eris calmly repeated, strapping Lina and the unconscious Gourry to his back.

Noonsa did the only thing any competent fishman would do… he whimpered in pity.

"Oh for Pete's Sake!"  Lina turned around as much as she could and called out to their pursuer.  "HEY! PERSON IN THE OTHER BOAT! HEEELLL - "

Splash!

Well now, off they go. Lina spat out a mouthful of seawater, glaring at Noonsa.  Thanks for the warning, bub.

"Swim, boy, swim! Nya ha ha!"

"Eris, you're scary!" cried Gourry, struggling with his wet mass of hair.

"And you're heavy!" chimed Noonsa.

"Quiet, both of you!"

Lina cursed her... monthly problems and stared at the boat they had abandoned. Her 'savior' was nowhere in sight. Straining her neck upward, she couldn't help but be impressed at the vastness of the ravine.  A giant cliff in a Null Zone - no magic, no flight spells. Even if the other guy caught up, there was no way he could scale that cliff… wasn't that just freaking convenient.

"I'm brilliant!" Eris congratulated herself as Noonsa waded out of the water to begin climbing the impossibly long rope up the impossibly high cliff.

And it was a long climb. A very long climb in fact. Long enough to bore Gourry…. No wait, that doesn't take much uh, at any rate, Gourry, was bored. So he looked at the pretty clouds, the pretty birds... the pretty man below them... wait a minute. "Hey Noonsa," he tapped his exhausted friend. "Someone else is climbing too. Fast guy."

"Don't look, climb!" Eris snapped at the fishman. "This is ludicrous!"

Lina peered down and there was in fact a black clad figure hot on their trail. A cowl hid his upper face and hair from her view. She blinked. It had to be the guy from the ship, but there was no way he could have swum fast enough to catch a fishman...

"Faster!"

"I'm going, I'm going!" Noonsa grumbled, struggling his way up.

"You're supposed to be the fasted swimmer in your tribe, but he caught up. A being with super human strength, but he's on your heels!"

"He's not carrying three people," the blond pointed out helpfully.

"Shut up, Gourry!" she snapped.  "I'll just have to find a new fishman!"

"Don't say that, Miss Eris," Noonsa begged, finally reaching the top of the cliff and happily dropping his load.

"Get offa me!" Lina wheezed.

"Sorry," Gourry blushed, rolling off the sorceress.

"Stop clowning around!" the irate female snapped, cutting at the impossibly long rope with her dagger. The sinews separated with a final 'snap' and impossibly long rope fell from the impossibly high cliff, presumably taking its impossibly fast customer with it.

Or not.

Gourry and Noonsa stared down the ledge. Mysterious Masked Man stared back, clinging to the ravine walls.

"Whaaaat?! He didn't fall?! This is a Null Magic Zone! LUDICROUS!!" Eris ranted, pulling at her short hair.

"You keep on repeating that," Gourry pointed out. "I don't think it means what you thought."

"Argh! Noonsa, take the Princess-"

"-Sorceress," Lina growled, indignant.

 "-Whatever, and come with me! Gourry, you wait for him. If he falls, great, if not, take care of it."

"Can I use my left hand?"

"Whatever."

"And a normal blade?"

"Fine, fine, just get rid of him!" Eris ordered, running away with Noonsa and Lina.

Gourry shrugged at their departure, pulling out his sword to warm up. After a few minutes, he got bored again, so logically he went to talk to the nice man climbing the cliff. "Oi! Could you hurry it up a bit, please?"

"Listen, this isn't exactly easy you know," the Mysterious Masked Man replied in even tones. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't bug me."

"Fine!" the blond swordsman sniffed, turning away. But he soon forgot the other man's rudeness and was right back at the edge, much to the dismay of the Mysterious Masked Man. "Oi, Mysterious Masked Man, I've got some rope up here."

"Fabulous. Why don't you run along and get it?"

"Uh..."

"Never mind," Mysterious Masked Man sweatdropped, somewhat correctly deducting that the other man rented his brain cavity to jellyfish.

"Wait, I remember! See, I'm only waiting around to kill you."

"Hn, makes our relationship a bit uncomfortable, ne?"

"What relationship? You're not hitting on me are you?!  /.O" the blond freaked, his delicate male sense screaming 'Danger masculine one, danger!'. 

"Argh! Just go away!" Mysterious Masked Man snapped.

"But I won't kill you till you reach the top!"

"Forget it! Oh wait, you would, wouldn't you?"

"Won't you trust me?"

"Positively nothing you can say or do will increase my dubious faith in your intellect."

"Huh?"

"Precisely." And lo, the Mysterious Masked Man continued his slow climb.

"I'll give you my word as a Gabriev!"

"Oh, that helps."

Gourry looked away and paused. When he looked down again, his whole continence had transformed. His face was stern and his eyes shone with faith, determination, and the instinct of a true mercenary. "I swear upon the soul of my father, Roudy Gabriev, that you'll reach the top alive."

The Mysterious Masked Man didn't back down from the fierce stare, but he did recognize the Look. "Throw me the rope."

Gourry was quick to act, and within moments, the Mysterious Masked Man was standing next to him, looking surprisingly well for a guy who just swam and climbed a combined mile or two. "Rest a bit," Gourry offered, despite his feeling that Mysterious Masked Man didn't really need the rest.

"Why, thank you!" Mysterious Masked Man chirped, sitting down to empty the rocks from his shoes.

"So... uh... you don't happen to have a three eyed smiley faced birthmark on your right cheek, do you?

"At the risk of sounding stupid... why?"

"My father was killed by a guy with such a mark."

Mysterious Masked Man pulled his cowl up just enough to prove he did not have such a stupid birthmark.

"You know," Gourry continued, lost in his own little world. "My father was a Wise Man... And the one of the very best weapon makers in the world. The Smiley Faced Man asked him to make a special sword, and Dad took the job." Gourry handed Mysterious Masked Man his blade.

"I've never seen anything like it," he admitted, giving the sword back to its master.

"The Smiley Face Man came back for it, but only offered a small fraction of his beginning price. Dad refused, and the Smiley Face Man stabbed him through the heart." Pain shone in his blue eyes as he continued. "I was enraged but I couldn't do anything. He left me with these." He pointed to the two thin scars on either cheek.

"How old were you?"

"Eight," he admitted, lancing his fingers. "I've dedicated my life to sword play, it's all I know. There is only one other thing I'll never forget. When I meet that man again, I'm going to say; 'Hello. My name is Gourry Gabriev. You killed my father, prepare to die."

"No wonder you're an idiot," Mysterious Masked Man sympathized.

"Yup!" he agreed, sitting down beside Mysterious Masked Man. "Problem is I can't find him. I'm only with Eris as a mercenary job, you see. I need the extra brains."

"Quite a tale, Gourry-san. I really hope you get to hang that guy by his toenails one day," Mysterious Masked Man declared, standing up.

"Me too. You ready then?" he asked, joining him.

"You've been more than patient, sir."

"Gee, you're a nice guy! Sorry I've got to kill you and all!"

"Yes, that is a shame."

Gourry smiled as the black clad figure drew his sword. "Alrighty then." He lunged, testing his opponent.

All blows were avoided.

Mysterious Masked Man reached out, his blade slicing through the air.

All blows were again avoided.

The battle began in earnest.

Round and round they danced, never wavering, never getting past one another's defenses. "I'm impressed!" Gourry congratulated.

"Oh?"

"Yup! Too bad I'm not left-handed." So saying, his sword jumped to the other hand, and the Mysterious Masked Man was forced into a more frantic defense.

"What a coincidence!" he grinned, side stepping. "Neither am I!" Swords in their proper hands, the battle continued unbiased for several moments.

"You're really very good," the blond complemented.

"Aren't I?"

"But like I said, this isn't a normal sword. Hikari-O!"

Mysterious Masked Man 'eeped' and ducked the light blade, looking very surprised as Gourry drove him up the surrounding ruin's steps, pinning him against the crumbling wall. "So you said," he conceded wary of the blade at his throat. "But there's still something I haven't told you."

"And what's that?"

Smiling, the Mysterious Masked Man opened his eyes stared at the taller man.  Gourry flinched at his slit irises. "I'm not human." So saying, he shoved the swordsman away, the blond landing a few feet away, the sword of light falling several feet behind its master.

Gourry rolled away as the Mysterious Masked Man stabbed the ground, quickly leaping to his feet and back flipping to his sword.  Limber, that one.  His hair flew in wild streams of gold as he reassumed a 'ready' position.

Mysterious Masked Man smirked and... Disappeared. One minute he's there, the next he was gone...

Reappearing behind Gourry.  "Boo!"

"AAAAUUGH!!  Who are you?!" the blond screeched, jumping a few feet into the air.

"No one you'd remember."

"Come on!"

"That is... a secret."

"No fair!" Gourry whined, attacking again. On and on they sparred, Mysterious Masked Man visibly holding back. This enraged Gourry to the point of carelessness. He lunged after a feint and was disarmed.

Defeated, Gourry sank to his knees, his heart broken. "I failed you, Dad. Kill me quickly."

"Oh please," Mysterious Masked Man sighed, looking a bit puckish at the sentiment. "I guess I won't kill you, cause you're so interesting," he conceded, knocking the blond out with a blow to the head. "Here's to you, you brilliant idiot!" he saluted, running off towards his true goal.

"Ludicrous!" Eris ranted, watching the victor in their direction.

"You screw up again?" Lina grumbled, flipping her hair out of her face.

"Will you ever be quiet?  Noonsa, give her to me. After you finish him off, come and meet us."

"Um... how do I finish him off?"

"The moment you see his head," she carefully explained, "spear it with your spikes. Come on, you." So saying, she grabbed the shorter girl's writs and took off up the hill.

"That's not very fair at all!" Noonsa sniffed, sitting down to wait.