Slayers: Clouds!

by Incantrix

The novel continues after more than a year! A friend betrays, so what's Lina going to do? The secrets of the Cloudminders revealed... The continuing grand adventure...

9. Chapter 9: Island! Seafood of Doom!

---o--o--o---

[Lina] I'm a blond. Just wonderful. However, we'll have to get back to me later before I have my bad hair day. Time to look in on Zel and the gang, who are getting themselves into more trouble

[Zelgadis] Oh crap...

---o--o--o---


Slayers: Clouds!

Chapter 9:
Island! Seafood of Doom!


---o--o--o---


"Turnip," said the short Mazoku, scanning the tropical beach for outsiders. "You disappoint me."

"That's what you say, master." The former leader of Monte Darlo was out of his suit and dressed in a plain white tropical shirt with tan slacks and beach sandals. He was sitting down with his legs crossed, whittling down a piece of driftwood with a penknife. The former human was almost hiding among the palm tree leaves with his back leaning upon one of their trunk.

"Where have you been? So far, you have been nothing more than a useless fig to me." Joe stomped around his newest slave, clearly disappointed by recent results. "Lina's comrades still live. And to use humans like that...your actions bring shame to the Mazoku race."

Joe's servant refused to look up. "You gave me inferior tools. Those cousins of yours are nothing but bakas. Maybe you should handle the dirty work from now on."

"Be quiet!" The diminutive one glared down at Turnip in disgust. He thought about striking down the former human but decided there wasn't any point. "Remember, foolish one. I bought you here for one reason -- to deal with the Cloudminders. To make sure nobody but us has control of the chaos key. Do you really think you can take this on your own?"

The former human nodded. "Hai. By the powers you have vested in me, I will crush the great Lina Inverse, thus defeating her cursed meddling."

"No, you can't," interrupted Joe, "don't even try to be an ego about it either. You already used up your human life as an idiot, what makes you think I'm going to let you do the same thing again?"

"Let me kill her! Now!" The former human looked up at Joe, giving his master a crooked smile. "I don't want to just eliminate her, I want to feed off such a powerful woman. Oh, how it excites me!" It was as if the human Turnip was salivating over a plate of perfectly cooked roast beef.

Joe looked at his slave. For all the good it did having Turnip under his control -- the knowledge and the experiments from the Cloudminders tool's...it was his thirst for revenge that was quickly tiring the Mazoku. The idiot was still acting as a human.

What Turnip needed was a pick me up. And quickly, before his former human habits took control of his Mazoku soul. He had seen this a few times before -- the consequences in eliminating your slave in the end were never pretty.

The superior Mazoku looked among his own possessions, a sort of concealed area within his own body. To the typical human, it looked like Joe's internal pocket in his cloak. But if you fancied a chance at opening up Joe's emotional soul, it would reveal a treasure of many different bottled fears and pains. As an advanced Mazoku, Joe had learned to capture such pure human thoughts and bottle them like fine wine, specifically to be 'tasted' and used later. They provided nourishment for the Mazoku in times of great need.

Turnip continued to cringe like a human. Yes, even he knew that he was a Mazoku, still carrying around his human traits on his sleeve. Little by little, Turnip was usurping those human traits that were so disgusted by his Mazoku form. But in times of pure need, his human side would rear its ugly head once again, thus reverting to his nasty former emotional form.

"I shall eliminate that human behavior of yours immediately, Turnip. Do not even try to resist." The short Mazoku pulled out a normal looking jar from one of the deeper pockets in his jacket. "This occurrence will show you what it is like to be one of us." He unscrewed the jar, a physical part of himself, letting Turnip taste the experiences.

To the newer Mazoku, it was like smelled like the fine meal. He ingested the contents of Joe's offering with such a furious valor that it nearly shocked the older Mazoku. As he swallowed very morsel of the memory, Turnip tried to examine the specifics of the attack by Joe, but precise details were fuzzy at best. Instead, it was the emotional feelings that Joe's victims made that had Turnip's soul boil -- for the thirst.

Joe watched as his subordinate glow the blood red of Shabranigudo. Yes, he thought, the gift always works. Even when your young, the incredible ride… it's so calming and nourishing, never has a new Mazoku been able to turn down such a gift.

Turnip was heaving, his entire body shaking as if breathing in high altitude air. He tried to check himself back into remission, but that was not going to be possible.

Joe circled around the former human, quite content with the results. "You feel it? That angry pit in your stomach? Almost like you ate a bad egg, from what I've been told. It's not like I know, being a Mazoku my entire life. However…"

Turnip growled "I sense it…" he said. "It's there, buried deep within me…erupting."

"Good. Very Good. You know why I brought back here. Complete your mission, this time for me." and he disappeared.

Turnip clenched his fist around the penknife, enjoying the experience of the cutting the blade as it sliced open his own hand. "Yes, master..."


---o--o--o---


"Weoh," sweated the chimera, leaning his hand on a tropical palm tree for support. Bone tired, he could swear their walking pace had increased significantly in the last hour or so. But then again, he couldn't be so sure.

He took a second to catch his breath while he watched Gourry hack away at the jungle terrain. The swordsman had taken to Em's directions very well, clearing a walking path toward 'the village.' With the two of them working well as a team, it had taken them little time to clear a path through the island jungle.

Still, that left the princess of Saillune with nothing to do except to stand by the chimera's side. Unlike her former self, Amelia had given Zel a wider berth of personal space than usual. She knew something was wrong with his changes in appearance and all, yet he refused to fill the princess in. Still, the chimera could have used the company...

"Amelia..." he said flatly.

"Yes, Zel..."

He was surprised that the brunette was listening so well. She didn't try to flutter with her words like so many other times. It would have taken a boulder to the head no to see what was happening.

"..." He tried to blurt out the truth in one sentence, but the words weren't coming out. Instead, he tried to swallow what had never come out. He looked back over at Amelia, who was giving him kawaii look. No, this wasn't going well at all...

"Perhaps if you could fill in the details, Zel." She was unnaturally approaching the chimera, her eyes watering in the depths of sadness. This instance was laced with seriousness, unlike so many times before. Just maybe it was the twinkle in her eyes, or something else that had her attention.

Zelgadis took a look down at himself, almost an inventory check of sorts. Yep, still plenty of weirdness in his body. His left arm was now encased in a stone cocoon of gray and white rock. He had pressed on it earlier that day and couldn't even feel his own touch. Already the arm had begun to decay away, the surface was starting to splinter before his eyes.

The rocky cocoon sprayed itself all over his chest like a huge bandage covering a horrid wound. Up and over his shoulder, he could feel the weight all the way across his back. His right arm, at least the upper part, was just starting to tingle with the same sensation like his left arm from earlier that week. Soon, his legs would be infected as well, since his waist was already quite stiff from a layer of rock. Human traits in all were disappearing across his body.

Time for him was running out. At one point, he figured he had a month, maybe more. Now the drain was accelerating like a dam break; he figured that he had a week but that was only a guess at best. And with Lina was no longer in sight to carry out his errand of mercy, he was going to have to rely on someone else.

"Ummm... Zel?..." Amelia spoke even more loudly than before, reinforcing her will on the chimera. "I'm not dumb, you know. I know what's going on." Her look was no longer naïve, but with a genuineness that warmed the chimera's heart.

This caught Zelgadis off guard, but he didn't blink an eye. Perhaps something was up, and her little obsession with him was over. The worse he could do was to ignore the princess of Saillune, but that's exactly what he did.

Instead, Zel recalculated the time he had left. Nothing was good news anymore. The new figures in his head now gave him less that a week, maybe even a couple of days. Chances of getting to the City of the Clouds in time were slim at best -- yet, there was still time. He grimaced, realizing at what really mattered.

Amelia didn't give up as she ran to the other side of the chimera, undeterred from the multiple brush-offs. She jumped in front of his sight line, making sure Zel could squarely hear her plea.

"Look, I know you don't think we care about you," she said. "All you want to do is sulk about it and let no one else help you. And in all that time for a cure, I've led you everywhere in my kingdom and to different towns and cities around the world. I'd go anywhere with you to help you, so please...let me in."

The chimera continued to walk silently, yet this time he was listening.

"Everything I do for you," said Amelia, "I do because of who you are. It's the same for Lina, and Gourry. Even that new girl with us, Em. I can tell she's looking out for you. What do you think about that?"

Zel continued to walk along quiet as a church mouse. But now Amelia could sense that the chimera was listening to her words, it gave her faith to try even more.

She grabbed the chimera's stony arm, refusing to let him walk any farther. "Tell me the truth; I want to hear it now. What did you ask Lina to do?"

He didn't dare turn around. Saying no would be best; he could not force someone else to pick up where Lina had faltered. Was it the sorcerer's fault that he was here and she was close to the Sheik's city? Not at all, but at this rate he needed someone else to fulfill his wishes.

"Do you promise to follow what Lina said she would do?" he said.

"Hai." Amelia's tone was as serious as Zel had ever heard it. "I swear."

He twisted around and looked squarely into the brunette's eyes. "Promise me this, princess. When the time comes and I ask you..." He stopped and got it off his chest. "You will take me out, before this affiliation finishes me. You must. Swear to kill me before I become a statue."

Amelia's expression instantly changed from concern to grief. Her eyes immediately watered like a fountain, her mind unable to hold her emotions in check. "I...I..." The princess was having a hard time accepting the words from Zel; she therefore tried nonchalantly to dismiss them outright. "That's not going to happen to you..."

"Yes it is..." He pulled the sleeve of his left cloak up for Amelia to see. The skin was no longer chimera, but of old dusty gray rock. But even what was skin was fractured with tiny cracks and age. It didn't look like it could even survive the tiniest of blows. "I will become a sculpture, that much is fact. I will have my mind trapped in a frozen body; I know this to be the case. Lina knows it, I know it...and now you know it."

Amelia took a second to swallow the painful truth. "Hai...I will do as you ask." She even surprised herself with those frightening words.

For above all, a shrine maiden was supposed to protect a life at every cost. The ultimate in white magic was to save life and preserve it. Never to destroy it, but to maintain its beauty and order as much as possible.

Yet here was life, everlasting life that about to be trapped within its very own hell. She couldn't stand the horror, she just...couldn't. And everything that she had believed in came to a crashing halt. Here was something that she felt was right, no matter how many rules it broke. Every mortal fiber within her said it was the right decision.

Zelgadis put on a little half smile. It was all he could manage because most of his chin was gray stone. "Very good."

Amelia's jaw dropped. "Please..." she said, quietly holding up the palm of her hand and laying it across the chimera's chin. He didn't dare resist as she leaned ever so closer to feel his breath...

"Hey! Aren't you guys coming?" Em was staring back to the two of them, with Gourry still clearing a passage. "It's only another couple of hours of hacking and we're to the island port. Wouldn't it be great to get there?"

The brunette slightly blushed, suddenly pulling her hand back from the chimera's face. "You mean, for dinner?" said Amelia.

Gourry heard the wishful words right out of his mouth. "Dinner?" he said, shaking off his lethargic slashing. His scythe sped up to a furious pace, overwhelming Em with vegetation debris.

"Eeeep! Wait a minute, Gourry! Not so fast! That was almost my leg!"


---o--o--o---


Xellos appeared over the island, floating around in the sky like a leaf in the wind. "No, not here…" he mused to himself before disappearing.

He reappeared a short distance away floating above an outcropping of land along the seacoast. The tropical ocean was choppy with currents moving to and fro at a frightening pace. If he were a normal human, then trapped on such rocks would have spelled a death sentence. Getting off the outcropping would have required a quick dip back into the water -- and revisiting the rocks in a not so pleasant manner.

But he was a Mazoku after all. How pleasant for him.

The mysterious priest looked down on the rocks he was hovering over. It was still quite unsuitable for landing upon: soot from a fire and the sea mixed on the surface of the landing point, covering the land in an ugly mix of browns and grays with an occasional stripe of black.

The fire had burned yesterday afternoon and night. It was from the leftovers from Em's ship, to be exact. What little debris that had not burned away had been later swept away by the sea. The only clues to the airship's landing were traces of wood left scorched by fire.

Xellos looked over to another rock with a sail piece ripped across its top, the edges shredded and wet. "Now, where was I going to…go…" He looked down at the water, circling about aimlessly until finding the perfect spot. "Ahh, I see you… oh yes, there you are now!"

He turned his staff upside down, dropping the very top of the jeweled head into the water. It bubbled the sea slowly like a hot spring that quickly grew into a furious boil. Water steamed into the sky as the ocean split apart, quite afraid of Xellos' staff. It walled artificially around the mysterious priest as he lowered himself to the sandy ocean floor.

The water around the outcropping of land had been surprisingly deep. The all-knowing Mazoku was intrigued nevertheless, lowering himself 30 or so feet below the previous sea level. He was surprised at the stiffness of ground when he landed on a hard bottom of clay, smoothed perfectly by the strong tides.

"I dare say, of all the places…" Xellos looked down and saw the smallest of doors on the side of the rock, far too small for any human to enter. The encrusted entry was laced with many broken seashells, like they had been glued to the outside as decoration.

With the end of his staff he knocked loudly on the ornamented door. A few of the outer shells came off with the slightest of touches. The Mazoku frowned a bit as angry sounding words came from the little entrance.

The shell-encrusted door smashed open. A crab crawl out, much more than an ordinary crab. He was a larger, stockier fellow, with a spectacle over his right eye. A fat top hat covered his spiny back, open-headed and peeled away like so many distraught old hats from an earlier time.

"Whatta you want?" said the crab. "Don't you humans ever think that I don't want to be disturbed?"

"No, not at all," smirked the Mazoku. He leaned down until he was almost kneeling next to the unusual crab. "And what's your name, I should ask?"

"Crabby. Whatever you're thinking, forget it. I'm in no mood." The crab snapped one of his angry craws in the air, just missing Xellos' nose. "Get out of here, stupid human. You messed up my door." And he turned around and slammed his little entrance shut, causing a couple of more seashells to shatter off.

Xellos stood back up with the bottom tip of his staff he began to trance a large circle in the hard clay soil. The path that he made glittered deep red with magic. He looked down at his completed enchanted circle, said a few choice key words and whole rocky complex exploded into pieces.

It didn't take long for the dust to clear. Crabby's claw was sticking of the rocky pile as his fat top hat rolled around on the clay floor before settling on its side. The Mazoku picked up the cinder of head fabric and threw it aside.

"He certainly was a crab, no doubt about it." He poked around the rock pile with the bottom end of his staff, until his eyes gleamed on the prize. A little levitation spell, and the chaos crystal floated up to his sightlines.

Xellos snatched the chaos crystal out of thin air, depositing it quickly into his satchel pack. If one were there, you could have sworn that the Mazoku smiled. "Ano, now where's that drawn butter? I have cracked crab all ready to go for tonight."


---o--o--o---


Thoth was admiring the sunset as he tucked his cloak out over his pants. Better to keep it under the wraps of his clothes. He didn't let anyone see it, now it was much better with the belt well hidden by his dirty shirt cloak.

He was not far from the unnamed port village. The old place had once named Pellsbury, a name from quite a few years ago. He remembered seeing this town before, the riches from its earlier times long since gone. Now the wharf trading post was almost a ghost town, its lifeblood of commerce diverted to somewhere else.

The old man sighed. Time had taken a difficult toll on his body over the years. He felt relieved that everything was coming together. The many years had softened his thirst for revenge. His mission was finally coming to an end.

Yet, he had barely collected any of the necessary chaos stones. The other one that he had detected had already picked up by a party involved -- which left a couple more out there, just in case.

Other things were coming to fruition. Forces were forming and gathering, and it wouldn't be long until the legendary City of the Clouds made its grand entrance. That's when the real fun would begin.

"So there you are, Mad Thoth. How nice to finally catch up and chat. Oh, and it's so nice that sniveling little brunette is no longer around." The old man felt the sharp pain of a blade in the center of his back. "If I push any harder, I'm sure I'll pierce your skin. Definitely not something pretty."

"Ahhh...Biru? Is that you?" Thoth responded. He couldn't believe the innkeeper had survived as well.

"You had better believe it. Now if you value you life..." The old man raised his arms up from the sides of his waist in the usual surrendering fashion. "Good, good. You're finally learning something."

Thoth grumbled to himself. How did this second-rate loser rope him in?

" I see you survived quite...intact." Biru took a step closer and breathed on the back of Thoth's neck. "You are a crafty one, aren't you?"

Thoth blushed. "I'm a senile old man. I just know how to survive a lot of things."

"I'm sure you do, but it's not exactly the response I was expecting, Mad Thoth. But then, I think it's all been a clever ruse from you anyway."

The old man sighed. "I guess you're right, Biru. The truth is I went to Turnip's casino and resort to..."

"I knew it! I knew it!" shouted the innkeeper. "You are with the national office! I was so right!" Biru was so pumped up that he threw the butcher knife into the ground, barely missing Thoth's toes.

Thoth sweat dropped. "Errr...."

"You're with the Innkeeper's Association! The awards, the prestige, the costume and everything. I just knew it!" Biru was jumping around in a little circle, quite happy with himself. "They got my letter for Inverse Tax! Oh right!"

Thoth's jaw dropped in shock. "Ummm...Yea...yea...that's it!"

Biru's excitement softened yet his smile could not disappear. "So, what can I do for you, Inspector Thoth?"

'Inspector' huh, thought Thoth. The old man rubbed his beard quite smugly. "Well, let's see...have you paid your national dues yet? After all, I am rather hungry..."


---o--o--o---


"We're almost there...right?" asked Amelia, talking towards Em and Gourry as they walked up ahead.

Em waved. "Uh-huh. I can see the port right up ahead. It's just a stone's throw away." She pointed down the hill to the small, darkened harbor. It was already dark, yet few lit torches lit much of the port town.

They arrived at the edge of town. It was certainly not the busiest place in the world. A few of the outer houses had been deserted long ago, their windows smashed broken with roofs missing or fallen in. The archway leading into the port was still up; a 'Welcome to Pellsbury' sign hanging on by one nail, ready to be blown off by the next hurricane.

"Not a very pretty place," said Amelia, mulling around the dusty street. "The town has definitely seen better days."

"Hai. I never come here anymore," said the scientist. "The memories are painful enough, but with the occasional pirates and the Sheik's city offering protection to incoming ships, it's just unfortunate...that no one comes here anymore" Em kicked a empty can across the street, trying to discard her bad memories. "So long ago..."

"You mean, this place was busier a long time ago?" asked Gourry, looking at the deserted ship docked at the broken pier. The transport had once been seaworthy, its hull now broken and sunk in its slip. The dock wasn't much better with its missing planks, its path slowly lowering into the murky sea.

"There are some lighted houses farther into the center of town," said Zel, pointing up the street. "Perhaps someplace where we can get some food and lodging."

They found a large inn in the center of the port; to say the building needed a paint job would have been an understatement. The wooden three-story inn had seen better days; the broken shutters and a porch with empty flowerpots were enough surefire clues. But through the curtained windows the group could see the inn's restaurant was jam-packed with patrons.

"As far as I know, it's the only place in town," said Em, opening the door to the high chatter of the restaurant. With the group following, Em stepped up and entered the lighted inn.

The inside foyer was indeed as shabby as the exterior. Heavy golden curtains separated the rooms as well as lined the windows, perfect for keeping out the early sunrise. Unfortunately much of the fabric's color had washed away from gold to gray. Matching faded wallpaper was peeling along the edges of the windows and corners. Yet, there was a surprising amount of pride in the room.

"Hello, can I help you?" The innkeeper, a younger brunette woman wearing a simple conservative blue dress came out from the busy dining room.

"We're looking for lodging for the night. Perhaps four rooms," said Em, with a little smile on her face. "Is that going to be possible?"

Amelia's stomach rumbled as she covered it in embarrassment. "Also, some dinner would be great."

"Oh, of course!" The woman grinned. "Strangers from out of town! How nice!" She took a couple of steps toward a small desk, taking out skeleton keys from the top draw. "I have plenty of rooms upstairs, one for each of you. However, the dining room is quite...packed I'm afraid."

"Any reason you're so busy?" asked Zel.

The host frowned. "Well, the locals don't have much to cheer about these days. We rarely get traders here anymore, so their nights are spent here, eating and drinking their savings away. At least it keeps me busy."

"But the kitchen is still open, right?" Gourry raised the question again as his mouth watered at the mention of food.

"Oh, of course! It's quite hectic, but there's still room in the restaurant tonight." She reached out and shook Em's hand. "I'm Marie, and if you need anything you ask for me." She finished handing out the keys and collected menus for the dinner seating. "Come on, all of you, I have to split you into two groups, but I'm sure you won't mind..."

Out of pure instinct, Amelia took Zelgadis' hand and grasped it forcefully. "That doesn't sound like a big problem to me..."

Zel sweat dropped. "Umm..."

"No, of course not! This way..." And Marie parted the curtains and led them into to the busy dining room.


---o--o--o---


"This place is really great." Gourry was heavily enjoying his meal of ribs and other assortment of roasted meats, served with mountains of potatoes and gravy. "They really cook a good meal here, I'll have to invite Lina sometime..."

"Only you could invite Lina to this backwater of an island," said Em, "for the sole reason for their only restaurant."

"Sure, we do it all the time."

The scientist groaned as she surveyed the dining room. It sure was a rowdy crowd of drunks and starving locals. They were quite content with the generous amounts of food and alcohol, not minding the large tabs later because of their 'condition.'

Em sighed as she playfully stirred her vegetable broth. "You know, losing my airship yesterday... I just miss everyone..." She thought about her crew...her ship...her first mate...All gone.

Gourry picked up a rack of ribs and pulled off a couple of joints from the end. Instead of eating the pulled-off section, he earnestly dropped the small piece and picked up the giant almost complete rack and ate with sheer delight. "Something...bothering you? Lina says I'm always a good listener."

I'm sure you are, thought Em, as she leaned back in her chair. She thought about her first lieutenant who had worked with her...father. No, she didn't want to think about it. Yet, the experience was so...vivid. She had to get the story off her chest.

"Gourry, can I tell you something?" said Em, looking up. "It's important."

"Sure..." The blond swordsman was finishing off some sweet potatoes. "Go ahead."

The scientist folded her hands, pushing the soup bowl away. She really wasn't hungry. "Well, quite a few years ago my father had a laboratory on the other side of this island. It was there that we used to study chaos stones -- their properties with nature and how they are able to absorb the magical chaos around them; even if there isn't a spellcaster nearby."

"One day I was working with my father and his two assistants when...and my father was..." She swallowed a breath for a second and started to hyperventilate.

Gourry looked up from his plate, busy sucking several rib bones dry of their flavor. Their barbequed taste was so intoxicating that it caused the swordsman to roll his eyes quite lazily. "Huh, did you say something?"

Em chuckled at the sight of a Gourry relaxing with rib bones in his mouth like cigars. "My goodness? Did you have a drink or two tonight!"

The swordsman blushed, spitting out his ribs. "No way! I'm never drinking again." A little migraine headache abruptly came to pass, more mental than anything. "It's probably best that I'm off the drink for a while...I get really screwy."

The scientist laughed. "I believe you're right Gourry. We wouldn't want you any other way..."


---o--o--o---


Marie always had very good instincts in knowing where to place strangers in her restaurant. The little redhead and tallish blond man had definitely needed that table in the middle of the floor in order to cheer them up. After all, surrounded by the partying locals was bound to increase the liveliness for anyone else.

With the other couple, however, she acknowledged that a more intimate place was necessary. So she brought them to a private table in another room of the inn, an upscale corner usually reserved for 'special' evenings. The small windowed dining room had recently been redecorated, its table well lit by the most romantic of candelabras that sat on top of a fine laced tablecloths. Even though the other couple of tables were unoccupied, the matching red velvety curtains and drapes made the room privately warm and inviting.

"You can have a seat here," said Marie, ushering the couple to their table. "Your server will be with you in a minute." She pulled out chairs for the both of them as Amelia pleasantly sat down for dinner.

The chimera sweat dropped. "Ummm... don't you have a location...somewhere else? Less formal would be great, actually."

The princess frowned from her seat. "Awwe, Zel. Don't be such a spoiled sport. I like the quiet table."

"I'm sorry, but I don't have another place available," said Marie. Before the chimera could object again, the innkeeper shuffled out of the room. "Don't worry, the privacy is on me..."

"I don't like it..." objected Zel, but he had little choice as Amelia was waiting for him to follow. He thought about muttering something else but better judgment checked that as he sat down.

Marie was back, this time pouring a glass of red wine for each of her guests. "On the house because of the inconvenience." She smiled as she served the beverages. "After all, we do get so few visitors here..." The innkeeper settled the princess of Saillune in by taking her linen napkin and placing it unfolded onto her lap.

"Arigato," said Amelia, smiling from the formal treatment.

As Marie reached for the chimera's napkin, Zel swiped the folded linen from his plate and threw it into his lap. Undeterred, Marie reached into his lap to unfold the linen.

Zel stirred around uncomfortably, shafting around in his seat because he was quite unaccustomed to being taken cared by hand and foot. He didn't like being served so formally.

"Take it easy, Zel. Marie's going to take care of us tonight." Amelia playfully blinked as Marie exited the private room. "Sometimes, you've got to learn to relax. I know it's tough right now, but there's nothing you can do about it at the moment."

"Can't." He shifted around in the comfy chair, his hard back not used to such plush environments. "I never did like it, even when staying at your palace."

Amelia reached out and grasped the chimera's hand. She was surprised how cold his exterior had become in the last couple of days. Seeing the process unfold on his body was scary enough; now it was apparent that his coordination was getting slower by each and every day.

The chimera felt trapped by the circumstances. Every day, Amelia was become more and more forward with her actions, maturing before his very eyes. There was something about her inner strength, especially recently, that was preventing him from bolting, from giving up. They were in this mess because of him, now they were fighting for his life.

Was it the promise from this morning? Just like Lina, the princess had taken the vow. And as his friend, she was pledging her promise. But would she be able to do it when the time was right?

Marie came in with couple of fresh salads in her hands. "Excuse me, I need some room on the table..."

Amelia blushed, bringing her arms back to her side. "No problem."

They ate their meal and talked about some of the earlier adventures with Lina. Amelia reminded the chimera of some of the happier times which he could laugh about now. The cross dressing ones always got a good chuckle out of Amelia, even if they only made Zelgadis smile on the inside.

"And when, you found out that woman from Femella was a guy, I have never seen you blush so hard in my life." The princess was clearly enjoying making the chimera sweat.

Zel bit his lip, quite helpless now but to openly laugh off the whole incident. "I always thought here was always something strange about that place." He lifted his wine goblet and took a big sip in delight-

And dropped it onto the ground, shattering it.

"Zel!!"

No! Not now! He shouted in his mind, but it was quickly overwhelmed by the stabbing pain in his left arm. Doing what felt instinctive, he latched onto his left wrist with his other hand, more out of desperation than anything.

"Zel! What's wrong!" Amelia was out of her chair and by the chimera's side, trying to get a good look. "Please..."

He shook his head in defiance as the pain subsided. It was then he noticed the sensation of his entire limb was gone. "I...I can't feel it..." The chimera tried to get up out of the chair, but the princess held him fast.

Quite concerned, he took a peek at his left arm to see what was going on -- and saw that his blue tint was gone. Even the light gray that was rock was missing, replaced with a dirty brown that could only be described as lifeless.

"Take me up to my room..." He reached around Amelia's shoulder and pulled himself up out of his chair. "Now..."

"Hai..." Amelia didn't object as she helped him exit the dining room.


---o--o--o---


"So, do you want to know why I've been here?" said the redheaded scientist.

"I guess so," said Gourry, playfully throwing a stone into the sea.

They were outside of the inn, back near the dilapidated entrance of the port town. Em was especially looking at the sunken ship, admiring the way the ocean pounded against its broken hull; how the currents would ebb and flow through the rotting girth of the craft.

She looked out at the sea for answers. "It was that day that my father passed away. We were working outside behind our house, on a cloudless day. Almost sunset, and to keep it light out my father placed a row of torches and oil lamps around his workplace."

"You see, my father once rediscovered the secret of the chaos box in some drawings in a cave, placed there by someone long ago. With the skills of a scientist, he spent lifetime collecting boxes and stones from far away land. Many of the treasures he first discovered were fakes, yet a couple were true to their intended origins -- the City of the Clouds."

"The first real box my father happened along was cracked, so when we captured chaos energy from outside, it just naturally flowed out of the box like a water spigot."

"Uh-huh," nodded Gourry.

"What we hadn't known was that our chaos box had been working quite well, in fact. So well, that the local Mazoku population was slowly being drained of their energy. In the couple months into the experiments, we built fans that were never pulling by human hands, windmills that didn't require power, and then finally...an airship."

"Ohhh..."

"That evening, this higher-classed Mazoku shows up behind the mansion, curious why his lower members had disappeared from the island. To get close to us, he killed a local town craftsman and disguised himself looking for carpentry work. He sweet talked my father into putting him up for work as a choirboy for his other assistants."

Em sighed. "I remember he was there that day, refilling our supplies and keeping the place clean. The next day, my father and his assistants began testing trials on charging a chaos box..."

Gourry had picked up a perfect stone for skimming over the ocean water. Instead of throwing it right away, he polished the rock in his hands as a distraction.

"My father didn't see through his disguise until after he activated the box." Em shuddered from hearing her words, scared by telling the story. "I will always remember that fellow. A cloak covering most of his smallish body and red beady eyes. As soon as we activated the box, I could swear I saw chaos energy swirl around his body. He yelped in pain, throwing charged energy and spells at the box in vain. He then picked up his wood axe, taken from his former human disguise... and threw it at the chaos box. "

Gourry looked up. "Hai, it's not good idea to throw something at a chaos box." He rubbed the back of his head as a reminder.

Em swallowed her breath. "My father tried to stop the axe but you can't even if you think you know what's going to happen..." Her eyes were suddenly red as tears grew from the corners of her eyes. "It shattered the box. And...I was the only one to survive..."

The blond swordsman threw his stone, watching it skim across the water a few times before hitting something in the sea. The rock took a major U-turn and as it bounced harmlessly to the side. "Huh? I don't..." said Gourry to himself, before turning back to the scientist.

Em sniffed her face dry. "No...you didn't know. It's quite OK."

"Hai....sorry. Life is hard sometimes. Do you want to go back?"

Em nodded as the two of them turned back toward the inn.

Unbeknownst to Gourry and Em, the ocean swirled where Gourry's rock had strangely diverted its path. Out of the sea emerged a giant eye, looking up and out of the water. It blinked and emitting a sound of wincing pain, its eyelid was swollen red from the swordsman's poke. As soon as it had appeared, it crept back into the safety of the ocean.


---o--o--o---


"Give me a hand. The key is in my left pocket," said Zelgadis, leaning in the hallway while his heavy body swayed from side to side. He looked down in shame, embarrassed that the princess of Saillune had to 'take care of him.'

"Hai, I've almost got it..." The brunette was reaching deep into the inside chest of his cloak, looking for the inn key. She never felt a body so cold, like frozen water to the touch. No luck. She gave it another shot, reaching ever so farther down into the center slit of his open robe.

"I said left pocket!" cursed the chimera, finding the strength to twist his body slightly so Amelia's arm could slip up the chimera's chest.

The princess blushed. "Ano...That didn't mean anything! Swear!" She sweated a couple of more seconds until the sound of jingling keys could be heard. "Got it!"

Amelia turned to the door and opened up to a quaint yet comfortable sleeping room. The large bed was easily big enough for two people even if was only Zelgadis staying in the room. A beach wood dresser occupied the opposite wall of the room; the other major decorative piece was a smallish oval mat that covered most of the wooden floor.

The princess brought Zelgadis into the room, but she couldn't control the heavy chimera. He did little to help himself, preferring to tumble onto the bed.

The chimera winced in pain, not from the hitting the bed but from folding his tucked arm under his heavy body. He turned over and realized that his arm was suddenly a lot lighter.

Amelia blinked, still holding onto the left arm of the chimera. However, nothing else was attached to Zel's left shoulder except a stubby attachment of stony rock. She looked back down at the arm: the entire forearm was there along with his hand, elbow, and part of his upper arm. Once blue, his dismembered limb was an ugly grayish brown.

She screamed. "Ahhh! What have I done! I've ripped your arm off!" The scared brunette dropped the detached appendage, letting it fall towards the floor.

At seeing his falling arm, Zel leaped out of the bed on strength he didn't think he had. Reaching out, the chimera managed to catch the stony limb on the edge of his other fingertips, just before its enviable shatter against the ground.

He painfully turned himself over and sighed. Looking up at his body changing before his eyes was bad enough, but now his body was betraying his mind. Instead of becoming a statue like Xellos had predicted, he was falling apart like so many other relics of forgotten ancient history. And all he could do was cradle his broken limb against his chest.

"Go..." he said, closing his eyes and wishing for the world to disappear. He was ashamed at his condition, so much that he no longer had pride. He wanted it to end, and hopefully, Amelia would leave him to die in peace.

All Zel could do was urge her to reject him. "You can't use magic on me...it won't help." He was suddenly very tired of the fight and the pain. Of the promises and desires. And in the end, all the useless effort at living and becoming human. His wishes had finally cost him his life. Why didn't they just get rid of him so he could die!

A sniffle. The chimera looked up in the corner of his eyes and was surprised to find Amelia still in the room. The look on the brunette's face was all there needed to be explained. She still held her palms out, empty, the fingers still opened downward. The chimera could see her eyes were bloodshot in tears, almost hidden over by the sweat of hair.

Why doesn't she run he asked himself. The old Amelia, even the one that was just with him time and time before would dart away from danger whenever it was around. But this Amelia: from Monte Darlo, from the airship, or from now -- it was this Amelia that had grown up, mature beyond her years.

He could feel her breath against his rocky skin. Amelia was closer now, touching his chin and then the side of his face. The smell was so familiar...so warm that he tried to swallow its very essence. She began to trace the edge with her two fingers, feeling where his jawbone had once been, then where his lips were. He could just imagine the horrific look on his face of gray and brown, almost bubbling like a plague.

"No. I'm not going anywhere. Forget about asking me." She was now brushing the fine lines of stony hair on his head, doing the very best to calm his nerves.

Zel focused his eyes on the princess. She was overlooking his eyes, her body giving cushion against his head. Strange that he couldn't feel much anymore, but maybe it was better his way.

He just had to ask. "Why are you staying? Please, leave me be to die. You promised...you swore...."

Amelia bit her tongue hard, unable to fathom her next move. What was she going to do? How could he even begin to ask for death!

A yell from outside the hallway broke the princess' concentration. "What is in the world?" It was Marie and a strange older man behind her with the unmistakable look be being related to Marie but older.

Amelia turned her head up. "Help me! He's dying!"

A commotion in the hallway got everyone stirred up. A few guests had descended on the scene, the look of horror on their faces at seeing the broken man.

"Oh bloody! That guy had his arm chopped off today," said the man with Marie.

"Be quiet Dad! Can't you keep those people away from his room?" responded Marie, looking around for help. She looked down into Amelia's worried face. "Where are your friends?"

"I don't know..."

"Amelia!" It was Em and the blond swordsman right behind her. A couple of tugs as they got by the crowd and Marie's father; they were soon in the room as well.

"We heard the screams and...oh Cepheid!" Eager to help, Em was down next to the tearing Amelia. She quickly surveyed the damage. "Don't worry, he's just having his soul drained. Stupid chaos boxes, you get them into the hands of an amateur and all this crap happens." She pulled the blanket off of the bed and tucked it under the chimera's head for support. "There, is that better?"

Zel nodded a bit before quickly loosing focus. The injured chimera quickly fell into unconsciousness, his head lulled to one side.

"What are we going to do?" pleaded the princess of Saillune, asking to anyone who would listen.

Gourry was looking down at him. "He's leaking, isn't he?"

The scientist snapped her fingers. "Of course! You're so right!" Em turned around to Marie, who was helping her father with dispersing the prying crowd. "I need some pitch and quickly!"

Amelia made a sour face. "Pitch? What in the world would you need that stuff? Uugh!"

"I've got some from our little boat we take on weekend," said Marie. "You needed a sealant of some sort, right?"

The redheaded scientist affirmed. "Exactly. We'll patch him up like a boat in need of new sea legs. Quickly, he hasn't much time!"

Marie turned to her father, "Isn't it under in the basement?"

The senile older man flashed a smile of recognition. "Bloody likely that crap is down in the basement." He scratched his head in frustration. "We'll need some help to get it."

The blond swordsman pointed to himself enthusiastically. "You need someone?"

"Hai! Let's go!" And Marie disappeared in a flash with her father and Gourry.

There was a long minute of silence as the ladies did their best to sooth the chimera. Em continued to look down at the arm while Amelia kept the chimera as comfortable as possible.

Em looked at Amelia for some answers. "So. What happened here? A little tussle on the bed? Or was it something more?"

The princess blushed. "No way! It wasn't anything like that. Here we were, just having a nice dinner when Zel had these terrible pains in his arm. He couldn't move very well so I helped him upstairs."

The scientist gulped. "Uh-huh," she spoke under breath, but the facial expression was enough to show disbelief.

Amelia waved her hands over each other as her face cheeks reddened even more. "Nothing happened. I swear!"

Em heaved a sigh. "Hai. I just want to make sure."

The princess was about to take a second angry look at Em but decided it wasn't a good idea and let it die.

"Here we are!" Marie came in with her father and Gourry right behind, the swordsman carrying a large white bucket of black pitch. What was unusual part were the men in the group: blackened head to toe by a layer of ash with only the whites of their eyes showing.

Amelia blinked, looking at the blond swordsman, "What happened to you two?"

Gourry shrugged and smiled. "Bloody wood furnace for the kitchen."

Marie's father padded the blond swordsman on the back in a fit of laugher. "Oh, there you have it! You've got the shank all down pat!"

The princess frowned, covering her face an expression of cynicism. "Oh brother..."

Em looked into the bucket of pitch. A brush was stuck solidly in the center; the pitch itself had the consistency of wet sand. "Looks good, guys. Great work." She turned back to the unconscious chimera. "Gourry, help Amelia get Zel's arm into position while I apply the pitch."

They got into spots that Em had assigned. Seconds later, the scientist applied the black pitch to the would and swiftly attached the chimera's arm. As soon as the quick operation had been completed, the group could see their patient's condition was immediately improving, whatever little blue tint Zel had before was returning to his body. The scientist and her thinking had just managed to save his life.

The chimera fluttered his eyelids open, surprised to find himself conscious. His vision was narrow: he only see the black shapes, figures totally blackened except for their white eyes. "Well, my Mazoku masters have finally come to take me away," said the proud chimera. "Where to, gentleman?"

"Uhhh..." The soot-covered blond couldn't say anything constructive as he scratched his head.

"Oh bloody hell, you're screwing it up, friend!" said Marie's father.

Zelgadis chuckled at his interpretation of hell, thinking that his Mazoku masters were a bunch of dolts. "Lina did always tell me that hell was no fun. Maybe she was wrong...Ok you two bakas, take me away!"

"Ummm...Zel?" Em leaned over into the chimera's narrow field of vision. "Fancying yourself somewhere else?"

The chimera sweat dropped.

Amelia jumped on top of the chimera and hugged him tightly. For just a second, there was peace in the world. She whispered a few words so softly that only her patient could hear. "Don't do that to me again...ok?"

Zelgadis sighed, now recognizing the blackened figures of Gourry and Marie's father. As he pulled the princess back for a second, he noticed that Amelia was tearing quite a bit. When he lifted his arm to wipe away her tears...it was then he noticed something was feeling very strange.

"Umm..." Em had her finger pointed out at Zel's newly attached arm. Her voice was speechless but her actions were of pure astonishment.

Zel almost ignored the strangeness until scratched his lower back. "How did I do that?" he muttered to himself, trying to survey what was up. Looking down, he noticed that something was very wrong.

"Aaaagh! You put my arm on backwards!!"

Em hushed the chimera down. "Hey, it was a rush job!"

The chimera cursed. "And what does that suppose to mean!"

The scientist pushed Zel back into a lying position. "Hey, I wasn't going to let you die on me!"

Amelia jumped on Zel's chest to get a better position, also keeping the chimera pinned down. "Don't worry, this won't take more than a minute or two." The princess motioned for the swordsman's help to hold Zelgadis still. "Keep his other shoulder down, ok?"

"Not a bloody problem," said Gourry, taking his position.

Zelgadis sweat dropped. "What's going on...hey wait a minute! You're not thinking of-"

Em covered his mouth with her hand. "Just hold on a sec. You'll feel a sudden pain and pass out again. Then you'll wake up again and it will be all over. OK?"

"Wait a minute, I take it back! A backwards arm is a good thing!" The chimera growled again at the shot of loving pain, the group tried to undo their boo-boo. "Damn it!" he said, biting his lip.

The scientist frowned. "Curses, that pitch is some strong stuff. Let's try twisting it off."

The chimera let out a stream of curses in an attempt to cover up his pain.

"Ano...this isn't working. It's no good." Amelia twisted herself on top of the chimera's chest for another try, positioning her rear over Zelgadis' face in a very un princess like manner.

"Wait a minute, what if we..." said Em, trying to avoid Zelgadis from hearing her words to Amelia and Gourry.

Zel had just managed to hear a few choice words, his face turning white at the conflicting thoughts.

"Hey, you bloodly all need some help?" It was Marie's father, with a giant pickaxe cradled in his arms. "This little baby works quite a bit of magic." The crazy older man swung the axe like a man possessed, accidentally gashing the wall behind him.

Marie looked up at what her father did. "Oh, that's a big one..."

"Ahh, just what I needed," said Em, motioning the old man closer. "Something sharp..."

"Aaaaagh!!"


---o--o--o---


Amelia came down the stairs, her eyes bloodshot from the fireworks the night before. Em was already up and about, sitting by one of the larger windows in an armchair, sipping some morning tea with a little fresh lemon. Next to Em in a matching armchair was Marie's father, talking bloody hell about something or another, a seaworthy tall tale about fish people ruling the seas again. The scientist was taking in the tale under advisement.

"Morning," said the princess, plopping down next to the scientist in her own chair. She was clearly not a morning person.

"How's Zel doing? You were checking on him every hour, weren't you?" said Em, pouring herself a spot of hot water back into her teacup.

"Hai," blushed the brunette. "He's still sleeping like a baby." She let out a little morning yawn, politely covering her mouth. "Gourry is watching him for the next couple of hours."

"Sounds good. I've got the evening shift, if that's all right," said Em. "The poor guy went through it rough last night, he's probably going to sleep for the next day or so."

"Smells good. Herbal?"

"It's great, isn't it? I haven't had mint tea like this in years." Em took a small sip and smiled.

Amelia nodded as she poured herself a cup. She wasn't at all hungry, but hopefully the fresh herbs in the tea would calm her nerves. She pitched forward, remembering the mirror in her pocket for a second. She really needed to talk to a friend.

"I'll be back in a second..." The princess got up and strolled over to the other side of the inn.

Marie's father, almost sleeping his full-backed chair, spoke up from his appearing slumber. "She's a little bloody unnerved, isn't she?"

Em sipped her tea again and leaned back in the chair. "Hai, she is. But she loves the stubborn baka." The scientist turned her attention back to Marie's father. "So is the mansion still there?"

"Of course it's there, you'd better bloody believe it. But no one goes to the northern part of the island anymore."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Well, I hear of reports of ships going by, unknown flags from a northern kingdom with lots of money. They never stop there, but their course could only lead to your father's point. I've also heard the northern tip is ringed by some strangers, if someone were to go there, they would never come back."

"Invaders?" asked the scientist.

He shook his head. "For what? There's nothing valuable here!"

Em acknowledged the news. "I know, I'll be careful. But I have to go up there." She set the saucer down. "The only way I'm going to save him is by retrieving my father's legacy. I just hope we're not too late."


---o--o--o---


A few townsmen were spending their afternoon fishing on their familiar run down pier. With no arriving ships on the schedule, it was a happy and thus wasteful day for the many dockworkers.

One of the old locals caught a fish and pulled it up. "Yum, it looks like I have my dinner all set!"

"Inverse Tax! Coming through!" Biru made a swipe for the fish, capturing the fluttering carp in his grasp. "Thanks for lunch, friend!"

"Hey!" exclaimed the local, reaching out unsuccessfully for his meal. "What do you think you're doing!"

"Biru!" boomed Thoth from behind him. "What do you think you're doing!" Both of the old man's hands were firmly attached to his hips, quite annoyed by Biru's crazy actions.

"Uh, Inspector Thoth!" The crazy innkeeper whirled around at his new supervisor. "I was just informing the locals of our new taxes the this region." Biru's stomach growled in protest as the same time the fish did a little quiver in his hands. "Fresh sashimi?" he said, offering the seafood over like a peace offering.

"Give it back," said Thoth, producing a fishing pole at the same time. "We're going do it the old fashioned way."

Biru slumped. "You've got to be kidding me. Oh well..." He swiped the pole from Thoth's grasp, eager to catch his meal.

A sudden rush of water hit the broken dock as the sea turned nasty. The ocean splashed up and sprayed the two of them heavily with water. Biru looked down at his missing meal, his carp taken back by the sea.

"What in the world!" said the local, "How could you lose my meal!"

Thoth was about to say something when the sound of crunching could be heard from directly underneath the broken dock. Then something poked through the decking -- dark and menacing from out of the sea. It slammed from out of the water and through the broken planks, flying wood apart into the sky.

"Cepheid help us!" yelled Biru as both Thoth and the innkeeper hit the cold water.


---o--o--o---


Xellos appeared on the roof of the inn of Pellsbury, scanning the sea horizon with his hand over his eyebrows. He took a sniff of sea air and frowned.

"Well, I thought I'd find you here," said Joe. The diminutive Mazoku stepped forward from out of the astral plane and tapped his foot impatiently.

"Come to see what all the fuss is about? It's so nice of you to join me." Xellos didn't bother to turn is head around to greet his comrade. "I was hoping you'd be busy with Turnip and your pet project."

The smaller Mazoku groaned. "Mind your own business, beastmaster's servant"

"Ano, I wasn't the one who grew an extra tail. Partners like that can be fun, my friend."

Joe ignored his fellow Mazoku, stomping around on the roof like a man possessed with conflicts that no moral could ever help to have.

Xellos continued to look out on the sea, as if awaiting for a ship to appear. But his keen mind saw something else. He smiled on the inside.

Rather well satisfied with the result, he turned his head finally towards Joe. "So, I am right. Lines have been drawn in the sand." And he mockingly bowed and disappeared. "Be careful who you play with," mockingly said Xellos from the astral plane. "They like to bite back."

And then he was gone.

"Baka," said Joe, his mind reeling. "What is he up to now?" The diminutive Mazoku watched the sea and spotted what was coming up, quite mortified with Xellos' cunning scheme. "Oh, that's quite annoying. How did she know to come here?" And Joe put to all together. "Of course. I should have known," he said, disappearing from sight.


---o--o--o---


And who was she? She was M'desa, mother of the sea, queen of all crustaceans, basically the 'one in charge' of all crabs. M'desa was mostly a sullen beast, preferring to stay at the bottom of the deepest oceans while feeding off the carcasses of whales and sharks, meals that her minions would bring to her from time to time. She abhorred sunlight and surface dwellers, preferring to let her 'children' do her dirty work with their tiny claws. She never came up for anything, for that was her way.

Except for now.

For in one of her two claws were the remnants of her son, an old top hat with its lid blown out. Over the years, she had many, many children; but only one crab had ever been her son, the first one of her own flesh and blood. When her son didn't come during his appointed visit, she sent her children to find out why. They brought back his old top hat and the scent of death, and that his underwater home had been destroyed by such surface dwellers. It was then her restraints faded away.

For the first time in centuries she walked on land, taking out her sadness and anger on surface dwellers who lived close by. And the only way to do revenge was to it personally.


---o--o--o---


Em heard the commotions even before looking out the window. Screaming townspeople running for their lives as one home after another was being demolished by the giant crab. When she finally looked out the window, she saw the beast was even larger than she could have ever imagined. The scientist was horrified at watching a giant claw smash through a nearby house, ripping roof and walls apart with ease.

"Big looking sucker. Must be at least two stories tall." Zelgadis was standing there, supported by Amelia a bit as he limped toward the window.

"Where's Gourry?" asked Em.

"He's helping Maria and her dad evacuate the inn," said Amelia, smiling a bit as she leaned on the chimera. "I think most of the people are out."

"Good." The scientist pointed out the window at the gargantuan beast. "So, are we going to take that nasty thing down? You've got a plan?"

Zelgadis held up the bucket of pitch. "Uh-huh. It's about time I get to use this stuff."

Em chuckled. "Heh, I'm not used to this hero stuff at all. It must be contagious."

The chimera looked down at Amelia and beamed. "Yea, must be..."


---o--o--o---


M'desa was looking for human victims. She was moving through the port town, destroying buildings in her fruitless search for fleshy victims. The humans had long since gone; she cursed that her small window of opportunity for revenge had closed after her appearance from out of the sea.

Something struck her from behind that could only be described as a hot flash of heat. Her entire body was well protected with armor; yet such attacks were sharp and annoying. She twisted her giant body around and saw a cloaked human. And then, another ball of flame struck her in her face, shot from his location. Angrily at being fooled, she roared and charged the target of attack.

M'desa chased after the puny human of flesh, darting her claws ahead her point of attack. She just missed the human as he would roll or tumble out of her range. The queen crab was getting quite frustrated as her path retraced through the port to back near the docks where she had landed.

And suddenly there was another human with fire on an end of a stick. The girl was waving it close to her underside, the pain was becoming more than an annoyance. Out of instinct, she chased the human the other way... and then her target was flying...

She cursed, thinking the figure was actually running on the blackened ground. It was too late now, for she suddenly found herself unable to move.

The mother of all crabs looked down to see what was underneath her body. Instinctively, she touched the black glossy surface with her claw, but it too was stuck fast as well. All M'desa could do was snarl in frustration.


---o--o--o---


"We got her!" Em jumped up from her hiding place behind some barrels, in her hand was an empty bucket of pitch and brush.

Zelgadis looked up at the struggling beast. "So, what are we going to do with this thing?"

A few of the adventurous townspeople were already coming back to the village. There was a look of glee on their faces, something definitely was on their minds.

"Why are they looking at the giant crab so strangely?" asked Amelia to Marie's father.

"Because," he said as he smacked his lips in delight, "we're going to have quite a bloody feast of royal crab legs and roe."

"Ewww..." muttered Amelia.

The queen let out very loud, angry shrill that deafened the audience. Everyone shrinked to the ground instinctively covered their ears, causing them to squirm in pain. A few second later and it was over.

"What in the world?" said the chimera while cleaning out his ear. "That wasn't a normal yelp at all..."

"Umm...I think that's the reason. And it doesn't look good." Em pointed out to the sea, the tide suddenly withdrawing itself from the beachhead. Everyone could see the choppy ocean waters were receding as a tsunami was forming off in the far distance.

The princess raywinged up a pole and yelled to the hushed crowd. "Everybody run!" Amelia frantically gestured for the scampering crowd to escape for higher ground.

"We can't leave the city," said Zel, pointing to the queen crab. "What if we took refuge on the roof of the inn? After all, it's the tallest building in the port. Right?"

Amelia blinked. "Sounds good to me!"

With the help of the chimera and Amelia, Em, and Marie's father were all brought back to the roof of the inn. Marie and brought Gourry to the roof as well, thinking the same thing as chimera.

The group watched from afar as the wave crashed into the edge of town, uprooting the sea-facing homes and stores alike. The wave of water swept into the port city, bringing in debris as the wave flooded the port streets. The hulled boat that had once made it home by the broken dock swept into the center of the town as if a manned ship on the wave of the tsunami. Almost like a normal docking, the derelict craft creaked into position as it parked itself comfortably right next to the inn.

As the tsunami wave withdrew, the water left hundreds of the queen's little crab minions everywhere. The children of M'desa covered the streets in a sea of crustaceans. Like their mother, they crawled up the outside of the inn towards the roof in the name of vengeance.

"Eeep!" screamed Amelia, as a line of crabs ascended to their position.

The chimera fired a fireball at the advancing crustaceans, destroying the bunch in a fire while cooking their shells orange.

The mysterious priest popped in behind Zelgadis and Amelia rather suddenly. "Ano...how is everyone?" The Mazoku ducked for a second just as Amelia turned around to shoot a flare arrow at the opposite side of the roof.

"Xellos!" shot back Zel. The chimera was too busy using his sword to hack attacking crabs by his feet. He had no time to bother with the mysterious priest. "Can't you see we're a little busy?"

"Hmmm..." A single crab tried to latch onto Xellos' foot. The purple priest's reaction was to simply raise and lower his staff for a second, making such an ugly crunch by his feet.

"Maybe you could help us out in this case?" said Amelia, kicking a couple of loose crab off the roof with her feet.

"Well..." Xellos leaned his cane a little closer to the roof in slight pose of humility. He rubbed at his chin for good measure but quickly changed his mind by returning to his stoic nature. "I think not."

Em looked up at the mysterious guest and thumbed at his presence to Amelia. "You mean you don't care that this guy isn't helping us?"

"What? And chase our friend away?" said Amelia while shaking her head. "Xellos has helped out many times before: saving our skin, the world, and you know, that kind of stuff."

Xellos sweat dropped. "Saving the world? When did I do that?"

The kind heart princess took a second to stomp with her feet on some nearly crabs, their claws getting a little too close. She took some delight in twisting the meaty seafood into the roof shingles. "After all, it isn't like he caused this whole thing."

"Ano..." The Mazoku did a couple of quick turns of the head as if a spot of trouble was nearby, then initiated a sneak away on his tip toes. Looking back to see if he got away cleanly, he ran smack into another human. "Oops, excuse me."

"How in bloody Cepheid did you get up here?" asked Marie's father.

"Actually," smiled the Mazoku, "Cepheid has nothing to do with it."

The man pointed at the mysterious priest and opened his mouth, suddenly stuck dumb by Xellos' statement. "Oh?"

The mysterious priest looked around and knew he didn't have the luxury of time to stick around. "If you will excuse me," he said, "Ta ta!" before bowing and disappearing from sight.

"Oh...yeah? Well then..." Marie's father poked at his head at the strange meeting. "That guy there is certainly a strange one..."

His thoughts stopped cold as an explosion from the house next door shook the air. As the group turned, they saw the giant claws of the Queen crab carve through their neighbor's house like it was a dinner snack.

"Yikes!" screamed Amelia as she took a couple of steps back. "I think we're next!"

In an instant, M'desa was next to the inn, looking at all her children smashed and killed by the humans. She let loose a angry shrill at the carnage before charging the humans.

"I don't like the look at this," gloomed Em, "One thing worse than one giant crab is one giant-pissed off crab."

"Duck!" shouted the chimera as everyone stooped M'desa's opening blow of her giant claw. She barely missed Zelgadis, hitting the roof and causing quite of hole in the ceiling floor.

"Come on everyone! Let's get inside before that creature of the sea decides to wank us." From out of nowhere, Marie's father pulled up a trap door, revealing a slanting escape chute with a ladder running along the top for repelling.

"I didn't know there was a passage to the roof," said Marie. She looked down the tunnel into the second-story hallway of the inn. "When were you going to tell me this was here?"

"Never actually, 'cause you didn't bloody ask!" Marie's nutty father was already helping Em and Amelia down the ladder.

Marie shrugged her shoulder, and decided to go with the plan. She jumped into the chute with help from her father and disappeared down the rabbit hole, using the ladder as a brace to go down. "Gee, it sure is dark in here..."

"Just keep going!" Marie's father looked back up to see Zel fighting the crab creature's claws. So far, the chimera was winning the comical battle: for when M'desa got too close, the chimera would jump out with is left arm spinning, and knock into the top shell of the queen crab, causing her to wobble for a minute or two.

Gourry came right behind the Innkeeper's father and looked down the tunnel. Instead of using the ladder to repel himself, he jumped in head first and slid down the tunnel chute with full kowabunga action. The charging Gourry smacked into the ladies near the far end of his slide, shooting the path instantly clear.

"Oh, that's going to hurt," said Zelgadis, tied up at the moment. The queen crab tried a bull-run into the building, leaving the chimera had both of his hands on one of the giant claw's, trying to make sure it wouldn't snap around his stony body.

"...what were you thinking?" said one of the girls while the others collected themselves.

"...sorry..." pleaded the swordsman, almost sobbing.

"OK, who's next?" said Marie's crazy dad, laughing at the battling chimera.

The giant crab had Zel by the waist stuck in her claw. When she tied squeezing the flesh out of him, it only caused her claw blades to break apart.

"Nice try, but sometimes I'm a hard nut to crack these day," he grinned.

M'desa didn't give up as she captured the chimera again. She smashed his body continuously against the building, like beating the stuffing out an old teddy bear. The side of the inn was shaking from the whole experience, finally caving in as he dropped like a demolition ball to the hallway below.

"Oooh, that's got to hurt," said Marie's father as he scampered away.

The group minus Marie's father gathered themselves together on the second story of the inn. "Are you OK, Zel?" asked Amelia as they helped the chimera off the floor.

Zelgadis was busy knocking the cobwebs out of his head. "I'm fine," he said, dusting debris off his cape. "No missing arms this time."

Em and Gourry were too busy looking at the large open window that faced the front of the inn. They could see the giant crab's body lower itself to their level.

"Shh....don't move," whispered Em, but it was far too later. The movements had already been too tempting even for M'desa. Once the giant crab saw the shadows moving behind the glass, she attacked without abandon.

Windows broke as the girls ducked just in the nick of time. The giant claw swung though the hallway like an earthquake splitting the inn. There wasn't really anyplace to hide for protection with no tables nor chairs in place. Just doors to other guest bedrooms, the only way to get out of the unprotected hallway.

"Quick, in here!" The chimera opened a nearby door without even looking, motioning for everyone to draw into a room.

"Wait a minute!" said Marie but she didn't speak up loud enough.

Without much thought, Gourry the girls followed Zelgadis into the pitch-black room. The tightly sprung door closed just as quickly, snapping shut.

Darkness.

It was also snug. No, it was quite snug for the five of them. This wasn't a guest room...it was a closet.

" Zel? Why the linen closet?" said Amelia.

The chimera kicked the wall. "How was I supposed to know this was a linen closet?"

Marie tried to jingle the door open, but apparently it wasn't cooperating. "Stupid linen door is locked from the inside. Wasn't he supposed to fix this thing last week?"

"....bloody hell."

"Be quiet Gourry," deadpanned Zelgadis.

"Oh, OK."

Silence.

The door's knob shook again. "Someone want to give me a hand in getting this thing open?" asked Marie.

"Love to, but I'm afraid I'm kind of trapped here on the other side," responded Em.

"Hai."

"Doesn't anyone have a torch?" asked Amelia, her voice rather tired. "How about a match?"

"I do have some in my back pocket," said Em, "I could get it if someone would stop smashing my favorite hand..."

"Ano," muttered Zelgadis. "At least you don't have someone using your body as a shelf."

"Oh, is that you?" said rather preoccupied Marie, "and I thought that was the wall?"

The chimera sweat dropped.

"How are we getting out of here?" asked princess from Saillune, her voice tone turning irritable.

Zel tapped his foot. "I don't know, but that door is going to be blasted down in about thirty seconds."

"One, you have to realize that I'm in front of the door," said Marie, "and two, I don't think my human body could take a spell this close."

"There's plenty of cushioning back here," said the blond swordsman while squirming around for a better position. "I'm sure we could use it for protection."

"Ummm, Gourry?" chimed in Amelia, "that's not cushioning..."

"Get me out of here!" Zel screamed a new octave even for him. "Now!"

The door swung open as if on request. "Did someone call?" Marie's father blinked at seeing the rest of them packed in the closet like sardines. "I've been meaning to get that door fixed for some time." The damage was so extensive that the motion of the door swinging open caused it to fall off the frame with a thud. "Oh, wow...that did it."

The group squinted at the sunlight before exiting the cramped space. "Ugh," said the princess, "that was horrible!"

"Where did the crab beast go?" said Zelgadis, seeing a stray crab walking along the broken hallway that was suddenly open to the sky. He took his sword out and smacked the pest dead in its tracks.

"The bloody thing took off for a second, I think she found her claws into kitchen on the first floor," said Marie's father. A rattle of pots and pans could be heard in the distance. "Yup. I'd definitely say the kitchen."

"That thing is an eating machine," said Amelia. "No way a kitchen seafood will hold that thing at bay."

Em nodded her head. "But what are we going to use to take down that thing?" She rubbed her short red hair in reflex. "My guess is we'll need some pretty fancy chaotic spells to blow that sucker up."

A little bit of thinking had the chimera suddenly snapped his fingers. "Right. You've just given me the perfect idea."

The scientist gulped. "I...did?"


---o--o--o---


Livid and bent on revenge is what you could describe for the crab queen M'desa. In her vain attempt to kill the humans who had destroyed her son and so many of her children, she had been captured, barbequed, and tortured. She basically would have walked through fire just to quench her own thirst for revenge.

The mighty beast's search had devastated the largest building in the port city. The inn's roof was gone, peeled open like a sardine can. The top floor was partly open by the front, her claw's handiwork easily getting into the meat of the structure. But she could not locate her pray, her scent had directed her attention to the back of the building where she broke in and found fresh seafood to enjoy.

But the food only gave M'desa a taste as she continued to ransack the building. She wasn't making much headroom when she was stung with the familiar pounding of a fireball in the back, the impact of the blast pushing her giant body into the next building.

M'desa roared furiously while turning around. It was one of the foolish humans, the caped blue-skinned one who had trapped her earlier. The human shot another bolt of energy from his sword, striking her underbelly.

She jolted after the annoying human, around the inn and back to an area she had just been to. Another bolt of energy hit her from the inn's roof, another one from one of those annoying humans. M'desa saw her, a short human female in her white outfit darting though the open-aired hallways. She watched as the girl opened one of the interior doors and closed it quickly, trying to avoid her appearance.

Ah-ah, there go you little bugger, thought M'desa. Trying to get away from me. Well, you must have hidden in there last time. Not this time, human.

She threw her claws at the door, smashing it to pieces. The room was tiny -- if it at all could be called a room. But what got M'desa's attention was a swirling image of magic. M'desa could swear she saw something that looked like a mirror image of herself. But it disappeared and reflected back a human girl's face, nodding a bit to the giant crab.

"Hey, one second!" said the redhead. This got M'desa's interested as she leaned closer to take a look.

The girl in the image was quite busy, molding something in her hands, her chanting changing from intense concentration to enjoyment as she looked back up at the queen mother. "I've got a surprise for you..." She showed a little grin as she turned her hands up-

"Dragon Slave!!"


---o--o--o---


Amelia poked herself up from a hole recently made with Em and Marie's help through the linen closet's floor. She looked around and grinned back at her fellow members, yelling warmly. "She's done!"

"Really?" said Marie, scurrying up to take a look. "Oh, wow! That is so cool!"

Indeed, where the living flesh of a crab had been was a bright orange, all roasted and ripe to perfection.

"We got her?" shouted Em from the first floor, looking up at the other two.

"Hai. She's cooked all right." Marie looked around the second floor of her inn -- there wasn't much left except for a room here or there, most of the floor has been blown sheer off by the dragon slave. "My poor inn..."

The princess of Saillune was busy chatting congratulations to Lina via the mirror. "That was great! It worked exactly like Zelgadis said."

Lina sweat dropped. "Hai," she said, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. "I'm glad I could help."

"Indeed," said Zelgadis, closely behind the brunette. "The force of the blast was controlled tightly by the mirror's constraints, it only blew up this building and nothing else. It resulted in a concentrated Dragon Slave."

"Really?" said Lina, nodding her head. "I'll have to keep that in mind..."

Gourry was on the street, behind him the townspeople were looking up at the giant cooked crab. A few of the adventurous ones were already carving the great beast up and carrying pieces of the flesh home.

"What's going on?" as Amelia watched Marie's father dig into the carcass of the giant crab and pull one of its longs legs back into the kitchen of the inn. In fact, all the locals were digging into the crab with happy grins all over their faces.

"It's food, and not just any special food." Marie smiled as she directed a couple of her servers to fetch some of the meat. "Just like dragon cuisine is relished, royal crab is the stuff of legends." She held out a strip of the crab meat, the pinkish flesh seemed to glitter in the sunlight. "A few weeks of smoking and drying, and this town will be flowing again with strangers from abroad." She leaned back in satisfaction. "You know, all of you saved the town."

"We did?" said Em, her face expression very surprised. "That's great! But...." She twisted her foot into the ground in shyness. "I just don't like seafood, that's all."


---o--o--o---


It was early next morning on the port dock where everyone met. Marie and her father were there with sacks of fresh food for the rest of them, in appreciation for saving their town. Even though thanks had already been passed around during dinner the night before, it was their well wishes for escorting them early the next morning.

A delivery sailing ship had docked before dawn, ready to pass on the exciting news of royal crab in the port of Pellsbury. It also served as a passenger ship back to the mainland, the only weekly passage away from the island.

"All aboard!" One of the crew was yelling, motioning the approaching chimera to board the ship. Zelgadis was feeling quite proud in himself as he took a step toward the ship, for saving the town and all. It was just enough to slightly dent all the depressing things happening to him -- his condition, his health...basically, everything else.

He was about to board the walkway when Em tugged at his cloak, pulling him back onto the dock. "We're not going."

"What? Why not!" Zel stomped around like an angry dragon, unexpectedly furious. "We have to get back to the Sheik's city! You know, the mainland?" he pointed east. "It's the only way we're going to make it to the City of the Clouds."

Em looked up into the chimera's eyes. "We'll never make it in your condition..."

"What do you mean, my condition?" He faced away from the scientist. "What's happening to me is none of your business. I know you helped me out before, but if you want to stay here...that's your business, not mine."

"No, that's not what I meant." Em turned her head around and looked along the beach. "We've got to get north back to my old home. I may have something there to help you. I just hope...it isn't too late."

Zel nodded his head as he turned his back to Em. "I'm not going. I swore Lina that I would get to the Sheik's city in two days. From that city, the journey south is still a couple of days away, to the icy hills where the City of the Clouds will appear. We have no time to sightsee for my own benefit. This passage is the only way."

"Listen to her, Zel," said Amelia, stepping up to the conversation. "I know she's right. You haven't got a prayer to make it to the City of the Clouds in time. If you go, you'll be a statue by the time you reach the Sheik's city."

"Stay out of this!" roared the chimera, walking away a few feet before storming back for some more words. He pointed to the princess of Saillune. "You have no business telling me what's right and wrong. It's always justice for this and justice for that. Now when I want to do something unselfish, just, and help someone, you tell me it's wrong."

"It is wrong!" Amelia let out a little whimper yet held her ground. The old Amelia from a few weeks ago might have fled, her emotional shell broken open like an egg. But the petite brunette was stronger, standing firmly with both feet firmly in front of the chimera.

"You told me to stay by your side," she avowed. "You told me 'you carry out your deepest desires, no matter the cost.'" Zelgadis tried to open his mouth and interrupt her tirade, but the brunette cut him off. "All that stuff back there, all of it poured out and I listened to every last word. And then I agreed to do what you wish, even swearing to it. Yes, I swore."

Amelia stepped forward. "However, dear Zel. My promise comes with a price, a very high price indeed. And that is that we help you from now on. Period."

"But..." The chimera was wordless to say anything else.

"But nothing. We're in this together. That means you and me." She pulled the scientist closer as Gourry came up from behind. "And Em. And Gourry. You don't have a choice."

The chimera knew the handwriting was on the wall, looking at the three of his friends. He crossed his arms in frustration, giving up. "Fine. Where are we going then?"

"Really?!" The girls ran up the chimera and almost huggled the poor chimera. After a few embarrassing minutes, Zelgadis managed to peel off the glomping ladies.

"That's enough now," he said, brushing his cloak back into place. "Now, Em...Where are we going?"

"To a place only a day's journey from here," she said, pointing up the beach line north. "My old place where I worked and lived with my father. Hopefully, it's still there. I really do wish so."

"Well, it's my funeral," said Zel, opening his hand up as a sign of forgiveness. "Lead the way."

---o--o--o---


Biru and Thoth were in a rented rowboat with the old man directing the former innkeeper and creator of 'Inverse Tax' to paddle faster. Quite strange how Biru had started to respect Thoth once he learned of his 'inspector' identity. Yet, they almost acted like partners now in their own personal quests.

They hit the side of the delivery ship gently. With quick precision, they lashed themselves to the side of the larger craft. "Won't anyone notice that we're stowaways along for the ride?" said Biru, "It's not like we paid for a ticket."

"Shhhh..." hushed Thoth as he tried to listen above deck.

"I know to be quiet," scolded the whispering Biru, "We should hear them above deck. You can make out that whiney little priss-"

The old man's eyes wandered away from above as he spotted something else in the distance. "Biru! Biru!"

"...what! I can't hear them!"

Thoth pushed Biru on the shoulder while pointing away from the ship. "Ummm..."

"Yes..." The annoyed innkeeper finally turned around to see what all the hubbub was. "Crap! They're walking up the coastline!" Eager the follow, the experienced cook whipped out his trusty meat cleaver and lowered it onto the lashings with the other ship.

The rowboat suddenly lurched forward, the tide kicking them roughly the larger craft. "Quickly! We'll have to catch up with them over the open seas." Thoth took a look up the beach at Lina's friends, standing up for a second.

Biru shifted in the boat, pushing the craft away from the docked ship. The second sudden shift caused old man Thoth to fall into the craft with a loud thunk. Biru muttered a curse, loud enough for the old man to hear.

Thoth turned around in the rowboat, looking back at their oars floating in the water. "Damn, we're so screwed..."


---o--o--o---


The chimera watched Amelia and Gourry dance up ahead along the romantic beach. The waves were lightly pounding the shoreline; the sun's rays were giving the water a rather sparkling effect. The land north of the port city was much more sparser with sand dunes, rocky hills, and generally low-lining shrubbery. But unlike a desert, the land teemed with life, untouched from mankind's wrath.

A little farther down the beach Em and Zelgadis walked side by side. The scientist had taken off her shoes and strung them over her shoulder, the laces tied together. She calmly walked along, letting her bare feet carry her over water logged sand. It made for easier travel along the beach, the warm surf occasionally washing across her feet.

Zel walked along the higher part of the beach, tackling the rougher sand with his greater weight. Travel for him was difficult, not just because of the ground conditions but because his own circumstances were worsening as well. Stiff wasn't it, but it more like slowness to react than anything. He knew that it was happening, he knew that Em and Amelia had been right. Yet, he refused to speak any more about it. It was none of their business after all.

Em too knew what was slowly happening to the chimera's body. She had figured that the chimera only had a day or two at most. Yet, she didn't let it fester in her mind, preferring to dwell on returning to her former home.

Amelia and Gourry were walking in front of them like two little kids, playfully telling each other little gossips. The blond swordsman stopped for a second to look down at a horseshoe crab, he lifted the crustation into the air for the princess to see. Amelia took great interest in the sea creature, tickling its bottom in a lighthearted manner. The poor horseshoe crab could only run its legs helplessly in the air. It was funny how they were playing with crabs after almost perishing to one the day before.

The scientist broke the silence while the looking ahead at Amelia and Gourry. "You really care about her, don't you?"

"Hai." Zel was trying his best to stay wrapped up in his cloak, but the wind was making it rather difficult to stay covered up.

"Then why don't you say something to her?"

The chimera swallowed his breath, the difficult words coming off of his chest. "I don't share...what I feel. Emotions are such a bother."

"I notice that you never talk about anything, don't you?" blinked the scientist.

Zel nodded. "True. But then, I don't talk much to anyone unless I have something to say."

Em chuckled. "Actually, you're doing a good job of it right now."

The chimera flashed a little smile from behind his stony exterior. "Maybe you're right. Only time will tell me the truth."

They looked up in the distance, as beach and hillside became a rocky ledge that overlooked the sea; the cliff side rising in elevation as they headed north. The heights of the cliffs were quite dramatic in the distance, with the sea splashing on rough rocks below, the sheer drop off was 100 feet or more. Their eyes followed up along the edge of the cliffs until it ran to a small cluster of houses in the far horizon. This was indeed the northernmost point in the island, the rest bent away from Em and Zel's view. Clearly this was the destination in Em's mind.

"Home. I did not ever think I'd return here in my lifetime," silently whispered the redhead. "Yet, each of us has to make sacrifices, each and every day of our lives. Mine just happens to be today." The scientist kicked at a random clump of dirt, trying to pass the time onward.


---o--o--o---


It was dark by the time they closed in on their destination. The small cluster of houses as not a grouping, but a single manor-like castle long since deserted. Its stone building had multiple wings with elevated towers, a couple of them burned out from occasional lighting strikes to its wooden roofs. However, most of the central part of the manor seemed relatively intact.

A weed-infected stone walkway snaked itself to the massive entrance of a double set of oaken doors. The engraved festive images warmly greeted visitors and invited guests to enter in.

Em fished around in her pocket and produced a set of skeleton keys, taking the lead position to the front door. She slipped in her key but the door offered no locked resistance, as it swung open. "Come on," she said, waving the group into the mansion. "We may not have much time."

Zel look mystified. "Time? Time for what?" The chimera had his sword out and lit; he was using it as the group's makeshift torch.

The inside conditions didn't improve from the abandoned outside views. The once magnificent center foyer and vaulted wooden ceilings had collapsed in a quite a few places; now they were open aired to the sky as stars shone brightly through. Ancient tapestries hung on stone walls, their condition ruined by the many years of rain and moisture. The once luxurious designs reminded Zelgadis of Turnip's library, but he nodded it off as a coincidence.

"Come on..." Em's words pushed them quickly through the large foyer.

Amelia poked at a piece of furniture covered in white sheeting. Just nudging it with the tip of her finger caused a little dust cloud to rise, choking the poor princess of Saillune.

"This stuff *cough* is so *cough* dirty!" said the brunette, trying to clear her way.

The chimera waved the dust away with a flip of his cloak. The sudden timed movement was perfect, settling the clouds of filth into the ground. "Come on...."

Gourry stopped at a painting over a larger fireplace in the center of the mansion. The subject was of a distinguished redheaded man, his face proud and smiling. In his smudged work-like hands he held the unmistakable chaos box, its energies swirling above. It was a snapshot of imagination, captured at that very moment of victory.

"He looks familiar..." said Gourry, looking at the painting and then at Em. "You related to him?"

Em nodded an affirmative. "I am." She took a good second to collect her thoughts. "Painted it on the very first day we activated the chaos box. Isn't it lovely?" As Em went on, the rest of them looked up at the picture in awe. "I can almost remember it like yesterday. You really should know..."

Zel walked up next to Em and urged her on. "Then please, do tell."

"I remember it was one of those rainy days, more than twelve years ago," explained Em. "I was just a kid, helping my father with errands while his assistants were prepping the box. For months before, they had tried in vain everything within the chaos box: gold, silver, diamonds, and magical items. Nothing at all in the drawings described how the chaos box worked.

"Every day, I watched my father place items in and out of the chaos box only to later vent in frustration." Em took a breath and continued. "Then, one day, I was playing in the lab with my mineral and shell collection. I had all sorts of colored shells and rocks that I had collected along the beach. Even at 9 years old, I was determined to help my father with his work. And when he wasn't looking, I'd try a rock or a shell or two, and nothing would happen."

"Several weeks later, I found all sorts of new shells and stones along the beach after a thunderstorm. That late afternoon, I snuck back into my father's lab with the new prizes to my collection. From watching my father before, I followed his earlier movements precisely; trying shells and rocks of every kind and generally causing a mess everywhere."

Amelia snickered a bit, with Zelgadis shooting her dirty look to be quiet.

"I was trying some rather dirty clam shells when my father came into the lab. He saw my muddy fingerprints everywhere, with broken shells on the ground and all his lab equipment scattered around in a mass. My dad immediately scolded me, trying to drag me back to the mansion in order to ground me, or something about keeping me in the mansion. I was a feisty, so on the walk halfway back to the house I managed to escape his grasp and ran back into lab. So determined I was to try one last time -- so much, that I placed in my most precious of finds in the chaos box: a crystal as clear as water itself, one of the last treasures that I had ever found along the beach."

"A chaos stone..." said Zel.

"Hai. And with a swirl of light and energy, the box lit up as brightly as the sun itself. My father rushed in at the explosion of light. He didn't understand at first that I had succeeded, but then he looked and looked again -- at the chaos box and into the top of it, and when he saw my crystal swirling with energies about..." Em dramatically paused as she wiped away the tears from her eyes. "My Cepheid, he was so thrilled with me. We hugged for the longest time, and then he ran to his assistants and commissioned this painting on the spot."

Amelia took a step back. "Wow."

There was an angry knock of timber outside, and the shouting of voices. "Someone's around, I think," said the swordsman.

Em looked up for a second and cupped her ear to listen. "Out by the lab, they're behind the mansion."

"Behind this place?" questioned Zel while turning his head.

Em nodded an affirmative as there was another knocking of wood, much louder than the first time. "Come on," she said, waving the party out the back door. "It's just this way."

The chimera lowered his sword after seeing ignited torches lighting their way. The four of them kept themselves close to the ground, hugging the moist earth on their knees.

Em edged herself slowly up to the edge of a grassy embankment. As the scientist edged closer, she crawled head first to the top of the small hill, allowing her to overlook the illuminated area below. "We definitely have some company tonight, and oh boy, does it ever look familiar."

Em's statement got Zel quite curious as he squirmed his way up the embankment to the top of the ridge. With one eye, he saw all of it and turned around on a dime. "I don't believe it! Another airship!"

"What!" Amelia and Gourry shot up out of their stances and onto their feet to take a quick look. The other two pulled them down as quickly as they could.

"Are you crazy? There's got to be at least a dozen guards around!" Zel scolded the two of them he searched his backpack, finally pulling out his telescoping lens and assembling it.

"The laboratory is mostly an outside complex with a couple of small buildings for supplies..." Em's voice was quiet, as if she was experiencing deja vu. Even though the house was in shambles, this seemed more...reminiscent.

The chimera turned back onto his stomach and examined the scene close at hand. His lens saw many details that would usually be missed by the darkness. First, the short dusty path down that led down the hill to the lower area -- dipping so far downward that it almost went all the way to the ocean. The narrow of path was lined on both sides by a cliff edge into the ocean. "What a place," he said, admiring the danger. "It has sea on both sides..."

"Uh-huh, and it gets cut off most of the time," said Em. "We've got only an hour or so until the passage is totally blocked by the tide."

"But that makes it so inaccessible!" exclaimed Amelia.

"Well, we weren't using magic," said Em, "only capturing it."

Zel pointed his telescoping lens up to the island itself. It was actually quite large, with groups of bushes and trees scattered sparsely around its edges. But the bulk of the island was teeming with busyness: a more than a couple of one-story buildings, several benches and tables, and then the largest item of all: the dry dock for the completed airship.

"Quite a few new addition here, I can tell most of this is new. All of it is very interesting," flatly stated the chimera.

The entire airship was docked in a manmade concave hole in the middle of the island. It was a warship -- not an old converted craft like Em's, but wider than taller with a hull that was more menacing than to any ship of the sea. Giant crossbows, catapults, and other dangerous weaponry lined the edges of the top deck like a spiked collar. Plus, it was huge: easily three times the size of Em's little craft and the largest ship they had ever seen in their lifetime, almost dwarfing the island that made its home.

This ship had no huge airbag like Em's ship, but four smaller silver balloons floating along the length of the ship. "I don't know how that thing gets off the ground..." said the chimera, figuring the calculations in his head. "It's got to be magic."

"Let me see..." said Amelia, just grasping for the telescope but missing.

Zel looked along the side of the craft at an elevated table and set of chairs. With all the torches around for the workers and the layout of the tables, it was quite clear their leader was at the elevated head table. "My Cepheid, I don't even believe it. It's Turnip!"

"You're kidding!" The princess succeeded this time in liberating the telescope out from the chimera's grasp. She took only second to look before exclaiming her displease. "That sure looks like him. And we all thought Lina toasted his ass, I've got to wonder how he survived."

"Maybe he's a clone," said Gourry, thinking for once.

"Could be," answered the chimera. "Someone with that much ego would probably clone himself for fun." Zel sharpened his lens a bit more. "But there's no jewel on his forehead, so unless there's been something new..."

"Turnip?" asked Em, quite curious who this character was that the rest of them were befuddling. "You mean that's guy you ran into at Monte Darlo? Come on, let me see who this character really is." She took the telescope from Amelia and focused on the point where Zel was directing. "That's not Turnip, that's Francois!"

"Francois?" said Zel, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

Em raised a small first into the air, her emotions smoldering to a point of ignition. "That no-good, two-timing second assistant to my father. He was such a jerk!"

The scientist took a second to check her anger, dropping the telescoping lens into Gourry's lap. "He disappeared after the accident, vanishing like a fart in the wind."

"Wow..." said the swordsman, "They are really, really, small looking!"

"Give me that thing!" Zelgadis swiped the telescope out of Gourry's hands and turned it around. "Try it this way..."

"Oh...hai," sweat dropped Gourry, "that's much better."

The scientist was as excited as boiling teakettle. "I've got an idea," she said, crawling away from the hill back toward the mansion. "It took me a while to remember, but I think there's another way..."

The rest of the group looked dumbfound as they watched Em disappear back into the house. Em turned around and waved them in from the doorway. "Well don't just stand there, come on!"


---o--o--o---


Turnip's mouth watered at the spread. The giant wooden table was covered from head to toe with some of the finest dishes in the land: roasted meats from the north, smoked salmon and whitefish from off the coast of the southern continent. Even rare fruits and vegetables from the sheik's city, from the private gardens of Uzumara, their sweet tasted most prized of all.

He ate one fork full and after another with the lavishness of royalty. Everything was laid out on the region's finest china with golden utensils on the white tablecloth. Even the napkins were made from bolts of silks from the Sheik himself.

Yet, all the riches of the world couldn't help him with the most important problem. "This food..." said the former human, "it does indeed taste strange." He lifted a drumstick of chicken and gnawed on it rather playfully. "Actually, it really doesn't have any flavor at all."

"Some more wine, sir?" One of Turnip's expatriate guards from Monte Darlo came forward with a bottle, carefully placed in a silver ladle for serving. Once disobedient and one of the many that had fled with Biru, the former guard was now under Turnip's powers of slavery.

"Yes, give me some..." Turnip watched as his slave poured wine into his silver goblet. He couldn't wait a second for the fermented juice to settle; he lifting the wine to his chain even before it had time to settle. For this wine was the Sheik's reserve, bottled from Uzumara's very own private vineyards.

Turnip scowled and stared at the wine and the silver glass. He licked his lips and detected...nothing. Furiously, he smashed the precious goblet into the ground with such force that he flattened it.

"Baka. Die for your mistake." He reached out with his new fangled powers and grasped his slave by the next. The puny guard didn't have time to react to the vortex of fire that instantly encircled his body. It was over before he could blink an eye, the guard reduced to a couple of pounds of smoky ash.

"You nitwit." A rumbling from the darkened corner as the diminutive Mazoku came out. "You're dead already. You can't savor their food anymore."

"I don't care." He popped a giant spoonful of caviar into his mouth, hoping the extreme saltiness would awake his taste buds. He frowned, dripping the fish eggs like saliva onto the ground. "Such an idiot...I am..."

Joe looked down at the mess and ignored his subject's anguish. "Have you completed the airship? You are at least a day behind."

"First it was important, then it wasn't. Now it's all about your precious airship. Can't you guys make up your mind?" Turnip got up from his chair and walked over to the design board. "However, Joe, I can offer you good news. Rest at ease, because this airship is very close to being...launched."

The diminutive Mazoku nodded. "No more screw-ups?"

The former human chuckled. "Nevermore. The combination of my muscle from Monte Darlo and the reins you has given in me have been very beneficial, I'd say."

"Don't push your luck." Joe tapped at the top of the design board with his skinny wooden staff. "How many hours?"

Turnip smirked. "We finish tonight and leave early in the morning, just after sunrise. The engine works already with the master key. Then it's two days to completing our task. I still don't know why we're doing it this way. After all, the key gives us total control!"

Joe looked up with his eyes on Turnip as their sockets excitedly glowed blood red with his powers. "I am in charge here, Turnip. Listen to me, your master."

The former human ignored his master's grandstanding, taking his fist and smashing his own drawings with glee, making the entire board collapse onto the ground. "Without me, dear Joe, you have nothing."

He kicked the particle board, smashing it again. "You may have my soul, fellow Mazoku, but never my knowledge..." He looked at his Mazoku hand with had not even taken a cent of damage. "This time, its personal, my dear professor..."

Joe took a step back from Turnip's rage. For all his tries, thought Joe, Turnip was still acting quite human -- feeding him the titillations of a Mazoku had not been enough. Turnip's egotistical mind was driving him insane.

Plans would have to be altered, he thought. Soon, before Lina and her companions interfered any longer. Time was short -- the only way everything was to work was to go in a different direction.

Joe turned back to his subject. "I have business to attend to. Expect me to come back by dawn's earliest light." He turned away and disappeared.

Turnip chuckled. "I may be your subject, but I don't take orders lightly from anyone. Especially you, dearest traitor." He turned back to his slaves and demanded their attention. "Men! We finish tonight for the glory of Monte Darlo! May we plunder riches from the land. Now move it!"


---o--o--o---


The group of Em, Zel, Gourry, and Amelia were back in the house, looking up at the portrait of Em's father hanging over the ancient mantle fireplace. Em was already there before the others, speaking up to her father -- quietly toned so one could hear the whispers but not the actual words.

"Father," the scientist held as she clasps her hands in personal prayer, "please help me and my friends. Your legacy is the only way..." She finished her speech as quickly as she had started it.

"OK, is everyone ready?" said the scientist.

The group nodded in approval.

Em let out a little funny grin as she stepped into the fireplace, her own height so low that she didn't even have to duck down.
The rest of the group sweat dropped. "Um, Em..." said Zelgadis, "what are you doing?"

"Come on..." she waved, getting everyone into the tight area within the fireplace. "I swear, it's not like yesterday."

The men, especially Gourry, had to hunch into the fireplace in order to fit. It was certainly larger than their last escapades with a certain linen closet.

Em reached up fooled around with the duct in the ceiling. She tugged on something as metal creaked, dropping a layer of black soot onto the whole group.

"Oh my...I'd have to guess that was the wrong leaver."

"Nothing I haven't been used to lately..." nonchalantly said the swordsman as he dusting himself off, shaking like a wet dog.

"Gourry!" exclaimed Amelia as she became covered with a second layer of soot.

"Oh...sorry..."

"Ummm...OK." The nerve-racked scientist reached up to pull another leaver. A harsh metallic sound from above activated as the stone fireplace rattled to life, the familiarity of the sounds calming the scientist as she sighed.

Everyone else was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Amelia gripped onto Zelgadis like her own personal teddy bear, while Gourry used the edge of the inner fireplace wall to brace herself during the shaking. Suddenly, the quaking stopped as the floor lowered itself downward below level ground.

"Where are we going?" asked the chimera.

"You'll see..." chimed the scientist.

After a short decent, the makeshift elevator stopped at the far end of a deep cavern. Everyone hushed as pale moonlight entered and filtered from the ocean water, reflecting throughout the airy cavern. It was just enough light to tell that the underground grotto was tremendous huge.

Zel raised his sword high above his head, illuminating the giant cavern. Even the high ceilings could be seen, a few bats acknowledged their presence with a few flaps of their wings. The moonlit ocean tide came in and softly crashed against a sandy beach, this taking up most of the cavern's area. A narrow rocky path ran along the right side and the edge of the cave to a small makeshift dock just big enough for a small wooden craft.

"Oh wow..." said Amelia as the walked forward.

"My father used this as the port for the laboratory, but he didn't tell anyone except me that he had connected the mansion and the underground terrain together." Em pointed up at the ceiling. "As you can see, we're right under the island now." Sure enough, they could make out a tiny bit of the hull of the airship through the ceiling of their underground grotto.

As they walked down toward the craft, Zelgadis turned his sword blade up, looking at the cave walls. He was astonished by the simple painted frescos -- the skill rudimentary at best yet the colors were quite bold and bright. The combination of the humid air and slashes from the salty see that unexpectedly preserved the images like they had been painted yesterday.

He could just make out the telling a story, with the simply drawn stick figures representing prehistoric humans. He stopped his thoughts for a second to ask a question. "Did you draw these, Em? They look quite recent."

The scientist chuckled. "Silly boy, I didn't paint these. Look carefully and you'll see what they are..."

The chimera did. A group of stick figures were running away from lightening and tornadoes; the usual god stuff of earlier times -- the prepensely to run away from such awesome power was quite the usual story.

But there was something that struck him familiar with the inhuman power -- one, that it was elevated next to an image of the moon, the sun, and a cloud with lightening. Now it wasn't strange that lowly humans thought that such gods were heavenly creatures. What was strange was that other stick figures were drawn as companions to their sky-like figures.

One of the god stick figures was holding up a tray above his head with a image of a rudimentary box on top. From above the box poured the energies of the unnatural -- of swirling winds, of energies unknown. A chaos box.

"These are the drawings..." Zel looked over the sequence, finding one more that was a glowing chaos box. An arrow led to another drawing of the same chaos box sans the glowing effect, and the unmistakable chaos stone.

"I see...so that's how you discovered the inner workings of a chaos box..." The chimera thumbed at the rudimentary paintings for more clues, but other sections of the wall were too eroded for clues.

Gourry looked up at the colorful frescos. "Seems rather simple to me."

Zelgadis grinned. "Hai."

They continued to walk along the underground bay until they reached the dock where the ship was docked. It was a narrow vessel that was only fathom wide yet its length was an impressive 40 feet or more. Yet it was unlike any sailing ship Lina's friends had ever seen before.

"Where are the sails?" asked Amelia, looking upon the ship with a great amount of interest. "I think they're missing..."

The chimera looked at the craft as well. "There's no rudder or wheel in the back of the ship, just...a levers..."

But Em was not surprised but flabbergasted at the existence of the sleek craft. "That obsequious baka. Francois built it from my father's plans. She laid a hand on the craft and rubbed the polished wood in awe. "One of my father's legacies..."

Zel pointed to the craft. "And how does it work without wind power? I don't even see hole for the mask."

Em looked down at her feet. "I wish I still had a chaos stone to operate it...yet...my father's legacy..."

The princess of Saillune leaned against the redheaded scientist. "Don't worry, we'll take care of that Turnip."

"Yea, we're going to try," pondered the chimera as he scratched his chin. "I just don't know how."

"Come on!" Em ran down the path from the docked ship, the rest of Lina's comrades in tow. "Let's try to get a closer look..."

The path took a sudden sharp upward at the mouth of the cavern, half-circling around the lip until it was level with the above ground. Em just stopped short of being spotted as she diverted up to behind a tree and some shrubs. The group closely followed the scientist, well hidden away from Turnip and his goons.

Amelia twisted her head in several directions, trying to get her bearings. "Where are we? I could swear we only went to..." She was dumbfounded until the chimera turned her head straight ahead at the mansion on the far hill, almost covered up by the airship and its balloons. "Oh, is that where we came from?"

Em shook her head. "Hai. We're exactly on the other side of the laboratory." She pointed to the left at a couple of low-lying buildings. "Supplies are in there, and..."

"But now what do we do?" asked Amelia.

"Watch and wait," said Zel, getting comfortable on the ground, "and we'll know when the time is right."


---o--o--o---


Thoth let out an extremely tired grasp. "How come I've rowing all this way even thought as you say-" The old man took a break to recollect his thoughts. "I'm the inspector from the national office. You know, to check on your establishments and your rules."

Biru grinned. "Oh, and do you see any inns in this area?" Except for the darkened faraway shoreline, the rest of the sea was barren of life. "Besides, I need to save my energy for later." He grasped his hand in frustration while starting to mutter to himself. "Lina and her friends will pay dearly for avoiding Inverse tax...that much I swear..."

Thoth sweat dropped. No matter what he would say, Biru was still quite a driven person. Whether he was mad was another story altogether. "Didn't we talk about how the national office still hasn't decided on your Inverse tax?"

Biru coughed. "Oh...that's right!" The innkeeper suddenly switched personalities on his face. "I'll keep that in mind..."

The old man sighed, rowing a few strokes in frustration. So long ago, we wouldn't have to take the crap that Biru was dishing out. He was cared for hand and foot by the best servants in all the land. They would wake him from his princely bed, wash his exterior and dry his body with the finest of silk linens.

He remembered some the parties that his father hosted in late evenings, with countless dignitaries arriving from far away for the evening. Then, suddenly the parties were no longer around. And the war was on.

Torn. The choices he had made -- for they had been appalling decisions, even for today. Yet, Thoth never regretted making them early in his life. Never at all.

"I see them! There!" Interrupting Thoth's memoirs was Biru's hysterical pointing at the land. The darkness and the fog had just separated enough to point out signs of life. The innkeeper was jumping around like nuts, his excitement threatening to tip the craft over.

"Easy there, Biru! I see them!" The old man turned the rowboat toward the island, coming in from the near side and also to keep as much cover between Lina's friends and himself. What he needed now was a little luck.

"What are you doing?" asked Biru, noticing how they were off course.

Thoth nodded. "I can't go in straight, otherwise the tide will drag us off. Just call it a hunch." All of this was a white lie, but it seemed to calm the Innkeeper's jumpiness.

"Well, if you put it that way," smugly said Biru, sitting down in the rowboat. "Then you're right, this is much better to come in this way. "

The old man sighed. Maybe pushing Biru overboard would be a good idea after all...


---o--o--o---


The four of them watched closing from the thick shrubbery, changing locations again. For now less than thirty feet away was Turnip sitting down at this dinner table, the former human's back to their position. Turnip appeared to be eating away at some human food, taking bite upon bite and throwing each uneaten edible away to the side.

They could hear his raspy voice yell obscenities. "Bring me some real food" The poor slaves groaned at his evilness, even under Turnip's mind control spell they seemed powerless to resist.

Amelia turned to the chimera. "We still haven't figured out how Turnip is still alive. There's no chance he could have survived that explosion with Lina and the chaos box in Monte Darlo."

Turnip took another bite, so angry at the food that his lifted his finger and shot the closest servant with a stream of lighting. "I asked for real food, you baka!" The poor servant jumped into the air and whimpered away, whatever resistance was on his mind vanishing into thin air.

A thought hit Zel as he turned around and sunk back into hiding. "Him disappearing. The bland food taste." He smacked is open palm with excitement. "The only reason that he would hate human food like that...is because he's a Mazoku now. The baka pledged to someone so now he's immortal."

The princess of Saillune looked horrified. "What! You're kidding!" The brunette thought back to the difficult time they had with Halshiform when a mortal had pledged to a Mazoku his life for servitude. "What are we going to do?"

"Let me see." Em was almost leaning out of her hiding spot, glaring at the table where Turnip was sitting. So wide were her eyes that she almost toppled over into the shrubbery, almost revealing their hidden position.

Gourry managed to grab the falling Em by her shirt collar, saving the scientist from a real disaster. "I see it on the table, deactivated. Francois must be using the chaos key for the airship. It's the only way."

"The chaos key?" exclaimed Lina's friends. Chaos stones and boxes were bad enough. Now Em was saying there was something called the chaos key, and it was freaking the rest of them out.

"What's this all about?" asked Zel.

"See for yourself." The scientist pointed to the table where Turnip was, not to the madman but to the right of him, to a heavy sword. The blade suddenly took the attention of everyone: instead of one blade like many flat swords, it had a cross of two blades around its spire. The larger blade was fine metallic edges, gleaming brightly from the torchlight. But was the real eye getter were the smaller perpendicular blades -- not metallic but clear like perfect quartz, the obvious duplication of chaos stones.

The handle of the blade was large and two-handed, the hilt decorated with highlights of gold and silver. Between the handle and the four blades themselves was a breech of a metal circular disk that could spin. All this was protected by a comprehensive yet decorative guard.

"It's my father's legacy, and it has the power to control chaos. When used properly, it's an unimaginable tool. It can be your alley against magic, protecting the user from the harshest of spells. But it can also be abused, it's chaos powers can be trapped and fired properly like devastating weapon." She swallowed her breath at the moment of it all.

Gourry stood up and drooled at the sword of chaos. "That is some sword!"

The chimera had to push the blond down back behind the bushes. "Take it easy, we can't just walk up and take that sword."

"Huh, why not?"

Em smacked her hands together. "Now I got it! Francois is going to use the key to run his airship. And with that sword so closely watched, there's no way that we could just jump him, unless..." Em's eyes lit up and she whispered a few words into Amelia's ear. The princess let out a big smile and turned her head to Gourry and Zelgadis.

"Guys? Want to help us out with something?" asked Amelia, giving the chimera and with swordsman an unbelievable kawaii look.

Zel groaned considerably. "How do you know if I'm going to regret this?"

"Come on, you don't trust me and Em?" frowned the princess of Saillune. "I would never do anything to hurt you...physically, at least!"

The chimera sweat dropped. "Uh-huh. That's exactly what I worried about."


---o--o--o---


Biru and Thoth let the tide drift their rowboat into the underground cavern. As they floated in, Biru pulled out a small torch and lit it, illuminating the natural cavern.

"Gee, it sure is dark in here," said Biru, almost cuddling up with himself.

Thoth pulled the small rowboat next to the dock and Turnip's spiffy watercraft. He quickly lashed his craft to the dock and got out. "Stay here," he said, also signaling with his hands for the innkeeper to stay put.

It didn't take long for Biru to grumble back. "What do you mean, stay here? I am not missing any of the action."

The old man frowned. "Well, OK then. But you'll have to watch out, for this part of the island is teeming with ghoul monsters. They like to eat brains whole by plucking them out of your head like popping open an acorn. Then your conscience lives within their bodies, trapped for all eternity to roam among the undead."

The innkeeper turned quite pale as he shook his head. "Actually, I'll be glad to stay here. Someone has to guard the....errr...rowboat! We don't want those oars to float away, do we!" Biru crisscrossed his legs, a sure sign that he was getting comfortable.

Thoth tuned his head out and let out a little smile. "Well...I guess you can watch the boat." The old man turned up the path and began to make his way around the mouth of the cave. "Don't go anywhere, OK?"

"Uhhh...yeah!"

It was only a minute later that Thoth saw the backs of Amelia and the scientist girl, Em. The boys were missing at the moment but he was sure they were close by. Ducking back down the path, Thoth managed to get a good look at who they were hiding from.

"Turnip!" exclaimed the old man, just loud enough to hear his own voice. Thoth glued his eyes on the former master of Monte Darlo but then on the other item next to Turnip. "The key! So that's where it is!" And there it was, the sword of chaos was indeed a prized possession.

A larger picture was coming together. Turnip was in control of the chaos key. But it seemed that the scientist's daughter was fulfilling her part of her history, trying to reclaim her father's legacy. Surely, Em having the key would be quite...advantageous.


---o--o--o---


Turnip was busy polishing off his huge plates of desserts of a dozen puff pastries, filled with éclair crème and coated in dark chocolate. To his left were slices of cheesecakes and other rich cakes from the region. To his right were piles of nut-flavored cookies and macaroons, all for his choosing.

But the former human could not satisfy his need for food -- such possessions were so human. Undeniably, Turnip was starting to lose his grip on being a Mazoku. The desserts were just comforting his mind, trying to patch his body for energy, but it did no good. If he didn't get some hate and fear emotions soon, his soul would soon fade away...

Turnip picked up a giant éclair and softly bit off the end. He knew this was one of the richest foods in the world, but ultimately, the treat was unsatisfying in the end. Distracted, he looked up and saw Lina's comrades -- the blond swordsman and the cloaked fellow waving around like lost sheep; on top of the hill by his professor's mansion.

"Hey Turnip," shouted the blond guy, flailing his arms around like a birdie. "Your mother's a goat herder!"

The chimera looked over at Gourry and sighed. "Amelia said to be a distraction, not act like dolt."

"Oh," said the swordsman, pointing to Turnip's slaves as they all noticed their antics. "But it worked, didn't it?"

So shocked was Turnip from their bold appearance that he bit too hard into his éclair, shooting vanilla crème out all over his suit. He swallowed his dessert whole, nearly choking on the sweet meal.

"Get them! Now!" His guards had already stirred about, arming themselves at the sight of the strangers. But Turnip's orders excited them into a frenzy, his men charging towards the narrow walkway to the mainland.

The chimera shouted out an shamanist ice spell, turning the tight walkway into a treacherous journey. A few of Turnip's men slipped on the frozen surface, falling off the narrow strait and into the water. A few more toppled over, cursing at their stupidity for falling for such a naïve trick.

The blond swordsman was loosing the ground at the base of some boulders with a shaft of wood as a lever. He succeeded, releasing several of the rocks down the hill onto the ice-covered walkway. More guards slip-sliding on the walkway were bowled over by the rocks, cursing and moaning at getting tossed into the cold ocean below.

"You incompetent bakas! I always have to do everything myself!" Turnip's eyes lit blood red as the powerful Mazoku energy surged though his veins. He shot energy bolts at Gourry and Zel, missing high as they solidly struck the hillside. Turnip was indeed no fool, for he intentionally caused an avalanche of stone and dirt to fall down upon them.

"Oh my..." said the chimera looked up at the falling pile of rock and mud. As the men they ran down the cliffs ahead of the avalanche, they hit the icy walkway with both of their feet and slip right pass Turnip's guards. Behind them, Zel could practically hear the horrors as the exploding hill came down on Turnip's own men, taking out the walkway and the stretch between the island and mainland. The lab was no longer as island, but a peninsula.

Turnip cursed at his own incompetence. Lifting his hands, he shot out a multitude of energy bolts, hitting the chimera and the swordsman as well as his own slaves. The backlash of the explosions was so fierce that a few more of Turnip's own men were blown off the island. A few others were thrown forward into the docked airship, leaving body shaped holes in the hull.

Zel and Gourry emerged from the blackened smoke, coughing and defenseless. Turnip licked his lips in excitement, loving every minute, thus gaining power for the excitement. "Now feel the wrath of my new powers, you fools..."

"Ra Tilt!"

The former human was instantly bathed in the light of the most powerful of all astral plane spells. His body tightened up like it was ready for a casket -- but alas, he was already dead. He hid his head among his own shadows, waiting for the sickening spell to finish

The light fantastic stopped a few seconds later. From a crouched position, he shot got up and turned around at the princess of Saillune. "Nice try, little girl. But I've pledged myself, so such spells are indeed painful but they have very little lasting effect. My astral body is so much stronger than yours!" Turnip quickly disappeared from reality, the swordsman just missing with his blade at turning the Mazoku into a shish kabob.

Turnip reappeared quite close to Amelia, scaring the brunette for she was unable to properly defend herself. In Turnip's hand was the chaos key, the magnificent sword circling above his head. He instantly lowered the weapon like a boon, aiming for Amelia's forehead.

The chimera caught the blade with his rocky left hand, the arm perpendicular to his body for support. "Nice try, Turnip. Don't give up your day job just yet."

"Be careful what you wish for, stone boy." As soon as Turnip had answered the chimera's question, the clear blades in the chaos key ignited an angry white with energy. The blades were already touching Zel's rocky flesh, steaming and bubbling away his chimera energy.

"Aauugh!" Zelgadis gritted his teeth, yelling in anguish more from the reaction than anything.

"Such a bore..." said Turnip, harshly kicking the chimera off of sword blade like dead sapling for firewood. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

The blades had been quite unstoppable, slicing vertically down into the chimera's arm halfway up to the elbow. Zel grimaced as he turned away, catching a look at his arm as he toppled over onto the ground. With the power of the chaos, Turnip had sliced open his hand, wrist, and lower arm in half. His rock limb was a mangled squid-like mess, whatever inner human flesh and bone was profusely bleeding over the stubby rock appendage.

"Can't take the drain?" Turnip circled the glowing chaos sword above his head. The key seemed to turn an ugly red, in tune to Turnip's energy, letting out a sweep of wind so fierce that it blew Gourry and Amelia to the ground into sudden unconsciousness. "The power! I love it so!!"

From his knees, the chimera wrapped his cloak around the sawed off appendage. He tried to say something up to Turnip, but he only gurgled up some blood.

"Oh well, cat got your tongue?" The former human circled around the fallen chimera with relish. "Let's see if you crawl when dismembered, stone boy. Goodbye, dear friend..."


---o--o--o---


Thoth watched the battle between Turnip and the rest of them. The former leader of Monte Darlo was using the chaos blade as an amateur, yet quite effectually against his opponents. Thoth knew that Lina's friend's had their hands full and that victory for them on their own was slim at best.

He thought about jumping into the fray when the little brunette Amelia was about to be struck down with the key, but then he saw the chimera save her. Such a terrible price, it was almost too horrible to watch.

The old man shook his head. He could not allow Turnip to wield such a powerful weapon. Reaching into his dirty robe, be pulled out a small rod and aimed it at the former human.

But before old man could activate it, he saw a large cheesecake smack into Turnip, blinding him. And that made the old man stop and duck for cover, as he laughed uncontrollably.


---o--o--o---


"Who threw that!" The cheesecake had smacked perfectly into Turnip's eyes, blinding the Mazoku perfectly. "Who dares to insult me; I shall torture you until you beg for your own death!" But the words were without bark as he pawed graham cracker crust from his eyes.

Em laughed at the baka. "I did! And here's some more!"

A few éclairs smacked the former human in the face, staggering his stance for a few more seconds. "No one makes a fool out of me!"

"I just did, Francois!"

Turnip wheeled his head around toward his dinner table, angrily wiping away the sugary mess from his face. He had reached into his coat pocket and now was using a handkerchief to remove the sticky crème filling. "I haven't been called that in many years." He looked up at the young scientist standing on his chair. Besides the shock of seeing Em, it was the object in her hands -- a small, delicate chaos box -- that had Turnip's attention.

"Em," he said distastefully, drooling dessert from out of his mouth, "I should have known the you'd come back here. How very delightful." Turnip turned the key upward away from the chimera's body, the chaos blades returning to their clear state.

"Very good, dear Turnip. Now move away from him. Now." The scientist waved her hand over the chaos box, showing off her weapon as a display of its potential power.

Turnips stared down at the redheaded scientist as he took more steps away from Zelgadis. "I see. You also have learned how to master the power of chaos. Your father, the professor, taught you well. Just before his unfortunate demise."

"Be quiet! You know nothing about my father's death! You leeched off his experiments with chaos, looted the cloud library, and took his legacy. And now you're one of...them! How could you!"

"Don't you want to know how?" Turnip tightened his fist into a ball and started to walk towards Em. "You know, don't you? The Mazoku that attacked you, he must have had help. Don't you agree?"

"Liar..." Em started to shake in fear. "You didn't...you couldn't have."

Turnip smacked his lips in delight as he ardently walked towards Em, the chaos key starting to re glow in his hands. "I wanted the secrets of chaos for myself, to control and use as a weapon to destroy. But your father didn't see it that way, the wimp preferred to study and control the powers of chaos. He was a fool."

"And then I met an unsuspecting Mazoku, who wanted to find out why his companions were disappearing. I convinced him to attack your father at an exact time. A card so perfectly played..."

"What did you tell the Mazoku!" shouted Em, her anger building.

Turnip laughed. "Yes, I told him to attack, but not just that. Exactly the point in time when your father was near that lit chaos box. Not to attack your father, but to use his human's axe and...obliterate the chaos box!"

"You bastard!" Em shook as her body trembled in fear. "You...killed him! You knew perfectly well that destroying a lit chaos box would make it the explode."

The former human grinned. "And both those bastards perished. What a plan."

Em trembled at realizing the truth. "And all this time I thought it was a Mazoku. But it was you! You took the only thing from my life that really mattered!" Tears fell from her eyes as Em could no longer bottle her own emotions. Unsure what to do, she held the chaos box high into the air, threatening again to unleash its power.

"Both you and I know the key is more powerful than one chaos box. It is pointless to fight me." Turnip swung the chaos sword into Em's box, shattering it with one swing. "Baka. You've lost your chaos stone and that wasn't even a real chaos box! Who's the fool now!"

Em cringed, ducking for safety while trying to roll off and save her own life. But her cover was blown, it would only be seconds later that she'd be struck down by the powers of chaos, killed by her father's murderer. The end was indeed near.


---o--o--o---


Thoth twisted around from behind the rock. No, he didn't want to use it because it would reveal his identity to Turnip and the others. But he had no choice; there was little reason to hold back now.

The small rod was almost in danger of slipping out of his sweating hands, yet his tight grip would never let it go. He waited for the very last moment to pounce onto Turnip, just before the deadly. He heard Em's words, and then for the moment. And then the scientist fell from grace, and it then that he pointed the rod of chaos and fired.


---o--o--o---


And time stopped.

Em looked up from the dusty ground into Turnip's darkened and evil eyes. Her father's legacy, the chaos sword he had made from so long ago, was about to strike down his only daughter. There was little Em could do, she hoped it would be over as swiftly as possible.

She thought about how cyclical life was. If it wasn't for Francois and his exploits, she doubted her choice in becoming a scientist, thus emulating her father. The evil, in a cruel and selfish way, had formed her own personality, her backbone in life. She had lived life to the fullest, and was immediately happy because of it. She felt that the fates had dealt her a good existence, in fact quite proud of it.

And then Em saw something from behind a rock, barely a movement of shadow. A beam of white energy came out from behind the darkness, the savior of all. It hit Turnip squarely in the back, stunning the Mazoku like he had become frozen in time. It was then she truly knew the fates were smiling on her destiny.


---o--o--o---


Turnip lurched forward in a squeal of agony. The shot was short in duration, yet the powerful blast was quite effective in paralyzing his body. It was if his Mazoku energy had suddenly been shunted off, his mind no longer connected to his spiritual body.

He lurched forward like a wounded animal, devastated from the secret attack. The chaos sword plummeted out of his hand, the once animated key lifelessly dropping off behind him onto the muddy ground. The former human saw it all as it fell out of his twisting grasp, yet he was powerless to stop its descent.

And then, it was over.

"Who shot me!" shouted the Mazoku and he turned around to look. And there was the chimera, hobbling along while using his own sword as a cane. The chimera looked up and stared, a fireball already lit in his good hand.

The spell struck Turnip a second later, covering everywhere in a blanket of fire and smoke. Turnip laughed at the effort. "You idiots, those common spells have no effect on me. Do you really think you're dealing with a regular Mazoku?"

A chimera's voice answered from the smoke. "Make no mistake, Turnip. We have your precious sword and I intend to use it." At the end of those words, Zel stepped his body out of the burning smoke, keeping the weapon's blade hidden behind his back.

"But I see it!" Turnip lashed out a couple of energy shots at the chimera, which Amelia blocked with a wall spell. Yet during the volley, Turnip made steps closer and closer to the chimera. "Don't you know how to use the chaos weapon, my friend? Yes indeed, only I know how to use it. And that means you can't stop me!"

He steps turned into a charge, the chimera knowing he would be unable to defend himself from Turnip's Mazoku powers. "Come and get me, bastard!"

Turnip was so tempted by his emotions that he didn't see the blond swordsman from out of the smoke; smack him in the midsection thus stunning him for just only a second.

"You..." Turnip grinned and stepped forward again, but he didn't get far. He barely felt it first, the metallic twinge like a fly swapper smacked against his back. Indeed, someone had tried to stab him with a sword.

Turnip saw the metal emerge from the pit of his stomach, the bladed weapon was a little stubby thing. He could only laugh. "Fools! Don't you know I can't be killed!" And instinctively human, he gripped the metallic blade with both of his hands.

Zelgadis grinned, showing off his sword for Turnip to see. "Oh, is that so?"

The former human felt the fine hair on the back of his neck, and then a voice. "Oh Francois? Did you forget about me?" From out of the corner of his eye he saw Em holding the metallic blade of the chaos sword through his back. But the lethal chaos blades of the sword had been sprung back like a loaded crossbow, ready to be released into his Mazoku body at a moments notice.

"What are you doing!" Turnip's mind reeled in horror. The metallic blade was there as placeholders, like sleeves to guide the chaos blades into its pray. He might have been able to jump away before, but the closeness of chaos stones kept him stuck fast.

"You're not the only one who knows how to use the chaos key, dear Francois. Father taught me well." Em kissed him gently on the cheek. "Think of it as gift from Dad."

The scientist switched her weight around and released the trigger. The chaos blades shot directly into Turnip's body like a hot knife through butter, stunning him instantly. His hands, once gripping the metallic sword around his stomach, were sheared off like a scythe to wheat.

Turnip moaned as he petered a half step forward, his Mazoku energy draining into the sword. He whispered a few words, just loud enough for Em to hear. "Another redhead. I am so eternally cursed..."

His Mazoku body flesh liquidated into a swirl of boiling black tar. Soul turned into chaos energy, sucking his existence into the sword itself.

And then, was what left of Turnip body was gone, with Em holding the chaos blade in the air. The sword glowed an ugly black, shouting Turnip's suffering voice of pain. Zel could barely make out Turnip's screaming image as it flashed across the flat of the blade, just before fading away.

And all was quiet.

Em sighed in exhaustion, tumbling to her knees. The scientist would have collapsed on the ground if it weren't for using the chaos key as a staff. She stuck the point of the blade into the soft ground, letting the weapon return to its clear quartz-like state.

"Is it over?" asked Amelia, as she hobbled forward while the chimera leaned on her.

Zel had wrapped a tear of his cloak around his dismembered arm, stopping the obvious damage. Gourry was up as well, recovering from being tossed around so harshly.

"Hai." The scientist looked at the chaos blade and stared into her reflection, taking it all in. She could only look at all the dirt and scars from the battle with Turnip, and the rush of tears that came later. "Thank you Dad...thank you."


---o--o--o---


[Author] ...And the adventure continues...

[Lina] You had better believe it, buster!


---o--o--o---