"Mister Zelgadis? Mister Zelgadis, where are you?" Amelia trudged through darkness, unsure of where she was, but knowing she had to find Zelgadis. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she never found him...

She continued her search for an unknown length of time, but came up with nothing. She was just about to turn around and search elsewhere, when she heard voices. "Who's there? Mister Zelgadis?"

She didn't get a response, and the voices weren't moving any closer, so Amelia moved toward them. Maybe they could shed some light on the situation...

Suddenly there was a blinding light, and Amelia found herself in a large room.

"Look, he moved!" A voice said.

"Zelgadis, are you okay?" Asked the other.

"What? Mister Zelgadis? But..." Amelia stopped talking when she realized it wasn't her voice she was hearing. "What's going...on?"

The voice she was using was decidedly male, which confused her greatly. She sat up and rubbed her head, feeling pain there.

"Zelgadis...is something wrong?" One of the voices asked again.

Amelia turned to see who was talking, but in doing so got a look at herself, only it wasn't herself she was seeing. Not unless someone had given her Zelgadis' clothing... She brought her hand in front of her face. She screamed bloody murder when she saw a very blue hand instead of her own, fleeing away from the room and those inside it as fast as she was able!

Again she found herself immersed in darkness, but she was too panicked to care. Instead she ran in blind fright, not wanting to think about what she had just seen and heard, but more anxious than ever to find Zelgadis.

"I have to find him! Where can he be? Why am I...? Mister Zelgadis!"

Amelia came to a screeching halt, seeing a huge mob of monsters, and caught in the middle was a scared little boy...

"No, that's no little boy...that's.." Despite his human appearance, Amelia knew exactly who it was. She dashed forward, seeing the danger he was in. Her heart cried out hearing his cries of pain and anguish.

"Leave him alone!" Amelia fought through the horde of monsters until she had reached Zelgadis. He had curled up in a fetal position, hiding his face. She knelt down next to him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Mister Zelgadis, it's okay. I-"

"Don't touch me!" Zelgadis suddenly jerked up and shoved against her with all his might, sending her crashing to the floor. He looked down at her in shock. "A-Ame-" Before he could finish, he was suddenly gone.

Amelia looked up at where he had been, equally in shock that he had repelled her so violently. She could hear the monsters all around her, and looked up to see if they would attack her now. What she saw shook her to the core. The 'monsters' were not monsters at all, but horribly warped versions of...herself. They all glared down at her before they too vanished, leaving her alone.

Amelia was overcome with overwhelming grief. "This is all my fault...Mister Zelgadis hates me... It's all my fault!"

Not wanting to cause him any more pain, Amelia got to her feet, and fled as far away as she could...

Lina and Gourry sat in stunned silence.

"What was that all about?" Lina asked, her ears still ringing from Zelgadis' outburst.

"I don't know," Gourry shrugged, "but it looks like he's waking up again.

Lina covered her ears as she watched intently. This time Zelgadis came to slowly, finally opening his eyes as he looked about the room in confusion.

"Amelia?" Zelgadis sat up, looking every which way but at Lina and Gourry. "Ame..." He finally turned his gaze on the two people in the room, giving them a questioning look.

"Feeling better, Zel?" Lina asked softly, hoping not to cause him distress. She wasn't used to seeing him looking so confused, and it worried her.

"Where is she?" Zelgadis moved closer to Lina's cell and gripped the bars. "What happened to Amelia?"

Lina silently thanked the bars for giving her some protection from Zelgadis' grip. She wasn't sure he would take too kindly to what she was about to say. She took a deep breath and replied, "I don't know, Zel. We were hoping you would know."

Zelgadis' grip on the bars loosened, as he sank back down to the ground.

"Are you okay, Zelgadis?" Gourry asked. "You're not going to scream again, are you?"

Zelgadis looked back up at Gourry. "Scream? What are you talking about?"

"Just before you woke up again just now. You came to, and all of a sudden you screeched louder than anything I've ever heard from you!" Lina rubbed her ears, still trying to get rid of the ringing.

Zelgadis just stared back at her with a blank expression, trying to figure out why he would have done such a thing. "I don't remember doing anything of the sort." He crossed his arms defensively across his chest.

"You did seem really out of it." Gourry turned to Lina. "Didn't he talk to himself, too?"

Lina nodded her head. "Yeah, he did! He called himself..." Lina's talking came to a halt. "But wait, that's not right. That would mean..."

"What is it, Lina? What did I say?" Zelgadis gripped the bars again and looked at her intently.

Lina looked back at him in wonder. "You called yourself 'Mister Zelgadis'. You've never referred to yourself in that way that I know of. Is there something you're not telling us?"

Zelgadis shook his head, his face suddenly pained at hearing that name. "Never. Few people ever called me that. Only Amelia ever did consistently..."

"Uh huh, just as I thought." Lina nodded her head in thought.

"What, Lina?" Both Gourry and Zelgadis looked to her for insight.

"Zelgadis, you say you don't know where Amelia is at all?" Lina pointed at the man in question.

Zelgadis shook his head.

"Do you?" Gourry asked.

Lina tapped her chin as she tried to piece everything together. "I don't know for certain, but I think Amelia's a lot closer than we think. Eh, Zelgadis?"

Zelgadis looked back at Lina in confusion, not quite grasping what she was implying.

"Oh, come on!" Lina clenched her hands into fists. "When she attacked you before, she possessed you, right? Stay with me, Zel!"

Zelgadis nodded his head. "Are you saying that she's still possessing me? If so, where is she now? Wouldn't she still be in control?"

"I told you I don't know for certain." Lina shook her head. "Given what's happened while you were out of it, I would think it's a good guess." Lina's face darkened slightly as she recalled the dream she had had. "Just do me a favor, Zel."

"A favor? What?" Zelgadis queried.

"Take care of her. She'll most likely be in a fragile state of mind, and I can't say I don't blame her. If you are able to find her, that is... Okay?" Lina looked up at him, her usual upbeat demeanor replaced with a sad one.

Zelgadis just nodded in response, already pondering how he would go about finding Amelia. He had never done much research on possessions, and he wasn't quite sure where to start. But then, he thought he had seen her just before he woke up. Perhaps it wouldn't be totally impossible...

When Lina received no further response from Zelgadis, she turned back to the task at hand. "Now we just need to figure out how to get out of here." She closed her eyes and was silent for a moment.

"What're you doing, Lina?" Gourry watched as she furrowed her brow in concentration, waiting for her to be done.

Lina finally opened her eyes again and glanced over at Gourry. "Can you feel it? This place feels unnatural, like something is preventing the flow of magic."

Gourry shook his head. "No, I don't."

"I wonder..." Lina stood up and held out her hand. "Lighting!" Where usually a ball of light would have instantaneously come into being, there was nothing.

Gourry gulped. "Lina...it's not that time of the month?"

"NO!" Lina snapped. She coughed politely. "I mean, no. It's not that. It's-"

"It's a barrier preventing any use of magic."

Lina and Gourry both looked up at the intruder, seeing Princess Gracia and an entourage of guards coming down a nearby set of stairs into the dungeon.

"Pfft. I could have told you that." Lina sat against the wall and crossed her arms in disdain.

"I know better than to leave you with your casting abilities, Lina." Gracia glared down at her from without the cell.

"Save me the speech and get to the point, Naga." Lina tapped her foot boredly on the floor. No doubt Naga would accuse her of something outlandish.

Gracia was taken aback for a moment. Just who was interrogating who here? She regained her composure and pointed an accusing finger at Lina. "Lina Inverse! We have reason to believe you were behind the plot to not only murder the royal family, but also in swearing allegiance to Xoana! How do you plead?"

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat!" Lina smacked her head against the wall. "How do you figure that!"

Gracia was not swayed. "Is it not true you were here on the night my father was murdered, and an attempt was made on Amelia's life?"

"Well, yes. I mean no, no! I had been here, but Gourry and I had left Seyruun to search out anyone that might have been in league with Alexander. We were many miles from here that night." Lina looked at her old rival in morbid curiosity. Yes, Naga had always been somewhat messed up in the head, but this was a bit much!

"You might not have been here, Lina, but word has it one of your followers was here, and left conveniently before my father was discovered...dead." Gracia choked on this, but was able to remain composed.

"My follower?" Lina shared a look with Gourry, who shrugged. He was just as confused as she. She glanced over at Zelgadis, but he had moved into the far corner and wasn't making eye contact with anyone. "What's with him? It's almost as if...wait! Zelgadis had remained behind!" Lina's eyes grew large in shock. "Are you referring to Zelgadis?"

Gracia followed Lina's gaze to the silent man in the cell. "If that is the name of your chimera, then yes."

Lina didn't know if she should burst out laughing, or strangle Naga for accusing Zelgadis of such a thing. She glanced back over at Zelgadis, hoping he'd interact in some way, but he remained withdrawn. Lina looked back to Naga. "Zelgadis couldn't have done it. You were probably never told anything about Amelia and her travels while you were away, but he and she...they shared a special friendship. It would break her heart if she heard you say such things about him!"

"That's another thing..." Gracia glared down at Lina. "Where is my sister? We searched everywhere for her, any sign of what you might have done with her body, but she's gone! What did you do to her, Lina?"

"Naga!" Lina clenched her fists. "How can you accuse me of harming Amelia? I admit I didn't treat you too kindly, and I could have been nicer to her, but I would never, could never bring her to harm!" Lina started to choke up herself, tears streaming down her face. "I loved her, Naga. She was like my little sister, if I had ever had one. I am just as torn up about this as you!"

Lina averted her eyes to the floor, the tears stinging her eyes. "...and I don't know where she is... What you thought was Amelia wasn't Amelia at all anyway..."

Now it was Gracia's turn to look at Lina in curiosity. She did feel bad about accusing Lina of such atrocities...but there was no one else to blame! What evidence they had found hadn't made much sense to her at all. She was grasping at straws as she tried to retain her grip on what had happened to bring her out of her travels and back to her position as Crown Princess. She backed down a bit, this time sounding much quieter as she responded. "What do you mean?"

"Amelia is dead, Naga. I don't know exactly why it happened, but she is dead. She's been dead for a long time! What you thought was Amelia was actually something evil that had taken possession of her body!" Lina spoke with as much resolve as possible. Naga needed to hear the truth, and to believe it.

Gracia took a step back, unable to respond. Dead? She was dead? Had been dead since before Gracia had made it back to Seyruun? Then... Gracia shook her head, not wanting to believe what she was hearing, but knowing it to be true. "No...no further questions!" Gracia motioned for the guards, then fled out of the dungeon.

Lina watched her go in silence. "Sorry to be so blunt, Naga..." Lina rested her head on her knees, feeling emotionally drained.

"You okay, Lina?" Gourry would have poked his head between the bars to look imploringly at her if he could.

Lina nodded her head, but didn't look up. "Yeah, just tired..." She glanced over at Zelgadis, who still hadn't moved. "Are you okay, Zel?"

Zelgadis shuddered slightly, but didn't respond. Lina and Gourry glanced worriedly at him.

"I think he's taking this the worst of all." Gourry sighed.

"Yeah..." Lina scooted over to Gourry, glad she was able to gain comfort just from his presence. Zelgadis had lost his main source of comfort. Hopefully it wouldn't send him over the edge.

Lina and Gourry sat in silence until finally sleep claimed them.

Author's Notes: Finally! A long segment of the story! I've been trying to get the story line to work out the way I had originally planned, but of course things don't want to do that. (Which is good, actually, because it's going to make this better!) I am not 100 percent happy with this chapter (especially the scene with Amelia 'waking up'), but some things would work better in a visual mode than using just the written word. Ah well, the intent was there anyway... Also, this chapter is dedicated to Nimrosette, who helped me figure out the best way to keep Lina stuck in a cell! (You have no idea how long I was stuck trying to figure that out...)

Lina Gabriev - Good assumption about Amelia's whereabouts! That one's going to be fun t play with... As for being able to read Japanese, I can read enough to get the basic idea of what's going on, but I am far from being fluent in it. (The manga is really good though! I hope we get to see it in English before too long.)

Now to get the next part to work out...