"Amelia!" Zelgadis yelled.  He breathed a sigh of relief.  "Thank Ceiphied," he said, catching up to Amelia and Gourry as they were leaving Lina's nearly finished home.

Amelia's face brightened considerably when she saw Zelgadis.  "Mr. Zelgadis!  Where have you been?" she asked with a giggle.

Zelgadis ignored Amelia's question and grabbed her wrists.  "Amelia, I don't have time for chitchat.  I need an escort for a party tomorrow evening," he hastily explained.

"An… an escort?" Amelia repeated, her face turning a bright shade of red.  "What kind of party?"

Gourry scratched his head confusedly.  "What's an escort?"

Zelgadis frowned darkly and muttered, "It's a soiree for a bunch of pigs and they'd never let me hear the end of it if I didn't bring an attractive young lady with me."

"P-pigs?" Amelia stammered.  "And you want me to be your escort?"  Her mind was racing.  Mr. Zelgadis thought that she was attractive?  She smiled inwardly, but immediately thought about the rest of his statement.  This party sounded a little suspicious.  His next words confirmed her suspicions.

Zelgadis nodded.  "That's right.  I'm desperate, Amelia.  I've been thinking about it and you're the only girl that I can ask to do this.  I need you."  He released his hold on her and began to reach for his coin purse.  "Now, if you need some money…" 

"Money?!"  Amelia forcefully planted her fist in Zelgadis's face, knocking the surprised man off his feet.  "I-I'm not that kind of girl!" she shrieked indignantly.

"Ouch," Gourry muttered, wincing sympathetically as Zelgadis slammed face first into the street.

Zelgadis groaned.  The street beneath him muffled his words.  "Not that kind of escort, Amelia."

"Don't you think you went a little overboard?" Gourry meekly suggested.  He put his hands up defensively when Amelia glared at him.  "None of my business, of course."

"I need a date," Zelgadis grumbled as he picked himself up off the street.  "Someone to go to a dinner and dancing affair with me."

"Oh, Mr. Zelgadis, you're asking me out on a date?" Amelia said, her face a bright shade of pink.

"Well, I-"

Amelia giggled and said, "I'd love to!"  She rubbed her chin thoughtfully and muttered, "Now, I'm going to need to get my hair done, but Sylphiel can do that, and I have to tell Uncle Christopher that I can't help with the lions tomorrow.  Or the tigers.  Ooh, and what about the bears?  Oh my…"

Zelgadis sighed and shook his head impatiently as he watched Amelia fret.  He had a bad feeling about this.  The last thing he wanted to do was expose her to those… those people, but he was desperate.  Besides, he wanted her to go with him.  He hadn't been quite truthful earlier.  There were plenty of other women that would have jumped at the chance to attend this party, but she had been the first and only person he could think of.  In all honesty, it probably would have been far wiser if he'd gone with any one of the others.  Amelia was too close to Lina.  And he didn't need Lina finding out.

Gourry cleared his throat and made a sad attempt at looking casual.  He all but hopped from foot to foot as he asked, "So, a party, huh?" with a big grin on his face.

Zelgadis watched Gourry with a raised eyebrow for a moment before shaking his head.  "No."

"Aw, what do you mean, no?"

Zelgadis rolled his eyes.  "No!  You'd be bored out of your mind at this thing.  It's for VIPs only."  He hastily added, "And don't you dare tell Lina about it either!"  He glanced at Amelia and said, "That goes for you too."  The last thing he needed was for Lina to show up at a party he was hosting after he'd sworn to his father that he didn't know her.

Gourry cringed a little at the fire in Zelgadis's voice.  "Okay."  He scratched his head thoughtfully and asked, "If it's only for important people, how come you get to go?"

Zelgadis was spared the tricky problem of answering Gourry's question by a horrified gasp from Amelia.

"Mr. Zelgadis!" Amelia wailed, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears, "I've already ruined your whole evening!"

"You-You have?!" Zelgadis asked incredulously.  His head was spinning with the possibilities.  Something was wrong.  Something disastrous, with his luck.

"I don't have a dress for a formal party!  I'm so sorry, Mr. Zelgadis!"

"That's it?"  Zelgadis breathed a sigh of relief and tried to quash the urge to laugh.  The situation was utterly absurd, but sort of nice at the same time.  The way Amelia was carrying on, one would think that she had actually done something wrong.  He had to admit that it was touching that she was that concerned about him.  Nobody else had ever been.

Zelgadis reached into his pocket and produced a small pouch of gold.  "That's why I was offering you money earlier," he said, unable to hide a grin.  "Go buy something nice, Amelia."

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

Lina tipped her tankard up, grunting slightly as the first swallow of ale hit her stomach like a hammer.  "Ah, that really hits the spot," she said happily as she slammed the now empty container back down on the bar.  "Hey bartender," she called out, "one more for the road!  Gimmie the cheap stuff!"

It had been a long time since she'd had a drink.  A week of restlessly fighting the forces of darkness followed by a month in a coma and then yet another week of bed rest after she'd woken up.  While she recovered, Sylphiel had adamantly refused to allow Lina to even have a glass of wine.  She'd said that it was bad for her recovery.  It had almost been too much for the poor girl.

"Well, I'm fine and dandy now," Lina said enthusiastically.  Another tankard came sliding down the bar and came to rest in front of her.  "Ah!  Just the thing for a thirsty young lady like myself!"  She greedily snatched up the new flagon and set about emptying it.  "I was beginning to worry that I'd have to deal with reality sober!" she joked to nobody in particular.

"And what's wrong with that, if I may ask?"

Lina sputtered in mid swig, spilling half of her ale on herself.  She turned to see Xellos sitting beside her.  He had a mischievous grin on his face as he loudly slurped up a chocolate milkshake through a straw.  "Damn it, Xellos!" she yelled.  "Don't do that to me!"

Xellos chuckled and waved to the bartender.  "Sir?  A glass of milk for my young friend here, if you please."

A moment later, the glass slid to a stop in front of Lina.  "I don't like milk," she said, glaring at the glass as if it were poison.

Xellos sighed quietly and seemed to slump over a bit on his stool.  "Humor me please, Lina.  I'm very old and trying to provide guidance to the young is the only pleasure I have left in life."  He sniffed and added, "I just feel so feeble and useless, waiting for Ceiphied to call me home."

"Jeez, lay off the guilt trip," Lina muttered as she reluctantly took a sip and grimaced.  Milk was most certainly not the best chaser for Sairaag ale.  Looking a little green, she shoved the glass away and said, "Actually, I'm glad that you showed up, Xellos."

"Oh?  Why is that?" Xellos asked as he finished off his milkshake.  Without waiting for Lina's response, he turned and waved to the bartender again.  "Excuse me?  I hate to keep bothering you, but could I get another milkshake?  And maybe a bowl of peanuts?  Thank you very much."

Lina drummed her fingers on the countertop impatiently.  "Can I finish?"

Xellos nodded, his mouth already full of peanuts.

"You helped me, didn't you?" Lina asked in an almost reverent tone.  "You saved me when I was sick, right?"  She remembered something… something about Xellos while she was asleep.  And then she'd gotten better.

The priest's eyes bugged out as he began to choke on a peanut.  "Pardon me," he rasped as he began to violently cough. 

Lina watched Xellos's display with a look of annoyed disinterest on her face.  Somehow, she'd known that something like this would happen.  Showing infinite patience, she yawned as he began to turn blue.  She could wait out his little show.

Xellos thumped on his chest, finally dislodging the treacherous peanut from his windpipe.  He turned back to Lina and said, "Well, that was close, wasn't it?  You know, that reminds me of a story…"

"Would you stop it?!" Lina said, slamming her fist down on the counter.  "Just give me a straight answer for once!"

A hurt expression replaced the smile on Xellos's face.  "You shouldn't yell at me, you know."  His grin quickly returned and he asked, "Now, what were we talking about again?"  An instant later, Lina's hands were wrapped tightly around his throat.

"You helped me when I was sick!" Lina bellowed, thumping Xellos's head on the bar with each word.  "I heard your voice!"

Xellos struggled to get a response out between impacts.  "Ow, you… ow, probably heard… ow, a lot of things."

Lina loosened her grip on the priest's throat.  "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"You were delirious," Xellos explained as he scurried out of grabbing distance.  "You were talking to people who weren't there.  Your sister, your parents, but mostly you were talking to that Gourry fellow."  Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, he quietly added, "I seem to recall that you were saying some rather racy things, too."

"You're kidding, right?" Lina said with a nervous chuckle.  "Tell me that you're kidding."

"Oh, not at all, Lina.  There's nothing to be embarrassed about though." Xellos shrugged and grinned mischievously.  "As a matter of fact, it's perfectly understandable.  You're a healthy young lady and it stands to reason that you have certain… appetites."

Lina buried her face in her hands and groaned.  "What did I say?" she hesitantly asked, dreading the answer.  She felt her face go hot and briefly wished that she hadn't survived her encounter with Hellmaster.

"Lina, you're making me blush," Xellos protested.  "I can't repeat things like that.  I'm a priest after all."  He stood and winced as he popped his back.  "Well, I'll be off now."

"You're leaving?" Lina said from behind her hands.  She had totally forgotten about asking him about her miraculous recovery, which of course had been the trickster's intention the entire time.

"Oh yes indeed.  I'm quite busy you know and as much as I enjoy your company young lady, I must be off."

"So, you just came down here to humiliate me, am I right?"

"Not at all," Xellos said with a chuckle.

"What's that mean?" Lina asked, leery of the priest's answer.

Xellos grinned mischievously and pointed at something over Lina's shoulder.

Lina turned to see Gourry enter the tavern.  "Damn it!" she bellowed angrily.  "Xellos, you knew that I was trying to-"  She stopped when she saw that the priest had disappeared, leaving behind some empty glasses and a half eaten bowl of peanuts to mark his passing.

Gourry's face lit up when he saw Lina at the bar.  "Hey, you're better!  I thought that you were still in bed!" he exclaimed as he sat on a stool next to her.  "How'd you get out of bed so quick?"  He frowned and asked, "Did you sneak out without Sylphiel's permission?"

"No, I got better."

Gourry scratched his head and muttered, "But nobody heals that fast."  He leaned over and whispered, "Lina, did you hit Sylphiel over the head and tie her up or something?"

"Why would I do something like that?!" Lina yelled indignantly. 

"I don't know," Gourry said with a shrug.  "I figured that you might have gotten a little stir crazy or something."

Lina took a deep breath and said, "No, Gourry.  Even though that makes a whole lot of sense, I promise that I didn't make my escape after knocking Sylphiel out."  She shrugged and took another sip of ale.  "I just got better.  No other explanation for it, really.  See?"  She pointed at her fully healed leg.

"Oh," Gourry said while scrutinizing the limb.  "If you say so.  Does it still hurt at all?"

"No, not really."  Lina took a deep breath.  She knew that they'd have to talk about what had happened sooner or later.  Might as well get it over with now.  She looked into Gourry's eyes, and struggled to avoid sounding stupid.  "Um, Gourry, about what happened the other night…"

Gourry blinked.  He'd bet a hundred coins that Lina was talking about what had happened in her room.  "Other night', Lina?" he said, trying to play the idiot.  He was a horrible actor.  "I don't really remember what happened the other night."  Smiling confusedly, he asked, "Was it important?"  If he didn't acknowledge what had happened, maybe she'd forgive him for… well, for whatever he'd done.  He hadn't quite figured that part out yet.

"You jellyfish," Lina said, not unkindly.  She'd seen the look of recognition on the swordsman's face when she started talking about that touchy subject and suspected that he remembered more than he was letting on.  Still, she appreciated his willingness not to press the issue.

Gourry saw Lina's knapsack sitting on the floor beside her and frowned.  "So, what are you doing Lina?" he asked while looking at her intently.

Lina fidgeted under Gourry's gaze and muttered, "Oh, you know… this and that.  I thought that I might see the sights since I'm taking some time off, you know, since I haven't been here in five years."

Gourry shook his head sadly.  Lina was a horrible liar.  "You're leaving, aren't you?  You were going to leave without even telling me.  Why?"

Biting her lip thoughtfully, Lina said, "Because."  How could she explain to Gourry that she had to leave because of the prophecy?  He was a beloved companion.  Actually, calling him a 'beloved companion' cheapened what she felt for him.  It was irritating.  She could be brushing her hair and then she'd find herself thinking about how soft his hair had been when she'd had her arms around him.  When she was tucked under the blanket in bed, she'd wish that the warmth that she was feeling was from his embrace.  Always, he was no more than a moment away from her thoughts.  "Because," she said again to sum up her feelings.

"Because," Gourry repeated.  It had been strange.  Lina had looked scared at first, which had upset him somewhat.  He was supposed to make sure that she never had reason to fear anything.  When he had opened his mouth to tell her so, her expression had become almost dreamy, and he thought that he'd never seen her happier.  "Lina, why won't you let me stay with you?"

"Well, because I don't really need a protector," Lina said with an apologetic shrug.  "And because I don't want to see you get hurt."  It looked as if it pained her to suggest it, but she said, "Why… why don't you protect Sylphiel?  She thinks the world of you, you know."

Gourry favored Lina with a loving smile and whispered, "Because, Sylphiel doesn't need my help.  And because I want to protect you, Lina."

Staring into her half empty flagon as if the solution might be there, Lina muttered, "Gourry, I'm not staying in Sairaag forever, you know.  You're not really going to abandon Sylphiel to follow me, right?"  That was it, she thought.  Appeal to his love for Sylphiel and he'd abandon this whole protector nonsense.  She felt incredibly alone all of a sudden.  But she'd always been alone, so why was it bothering her now?  Feeling thoroughly depressed, she took a long draught of ale.

Gourry scratched his head and thought for a moment.  Then he grinned and said, "Sure, why not?"

Lina almost choked on her drink for the second time in ten minutes.  She slammed the tankard down, turned to Gourry, and stammered, "B-because she loves you, you thickheaded idiot!  Don't you love her?"

"No."

Lina stared at Gourry, her jaw agape.  "You said that she was your girlfriend, remember?"  Had she misjudged him?  Was he really that much of a jerk?

"Well, yeah."  Gourry turned to the barkeep and indicated that he wanted a tankard of his own.  "She's a girl and she's my friend.  Girlfriend, right?"

There was a sudden silence in the bar, as if everyone had sensed that some terrible calamity was about to transpire.  Maybe it was the fact that the temperature in the room had suddenly dropped by twenty degrees.  Maybe it was because the lanterns seemed to dim.  Or maybe, just maybe, it was because there was a redheaded girl at the bar with a look on her face that would cause a demon to cower in terror.

"You… you… you jellyfish!" Lina yelled furiously.  When Gourry's ale came sliding down the bar, she snatched it up and slammed the tankard against the side of his head, sloshing alcohol all over the swordsman.  "Jellyfish, jellyfish, jellyfish!" she repeated over and over, punctuating each insult with a blow to his head.  How dare he put an innocent maiden like her through all this heartache?

"Ow, ow!" Gourry yelped.  He fruitlessly tried to cover his head with his hands as he yelled, "What'd I say, Lina?!"

"JELLYFISH!!" Lina bellowed one final time before flattening the steel tankard against Gourry's skull.  Seeing that he was sufficiently dazed, she flung the ruined cup across the bar shattering some of the bottles that lined the back wall.  "You know what?!" she yelled into his ear.  "Be my protector!  See if I care what happens to you!"  She could kill him right now, she thought.  Maybe that prophecy was a blessing instead of a curse.

"S-sure, Lina," Gourry mumbled quietly.  He struggled to focus on her and briefly wondered why he was seeing two of the furious redhead.  Better not to ask, he thought.  He already had a splitting headache and she'd probably just hurt him again.

The bartender glared at the ruined bottles and then at Lina.  He growled, "Hey, are you going to pay for that?!" as he stormed over to where she was sitting.

Lina turned to the man and snarled, sounding more like an animal than a human.

The bartender held his hands up defensively and backed away slowly.

Lina took a deep cleansing breath and smiled.  She felt a lot better now.  "Gourry?" she said sweetly, poking him in the head as she spoke.

Gourry began to detach his face from the top of the bar and muttered a muffled, "Yeah?"

"What are you doing tonight?" Lina asked in that frighteningly sweet tone.  She felt oh so much better now that she'd vented all that horrible anger and frustration.  She even found herself feeling happy with Gourry again.

"I don't know."  Gourry swallowed nervously before asking, "What are we doing tonight?"

"Glad you asked," Lina said as she withdrew the letter that she had received earlier that day with a flourish.  "What I thought that we might do was…"

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

The streets of Sairaag were abuzz with news and gossip about Rezo's visit.  When his visit had been announced, he was already in the city, making many wonder how long he had been there and how a man of his infamy had managed to slip into the city unannounced.  Some said that he had slipped in late one evening in an unmarked midnight black carriage.  These people were scoffed at.  Everyone knew that the High Priest had a lavish coach, decorated with pearl and ivory that shone like the dawn.  Even this theory had its detractors.  After all, Ceiphied Himself carried Rezo in His splendorous talons when the High Priest was needed.

Which begged the question, why had Ceiphied sent his greatest servant to Sairaag?  Some said that the Night of Death, as the Hellmaster incident had come to be called, had brought the High Priest out of his self-imposed solitude.  Others claimed that he was on a holy pilgrimage across the empire to purge it of vice and Sairaag was in special need of his mercy.  A few claimed that he had taken ill and wanted to travel before his death.  These people only whispered their opinions.  It was a capital offense, punishable by death, to speak ill of the High Priest.

In truth, nobody really had the slightest notion of what had actually brought the man to Sairaag.  The wild rumors were just that, rumors.  The only thing that everyone had in common was the fact that they were excited about the visit. 

The anticipation grew when word got out of a lavish party, planned by the reclusive Lord Greywords himself, that would take place that evening.  The curious populace mercilessly interrogated those lucky enough to be working on the ball, eager for any tidbit of gossip from the private party.  The fortunate laborers were more than happy to tell of the wondrous decorations and the expensive food.

All were pleased, with the exception of a short wiry man wearing a tattered brown cloak.  He had short reddish hair that was so uneven that one might have thought that he had cut it himself.  A scraggly beard did little to conceal the exaggerated features of his face.  His one good eye was narrow and had a feral look to it.  A black patch obscured the other.  His nose was long and blunt, looking almost like a snout.

At the moment, this little fellow was struggling to move a barrel that was roughly twice his size off a cart and up the stairs of the capital building.  "Bloody 'ell," he muttered, "Gettin' revenge twern't s'pposed t'be this tough."

"And that's when I faced down twenty of the demons myself," Volun explained to his captive audience.  He'd seen the pretty blonde while on patrol and taken it upon himself to see if she needed any assistance.  After all, it was what any self-respecting guard would do.  "Of course," he said with a boisterous laugh, "I didn't know that they were demons at the time!  Half of them were dead and the rest were quaking in fear before I figured it out."

"You don't say," the blonde said with an utter lack of enthusiasm.  The guy had been going on for twenty minutes now and she'd like to get her shopping done sometime today.

"And then I-"  Volun was suddenly distracted by what sounded like the yipping of a wounded dog.  Apparently, it was coming from a man in the courtyard of the church.  He looked back down to see the blonde slipping away into the crowd.  "Wait," he called out, "Aren't we having dinner?"  But, she was already gone.  He sighed and turned back to watch the puny man try to push a barrel up the stairs.  Hmm, it was his civic duty to help those in need, and the man was obviously supplying wine for the party tomorrow night, so if he played his cards right, he'd get an early look at the ballroom.

"Bloody 'Ezo, I'll git ye fer this…"

Volun's brow furrowed in thought as he approached the small man.  Was he even speaking Volun's language?  Deciding that increased volume would help breach the language barrier, he stood behind the much smaller fellow and bellowed, "Need some help there, friend?!"

"Mummy!" the man yelped, scared out of his wits.  He lost his hold on the barrel, which promptly went tumbling over him and down the stairs. 

Volun caught the barrel and slung it up on his shoulder with a grin.  "Let me give you some assistance.  Now, where do you want this?" he asked eyeing the door to the ballroom eagerly.

Dusting himself off, the strange man climbed to his feet and growled in a very animalistic way.  "Put down me 'owder!" he yipped, hopping from foot to foot angrily.

"Now, don't be like that," Volun said, patting the irate fellow on the head.  He didn't understand a word that the guy was saying, but he was obviously upset about something.  "What's your name, friend?"

"Jillas," the man replied with a growl.  "Now, gimmie back me 'owder!"

Volun nodded and continued up the stairs with the keg.  It was strange.  Whatever was in it certainly didn't feel like liquid.  The contents didn't slosh around like liquid would.  Instead, it hissed, sounding more like granules of sand than anything.  "Hey," he called out to Jillas, "is this some kind of spice or something?"

Jillas shook his head angrily.  "It's 'owder!  Goin' te blow the place te 'ell!" he explained, gesturing wildly to show just how big the explosion was going to be.

"Chowder?" Volun repeated dubiously.  "That's strange…"  Why would clam chowder come in keg?  He shrugged and continued on to the ballroom with his cargo.

"It's 'owder!  'Owder, ye bloomin' idjit!" Jillas yelled at Volun's back.  He reached into his cloak looking for his slug thrower before remembering that he'd had to surrender it to the guards before entering the church grounds.  He sighed angrily and set about getting the other three barrels of the back of his cart.  It was annoying but not that big a deal.  Tomorrow night, Rezo would die.  That was all that mattered.

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

Gourry sat on an old stool in the corner of the dilapidated cathedral.  His feet were resting on the back of a rickety pew and his fingers were laced comfortably over his belly.  His headache was almost gone.  Lina had been downright cheerful since the incident at the bar.  On top of that, she'd actually agreed to let him come with her on this job.  All in all, things had turned out fairly well, he thought.  Stifling a yawn, the swordsman glanced around the room.  "Kinda creepy though," he mused aloud. 

One could easily tell that night was falling through the gaping holes in the roof.  A small lantern that Lina had brought with her insufficiently illuminated the interior of the church, casting menacing shadows along the walls.  Behind the overturned altar a rickety set of stairs spiraled upwards to a bell tower that listed perilously to the side.  It wasn't a cheerful place, to say the least.

Irritated by Gourry's voice, Lina turned and made a shushing motion.  Didn't the jellyfish understand what "Keep out of sight and stay quiet," meant?  Deciding that he'd been sufficiently chastised, she turned her attention back to the task of searching for her contact.  "Damn it," she whispered. 

Lina didn't know why she'd allowed Gourry to come with her.  She'd been so mad at him before, but now she was just happy to know that he wasn't involved with Sylphiel.  On the way over to the church, she'd decided that prophesy or not, she was not going to kill Gourry.  It was as simple as that.  Just because some ditzy charlatan had told her that she would do it didn't mean that she didn't have a say in the matter.  Fate could never take choice away from her.

Stealing a quick glance at Gourry, Lina simultaneously felt a pang of regret coupled with great affection for the man.  She'd felt bad about what she'd done to him earlier that day, but he hadn't even held it against her.  She briefly wondered if he'd already forgotten the incident, but dismissed that thought out of hand.  Gourry could get mixed up at times, but he wasn't stupid.  He was simple.  And so very kind.

Feeling her face getting hot, Lina quickly turned her attention back to the task at hand.  "Now, where is he?" she mused aloud.  There were so many places that he could be hiding.  The mysterious writer had chosen their meeting place well.  She was starting to suspect that he wasn't going to show up and was about to tell Gourry to forget the whole thing when she heard the sound of a board creaking in the darkness.  "Hey, anyone there?" she called out, instinctively placing her hand on the hilt of her sword.

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1A quiet voice echoed through the church.  "Welcome, Lina Inverse.  I've been waiting for you."

Lina glanced around, fruitlessly trying to figure out where the voice was emanating from.  "Waiting for me?" she said with a scowl.  "Buddy, I've been sitting here for three hours, so don't try to tell me that you've been waiting."

"Ah, yes, well..."

"You just got here didn't you?" Lina asked, the beginnings of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.  Silence was her only answer and she snorted derisively.  "I knew it!  You write me this mysterious letter inviting me to a secret meeting and you can't even be bothered to show up on time.  Pathetic."

"Look, it wasn't my fault.  Traffic was terrible.  There was an overturned fruit cart two blocks down and the carriages were backed up for a quarter mile."

Lina crossed her arms and grinned.  "That's why you should always make an effort to leave fifteen minutes early.  My sis told me that.  Now you've blown the whole 'mysterious employer' image and you look like an idiot."

"I-idiot?!" the voice stammered.  "Now see here, you flat chested little-"

Lina ignored the rest of his diatribe in favor of looking down at her somewhat less than ample breasts.  "Flat chested?" she muttered curiously.  Great.  As if she didn't have anything else to worry about.  "I am not flat chested!" she loudly protested, "I'm willowy!"  Scowling, she drew her sword and began to move into the shadows.  "You've got a lot of nerve, pal."

Gourry scratched his head thoughtfully as he watched Lina stalk the stranger through the shadows.  "Wow, I never noticed, but she is kinda flat chested."  His sharp eyes saw movement on the far side of the church and he silently stood and began his own hunt.

"Come on out," Lina said, trying to sound friendly.  The clenched teeth and drawn sword detracted from the effect somewhat.  "You wanted to make some kind of deal, right?"  She kicked over a pew, setting off a chain reaction that toppled a dozen more.

"Calm down!" the voice commanded.

"Calm down?" Lina growled.  "You call me out here in the middle of the night, keep me waiting for hours, insult me, and now you want me to calm down?  Who do you think you are?"

"The man offering you a thousand gold pieces."

"Oh, well there is that I suppose," Lina said with a sigh.  Sheathing her sword she growled, "So, what do you want?  You said it had something to do with my expertise, right?"

"Correct.  As the Slayer that single handedly dealt with Hellmaster-"

"Which is something that I haven't told anyone," Lina pointed out.  "How do you know about that?  It wasn't Gourry.  That's for sure.  I doubt it was Amelia or Sylphiel either.  They don't seem like the type to get mixed up with this kind of thing.  Hmm."  Her face suddenly lit up and she smacked her fist into her palm excitedly.  "I've got it!  You're working for Zelgadis, aren't you?  Oh Lina, you're so smart!"

"Even if that was true, which it isn't, my employer's identity is not important," the man tersely replied.

"Ah ha!" Lina exclaimed, pointing at a random spot in the dark.  "So you admit that you are working for someone!  And I'll bet that someone is Zelgadis!"

The man yelled, "Would you shut up and let me finish?!  I have other things to do tonight besides listen to you blather on and on!"

"Jeez, I'm sorry," Lina said contritely.  "I was just excited that I'd figured everything out, you know?"

"You didn't figure anything out!  None of it is true!  For the love of Ceiphied, can I please deliver my message and be done with it?!"

Lina pouted cutely.  "Okay, I'll listen."

"Thank you!"  The man took a deep breath before continuing.  "Now, there's a man by the name of Diol who works for the church.  You probably aren't familiar with him-"

"Diol!" Lina interrupted excitedly.  "He's a healer who's got a great knowledge of anatomy and medicine.  On top of that, he's one of the higher ups in the local hierarchy, am I right?"  She giggled happily and said, "Ooh, I'm so good at this!"

"Jeez Lina," Gourry muttered to himself in the shadows, "if you pat yourself on the back any harder your arm's going to break off."  He continued his cautious stalking of the man in the darkness.  Another dozen feet and he'd be right on top of him.  Slowly, he drew the Sword of Light in preparation for his attack.

"Correct, Miss Lina," the voice begrudgingly admitted.  "He's not the noble healer that most people think that he is though.  He's been involved in grave robbing and other darker pursuits."

"And I'm just supposed to take your word on that?" Lina asked dubiously.  "If it's true, why hasn't there been an official investigation?"

"Because the church doesn't want to risk the embarrassment of such an investigation leaking to the public.  We'd rather hire an independent contractor to deal with this problem."

"Hmm, this sounds like the speech that Zelgadis gave me a couple weeks back," Lina said while tapping her cheek thoughtfully.  "Are you absolutely sure that you're not working for Zelgadis?" she asked, a knowing smile on her face.

"Oh for the love of...  No!  I'm not working for Zelgadis!  And furthermore..."

"Got him Lina," Gourry said as he grabbed the back of the much smaller man's cloak.

Lina hopped up and down excitedly.  "Good job, Gourry!"  She picked up the lantern and carried it over to where the swordsman held the struggling man.

The light illuminated a wrinkled face with a gray moustache and matching hair.

"Hmm, you don't look familiar," Lina muttered as she scrutinized his features in the dim light.

"I recognize him, Lina."  Gourry grinned and said, "It's old man Zolf."  Noting Lina's blank expression, he said, "You know, the guy that runs the abandoned cemetery.  I used to see him once in a while on my rounds.  I guess we put an end to whatever mischief he was up to, huh?"

Zolf snarled, "Bah!  And I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you meddling-"

"Anyway!" Lina quickly interrupted.  "What's the story here, gramps?  Why are you really trying to pull?"

"I did want to hire you," Zolf explained.  "I chose you because the job holds some personal interest for you.  I told you that Diol was involved in grave robbing."

"Yeah, so?"

"One of the vandalized graves belonged to your sister."

Lina closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  She sounded surprisingly calm as she said, "You're not just saying that, are you?  Because if I found out that you were saying that just to get me to agree to help you, I'd be a little upset."

Zolf shook his head sadly.  "I'm afraid that it's true.  Just two weeks ago, Luna's grave was desecrated.  I'm very sorry."

Lina quickly nodded, indicating that she'd heard enough.  "Gourry," she hissed through clenched teeth, "let's go."

Just then the doors to the church flew open with a loud crash.  Standing in the doorway was a woman in a black cloak.  "I'm afraid that you won't be going anywhere, little Inverse."

Lina scowled and said, "Lady, if you're looking for trouble, you've come to the right place."

Zolf hissed in surprise when he recognized Eris.  He stomped on Gourry's foot eliciting a surprised yelp from the swordsman and made a dash for the back of the church.  He couldn't risk being linked to Lina.  It would mean Zelgadis's death, not to mention his own.

Lina glared at Zolf's retreating back and snapped, "Gourry, go get him!  We aren't done talking yet."  There was a menacing tone in her voice, suggesting that her command should be immediately obeyed without question.

Gourry ignored Lina's tone.  He didn't like the looks of the newcomer at all and she obviously had some sort of problem with Lina.  And now Lina wanted him to run off and leave her again?  He started to protest, "But Lina..." 

Lina glared at him and snarled, "Just do it!" before turning to face the approaching Eris. 

"Well… okay Lina."  Gourry spared Lina one last troubled glance before reluctantly turning to pursue his quarry.

Lina rolled up her sleeves and warned, "Lady, I'm really not in the mood to play games right now."  She drew her sword and rushed at Eris.

"Oh, good," Eris replied with a cruel smirk.  "I don't like games either."  She spun, her cloak billowing out around her.  Under the cover of fluttering cloth, she leveled her crossbow at Lina's chest and loosed a bolt.

Sensing danger, Lina flung herself to the side.  The projectile passed through her cape, missing her body by scant inches.  Not wasting a moment, she tucked her head down and rolled as she hit the ground, coming up in a kneeling position behind a pew.  An instant later, another quarrel slammed into the wood next to her head.  "Jeez, she's serious," she muttered as she hastily removed her cape.

"Damn it," Eris hissed as she reloaded her crossbow.  "Come out and fight, Inverse!"

Lina's mocking voice called out, "Well, if you really want me to..."  A moment later, a dark shape sprang out from her hiding place.

"Got you," Eris whispered as she drew a bead on her airborne foe.  She fired and the bolt passed right through the center of the cloaked form.  "I expected better from Luna's little sister."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Lina's voice growled from just to Eris's left.

"What?!"  Eris turned just in time to see a cloakless Lina bring her silver edged blade down in what would be a killing blow.  Instinctively, she leapt back while bringing her hands up in an attempt to ward off the strike.  The sword slammed into her right wrist, splintering her crossbow and numbing her arm temporarily, but doing her no lasting harm.

Leaping forward, Lina swung again, meaning to finish the fight right there.  As she did so, a violent cramp caused her right leg to stiffen up and her strike went wide.  It only made sense, she thought.  A month in bed with no exercise and all of a sudden she was pushing herself like she was at the top of her form?  She'd be lucky if this was the worst that would happen.  It didn't mean that it didn't suck though.

Eris landed on her back and rolled backwards onto her feet again.  As if by magic, a dagger suddenly appeared in her hand, produced from some hidden pocket in her cloak.  She sprang forward quickly and silently, her blade aimed at Lina's heart.

Lina clumsily batted the knife aside with her sword.  She was starting to realize just how slow she was.  When the knife came back around towards her throat, she struck Eris's wrist with her palm, jarring the blade out of her grasp.  She then immediately whipped her arm back, meaning to elbow Eris in the nose.

With an ease born of a lifetime in combat, Eris ducked Lina's strike and deftly disarmed the redhead.  While Lina's sword was still in the air, she leaned forward and struck her foe on her injured thigh.

Lina hissed as a bolt of pain shot up her cramped leg.  "Dammit," she whispered just before the breath was driven out of her by a sharp kick just below her breastbone.  This was immediately followed by a palm strike to her nose, bloodying it.  She caught the next strike, a knifehand strike aimed at her throat, and countered with a clumsy kick to Eris's stomach.  Her injured leg protested loudly, but held up for the time being.

Gasping as the wind was driven forcefully out of her, Eris took an involuntary step back, giving Lina a precious moment to recover.  Scowling, she pulled two more daggers from her belt.  Better finish this quickly, she thought.

Seeing that she had no time to retrieve her sword, Lina instead pulled a stake from within her cloak.  Not the best weapon against a human, but desperate times and all that, she thought.  She blocked Eris's first swing and her opponent's dagger became lodged in the wood.  Sensing an opportunity to get rid of at least one of the blasted things, she pulled back hard, wrenching the knife from Eris's hand and throwing both weapons over her shoulder.

"Not bad," Eris admitted as she lunged in with the other blade.

Sidestepping her foe's attack, Lina caught Eris's arm between her own arm and body.  "Thanks," she said as she reared back and delivered a head butt to her opponent's face.  She immediately regretted her action.  Losing her hold on Eris she staggered backwards clutching her head.  "Owie!" she squeaked.  "That was really, really stupid."  An image of the stone set in Eris's circlet was clearly visible in the skin of Lina's forehead.

Seeing stars of her own, Eris staggered back.  She dropped her dagger and grabbed her throbbing head for a moment before recovering her senses.  "She really is your sister, huh Luna?" she whispered to herself as she removed the medallion from around her neck.

Dropping to one knee in her disorientation, Lina heard the hiss of the garrote wire being drawn.  Instinctively, her hands flew up just in time to keep it from cutting her throat.  Instead, the wire painfully bit into her palms, drawing blood.  "Get offa me!" she yelled angrily.  She flung herself backwards meaning to land on top of Eris, but her opponent was ready for that.

Eris fell and grunted softly when she hit the floor, but rolled with the impact and ended up standing over a kneeling Lina, which was where she wanted to be anyway.  She yanked upwards on the wire with murderous intent.

The wire finally dug into Lina's neck, eliciting a strangled gasp from the girl.  She tried to force her hands back down to give herself some air, but Eris had too much leverage.  "Dammit," she hissed.  There had to be something that she could do.

"Hold it!" Gourry yelled.  "Light come forth!" 

Lina fancied that she felt the tip of the Sword of Light brush against her throat and then she had blessed air again.  She took the opportunity to massage her throat and cough violently.

Gourry stepped over Lina to block any further attack from Eris and swung his sword again, cleaving cloth and leather, but barely missing flesh.

"You'd be wise to stay out of this," Eris growled, dropping her ruined garrote in favor holding her mangled outfit together.

Gourry grinned.  "I can't do that.  I'm her protector."  He loomed over Lina defensively to emphasize that fact.

Snorting derisively, Eris muttered, "How cute.  Mark my words, Lina.  Your knight in shining armor won't be able to save you next time."  With that, she turned and fled from the church.

"You okay, Lina?" Gourry asked, extending his hand to help the fallen Slayer to her feet.

Lina took the offered aid gratefully.  She didn't know if she'd have been able to stand on her own.  "I'm fine, Gourry."  She looked around, noticing for the first time that the swordsman was alone.  She grimaced and asked, "You lost him didn't you?" already knowing the answer.

Gourry smiled apologetically.  "Sorry, but I saw that you were in trouble and I couldn't just leave you here."  He mentally braced himself for a tirade from his companion.

Lina opened her mouth to call Gourry a stupid jellyfish, but the insult wouldn't come out.  As much as she hated to admit it, she had been about to lose the fight.  "It's okay, Gourry," she said quietly.  She smiled up at him before turning to limp slowly towards the church entrance.

Noting that Lina was in pain, Gourry hesitated for only a moment before his concern for her took precedence over self-preservation.  Closing the distance between them in two quick steps, he leaned down and scooped her up in his arms.  Squeezing his eyes shut, he braced himself for violence or at the very least, a shouting fit.  He was pleasantly surprised to receive neither.

Being far too tired to protest and honestly grateful that she didn't have to walk, Lina sighed and laid her head against Gourry's chest.  It felt so comfortable; so very safe there. 

"So what do we do now, Lina?"

"I dunno," Lina muttered exhaustedly.  "Find Diol, I guess."  Her mind was racing as she tried to figure out the significance of that woman.  She'd known Lina's sister and her knives had been silver.  She'd been a Slayer, whoever she was.  Finally deciding that it was a puzzle that could be figured out another time, she allowed her eyes to slip shut.

"Well, how are we going to do that?"

"Well," Lina said through a yawn, "we'll figure that part out in the morning.  How's that sound?"

Gourry held Lina a little closer and whispered, "Sounds good to me."

Lina didn't hear him.  She was already snoring quietly.

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Next Chapter:  Lina goes home.

Notes:  Well, I'm glad that you're all still here with me.  I think that the current arc is finally starting to pick up.  I get the feeling that it's felt a little slow up to this point.  Rest assured that there's going to be plenty of action in the next few chapters.

Let's see…  I thoroughly enjoyed the end of this chapter.  Not so much the action (although that was good, or at least, I hope it was) as what happened afterwards.  And the bar scene.  That was loads of fun to write (both times.  Thanks to Pogo for making me change it for the better).

Hey, and on top of all that, I managed to get Volun back in the story AND make a "flat chested" joke.  I'll bet you all were missing that right?  *crickets chirp*  Uh, guys?

Reviewer Response:

Otaku Girl, you're scaring me…  When I say unique qualities, I'm thinking intelligent, funny, or creative.  You make it sound like you like to eat kittens or something…  You don't, do you?  Just kidding of course!  Oh, I meant to ask you last time, but have you posted any of your writing?  I'd like to read some of it sometime.

Miss Gabriev, you'll see Lina's reaction to Gourry's hard work in the next chapter.  Sorry to hear that the story's coming so slow.  I hope you get it done soon.  (only a month left in the contest you know)

Thank you Pogo for all of your help!  I sometimes think that you like the story more than I do, with all the great suggestions that you make.

Until next time!