I keep such awful hours and then I wonder why I'm tired all the time. This is the comedy relief section of the show!...the last for a loooong while...Anyone who gets the special hidden TV reference gets a pineapple.

I was asking myself why I went to all the trouble of putting every other title in a different language, and then I remembered it was because the title is in Latin. Or something like that.

Xoni - I e-mailed you again! I'm not a fan of Xellos either, but it's hard to write a huge story without him... There is some kind of overlap, it especially shows up in this chapter. And you couldn't willingly turn Amelia into a Mazoku, no way. ;) For anyone else who wondered about your same questions: yes, there is something more to Amelia's ring, but maybe not what you think, and Dolgofar was indeed Sherra's sword. You're a wonderful reviewer, by the way. :)
Gerao-A- Sherra was Dynast's general and Lina and Gourry fought her in the novels. She's dead, that's really all you need to know. As for the lemon part...man, I'm still waiting for that too.
Raven Summersong - I will do my best!
Cookie - Aww, you did? I can't fault you, though. ;) I'm really glad you liked it so much, and especially Grau and Grou...they're like my babies. My weird babies that got dropped a lot. I'm so flattered by and grateful for your praise, I'll really miss your comments! Thank you so much.
Klutz82 - I am please as usual. There's more comic relief here, although it's not just Gourry this time.
Stephanie - Thank you very much! I try. :) And I hope to keep you entranced!

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Part IX- Die Ahnlichkeiten des Unterschieds (The Similarities of the Difference)

"Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I've forgotten this before."
-Stephen Wright

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Amedyn shivered and leaned back against the icy wall of the outcropping where they'd taken shelter from the storm. The wind howled around them, and she moved closer behind Grou, using his taller body to add more protection. They had been improving her teleporting skills when the tempest had come up, and decided to wait it out so they could continue. But right now, she figured it would have been easier to just head back to the castle, and come back later.

"I didn't expect the cold to still affect me."she said through chattering teeth. "I thought that went away when I changed."

"It doesn't affect you as much as it would a human, but it's still awfully cold up here."Grau rubbed her bare upper arms with her hands. "You'll get used to it to, though. Give it a few more weeks."

"That's why I wear a scarf."Grou nodded smartly, tugging on the black wool wrapped around his neck. "Warm and stylish."

Amedyn looked up and giggled a little. A scarf on her fellow Mazoku struck her as very funny, but Grau was not amused in the least.

"That's just stupid."

"You're stupid."

"Oh, fuck you. Where did you get that piece of shit?"

"Corander, the last time I was there."

"Corander, he says."

"Actually, it could have been Alorin. They're so close together..."

She rolled her eyes and pushed past him to Amedyn. "You see what I've had to deal with for the past thousand years? What kind of priest goes off into mortal cities and buys things?!"

"A classy one."Grou supplied, poking her in the back.

"Not to mention one that goes out with the human girls and comes back reeking of cheap alcohol..."

"Oh, I do not. You don't know your wines, Grau. Besides, I think you're just jealous."

"Jealous?! Are you crazy?!"

"Yeah, jealous of the girls, the drink...Deny it all you want, I know the truth."

"The truth is that you're an idiot!"

Amedyn couldn't help but laugh. As she'd spent more time with them, she'd begun to see interesting quirks in their personalities. Although they had relatively opposite identities, the two were almost always together. Grou, although completely loyal to his master, was perfectly content to go with the flow of things and handled her instruction in an easy-going manner. Grau was sharp and to the point, ready to do whatever it took to be the best servant any lord had ever asked for. But there were times she did let her guard down, allowing her language patterns to slide into more base territory, and not taking such a hard outlook on her job. Both were capable with swords, but Grau was better with instructions for proper usage of the weaponry, while Grou was happier teaching her dark spells. They were, in truth, perfect complements to each other.

Studying the two, Amedyn was reminded of another pair...two others in some distant life that had completed each other as these two did. The memory bothered her, because she couldn't come up with any names. All she knew was that she'd seen this kind of interaction before.

Shrugging it off, she leaned back to watch them quarrel, unable to help a few stray bursts of laughter as their argument took different twists and turns.

"Honestly,"she chuckled. "It's like you two are married."

Both of them immediately froze, and Amedyn thought she could detect just the slightest blush creeping across each of their noses.

"Uh...that's not quite...no." the black-haired man pointed out helpfully.

Grau cleared her throat and stepped away from their shelter, looking up at the sky.

"I think it's easing up. Let's get back to work."

Amedyn sighed, and was about to protest when Grau stomped back, grabbed both her and Grou by the hands and dragged them out into the snow.

"She who must be obeyed."Grou whispered to Amedyn as the were pulled along behind his partner.

"Oh, do shut up."Grau grumbled.

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"This is ridiculous!" Lina stared at the huge pile of winter clothing on the counter in front of her. "I don't believe that we need this much stuff!"

The shop-boy -one Will Masandez- a slightly stocky lad with a lot of freckles, merely shrugged.

"You said you're going north, right? It's awfully cold up there this time of year. And if you're not ready for it, it won't be very pleasant."

"I don't care! Who needs this many clothes?!"

"One more thing..."Gourry added a black wool scarf to the top of the pile.

"What is that?"his lover whirled on him. "We don't need anymore stuff!"

"I like it."

"It's ugly! It's not even the right color for you!"

"Is it really that big of a deal?"

Zel leaning against a shelf, sighed and shook his head.

"Can you imagine what it'll be like when they're married?" he asked the Mazoku next to him.

"L-sama help us..."the priest twitched.

"Look, lady," Will tried to get Lina's attention again. "You've obviously never been up by that ocean in the winter. It's as cold as anything, and it's better to just have this and be prepared."

"You just want my money."

"I want you to take some good advice!"

"Maybe I don't want to hear it!"

"Well then maybe you should just head back south and become a bean-picker!"

"Perhaps I will!"

"Well good!"

"Fine!"

"You'll pick many a bean!"

"Hope I do!"

"Would both of you shut up?" Zel offered. "Lina, just buy the damn clothes. We've been in this city long enough."

"The sister cities, you might say."Xellos pursed his lips as he looked through a little travel book he'd picked up. "It says here that Corander and Alorin are-"

"I don't care!"Zel tore the book from his hands and hit him on the head with it. "The point is we're wasting time." He turned back to the sorceress. "What's more important to you, Amelia or your money?"

"Um..."

Lina received dirty looks from both Zel and Gourry at her hesitation. Backing towards Will again, she held up her hands.

"Hey, it was a joke! Ha ha?"

"Ha ha my ass."

Turning to pay the boy, she rolled her eyes, then instructed Gourry to grab all their new belongings and carry them back to their inn. They left, followed closely by Zel. Xellos paused to pick up his guide and brushed it off.

"It must be fun traveling with them."Will said, leaning against his hand.

"You have no idea."

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"No, you're concentrating too hard." Grau placed her hands on Amedyn's shoulders and pushed them down. "You don't need to hold yourself so stiffly. It's a matter of MMPH!"

Assuming that wasn't exactly what she'd meant to say, Amedyn looked up in time to see a second snowball smack into the priestess's head, knocking her glasses clean off her face. The shorter girl turned to see Grou in hysterics several feet to the side.

"I am the greatest!"

Eyes burning, Grau stalked over to him, a spell glowing in her hand.

"What is the matter with you?!"

"I was bored."Grou scooted away from her swiftly. "Amedyn thought it was funny, right?" he winked at her.

"I'm not getting between you two."she laughed.

"You were bored?! What kind of priest are you?! You have the attention span of an octopus!"she flung the spell at him, missing by a wide margin due to her lack of glasses.

"An octopus with good aim, four eyes."

"ARGH! Come back her so I can murder you!"

"Octopus?"Amedyn smiled to herself as she watched the pair falling over themselves to hit the other with snow. It wasn't the first time someone close to her had been called an aquatic life form. It was similarities like these that kept creeping into her mind, and, although they were somewhat disconcerting, in a way they added to the comfort she felt around her companions. There was a sense of deep it felt pretty good.

Bending over, she picked up Grau's glasses and waved them.

"You might want these!"

"YAH!"a cry came from overhead, and she was suddenly tackled by Grou.

Grau worked quickly to shovel as much snow over them as possible. The fight got even stupider from there, and they were all half-buried in a snow drift when Dynast found them.

"I am not even going to ask."he said disgustedly. "Just get back to the castle now."

The three nodded meekly, but started giggling amongst themselves the moment his back was turned.

The Supreme King sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. Good help was so hard to find.