Sylphiel smiled and reached past Flagoon to set the brush on the table. He didn't even notice, but he noticed when she began massaging his neck and shoulders. She could feel the echo of his melted bliss filtering back to her and laughed softly. He'd gone completely limp in her hands, softly murmuring when she found a particularly good spot. He leaned forward as Sylphiel worked her way down his back, head now resting on the book he'd been reading, and he didn't stir even after she'd stopped. Checking his expression, Sylphiel smiled again. He'd gone to sleep, or was fairly close to it. However, if she let him sleep sitting like that, he'd be sore all over again.

Gently, she shook his shoulder, "Flagoon," she whispered. He cracked his eyes open reluctantly. "Come on," she said and took his arm, reluctantly, he staggered to his feet and she paused to collect the book from the backyard table. He leaned on her as she guided him back inside. Heading up the stairs, she let him into his room and left him facedown on the bed, the book on the night table. Leaving the door slightly open, Sylphiel headed back downstairs and found up her broom to do some sweeping of the hardwood floors that were throughout the house, humming softly to herself. She had more than a few chores to catch up with, and felt free to do them so long as Flagoon was asleep.

Pausing in her work, Sylphiel lifted her eyes to look at the front windows of the living room, having thought she'd seen movement on the road leading to her house. She'd been right. There were people. Setting her broom aside, she opened the door and stepped out, peering into the distance. Light glimmered off long blonde hair, shining in the sunlight like gold, the smaller figure that walked beside the taller man was cloaked in black and pink, blood-red hair shimmering with a hint of molten-copper.

"Oh... bother. They have the worst timing," Sylphiel muttered, but sighed, clearing her expression. She would just have to explain to them as best she could. Dear Gourry probably wouldn't care, but Mrs. Lina... She'd probably have a hard time not Dragon Slaving Flagoon just for using Rezo's body. Lifting a hand, she waved, and after a second, Lina and Gourry waved back and broke into a jog.

Grinning broadly, Lina opened the front gate and stepped through, Gourry closing it behind, "Hey Sylphiel! Long time no see!" the redhead exclaimed gleefully.

Smiling sadly, Sylphiel gazed at Gourry for a long painful moment, then looked towards Lina, "Hello Mrs. Lina, Gourry dear. What brings you?"

Lina shrugged, stepping up onto the covered porch that spanned the front of the house, "We were in the area, thought we'd drop by, see if you were doing alright... it's that time of year..." she added. The anniversary of Sairaag's death as well as resurrection by Phibrizzo, she meant. "And, of course, we came for the food," Lina added to lighten the mood.

Gourry came to stand beside Lina and grinned, "Hi Sylphiel," he said belatedly. "When's dinner, cause I'm starving!"

Laughing softly, Sylphiel tucked her hands behind her and leaned back against the door, "It won't be for a while yet," she answered, "It's good to see you... Both of you." She looked away and took a breath, "Mrs. Lina- I... have a guest right now. He tires easily and needs rest..."

Flipping a hand, Lina smiled, "Sure, sure, we can be quiet. Where's he now?"

"Napping," Sylphiel admitted. "Mrs. Lina..." she tried, "I- his...appearance might... upset you. Please don't hurt him, he's not... who you think he is. Please don't hurt him."

Dropping her joviality, Lina folded her arms, expression completely serious as she gazed at Sylphiel's face. Gourry was oblivious behind her, staring off towards the road with a preoccupied expression. "So what's he look like? And who is he?"

Taking a breath, Sylphiel pried her hands apart and pushed her hair back over her shoulders, "He's Flagoon," she started, "...I was in Sairaag yesterday and... And Flagoon- I felt it- I felt it come back, Mrs. Lina, but it was fading and I went to see what was going on and... I found him. Flagoon has taken ..."

"Kopii Rezo's body?" Lina asked, disbelievingly, face pale. "Are you serious?" Numbly, Sylphiel nodded. "You're sure it's not a trick."

Quickly, the shrine maiden shook her head, "No! No, Mrs. Lina, he's really Flagoon. I can feel it, and... I think you could too if you tried."

Lina didn't look amused, her lips pressed into a line. "If you're sure, Sylphiel. ...I'll hold judgment till I see for myself that it's not Rezo."

Sighing with gratitude, Sylphiel turned and opened the door, taking Lina's promise for good behavior at face value, and let the two inside. "Would you like some snacks, Mrs. Lina? Gourry dear?"

Grin returning, Lina pumped a fist, but checked her volume, "You bet!" Gourry nodded his approval of the idea and after closing the door, Sylphiel headed for the kitchen with her two new guests falling in behind, Lina pausing briefly to remove her shoulder guards and cloak, leaving them on the pegs by the door. Gourry courteously removed his sword and hung it there as well.

Taking seats at the table, Lina pulled her gloves off and stretched her fingers, her ring winking brightly in the light of the gas lamp hung over the table. "So, other than Flagoon deciding to grow legs, what's been going on?"

Sylphiel shuffled in her cabinets, coming out with some light snacks, hoping it would be enough to tide the two black holes over till dinner. "Nothing really. People are slowly moving back to Sairaag, rebuilding. The chimera and copy lab is drawing a lot of students now since they rebuilt and expanded. I think your destroying their old building did them a lot of good, they had the chance to make a building to their needs rather than using that old house. I've been teaching white magic there, too. I've gotten a lot better," she smiled back at them over her shoulder, "I understand it better now that I'm trying to think of ways to tell other people how to do it." Finishing her arrangement on the platter, she took it over to the table and set it down between the two, then turned to put on water for tea.

Lina grinned, "That's great, Syl," she stuffed a handful of food into her mouth and said nothing more till she finished chewing. "It's good to hear that you've gotten a life." Sylphiel blushed and pulled out a seat at the table, placing herself across from Gourry. He didn't comment, he hadn't been listening really, he was too busy making sure he got his fair share of the snacks before Lina stole it. After another mouth full, Lina added, "I was kind of worried about you for a while."

Giving a nod, Sylphiel decided that Lina hadn't meant to insult, and was simply being blunt as usual. "Thank you," she said softly, "I... just didn't know what to do with myself. That was all."

A creak on the stairs stopped her from speaking further, and she looked up just in time to see Flagoon step into the doorway. He stopped, pupils shrinking as he focused on Lina, who had stopped eating. Flagoon took a breath and stepped in, heading for the remaining seat at the table, giving the sorceress that flat stare, his initial pause the only break in his stoic exterior.

"I should thank you," he stated. "For preventing Zanafaar from destroying me before my time."

Lina snatched the plate from Gourry and finished off the snacks, to his dismay and soft protest. "But Lina- you said you weren't hungry!"

Scowling at him, she raised the empty plate threateningly, "That was two hours ago." Gourry winced back from her and lifted a hand to defend his head, but Lina's attention snapped back to the body of the copy of Rezo as he reached across the table and snagged the plate from her hands and set it on the table. No change of expression at all. Clearing her throat, the sorceress smirked slightly, "Yeah, well, all in a day's work," she replied and Sylphiel stood, going to the stove to tend the screaming teapot.

"Flagoon," she said, "did you sleep well?"

He blinked, "Yes."

Conversation faltered briefly, stumbling over his single word answer as if it were an unexpected rock in the road. Gourry broke the silence, "So when's dinner?"

Sighing, Sylphiel looked at the light outside. It was getting towards sunset, "In an hour," she replied and after serving the tea to her guests, the white mage began preparations for the promised meal.

Lina lifted her cup and sipped from it, watching over the rim as Flagoon did the same, his face still devoid of emotion, as if the concept were quite alien to him. "So- why'd you choose that body?" Lina asked bluntly.

"It was conveniently close, and suited my purposes."

Narrowing her eyes, Lina shot back, "Which are?"

"Not something your limited mind would understand," he answered just as bluntly, "I am aware of the proper course of events the future should take, and though I will not be a part of them, I must ensure the balance is kept. For that, I needed a degree of mobility, despite the inconveniences of being an animal."

Bristling, Lina slapped down her cup, which she'd just lifted to drink from, sloshing tea on the table. "Hey! What kind of 'inconveniences' are you talking about?" she seethed.

Sylphiel looked back at them, expression pained, "Mrs. Lina! He doesn't mean it as an insult..."

Flagoon sipped his tea, "I shall list," he stated and set his cup down with a click on the table. And started with the basics, "Vulnerability to injury, cold, heat, sunlight, darkness, fatigue, age, and illness, the necessity of various acts to protect myself against aforementioned vulnerabilities, the inconvenience of eating and eliminating, clothing, breathing, bathing, and communicating verbally with the complication of these 'emotion' things that seem far too important for what they are. You are under the impression that I am simply pretending to be myself, and that irritates you. I do not suggest taking action, however, as I do have means of protection. The first of which is my shrine maiden."

"Is that a threat?" Lina growled.

The Holy Tree stared at her, "A warning. I do not directly control her, but should I be in danger, she will move to assist me. It is the link between myself and my shrine maidens, as it has been since my planting a thousand years ago. You have seen that link before, when this body and the owner of it attacked me. However, incidents such as that will not happen again. I have absorbed the last of Zanafaar, which was the reason for my planting, and again, these 'emotions' you have over that event are nonproductive, as I was aware that the event would occur and would be dealt with in a satisfactory manner."

Gourry set down his empty cup and blinked at Flagoon, lifting a hand with one finger raised, "So... let me get this straight," he stated, "Everything that's happened is already decided? There's no changing the future?"

Shrugging, Flagoon sipped his tea and blandly refilled his cup from the pot set on the table, "No." Lina scowled.

"What the hell does that mean? No? No what?" she demanded, slapping her palm flat on the table.

Flagoon sighed, eyes going half-lidded as if he were having some sort of mental conversation with himself. "It is difficult to explain," he said finally. "Events flow like water, perhaps it overflows its banks, but the water always returns to its course. Tracking every drop of water is difficult, but there is no need to, for the destination is the same, whether a particular drop splashes ashore or not."

Silence fell again, and Flagoon, apparently thinking the subject closed, turned his attention back to sipping his tea. Lina sat back in her chair, trying to muddle through what she'd been told, trying to figure out if she believed him or not. "So ...what's the destination?" Gourry asked the obvious.

"Chaotic Balance."

Lina shivered and picked up what was left of her tea and drank it, despite it being a bit cold by now. "How can there be such a thing?" she asked, calm and dead serious. "Is it the fight between the gods and the monsters? Is that it?" Flagoon blinked at her, then nodded, "So, there won't ever be an end to their fighting, will there?" This time, Flagoon gave a single shake of his head, "And no one ever really wins in the battles they fight, huh?" Again, he nodded. "But the flow of wins and losses is equal, but completely unpredictable where they'll occur, but it all adds up in the end."

"Amazing," Flagoon murmured, quirking a brow, "You actually understood."

Giving a brief grin, Lina stretched, "I was worried for a bit there. I thought you were saying that we had no choice in our lives. That the future was set already."

"If the copy of Rezo had not resurrected Zanafaar, another would have, or another. This body was most convenient, though."

The sun's last rays splayed through the window, and Lina could find nothing else to say to Flagoon, so she fell silent, Gourry had gone off into some little world in his head, staring up at the ceiling. Sylphiel smiled slightly to herself as she continued making dinner, the wonderful smell of her cooking filling the room. Flagoon coughed softly behind his hand, then stood, leaving the room in a graceful walk, as if drifting on the wind, and headed up the stairs silently, only a creak of the fifth step betraying his direction. The stair creaked again, but Flagoon did not return to the kitchen, but briefly passed the kitchen door as he came to the bottom step and turned, heading over to the leather couch with the book he'd gone upstairs to retrieve.

A burst of thunder startled them all, and directly afterwards, rain lashed against the window. Wind howled around the house in an eerie moan that sent a shiver up Lina's spine. "Good thing we got here when we did," she commented. "I'd hate to be out in that." A triple flash of lightning flickered in the windows and thunder exploded directly overhead.

Looking out the window over the kitchen sink, Sylphiel shook her head. Though the sun wasn't quite down yet, the sky was nearly pitch black with an underlining of bloody red on the edges of the cloud bottoms. Rain poured down in a solid wall, beating at the glass of her window ruthlessly. Belatedly, she remembered Rezo's robes, just outside the door, but she'd intended to throw them away anyway, so it didn't matter if they got soaked. Turning away, she opened the oven and pulled out the roast, setting it on wooden pads on the table then turned to get plates, bowls, forks, knives, and spoons. Placing the dishes on the table, Sylphiel turned to get the soup, which was what was left of lunch, that she'd intended to save and set that on the table as well. "Flagoon," she called.

Silently, he appeared in the doorway, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Apparently, he'd fallen asleep again, and she smiled at that, then looked closer as he took a seat at the table. Coming over, she put her wrist to his forehead. "I think you've got a fever," she told him.

He sighed, but didn't comment even after Sylphiel had secured some soup for him before Lina and Gourry got that far. "Just tell me if you want any more," she told the Holy Tree and patted his hand. He grunted, not looking up from his soup as he carefully ate it. Sylphiel tried her best to ignore Lina and Gourry and eat her own soup in silence. It didn't take the two adventurers long to demolish the rest of the soup and the roast, and thankfully, they did it without destroying Sylphiel's dishes. Taking Flagoon's bowl, she touched his face with her other hand. "Go to bed, I'll bring something to help you feel better in a moment."

Nodding once, he got to his feet and left the room, stopping in the living room to get his book, then drifted upstairs. The fifth step squeaked softly as he passed. Collecting the rest of the dishes, Sylphiel put them into the sink as the storm continued furiously outside. Setting on some water for tea, the shrine maiden hunted through her cupboard for cough syrup as she remembered hearing him coughing earlier while she was making dinner. When the water was ready, she made some willow bark tea and found up a spoon, then headed up the stairs, leaving Gourry and Lina to do as they pleased- which turned out to be going to the living room to start a fire in the fireplace to ward off the chill in the air.

Flagoon was dressed in the bedclothes Sylphiel had found up for him and curled on his side beneath the covers of the bed, back to the door. Perching on the edge of the bed, Sylphiel set the tea and syrup on the table beside the book Flagoon had been reading. Touching his shoulder she smiled slightly as he rolled back a bit to look at her, then pushed himself up to a sitting position. Placing her hand against his forehead once more, she tried to determine his temperature. He wasn't that hot, merely warm enough to feel terrible. Taking the spoon and cough syrup, she measured out some and after a cringe, he took it and swallowed the spoonful, as well as the second one. The tea was welcome after that, to wash the taste from his mouth.

Sylphiel sighed softly, fingering his hair lightly as she gazed at him, his eyes were downcast, refusing to meet hers even as he drank the tea. "Flagoon...? Is something bothering you? Or do you just feel bad?"

"...yes..." and that was all he said and held the empty cup out to her.

Setting it aside, Sylphiel pulled him close, resting his head on her shoulder, "You'll feel better soon," she told him, "You probably picked up something while we were out in Sairaag, you were rather dirty and wet, and there wasn't much I could do about it."

He moved away from her, laying back in bed to look at her with half-lidded eyes that fell shut even as she watched, "Thank you... Sylphiel." With that, he was asleep and Sylphiel quietly stood, turned down the oil lamp on the nightstand to a dull glow and left the room, closing the door most of the way, mind reeling.

"He called me Sylphiel," she murmured, elated that he actually knew her name. He hadn't called her anything but 'My Shrine Maiden' before, so this was either a change in his view of her, or a fluke memory from Kopii Rezo. Either way, she smiled.

The storm continued outside with all the fury of an angry three year old.

She hoped it would be gone by morning.