"Why can't I find it? I knew it was here somewhere..." Zelgadis grumbled to himself as he tore through a desk's drawers, frantically in search of something. He had long ago forgotten just what it was he was seeking, but he knew it was important. Vitally important. He could not rest until he found it. Not finding anything, he finally tore the drawers from the desk and dumped their contents on the floor. Papers on various subjects scattered every which way, but this only aggravated Zelgadis more...

"Where are you!" Zelgadis yelled out in frustration, before slumping to the ground in defeat. "I've looked everywhere...what could I be overlooking? Why can't I find what I'm searching for?" Zelgadis was silent for a time, looking about the small room in defeat. Aside from the destroyed desk, there wasn't much in the way of furnishing in the room.

"This isn't right...something isn't right..." Zelgadis muttered to himself as he glanced about the room. He couldn't quite grasp what it was that was off about the place, but he knew he would not find what he sought here. He stood up slowly, taking time to dust off his clothing before moving to the door...

...only there was no door. Come to think of it, there were no walls, and as he looked the desk and scattered papers all vanished from his sight as well. Zelgadis shook his head in disbelief, stepped over the desk that was no longer there, disappearing into nothingness.

Amelia, unseen, looked on, deep remorse etched in her features. "Even in his sleep he gains no peace. I am so sorry, Mister Zelgadis." She bowed her head in sorrow, before she too disappeared into nothingness.

oOoOoOoO

Sylphiel crept silently through the halls, cursing herself once more for not changing out of her priestess robes before attempting to make it through the palace undetected. She turned a corner, but stumbled on her cape, letting out a small shriek as she fell. She braced herself for impact with the floor, but instead felt herself stop in midair.

"Careful there, Priestess." A guard spoke to her kindly as he set her back on her feet.

Sylphiel blushed in embarrassment. "S-sorry. I am so sorry! I seem to have gotten lost, and this palace is so intimidating." She smiled innocently up at the guard. She doubted he would be so kind of she were to say she had been trying to find the dungeon...

The guard nodded in understanding. "I know what you mean. What with Princess Gracia's being in charge, the disappearance of Princess Amelia, and those people being tossed in prison..." He coughed nervously. "Not that there's anything bad about the current ruler, but..."

Sylphiel smiled. "It must be hard to have things changed on you so suddenly. I felt the same when I first arrived in Seyruun. It gets easier over time...mostly." She laughed shyly as she indicated to her troublesome robes.

The guard smiled. "What are you doing in this part of the palace, anyway? The Priestess quarters are clear across on the other side."

Sylphiel silently panicked. What to do? Make up a complete lie and hope he bought it, or tell him the truth? She berated herself for even thinking of lying. She never was any good at lying, anyway. "Well, actually, I was looking for...the prison." Sylphiel cringed as she waited for his response.

"The prison? You missed it by a hallway. Not that I'm complaining." He smiled down at her. "What business do you have there? I can't imagine a place full of felons and thugs being good for one such as yourself, Priestess."

Sylphiel bowed. "Actually, before I came here I traveled about the land helping such people in their time of need. I received word there were those suffering needlessly. Even those on the wrong side of the law deserve some compassion." She spoke kindly.

The guard nodded his head, then stood at attention. "Follow me, Priestess. You are truly a merciful servant of Ceipheed." He escorted Sylphiel down the halls and to the prison that she had only just barely passed over. He motioned for her to descend the stairs.

"Do be careful, Priestess."

"You need not fear. I come with no intention but to help. I will come to no harm." She bowed to the guard in thanks, who saluted her in turn. She then silently descended the stairs gracefully, only breaking into a run when she thought herself out of sight and hearing from the guard.

"They must be here somewhere..." Sylphiel gasped to herself as she ran quietly down the corridor, looking in the various cells but seeing nothing. She finally reached another set of stairs, stopping a moment to ponder whether to go down or not. Finally she swallowed her fears and descended the stairs, opening the door at the bottom of the flight. This part of the prison was decidedly darker. Sylphiel had to squint to see anything while her eyes adjusted. She heard the sounds of quiet breathing nearby, moving closer to investigate.

"Miss Lina!" Sylphiel exclaimed with joy, spying Lina asleep on a small cot.

Lina didn't reply, instead catching her breath before turning onto her side and resuming the even breathing of sleep.

Sylphiel wrung her fist, but then calmed herself and moved closer to Lina's cell, gripping the bars with her hands. "Miss Lina? Miss Lina, wake up! Please!" She whispered loudly, just in case there were any guards still in the area.

"Go 'way, I'm tired." Lina muttered in her sleep, refusing to wake up.

Sylphiel sighed, wishing the bars were gone so she could shake Lina gently. But alas, it was not to be. "Miss Lina, you need to wake up! I have bad news!"

Lina was still a moment, then suddenly she sat up, blinking in tired confusion at Sylphiel. She stared at her a moment before fully waking up. "Sylphiel! How'd you get down here?"

Sylphiel blushed. "Umm, well, I... Oh, that's not important! I came to warn you, Miss Lina! Princess Gracia is preparing to set out to war against the kingdom of Xoana!" Sylphiel hyperventilated. "Oh, this is all my fault! I should have never said anything to you...this has become a disaster..."

Lina shook her head as she listened to Sylphiel worry, finally getting to her feet, walking up to the bars, then smacking Sylphiel across the face.

Sylphiel instantly quieted down, looking at Lina in shock.

"First off, none of this is your fault. All you did was confirm my suspicions. You're only allowed to take the blame when I say so, got that?" Lina eyed Sylphiel.

"Y-yes, right. I apologize, Miss Lina." Sylphiel bowed her head meekly.

"Knock that off, too! What am I, royalty?" Lina scoffed. "Anyway, you said Naga's actually going through with declaring war? That idiotic..." Lina stamped her foot and shook her fist, unable to do much else.

"What's the matter?"

Lina and Sylphiel looked up to see Gourry up and alert, and looking at them in curiosity.

Lina shook her head. "Things just went from worse to worst. NAGA!" Lina gnashed her teeth, but then calmed down. "In any case, we need to find a way out of here. Sylphiel, think you could shake down the guard with our key?"

Sylphiel looked at Lina in horror, as if the mere mention of such a deed were the worst thing in the world. "Me?" She squeaked.

"Lina, how can you expect Sylphiel to do that?" Gourry scolded. "She doesn't know the first thing about stealing!"

"At ease, Gourry." Lina waved him off.

Sylphiel coughed nervously. Gourry must not have known about that stunt she had pulled as a child with the Bless Blade... "I don't think I would be able to, Miss Lina. Sir Gourry is right, I wouldn't know how to go about it. There must be some other way?" Sylphiel clenched her fists together, as if in pleading.

Lina sank back down to her cot. "Short of breaking the enchantment preventing me from using magic, no. Not unless our resident lock-pick would like to contribute?"

Everyone looked over at Zelgadis' cell, which remained silent.

"Is everyone against me?" Lina sighed, rapping her fists against the bars.

Sylphiel's gaze stayed fixed on Zelgadis, who was laying quietly in his cell. "What is the matter with Mister Zelgadis?"

Lina scowled. "He's been in a funk since we confronted the monster in Amelia's room. I think he's blaming himself for what happened." Lina shot him an annoyed glance. "Everyone needs to calm down."

Sylphiel saw Zelgadis cringe at the mentioning. "What did happen in there? I heard a loud commotion, then there were guards storming through the palace. When I heard they had tossed you in prison, I feared the worst!"

"You were right about Amelia. It wasn't really her, but some pathetic excuse for a Mazoku that had possessed her body." Lina shook her head. "I can't believe I was duped. Anyway, after 'she' exposed her true self, everything turned to chaos. And Amelia..."

Sylphiel looked at Lina, confused. "Miss Amelia? But isn't she...umm...gone?" She glanced back at Zelgadis, who got a pained expression on his face.

Lina shook her head. "Yeah, I thought so too, but we were wrong. She had been with us the entire time. She still is...or...was." Lina glanced back over to Zelgadis.

"What do you mean?" Sylphiel was really confused now.

"Well..." Lina tapped her forefingers together. "She sort of went crazy and possessed Zelgadis, before trying to kill him. And...heh heh..."

"Before Lina attacked Zelgadis." Gourry added in.

"Gourry! I said it was an accident!" Lina tried not to meet Sylphiel's gaze. "Anyway, things didn't work out as anyone planned, then we all got tossed down here."

"What of Miss Amelia?" Sylphiel asked.

Lina shook her head. "I don't know. My guess is she's still possessing Zelgadis because of what happened when he woke up, but then again, if she were, I can't imagine why he would be as withdrawn as he's been." Lina looked sadly at Zelgadis, who continued to lay silently in his cell.

They all sat in silence willing Zelgadis to sit up and say something, but instead he curled up into a fetal position. Soon he lost all awareness of the conversation going on, again getting

lost in his dreams...

oOoOoOo

Author's notes: What a terrible place for a break, right? I actually just wrote up the next part, but this was already getting so long, and I'm still working on the next part that I decided to cut it into a separate chapter. I finally feel motivated to write though, so I ought to have more up soon.

On another note, before anyone gets on me for not having Sylphiel call Gourry "Gourry dear/dear Gourry/Gourry-sama", truth be told I never liked the English equivalent to 'Gourry-sama', and I'm not about to stick in Japanese honorifics. Also, 'sama' can be translated a few different ways. I wanted her to show more respect for Gourry (short of calling him 'lord'), hence 'Sir Gourry'. It makes him sound more important, anyway. (And seeing as this is Sylphiel addressing him, I think it fits.)

There is a light at the end of this tunnel, I promise!