Long moments passed, as everyone in the tent stared at Lina.  She could feel their eyes boring into her back and leaned on the table, covering her head with her arms defensively.  Her eyes were brimming with tears as she shivered uncontrollably.  She whispered, "It can't be true."

Gourry stepped forward and put a reassuring hand on Lina's shoulder.  "Lina, what's wro-"

Lina shrieked, "Don't touch me!" and shrugged his hand off angrily.  She whimpered, "Just… stay away from me alright?  Don't even look at me."  She stared at the tabletop, as if even glancing in Gourry's direction might be lethal to him.

Gourry frowned and reluctantly stepped back from Lina's side.

Martina blinked sleepily and sat up.  She took in the scene around her warily.  She noted that everyone in the tent was staring at her except for the redhead, who had her head on the table and was quietly sobbing.  She chuckled, "Umm, is something wrong?"

All at once, everyone had surrounded her and was bombarding her with questions.

Gourry glared at Martina.  "What did you do to Lina?"

Martina shook her head.  "I don't kn-"

Zelgadis grabbed Martina's shoulder and asked, "When's it going to happen?"

"When's what going to happen?" she asked confusedly.

Amelia chimed in.  "Who's she going to kill?"

"Kill?  What?  Everyone be quiet!" Martina yelled.  "I don't remember reading her future, so I have now idea of how, when, or why whatever is going to happen is going to happen!"  She took a shaky breath and tried to stand.  It felt like her entire body had fallen asleep.

"You really don't remember anything Martina?"  Amelia asked as she helped her friend to her feet.  "That thing you did was really spooky."

Zelgadis crossed his arms and scowled.  "That was strange, what I felt when you focused your attention on me felt like a slap on the wrist compared to what you exhibited just now."

"Could someone please explain what's going on?" Gourry asked as he stared at Lina.  "Did Lina do something wrong?"

"No, it's alright.  She didn't do anything." Amelia explained to the clueless swordsman.

Zelgadis snorted.  "Well, not yet anyway."

Amelia glared and pointed accusingly at Zelgadis.  "Mr. Zelgadis!  That's mean."

Zelgadis found something interesting on the ceiling to look at.  He muttered, "Sorry."

Lina sighed.  "Forget it."  She stood up, a fierce look of determination upon her face.  "I've got work to do."  She moved towards the entrance of the tent without as much as a backwards glance.

Gourry grinned "Alright!  That's better!"  He moved towards the entrance, intending follow Lina out.

"Don't follow me, Gourry.  I work alone."  Lina looked down at the stuffed toy in her hand.  Zanafar's cute scrunched up features stared back up at her.  Gourry had won that for her what seemed like a lifetime ago.  "Here," she said tonelessly as she tossed the toy to the swordsman.  "Sylphiel will probably like that." 

"Lina…"  Gourry reached out to stop Lina from leaving.

Lina snarled at the swordsman.  "I said don't touch me, Gourry!  What are you, stupid or something?"  She immediately regretted her words when she saw his hurt expression.  She muttered, "Sorry," as she turned and strode purposefully out of the tent.

Gourry looked down at the toy sadly.  He looked around at the others in the tent, desperately hoping for some explanation of Lina's actions.  None of the others could quite bring themselves to meet his pained gaze.

************************************************************************

Phibrizzo leaned up against the side of the central pavilion, intently watching the entrance to Martina's tent.  When Lina came storming out he grinned.  "There's my toy," he snickered.  He started to follow the young woman when the entrance of the tent opened again to reveal a man clad in white. 

As Phibrizzo watched, Zelgadis melted into the shadows as he followed Lina.  "You're special, aren't you?" he whispered, noting the way that Zelgadis moved with unnatural grace through the crowd.  "How curious," he muttered as he took another step in the direction that Lina had gone.

Suddenly, the tent flap opened again.

Phibrizzo muttered, "Is this the damn clown tent or what?  How many people are in there?"  He ducked behind a cotton candy stall and watched as a tall blond man and dark haired girl ran in the direction that the other two had gone.  "Anyone else?" he growled before stepping out from his hiding place and running off into the twilight.

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Lina stood in the middle of the street for a moment as she gazed up at the huge statue of Ceiphied standing before the church.  Although this was the central church of Sairaag, it also doubled as the capitol building.  Seeing as the church pretty much was the government, this made sense.

The statue of the Flare Dragon easily stood forty feet high.  Its granite wings were proudly spread and the dragon's mouth was open in a triumphant roar.  Beneath Ceiphied's mighty talons, a serpent was coiled, frozen in its death throes by the sculptor.  A bronze plaque adorned the front of the statue.

Lina read the words on the plaque although she knew them by heart.  Luna had been a devout follower of Ceiphied and had insisted that Lina do the same.

When darkness falls, walk in the light of my wisdom.

When your heart is heavy, take comfort in my strength.

Where evil grows, smite it with my courage.

Lina pondered the words for a moment before shaking her head.  There was no comfort here.  She heard footsteps behind her.  She sighed, "Gourry, I told you to leave me alone.  Please don't make this any harder for me."

Zelgadis chuckled.  "Harder for you?'  I thought that you were a heartless Slayer."  He stepped up beside Lina and looked up at the capitol building towering over them.  It made the statue of Ceiphied look miniscule by comparison.  He nodded.  "Planning to break in, huh?"

Lina nodded.  "That's right."

"Well, we're wasting time just standing here.  Let's go."  Zelgadis ran forward a few steps before easily leaping over the ten-foot high fence surrounding the church.  He flipped in midair and landed gracefully on the other side.  He looked over his shoulder at Lina and smirked.  "Coming?"

Lina shook her head and muttered, "Showoff."  She took a quick look around to make sure that there were no witnesses before climbing up and over the fence.  She dropped silently to the ground beside Zelgadis.  "You should be more careful."

Zelgadis cocked an eyebrow.  "Oh?  Why is that Lina?" he asked as they cautiously made their way towards the entrance to the building.

"I might kill you," Lina said quietly.

Zelgadis waved dismissively.  "You mean that woman's prophesy?  I'm not worried about that."

Lina looked at Zelgadis hopefully.  "Then you don't believe it?"

Zelgadis chuckled.  "Did I say that?  No Lina.  I sensed that woman's power.  I believe wholeheartedly that you'll be fulfilling that prediction one way or another." 

Lina frowned.  "Thanks a bunch, Zel.  That makes me feel a lot better.  So why are you hanging around if you think that the prediction is true?"  She quickly darted up the front steps of the building and hid in the shadow of a statue of Rezo the White.

Zelgadis grinned.  "Well, I'm hardly a 'beloved companion' am I?  Hold on a second."  He pulled a key out of a satchel on his belt and unlocked the front door.  Taking a quick look around inside he motioned Lina forward.

Lina watched Zelgadis cautiously as they entered the church.  Apparently, he had far more secrets than she had originally suspected.

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Zangulus scanned the thinning crowd and groaned in frustration.  Lina and Gourry had left for the circus before he awoke that morning.  Despite his worries, somehow he had managed to fall asleep just as dawn was breaking.  When he woke up, the girl with the answers was gone.  He walked up to a young man who was packing up some props.  "Excuse me; have you seen a stupid swordsman recently?"

Alfred glanced at the sword on Zangulus's belt, then at the confused expression on the man's face.  He asked, "Is this a trick question?"

"Trick question?" Zangulus mumbled before getting Alfred's meaning.  "Oh, that's very funny," he said sarcastically.  "This would be a tall blond man.  He might have been with a short tempered, violent red haired girl."

Alfred grinned mischievously.  "Just a little joke.  As a matter of fact, I did see a redhead go into Martina's tent over there.  You might want to ask her." 

"Thanks."  Zangulus made his way over to the black tent.  He poked his head inside and called out, "Hello?"

Martina looked up from where she was lighting some candles on the table.  It seemed kind of late to be getting customers, but money was money, right?  She grinned and gestured dramatically at the crystal ball on the table.  "Welcome good sir, to the mysterious and enigma-" Her breath caught in her throat as she got a good look at the customer.  She blushed.  "Oh my!" 

Standing before Martina was a tall, handsome, dark haired man.  He was wearing a dark brown cloak with a sword at his side.  Atop his head he wore a large brown hat that kept his handsome face partially hidden by shadows, making him look incredibly mysterious and cool.

Martina quickly sat down at the table and motioned the man over.  "Please sit!  The mists of the future aren't going to part themselves you know!"

Zangulus shook his head.  "I'm sorry Miss…"

"Martina!  Martina Zoana Mel Navratilova!" she answered eagerly.

"Um, right, I was just wondering if-" Zangulus forgot what he was going to ask as he looked at the woman sitting at the table. 

Martina eyed Zangulus predatorily from under her curly green tresses.  "If what, good sir?"  She leaned back in her chair revealing a tight outfit that exposed far more than it concealed.

Zangulus struggled to tear his eyes away from Martina's body as he stuttered, "If, uh, if you'd, uh, seen, uh, what was I saying?"  He took a seat at the table.  "I'm sorry," he said with an embarrassing grin.  "I can't remember why I came in here."

"Well, maybe you wanted to get your fortune read."  Martina suggested.  She took Zangulus's hands causing him to jump in his seat.  She chuckled and winked at him.  "This one's on the house."

"Oh, thanks."  Zangulus swallowed hard and tried to remember how he had gotten into this situation.

Martina gazed into her crystal ball, a grin forming on her face.  "Oh, this is interesting…  Very interesting…" she said as she glanced up at Zangulus.

"It is?" Zangulus asked, staring intently at the crystal.

"Oh, yes indeed," Martina purred.  "It says that you sir, are about to get extremely lucky."

Zangulus blinked in surprise.  "Huh?"  He looked up just in time to see Martina launch herself across the table into his arms.  He overbalanced in his chair and went crashing unceremoniously to the floor.  He looked up to see an extremely amorous Martina straddling his chest and squeaked, "Mommy…"

"Mmm, if you like," Martina murmured as she leaned down and passionately kissed the swordsman.

************************************************************************

Lina looked around the church in awe.  She whispered, "Wow."  The only church she had ever seen was the rundown one that Xellos had presided over.  This was totally different.

To begin with, you could have fit Lina's old church inside of this one three times over.  The ceiling arched high overhead, supported by lavishly decorated marble columns.  In the alcoves along the walls, busts of the High Priests of Ceiphied were displayed. 

Since the foundation of the theocracy centuries ago, there had always been a High Priest controlling the government.  The position had been passed in an unbroken chain from father to son for many generations.  All men in the family had been given the name of Rezo.

That was why all the busts looked eerily similar and had the same names engraved upon them.  "Rezo the Red", read one.  He had been particularly effective in expanding the boundaries of the kingdom through violence.  Next to that was "Rezo the Black", who had initiated a bloody purge of the "unfaithful" a century ago.  The unfaithful were any who dared criticize the church.

Lina noticed that Zelgadis was scowling at the bronze figures lining the wall.  "Something wrong Zel?" she asked quietly.

Zelgadis tersely shook his head and walked down the aisle.  "The library's this way," he called over his shoulder.

Lina shrugged and followed him.

************************************************************************

Phibrizzo followed Lina and the others until he saw where they were going.  He shivered and ducked behind a nearby tree when he caught sight of the immense figure of the Flare Dragon.  He scowled as he looked up at the statue of Ceiphied.  "Old bastard," he muttered angrily.  He sighed and sat down at the base of the tree.  He'd waited a thousand years to finish his work.  A couple more minutes wouldn't matter, he decided.

************************************************************************

Amelia looked at the entrance to the church.  She frowned at her blond companion.  "I'm sure that they just went in there.  Are you sure you want to do this?"

Gourry nodded determinedly.  "Lina needs my help."

Amelia swallowed nervously.  "But what about Martina's prediction?"

"I don't believe in processed cheese." Gourry said angrily as he walked up to the gate and examined the lock.

Amelia chuckled nervously.  "Uh, Mr. Gourry, you meant 'prophesies' right?"  Her eyes widened as she saw what he was about to do.  "Mr. Gourry, don't!"

Gourry took a short running start and slammed shoulder first into the gate.  To his incredibly painful surprise, his shoulder crumpled instead of the gate.  "Ow," he moaned as he fell onto his back.

Amelia shook her head sadly.  "You're hopeless."  She glanced around and saw a tree near the fence.  "Follow me, Mr. Gourry!" she called out as she ran towards the tree.  She jumped and caught a low hanging branch.  Using her forward momentum, she flipped herself up onto the limb.  She then proceeded to run along the branch and leap over the fence.  "See Mr. Gourry?  It's easy!" she said as she reached out to catch a branch on the other side of the fence.

Gourry watched in awe as Amelia sailed gracefully through the air, totally missed the catch, and slammed face first into the tree.  After lingering there for a moment, she toppled backwards and fell headfirst into a particularly thorny bush.

Xellos winced as he heard the crunch of Amelia's body hitting the ground.  "Oh my heavens, this isn't going too well, is it?"  He stepped out of the shadows and tapped the gate with his staff.  The lock clicked and the gate swung slowly open.  He then tapped Gourry on the shoulder before stepping back into the anonymity of the darkness.

"Hmm?"  Gourry looked over his shoulder and grinned.  "Hey, the gate's open!"

************************************************************************

Paula shivered at the feel of the cool night air and snuggled up closer to her boyfriend.  "Hallas," she pouted.  "Aren't you ready to go yet?  It's getting cold out."

Hallas shook his head and sighed, "But we haven't done everything yet.  Hey!"  He grinned as he saw a black tent erected a little ways away from the rest of the circus.  "A fortuneteller!"

Paula frowned, "Hallas, I'm ready to go."

"Aw, c'mon Paula, it'll be fun."  He walked up to the tent with Paula in tow and was about to enter when he heard odd noises from within.

Paula cocked her head and made a disgusted face at the grunts and groans emanating from the tent.  She whispered to Hallas, "Is that some kind of animal?" 

Hallas shook his head.  "If it is, it's dying."  He was about to pull back the tent flap when he heard a decidedly human voice.

A woman's voice chuckled and said, "On your knees worm!"  This command was punctuated by the sharp crack of a whip.

A pained voice answered, "Ow!  Take it easy!  I think that one drew blood!"

Hallas and Paula exchanged frightened looks as they quickly backed away from the tent.

************************************************************************

Zelgadis cautiously poked his head around the corner and glanced around the library.  Seeing that it was deserted, he entered and began to walk along a row of books reading titles.  He muttered, "This is way too easy."

Lina looked up from a copy of Demons for Dummies that she had been perusing and snorted, "Can't you ever just be grateful for a lucky break?  I thought that I'd have to fight my way in here, but you don't hear me complaining about not being up to my eyeballs in Slayers."

Zelgadis shot Lina a dirty look that she emphatically returned.  He growled, "I don't like surprises.  That's all."

"Then you're not going to like this," Lina muttered as she scanned a particularly interesting passage in the book.  She looked up and frowned at her companion.  "I know that you're not a Slayer, Zel."

"Oh?" Zelgadis muttered casually as he selected a book from the shelf.  He took a seat at a nearby table before meeting Lina's gaze.  "And why would you think that?"

Lina noted that Zelgadis seemed to be utterly unperturbed by her revelation.  He was either an excellent actor or had expected this all along.  She took a seat across from him and opened another tome.  She muttered, "Hmm, where to start?  For one thing, you didn't try to kill me when you found out that I was a rogue Slayer.  Any church sanctioned Slayer would have done so.  Secondly, you threw around a whole bunch of money.  Not that I don't appreciate it," she added with a grin, "But no Slayer could have afforded that kind of payoff.  Finally, you're sneaking into the church library with me.  If you were a Slayer, you'd have free access to this information."

Zelgadis sounded utterly bored as he sighed, "Bravo Lina.  Nothing gets by you does it?  You know, I'll bet even Gourry could have figured that out."  He turned another page and continued to read.

Lina smirked.  Even if Zelgadis had expected that first surprise, this next one would probably get a rise out of him.  She grinned and said, "By the way, I also know that you're not human."

Zelgadis hissed in surprise and looked up at the smirking redhead sitting across from him.  He quickly recovered and muttered in the same uninterested voice, "Now I'm afraid that you have totally lost me Lina.  What ever gave you the impression that I was anything but normal?"

In answer, the still smiling Lina nodded at something behind Zelgadis.  "That."

Zelgadis turned to see a highly polished shield adorning the wall behind him.  Lina was clearly reflected in its surface, but his own reflection looked transparent.  He could clearly see the book sitting on the table in front of him through his mirror image.

"And your nose," Lina continued.  "I broke your nose the other night and it's already healed, hardly normal Zel."

Zelgadis scowled and turned back to his reading.  "That's what you were looking at in the alley the other night," he muttered.  "I underestimated you."

Lina shrugged.  "It happens."

"So," he said as he slammed the book closed.  "What's keeping me from killing you now that you know my little secret?  I'm sure you've figured out some reason for me to keep you alive or you wouldn't have mentioned it."

Lina shook her head.  "Not really.  You're welcome to try.  I'd just like to warn you that I've become somewhat fond of you.  You're intelligent and competent.  I respect that.  On top of that, I suspect that all in all, we have very similar goals."  

Zelgadis stood and loomed menacingly over Lina.  He snarled, "Is there a point to your prattle or can I snap your neck now?"

Lina was unfazed by Zelgadis's threat.  "I just thought that you'd like to know that you're straddling the line between annoying acquaintance and beloved companion.  I'd hate to have to fulfill Martina's prophesy by killing you."

Zelgadis's eye twitched as he mulled this bit of information over.  Finally, he sighed and sat down.  He opened another manuscript and muttered, "You know, I wasn't really going to kill you."

Lina grinned and sarcastically said, "I love you too, Zel."  She picked up another heavy text and slammed it down on the table.  "Now don't you feel a lot better now that all those dirty little secrets are out in the open?"

Zelgadis's knuckles where white as he gripped the edge of the table.  He hissed, "Oh yes.  I feel… so much better now."  He sighed, "Something bothers me though."

"What's that?"

"If you knew that I wasn't human, why didn't you try to kill me?"  He quoted from the Slayers credo, "A Slayer will not spare a creature of the night."

Lina looked up in surprise.  "What, that church garbage?  Sis taught me better than that.  The only reason that I'd ever want to kill you is because you sulk all the time.  That bugs the hell out of me."  She waved dismissively.  "Besides that, you don't strike me as the 'mindless munch on the innocents' type.  Being nonhuman isn't a crime in my book.  You have just as much right to live as anything else."

Zelgadis grinned as he went back to his reading.  "I appreciate that."

************************************************************************

Gourry looked around dubiously.  "Hey Amelia, are you sure they went this way?"  He thought that they had been walking down the stairs for quite a while now.

Amelia ignored Gourry's question, instead concentrating on listening for any signs of life in the chamber below.  Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she peered around the corner before darting into the shadow of a suit of armor erected near the entrance of the chamber.

Gourry walked nonchalantly into the room, much to Amelia's irritation.  He looked around and whistled.  "Wow, I guess this is the armory, huh?"  He walked over to a wall lined with blades of all shapes and sizes and picked up a heavy broadsword.

Deciding that stealth was useless with Gourry around, Amelia stepped out of the shadows and admired the weaponry.  "Yeah, I guess so.  But why is there an armory in the church?"  She removed a dagger from a shelf and examined it.  The blade was too bright to be steel.  "Silver?" she muttered.  "Why would they have weapons made out of silver?"

"Yeah, this one is too."  Gourry took a couple practice swings with the blade he was holding before returning it to its place on the wall.  He thought for a moment before nodding confidently.  "This must be the exterminator armory."

"Exterminators?" Amelia asked while eyeing a particularly jagged sword warily.  "Are you sure about that Mr. Gourry?"

Gourry nodded.  "Yep, Lina told me all about the exterminators.  That's what she does, you know."  He spied a particularly elaborate sword on a table.  "What's this?" he muttered as he picked it up.  It was amazingly well balanced, he noted and the craftsmanship was top notch.  Grinning he hooked it on his belt.  He'd just borrow it for a while.

Amelia's attention was grabbed by an anomaly in the room.  Most of the blades were well maintained, but there was a sword lying on the table that had what looked like dried blood on the blade.  Curious, she walked over and picked it up.  There were some initials engraved on the blade.  "L.I.," she whispered.

"Hey, that's Lina's sword," Gourry said as he made his way over to where Amelia was standing.  "How'd that get here?"

A voice spoke from the entryway to the room.  "It's here because it was found at the scene of the crime."  A man clad in a dark cloak stepped into the light.  "Can I assume that you know its owner?"

Amelia quickly stepped behind Gourry's large frame and said, "Scene of the crime?"

"Murder," was the man's cold response.  "The murder of two of my brethren."

Gourry shook his head angrily.  "Lina's not a murderer!"

The man cocked his head.  "Lina, as in Lina Inverse?" 

Gourry nodded as he drew his newfound sword.  The guy gave him the willies.  "And what's your name pal?"

"Me?  You may call me Vrumugun.  This is all very curious."  He took a step towards the two intruders.

"What's curious?" Amelia asked.

"Intruders in the church and now the traitor's sister finally resurfaced," Vrumugun hissed as he drew his sword.

"Who's a traitor?" Gourry asked as he assumed a defensive stance.  He whispered, "Stay back Amelia."

Amelia nodded and scampered under a nearby table.

Vrumugun snorted in derision as he watched Amelia cower behind Gourry.  He turned his attention back to the swordsman and said, "Luna Inverse, the greatest disgrace to ever stain the name of the noble order of the Slayers."

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Next Chapter:  Holy weapons and Phibrizzo's sport.

Notes:  Heh, heh, heh.  This was a weird chapter for me in a couple ways.  First there was Zelgadis's threatening Lina, but he's done that before so it seemed all right when I reread the chapter.  Second was the Martina/Zangulus bit.  It was kinda weird to write, but I'd just like to defend that part by saying that Martina married Zangulus after knowing him for a few days at the most.  So there.

Reader Responses:

Pogo, Hellmaster is getting a lot less fun and a whole lot meaner the more I write.  Let's just say he's done popping balloons and leave it at that, shall we?

Zaber I can't believe that you just did that to me.  I work my butt off to write this story and how do you repay me?  You sick a fruitcake Mazoku on me.  Thanks a heap…

Well, it certainly looks like Gourry's a goner, eh CT?  I loved writing that last chapter.  My favorite part was Xellos saving Kira, followed closely by the L/G bits.  I'm glad you enjoyed them.

Aw, don't cry Miss Gabriev!  You know Phibby wouldn't be much of a villain if he didn't threaten our heroine with a horrible death would he?  Although, I wouldn't say that Lina's going to come out of it unscathed either…  And it's not just the NEXT cast, by the way.  I threw in Hallas in this chapter.