"Lina," the voice called out from the darkness.  It spoke her name again, more insistent this time.

Another nightmare.  That's what it had to be, Lina thought.  That knowledge did little to comfort her.  "I'm here," she whispered to the dark.

Something moved in the shadows.  "Lina, why did you leave me?"  Luna strode purposefully out of the blackness.

"You… You told me to!  I remember," Lina protested.  "You told me to run!"  She suddenly found herself running down a dark alley, or rather a maze of dark alleys as she found an identical tunnel every time she rounded a corner.  "I remember this," she panted exhaustedly.  Luna had said to run.  Just before she died, she'd told Lina to run.  And so she had.  But she had not been alone.

Footsteps.  Always there were quiet footsteps echoing on the cobblestones, never more than a few turns behind her.  Firelight reflected off the walls menacingly and there was the feeling of heat.  He'd chased Lina.  The thing that had killed Luna.

"Run, little Inverse!" the flaming apparition had called out mockingly.  "I'll know your taste soon enough.  I'll have the blood in your veins and suck the marrow from your bones.  So run while you can!"  Horrible shrieking laughter echoed through the endless alley.

Lina shrieked in terror, her voice that of a girl's instead of the young woman that she knew she was.  She glanced down at herself, seeing the sadly mended clothes of her childhood.  She was a child again.  "Sis!  Mommy!" she called out without any hope of salvation.  Her pursuer was too close.

It's breaths came in long ragged hisses.  It popped and snapped as the flames eagerly consumed its flesh.  And always it closed in. 

Her vision blurred by tears of fear, she tripped over some rubbish in the alley and gone sprawling onto the cobblestones.  A sudden pain in her leg informed her that she'd skinned her knee when she fell.  Briefly, she wished with all her heart that Mommy had been there.  Mommy could have kissed hurtie better.  She would have made the monster go away too.  Lina missed her mom.  She'd been gone for several years.  And now Luna was gone too.

Lina was alone in the dark with the demon.

Shrieking, "No, no, no!" Lina turned and put her arms up defensively.  She watched in terror as the living inferno rounded the last corner.  No longer running, he seemed content to slowly stalk her.  "Leave me alone!" she pleaded.

Then the light had come.  Light so bright that it had made the flames of Lina's pursuer seem dim. 

"The light," Lina whispered tiredly as she awoke.  There was an abundance of light and she briefly wondered if the nightmare wasn't over.  Looking up, she was able to see the midday sun shining down at her through the open roof of the building.  She sighed in relief.  Daylight.  Beautiful daylight.  And the birds were chirping too. "Thank Ceiphied," she whispered as she fished a flask out of her pocket with trembling hands.  She took a long draught of the liquid within and immediately felt much better.  The nightmare was quickly fading from her mind's eye and for that she was grateful.

Looking around, Lina wondered if she was dreaming again.  This room, it was home.  But it had burned that night.  A loud snort drew her attention to the fact that someone else was in the room with her.  She spied Gourry sitting with his back against the wall a few feet away.  His head was drooping and every few seconds his chin would bump into his chest, sending him back from unconsciousness to a semi wakeful state.  Every time he did so, he would let out an aborted snore.  "Gourry?" she said quietly.

Gourry looked up at her sleepily and grinned.  "Hey."

Lina returned his smile.  "Hey yourself.  Have you been standing guard all night?" she asked, noting the dark marks under Gourry's eyes.

"Well, I wouldn't say all night," Gourry said with a shrug.  "It was already dawn by the time we got here."

Lina chuckled quietly.  "You jellyfish.  You shouldn't have done that.  You need to sleep once in a while too, you know."

Gourry shook his head and said, "I'm fine, Lina.  I'm good for another couple hours at least."  He yawned exhaustedly and slumped against the wall eliciting a laugh from Lina.

"Yeah, I can tell that you're in top form," Lina said sarcastically.  She looked around at the newly built apartment and sighed.  "This is nice though.  I wonder who finally bought the place?" she asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Me," Gourry said remembering that Zelgadis had asked that his part in this not be mentioned.

Lina glanced up at Gourry, more than a little startled.  "You?!" she asked, feeling a lump forming in her throat.  "Why'd you do that?"

Gourry shrugged.  "Well, you said that you were going to leave as soon as the thing with Hellmaster was done, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"I thought that you might decide to stay if you had a place to live."  Gourry gestured to the modest room and said, "Well, now you do, so you don't have to leave, right?"  He looked up to see Lina wiping away tears.  Oh no, he thought.  What had he done now?  "Lina?  Are you okay?"

Lina laughed and punched Gourry on the arm, a little harder than necessary.  "Jellyfish!  Of course I'm okay!" she exclaimed.

Gourry rubbed his arm and smiled hesitantly.  "So, don't you like it?"

"I love it.  So, this is what you've been working on for the last month?"

"With Amelia, yeah.  I really wanted to have it done by the time you woke up though," Gourry said regretfully as he looked at the ceiling that wasn't there.

"It's fine, Gourry," Lina said as she made her way around the room, lovingly taking in every detail.  Everything was as she remembered, but totally new at the same time.  The fireplace didn't have the loose stone that she remembered from her childhood, the boards didn't creak where they used to, even the walls seemed a little brighter than before.  Still, it was home.  She sighed happily and stretched out along the wall as if trying to hug it.  She savored the feeling of cool wood against her cheek before she turned her attention back to Gourry.  "You must have spent all your time down here to get this much done."

"That's not really true," Gourry admitted almost guiltily.  "I went back to Sylphiel's to sleep and I didn't work at all when you got really sick."

"It's really great Gourry."  Lina continued to look around the room until her gaze fell upon her cloak.  Her smile faded when she noticed the hole caused by Eris's arrow.  It brought back the memory of the previous night, the questions, the fight, and everything else that had happened.

Noting Lina's frown, Gourry said, "You know Lina, I've been thinking about that Deal guy from last night."

Lina arched an eyebrow inquisitively.  "Deal?"

"Yeah, the guy that we're looking for.  Deal, right?"

Lina sighed.  "Diol, Gourry.  It's Diol."

"Uh right," Gourry said with a nod.  "Anyway you said something about him being an important person, right?"

"That's right."

"Well, Zelgadis told me about a party tonight for a bunch of very important people.  Do you think that he might be there?"  Gourry vaguely recalled Zelgadis telling him not to mention the party to Lina, but when it came down to it, he'd much rather help her than keep his promise to Zel.

"A party…" Lina mumbled while stroking her chin thoughtfully.  Hadn't people been gossiping about a party for the High Priest being held at the capital building?  Could Zel's party be a coincidence?  Not likely.  A mischievous grin crossed her face and she said, "Gourry, we've got a party to crash."

Gourry grimaced.  Of course Lina would immediately take the situation to the extreme.  "I'm not sure that's a good idea.  We could wait around outside and see if Diol shows up, right?"

"No good," Lina said with a terse shake of her head.  "He might slip by or something and then I'd never get a hold of him."

"Lina, don't you think that Zel will be mad if we just barge in without permission?"

Lina sniffed haughtily.  "He shouldn't be because we've already been invited, Gourry."

Gourry looked at Lina suspiciously.  "Are you sure about that?"

Lina nodded excitedly.  "Of course!  If you were throwing a party, who would you invite?"

"Um, my friends?"

"That's right!  And we're Zel's friends, right?  So it's obvious that he just forgot to invite us.  It's okay though.  As busy as he's been lately, it only makes sense that he'd forget something or other.  He's only human, you know."

Gourry thought back to his conversation with Zelgadis.  Hadn't he specifically said that he and Lina were not invited to the party?  "Well, I don't know Lina," he said thoughtfully.  "Maybe this isn't a good idea.  I still think that we should just wait outside and grab Diol when he shows up."

Lina's lower lip quivered briefly as she whipped up a batch of tears.  "I can't believe you'd say something like that," she whimpered as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.  Sniffling loudly she added, "You'd snub poor Zel just because he made a simple mistake?"

Recoiling a bit at the sight of Lina's tears, Gourry frowned.  She was taking the idea that they weren't invited really hard.  How could he make her understand that Zelgadis didn't want them to be there?  A particularly loud sob on her part made him grimace.  "Okay," he said quietly.  "We can go, I guess.  Just… just stop crying, okay?"

"Yay!" Lina yelled, hopping up and down excitedly, her crocodile tears suddenly gone.  "Oh Gourry, I knew you'd see things my way!" she called out over her shoulder as she turned to gather her things.  "We're going to eat, drink, and get the bad guy.  It'll be fun!"

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

At that very moment, Zelgadis stopped in the doorway of a jewelry shop.  He felt a sudden wave of unadulterated terror wash over him.  Glancing around frantically, he half expected some demon to jump out of the throng of pedestrians.  The people moved along as if nothing were wrong.  It must be him then.

Heaving a shaky sigh, Zelgadis leaned against the wall and massaged his temples.  Stress.  It had to be the stress.  The bloody dreams he'd been having coupled with the strain of throwing together a lavish party for a man he hated could be a little overwhelming, he supposed.  But, it was going to go off without a hitch.  It was a simple party.  What could go wrong?  He stifled a near hysterical giggle and exhaustedly muttered, "I'm a dead man."

On top of all that, now Zelgadis was shopping for jewelry.  He'd never bought jewelry before.  He didn't have the foggiest idea of what Amelia would like.  He sighed and shook his head.  She'd love anything that he got her.  Somehow, that made it even harder to buy for her.  What did one get for the girl that loved everything?  "I guess that's what I'm here to find out," he grumbled as he entered the store.

The bell over the door tinkled loudly, splitting the silence of the store interior and immediately drawing unwanted attention to Zelgadis.  He glanced around at the cases lining the walls and immediately felt overwhelmed.  Rubies, emeralds, diamonds, and sapphires twinkled at him from their settings of silver and gold.  There was so much to choose from.  He briefly wondered why women couldn't be happy with one style. 

A middle-aged woman looked up at the sound of the bell and grinned.  "Good day sir!  Welcome to Cali's jewelry emporium!"  She quickly hustled over to Zelgadis, resembling nothing more than a spider with a hapless fly caught in its web.

Zelgadis looked at the woman, a mortified expression on his face.  "I've made a mistake," he informed her as he turned to leave.  Amelia would have to be happy with the dress he'd paid for.

Cali grabbed her hapless customer's wrist as he turned to flee.  "Oh, that's just not true!" she exclaimed.  "I'm sure that we can find something suitable for your lady friend."  The guy looked terrified and there was no way that she was going to let an easy sale like this out of the store.  She knew his type.  A fish out of water that would eagerly buy whatever she suggested.

Nodding shakily, Zelgadis abandoned his plans for retreat.  Cali already knew that he was buying for a woman, so maybe this wouldn't be so bad.  He looked her squarely in the eyes and calmly said, "I don't know anything about jewelry.  I want something nice though," his tone implying that he was in a hurry.

"Well, that's what I'm here for." Cali said with a smile.  This was going to be even easier than she'd thought.  Judging by his clothes, he was rich and apparently he was an idiot.  "I'm sure we can find you something nice for your lady," she said in a friendly way.  She led Zelgadis over to the display cases by his arm and asked, "Now, what does she like?"

"Everything."

"Necklaces?" Cali suggested, gesturing to one case.

Zelgadis stared at the necklaces as if he'd never seen one before.  "Okay."

Cali barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she said, "A bracelet, perhaps?"

"That sounds good," Zelgadis replied, nodding slowly.

"Maybe some earrings?"

"Yeah."

Nodding as if Zelgadis were actually being helpful, Cali said, "I'm getting an idea of what she likes now.  Come along."  She dragged him to the back of the store to where the costume jewelry was.  Nothing in the case was worth more than a couple silvers, but she didn't think that he'd notice or care.  "Now this," she said lifting a cheap silver plated necklace from the case, "is something that any young lady would love."

Zelgadis looked at the necklace suspiciously.  It didn't shimmer like the others did and Cali's grin didn't exactly inspire confidence.  He got the sneaking suspicion that she was trying to rip him off.  He glared at the woman darkly.

Cali laughed nervously.  "Sir?  Is there some kind of problem?"

She kept talking, but Zelgadis didn't hear her words.  The blood was pounding in his ears and the corners of his vision flared red.  He had a sudden vision, terrifying in its clarity.  He saw this insolent woman torn into small pieces, her remains put on gristly display in the glass cases.  Where the earrings were on display, he saw her eyes pinned to the cushions.  The case containing the rings still had the bands on display, but now they adorned her severed fingers.  And the exquisite blood.  The walls were painted with her blood.

Zelgadis shuddered and reached out to grab Cali's wrist.  "I… I don't like this one," he hissed through clenched teeth, nodding at the fake necklace.  He eyed the exposed flesh of her throat longingly, struggling to resist the thirst that he'd fairly easily kept in check for most of his life.  Tearing his eyes away from her, he turned his attention to the more expensive jewelry in the display case by the door.  "Can we look at those?" he asked quietly.

"Of course," Cali whispered.  When Zelgadis left with his purchase a few minutes later, she didn't overcharge him.  In fact, she gave him a sizeable discount, which was something she'd never done in all her long years of business.  In her defense, she'd never had a customer that looked like he wanted to eat her before, either.

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

"Le's see," Jillas muttered as looked at the tangled mass of rope sitting in front of him.  This was so complicated.  "Te red 'un goes to te small keg?  No, tha's not right."  He scratched his head in utter befuddlement.  Who knew that getting revenge was so complicated?

"Excuse me, sir," a guard said, poking Jillas in the ribs with the butt of his spear.  "What are you doing there?"  He looked at the mass of cords running from unmarked barrels in every corner of the massive chamber that eventually terminated at the mess in the middle of the floor.

Jillas looked up at the man and waved happily.  "Ello!  I'm goin' ta blow 'Ezo ta 'ell!" he explained.

"Oh," the guard said after a moment of fruitlessly trying to translate Jillas's speech.  "Well, uh, whatever you're doing, could you do it somewhere else?"  He pointed at some men who were straining to lift an ornate oak table twenty feet in length.  "They're starting to set up the tables and you're sort of in the way," he explained apologetically.

Looking around as if just noticing his surroundings, Jillas nodded and quickly began to gather up his work.  "Sorry 'bout that, boss.  I'll make me bom's som'ere else 'en!"  He saluted the guard and quickly scampered off with his dangerous cargo.

"What an odd fellow," the guard remarked as he watched Jillas sit down in a corner and eagerly resume his work.  The way he spoke seemed almost animalistic, sounding more like yips and barks than actual speech, but he seemed to be quite pleasant nonetheless.  "And did he just call me 'boss?" he mumbled quizzically.  No matter.  It was time to get back to work.  You never could tell when someone suspicious might try to sneak in.

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

Lina stared at Gourry's back, wishing that she didn't have to say what she was about to say.  They'd found out the details about Zelgadis's party.  Given the fact that it was all that the people were talking about, it was hard not to really.  It seemed that the gala was open to the ecclesiastical class only.  That meant that Diol would almost certainly be there.  In turn, that meant that she had work to do before they crashed the party tonight.  Quick work judging by the position of the sun.  It was already early afternoon.  She wanted to put the unpleasant task off for as long as possible, but she had to know before she confronted Diol.  Nervously clearing her throat, she said, "Gourry, there's something that I have to do before tonight."

Gourry nodded as he threaded his way through the crowded streets of Sairaag.  "Sure Lina.  Where are we going?"  He put a warning hand on her shoulder to keep her from being bowled over by a much larger man.  "Watch yourself."

"Thanks," Lina muttered.  "Um, I kind of need to do this by myself."  She grimaced, knowing exactly what he would say. 

"Are you leaving?" Gourry asked quietly, not even breaking stride.  "Because I told you that I'm not leaving your side."

"No, it's not that.  I, um, I have some… family business to take care of and I'd really like to do it alone."

Gourry sighed.  "Sure Lina.  Are you sure that you don't want me to go with you?  I can help.  You know, if you get tired or something."

Lina shook her head.  Gourry knew what she had to do.  She was silently grateful that he didn't mention what her task was.  It was gristly enough just thinking about it and if she actually heard it voiced, well, she might lose her nerve.  "I'll meet you back here later," she said as she turned and plunged into the anonymity of the crowd.

Watching for fleeting flashes of her crimson hair in the sea of humanity, Gourry briefly wondered if Lina would come back.  It might be too much for her to bear.  "I wonder if she has a shovel?" he muttered while scratching his head.

After all, it'd be really hard to exhume Luna without a shovel.

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

Amelia twirled in front of the full-length mirror, giggling happily.  "Oh wow, it's so pretty," she said breathlessly.

The dress was an elaborate work of art, sky blue and trimmed with lace.  The skirt was a mass of elaborate frills and that billowed out around Amelia's legs.  The strapless top was low cut with dark blue lace running along the edge of the fabric.  It was a little too low cut in her modest opinion.

"Oh, it's fine," Martina said, noting the way that Amelia was blushing.  "He's going to love it!  You worry too much."

"Do you think so?"

"Of course!  I, the great and powerful seer Martina, saw the two of you together.  It's destiny, so it stands to reason that this dress is perfect!"

"How do you figure that?" Amelia asked curiously as she tried to pat down some of the more elaborate frills in the skirt.  She'd never had a dress this fancy before and she wasn't quite sure if it was supposed to be that bulky.

Martina sniffed haughtily as if it should be obvious.  "Well, because once the future's been unveiled, it's pretty much set in stone.  There's no escaping fate, you know."

Frowning, Amelia wondered briefly if that was true.  "No escaping fate," she whispered to herself.  Lina's unhappy prophecy loomed in her mind.  She was startled out of her brooding by Martina's next words.

"You know, you could show up to the party wearing nothing but a smile and it'd be the right thing to do."  Martina grinned mischievously and elbowed Amelia in the ribs.  "He'd probably appreciate that, don't you think?" 

Amelia blushed and glanced towards the door of the changing room.  "Don't say stuff like that!  Someone might hear you!" she whispered while continuing to fidget uncomfortably in the gown.

"I'm just pointing out the fact that fate is fate."  Martina grimaced and gently slapped Amelia's hands away from the dress.  "Ooh, don't do that!" she admonished as she set about straightening the gown out again.  "It's perfect the way it is."  She looked her friend over one last time before nodding in satisfaction.  "Good enough.  Now, you have the money, right?"

"Yeah, it's right over there," Amelia said, pointing at the purse sitting atop her old clothes.  "How much is this anyway?"

Smiling playfully, Martina said, "If you have to ask, it's probably too much," as she began to count out the payment for the dress.

"That's not funny, Martina!" Amelia said, getting a little annoyed with her friend.  "How much?"

Martina quoted Amelia an outrageous amount.

"T-That's okay," Amelia stammered, suddenly feeling incredibly ill.  "I'll find something else to wear…"  She began the arduous task of removing the dress feeling more than a little disappointed.  It was beautiful, but she'd never seen that much money in her life.

Martina scowled and said, "Don't you dare!  He didn't give you all that money so that you could wear some second rate rag you know.  Sit still and I'll be back in a second."  With that, Martina swept out of the changing room to pay the shopkeeper.

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

"Bah!  I can't believe that I'm expected to go to these stupid social functions," Diol growled as he fumbled with the ties on his formal robe of office.  "Don't they understand that I have important work to do?" he asked Vrumugun's still form.

Diol glanced down at his hands and rolled his eyes in irritation.  They were still caked with blood and he'd smeared it all over the front of his outfit.  "Blast!  I tell you, if it's not one thing, it's another!"  He snatched up a grimy rag and began to dab at the gore, managing to smear it more than he cleaned it up.  Finally deciding that the crimson streaks wouldn't be too objectionable, he tossed the rag on the floor and made his way through the clutter to the door.  "I expect that I'll have to stay at this thing until dawn," he grumbled unhappily.  "Honestly, if I get any more behind in my work…"

The sound of the door slamming muffled the rest of Diol's diatribe and for a few moments, the dirty little chamber was still.  Then there was movement.  Or it may have been a trick of the light.  Either way, just for the scantest of moments, it appeared as if Vrumugun's left eye had twitched.

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

A single flickering candle barely illuminated Xellos's parchment.  "And thus, doing battle in the chaotic fires of Hell itself, Lina Inverse cast down the Hellmaster and brought peace to the world once again."  Xellos nibbled on the tip of his quill thoughtfully before continuing.  "The fatally wounded Slayer was then snatched from the jaws of death by the Flare Dragon and returned to her home to mend.  And the story of Lina Inverse continues."  He blew on the page to dry the ink and chuckled.  Maybe the bit about Lina being saved by Ceiphied was a bit of an exaggeration, but this was supposed to be an inspirational story.  Some embellishments here and there were to be expected.  "Besides," he said with a chuckle, "nobody wants to hear how Lina was saved by a-oh?"

Something had changed in the chamber.  The air seemed a little heavier and held the faint smell of death.

Scowling, Xellos turned to see what had caused the disturbance in the perfect order of his sanctuary.  He gasped in surprise to see a figure in a white cloak standing mere inches away from him.  His elbow jerked, knocking the inkwell over and saturating a whole evening's work with black fluid.  He didn't even notice.  "You," he whispered angrily.

The figure smiled enigmatically under its hood and cocked its head thoughtfully.  "I remember you."  Its smile faded as dark memories of the priest came back.

"What are you doing here?" Xellos demanded as he turned and began to sponge off his parchment with the corner of his cloak.

"Betrayer," the figure hissed with barely restrained fury.

Giving up his efforts to salvage his writings, Xellos turned back to the intruder and put on one of his most infuriating grins.  "Oh my heavens!  Are you still mad about that?  I'd expect you to be over it by now."

"You let me die."

"To make an omelet you have to break a few eggs, you know."  Xellos turned and began to clear away the ruined papers on his desk.  "I knew that you couldn't do what was necessary."

"So you cast me aside."

Xellos laughed aloud.  "Well, of course!  Are you just now figuring that out?"

"Her," the figure said, nodding at a page on Xellos's desk.  "Will you betray her, too?"

Xellos glanced down at the page to see Lina's name written in his neat script.  It was the only thing discernable in the mess of ink.  He smirked and said, "If it served my master's will, I'd strangle her in her sleep.  Now, if you're quite done, I have work to do."  He pointedly turned his back on the intruder and sat back down at his desk.  "Kindly show yourself out."  He felt cold eyes boring into his back for a moment, before a quiet rustle betrayed the fact that his foe had departed.  "Rezo," he growled, sounding uncharacteristically angry.

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

Gourry tentatively reached out and put a hand on Lina's shoulder.  "Hey Lina, are you okay?"  Since she'd returned from her task, she'd been uncharacteristically silent.  Her hands and face had been streaked with dirt, so he knew that she'd done what she set out to do.  The only question was, what had she found?

Lina shrugged Gourry's hand off and nodded at a woman walking down the street.  "There.  She'll do."

"Do for what, Lina?" Gourry asked as he scrutinized the woman.  She was kind of short and skinny with an ill-tempered look about her.  Under her arm she carried a plainly wrapped package and a roll of parchment.

Rolling her eyes impatiently, Lina growled, "My disguise, dummy.  Do you think that we're just going to waltz into the party or what?"

Gourry shook his head in irritation.  "Hold on a second.  What's this about a disguise now?"

"Well, if you have a better way to get into a high security event like this, I'd love to hear it."  She crossed her arms and cocked her head, waiting for Gourry's answer.

Sighing resignedly, Gourry muttered, "I just don't understand why we always end up doing something illegal.  Can't you make things simple for once?"

Lina rolled her eyes and said, "Gourry just shut up and follow me." before slipping into the throng of pedestrians.  She darted forward, nimbly threading her way through the crowd.  "Excuse me.  Pardon me."

"Well…" Gourry said, trying to think of something to distract Lina.  She was looking at her unsuspecting target predatorily and that made him incredibly nervous for some reason.  "How do you know that she has an invitation?"

Lina nodded at a parcel that the woman carried under her arm.  "She's got a letter bearing the church seal.  It's got to be an invitation, right?"  She quickened her pace until she was just behind the woman.

Gourry nodded when he saw the parchment.  "Now how did I miss that?" he muttered quizzically.

"Excuse me," Lina said to the woman, using her sweetest voice, "I'm new in town and I was wondering if-"

"Get lost, you little alley cat," the woman replied without even breaking stride.

Lina stopped short and blinked in surprise.  "Well," she muttered while drawing her sword.  "That was rude."  Sounding more than a little angry, she called out, "Hey!  Hold up a sec!"

"What are you doing?" Gourry hissed in Lina's ear as they ran after the woman.

"What does it look like?  I'm negotiating!"  Winking at Gourry mischievously, Lina darted forward and cracked the woman on the back of the skull with the hilt of her sword.

"God, Lina!" Gourry yelled as he glanced around at the throng of wide-eyed onlookers.  "She, um, she owes my friend some money," he explained with a nervous chuckle.

Lina had the protesting woman in a headlock and was hitting her over the head repeatedly while yelling, "Come on!  Give me your damn clothes!"

Gourry gave the onlookers a pained grin and added, "It's a lot of money."  Deciding that things had gone a little too far, he stepped in and grabbed Lina by the arm.  "Lina, I think that she's had enough."

"No she hasn't!  She's still struggling!" Lina growled through gritted teeth.  She jerked the woman's head to the left and then to the right, using her weight to drag the hapless woman to the ground.  "Jeez, are you even human?!" she asked as she struck the flailing woman yet again.  "Cut it out!"

Gourry was about to pull Lina off when a firm hand on his shoulder drew his attention.  "Huh?" he said, turning to find himself nose to nose with Zangulus.

"G-Gourry?!" Zangulus sputtered when he recognized the swordsman.  "What do you think you're doing?"

"Well, uh, you see, it's like this," Gourry hastily tried to explain.  He was cut off by an enthusiastic yell from Lina.

"Gourry that's great!" Lina exclaimed.  "He looks like he's about your size!"  A moment later, she grimaced in pain and struck the protesting woman again.  "Hey, no biting!"

Zangulus grimaced when he saw Lina holding the now unconscious party guest.  "Oh god!  Not the psycho!"

"Psycho?" Lina said with a frown.  "Gourry, what have you been telling him?"

Gourry quickly defused the situation by rendering Zangulus unconscious with a punch to the jaw. 

A few moments later, Gourry and Lina were changing their clothes in the relative privacy of a nearby alley.

"Lina, could you please explain to me again why I just assaulted a guard?" Gourry asked with a pained expression on his face.  He took a deep breath and painfully squeezed into Zangulus's breastplate.  They weren't as similar in size as Lina would have him believe.

"Jellyfish, how else do you think that we're getting into the party?"  Lina broke the seal on her invitation and scanned the paper briefly.  "What the hell?" she mumbled quizzically as she turned her attention to the package the woman had been carrying.  After unwrapping it, she snarled, "Oh, you have got to be kidding!"

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

Minding the cemetery wasn't exactly the most stressful job.  After all, it's not like the residents were going to get up and walk away or anything.  Well, aside from the strangeness a month ago that was.  But the people of Sairaag made a point of not talking about that.  Bad things happen sometimes and to dwell on them only invited further disaster.

So it was quite upsetting when the poor groundskeeper came across freshly turned earth during his rounds in the graveyard.  A mound of dirt lay beside an open grave.  A few feet away, a shovel lay on the ground, its haft violently snapped in two.  "Ceiphied save us, what's happened now?" he muttered darkly as he held his torch up to illuminate the name carved on the marker of the disturbed grave.  "Luna Inverse," he read aloud.  "Poor dear.  Nobody has any respect for the dead anymore."  He peered into the grave, ignoring the scent of old death.  One got used to it in this business.

Luna's coffin was a cheap piece of work so carelessly crafted that the lid had barely latched when they had closed it.  In her defense, there had been little money to buy one with.  Lina hadn't been wealthy by any stretch of the imagination and Xellos had been unable to raise much money through donations.  Luna had been a good person, but few people appreciated what she had done, as was often the case in Sairaag.

At the moment, it didn't matter if the lid latched or not.  It was flung wide open revealing the interior of the Spartan casket.  Luna's coffin was empty.

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

Next Chapter:  The dance

Notes:  Hmm, the plot thickens, eh?  I hope everyone has gotten their fill of Xellos.  I think he's going to be missing for the next few chapters.  Don't ask why.  It's a secret.

The beginning of the chapter in Lina's home was nice.  Or at least I hope it was.  It ended up a bit different than I had originally written it, but I think it's better this way.  After all, nobody wanted to see Lina have to kill Gourry after he became possessed, right?  Oops, I probably shouldn't have said that…

My favorite part is the end though.  I had a big stupid grin on my face as I was writing the "Lina vs. the party guest" scene.  It's one of those throwaway scenes that are just enjoyable to write.

Reviewer Response:

Raven, I'm so incredibly pleased that you found the chapter to be amusing.  I sometimes wonder if the humor is funny at all.

Stara, that line about Volun taking a powder was just horrible.  Almost as bad as some of my puns.  So, of course I was laughing like an idiot when I read it.  I've got to stop doing that at work.

Miss Gabriev, you've already watched TRY all the way through?  Yeesh.  How'd you like it compared to the other seasons?  Glad you enjoyed the chapter.

A Happy New Year to you as well, Otaku girl!  In answer to your question about Zel's secret, I'll just say that it's not very secret anymore.  And the party was extremely fun and interesting to write.  Take that how you will.

Unearthly Emperor?  Um, do I need to bow or anything?  As always, I'm immensely pleased to hear from a new reader.  Glad you're enjoying the story!

*whistles innocently*  You don't want me to say what, Pogo?  Oh, that you're crazy, right?  Fear not, you're no nuttier than usual.  I did add to the bar scene.  Specifically, I added Gourry and Lina's discussion of how she got there when she was supposed to be in bed.  Your comments help me a lot, and yes I do sometimes find myself pulling at my hair muttering, "What the hell is she thinking?!"  But the story always ends up better after I look over your suggestions, so it's worth it.  Thanks for sticking with it and I hope that you really are up for betaing a year's worth of chapters.  See?  You didn't think about that, did you?

Until next time!