Chapter 8

Telling Truths and Making Plans

Lina walked out to the grass and than seated herself down. How embarrassing. She had NEVER reacted like that to a person before, let alone a friend... er... guy... well, soon to be friend... Well you get the picture. No doubt they all were having a laugh in there. She pulled her knees up to her chest and hit her head against her knees. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid.

After five minutes of just sitting there she took a breath, she had to go back in and face them... obviously. But...

"Is the grass really so fascinating you just want to stare at it?" Zelgadis voice was younger, lighter, and actually for once didn't seem burdened with anything, but finishing his daily chores most likely.

"No I just didn't feel too well..."

"Really? Would you like to come in and rest?" he walked over to her and she looked up at him, "Sorry bout scaring you earlier by the way. So your name is Lina? Lina what?"

"It really doesn't matter does it?"

"Well, no not really, but I am awfully curious. Why were you out on the road alone?"

"It really wasn't my fault, I had barely made it out alive from a fight with a- monster." Better to imply something like a troll then say 'Mazoku' and mean Demon. "I tried healing myself but my powers were still drained from this spell I had cast."

"Well why are you still alive? Did you destroy him?"

"No. I escaped."

"So you're not being hunted? It was just a freak accident? You don't think anything's going to purposely jump you, do you?"

"I don't know." she shook her head. She hoped Xellos couldn't perform the spell. Otherwise she could be in for a world of hurt.

"So how old are you?"

"You know that's a rather rude question. I am still a lady after all." Lina replied indignantly. Zelgadis had the grace to flush a bit, "I'm old enough to take care of myself and young enough to appreciate life. So while we're playing twenty questions, why do you want to be strong?"

That threw him off guard, "What? How did you-?"

"Well you... never mind."

"..."

"Well are you gonna answer me?"

"I thought you said, 'never mind'."

"Yeah, but when I said 'never mind' I meant the kind of never mind that means, 'never mind how I know', not the kind of never mind that means, 'never mind the question'." Zelgadis just stared at her.

"Do you realize just how many times you said that one word in one sentence?"

"More then once, and less than ten."

Zelgadis laughed, "My fault for asking. Why don't you come on in? The snickerdoodles are delicious."

Lina smiled at the sound of his laughter, "Sure."

After Lina had cleaned the plate of the dozen cookies they had left her, in under a minute, the mother decided to cook lunch for her family and guests. "Lina, would you like to help me in the kitchen?"

Lina stared blankly, "For what?"

"To cook lunch of course." She laughed, how amusing, pretending she didn't know why a person would want help in the kitchen.

"Umm... the last time I was in a kitchen was when I was six years old. And I was being beaten for stealing a cookie at the time." Lina trailed off and the woman stopped laughing as her face went serious.

"You were beaten?" Rendal looked at her and there was concern in his eyes mixed with curiosity.

"It really isn't that big... it was eleven years ago and—"She stopped her sentence again. It was not her first sentence she had stopped in the middle of, and it wouldn't be her last. But this time it was because she realized she had given away her age.

Zelgadis raised an eyebrow, "Where were you born?"

"Zefielia, why?"

"By now you should have been married."

"Uhh..." how to bypass that comment...

"Well some prefer to wait Zelgadis-Chan. Well if it's been eleven years it's time to re-acquaint you with the kitchen than, you want to be a good wife for someone someday don't you?" Melandy stood up cheerfully, straightening her skirts.

"Actually, I don't want to marry." That earned her some looks. Rezo seemed to look at her in surprise, without truly doing so, and the father and Zelgadis just blinked.

"Well than look at it as, you don't want to starve or just survive on something like... oh say fish for example. So come now." She took Lina's hand and helped her up as Lina allowed herself to be dragged.

"What if I accidentally burn down your kitchen?!"

"We can make another." The door swung shut behind them.

One hour later flour was spilled on the flour, half made won-tons lay about, a piece of fried squid had dropped on the floor, and she had managed to spill the vinegar into the frying vegetables. On one of the kitchen tables some nicely made food had survived. On the other, chaos had left its mark. Below it an egg that had accidentally been dropped was cracked on the floor, yolk spilling out over the edges to the violet tiles, on the table itself flour, bowls with various ingredients in them decorated it's surface.

Lina was currently trying to fry some of the better made won-tons with Melandy's advisory.

"Ok now flip it over... Oh watch it, do it one at a time not all at once- Oh! No! Wait! Don't bother grabbing that it fell out into the fire- - hold on, watch it your apron! Hold still, the waters over there! Put the fire out! Hold still!" SPLASH, "Oh sorry about that, why don't you go get some air ok?"

Lina sighed and walked out the kitchen door into the living room and headed for the front, "I'm going outside, say a word and I'll fireball you."

Zelgadis and Rendal's had gone bug-eyed, Rezo was fighting back a smirk, over her sorceress outfit, (w/out the shoulder guards and stuff) she wore a pink apron which was covered in flour, splotches of jam, oil stains, and egg. She herself looked like a ghost because of the flour covering her.

As she walked out they all began to laugh.

"I don't know whether to cry or scream." She slowly stroked the mare's head gently as it neighed at her in reply. She had gone to the stable for refuge which had lasted about twenty minutes when she heard footsteps enter. "Why is it where ever I go, you show up?"

"Mother sent me to get you, I saw the kitchen, it looks like a battle field in there..."

"Yeah yeah. Shuddup." Her glare was ineffective because at that moment it was then that her new found friend began to start licking the flour off her, "Oi! Hey! Knock that!" She stepped away from the horse and Zelgadis chuckled.

"Well I can't remember when I've laughed this much but I'd like to eat, so shall we go?"

"Sure."

At the end of lunch Melandy, Zelgadis, and Lina ended up cleaning the entire kitchen. Lina was taken to a bath, and her clothes were taken away to be evaluated. And if the grease, flour, and scorch marks didn't prove to be too much, they were to be washed. So she was given a dress of Melandy's to wear for the time being. Thing is, she didn't know it was a dress until she stepped out of the bath to get dressed.

"What the heck?!" she lifted up the cloth to find it was a white dress which was calf length, short-puffy sleeves, slightly low cut, with a blue sash to tie around the waist. "What the heck is this? Aw man, not a dress... Melandy? Rendal? Zel? SOMEONE?!"

It was no use. On the second floor, no one could hear you scream. (hehe) So she got dressed into the outfit, put on her boots and walked down stairs. "Hello?"

"In here." Rezo's voice came from the left, she went in through the door and Rezo was seated in a plush chair, around the walls, were shelves and shelves of books. In the room was a desk, a chair behind it, and the two comfy chairs. "My, what a change Miss Lina, you do look quite nice in that dress."

Lina blushed, "I hate dresses. I haven't worn one in years..." well it was kinda the truth. Twice at most in the past ten years.

"I see. From what I've gathered your much more of a tom boy." Lina frowned, "That is not meant as an insult Miss Lina, only as an observation. Please sit." She did so, "Did you run away from home when you were a child?"

"Yes... how did you know?"

"A mere guess from fragments of what you have let me know my dear. So, now is the time for truth, why are you here?"

"Huh?" She blinked big clueless, innocent eyes at him.

"It's obvious you are not from here." his voice held a bit of scorn, " 'What year is it?'. It's that or you were put into a sleep and just woke up, actually there are many possibilities, but I just want the answer."

"I'm... here because I need to save my friends lives."

"I see. And their lives are in danger from what?"

"Xellos is going to kill them."

"When?"

"He... He already has." Lina wished to heaven she wasn't wearing a dress, she felt insecure and off balance without her clothing. And this conversation was far from pleasant.

"So you're from the future." Lina remained silent, "Than how did you get here? Time travel isn't possible."

"Have you been given a certain book from a man by the name of 'Montague'?" Rezo went silent for a very long time himself before he nodded.

"Well... I'm from six years in the future, and I found where you placed the book, and because Amelia and I read it, we were going to be killed I guess... All my friends are dead because of it."

"And how are you planning on fixing this? You realize by traveling into the past you have a high possibility of changing your future excessively so. You're just lucky you didn't go before your own birth. Had you... you would have the possibility of not being born had something too drastic happened."

"I don't know how! One of the ways is destroying the book you have here. If you do, I'll never find it, and the copy I have will cease to be. I can't think of anything else!"

Rezo seemed to think about it. "At one time when he gave me that book, I thought of burning it, but I had no reason, it hadn't caused any harm that I could tell... but than again, going from Luna being the savior to Lina Inverse..." he looked up at her and his gaze was so intense Lina squirmed. "Are you, that Lina? Lina Inverse? Destroyer of Shabranigdo?"

She nodded, "Hai..."

"Why... how is he resurrected?"

"I can't tell you Rezo. It would change things a lot." She glanced out the window in the room and took a breath.

"And my grandson is involved with it."

"How did you-"

"I've read his journal. He mentions him, it surprised me to no end when much later on in my life, my granddaughter decided to name her son Zelgadis. Following what he had said, but my Great Grandson is no sorcerer. I know because I come here quite often to check on his magic capabilities. Or lack there of in this case."

"He may not be powerful yet, but he has GREAT potential, he and I are friends in the future... or at least, my future, and he's very powerful and strong."

"So he trained himself to learn those things... it seems impossible he should become powerful so quickly..."

"I can't explain." And she wasn't about to.

"Understood. Well it seems then that we shall have to go to my library and destroy the book. Since you found it you obviously know that my laboratory is in Sairaag."

"The ruins of it... Wait no, that's later, never mind..."

"But I suggest that you go back to your own time, by laws of the book, the spell back will take you back to the day you left your time line, it cannot take you into the future, for the future hasn't been written yet."

"So I'll be sent back to the same moment I was being attacked by Xellos, the same day my friends died?"

"Yes, but since I will have destroyed the book..." he paused. "Oh dear. This is a problem... I'm afraid you will have to burn your book here, and you'll have to cast the spell here with the book in the past, and once you leave, I'll have to burn the copy of the book, so when you return your world will have changed, but hopefully not too drastically."

Rezo frowned. Even to himself his words sounded wrong. No, that wouldn't work. There was a flaw with this whole plan. There had to be another way. But Lina seemed so intent on just trying to fix things that she'd missed the flaw in his plan. He would say nothing of it for the moment. Perhaps a solution would come to him given some time.

"All right sounds like a plan! So you're really going to do this?"

"Of course. Time travel should never have been in the first place, you and I can leave in the morning when we've had rest."

"Don't forget me." Zelgadis voice carried into the room, "I'm coming too."