A/N: Just want to apologize for taking so bloody long in posting another chapter. Anyway, I don't own Slayers, blah, blah, blah…on with the story.

Three figures stood in a rough triangle around a pedestal, the darkened room doing much to hide their features. Two were taller than the third, one broad, the other slim, the shortest almost feminine in build. The pedestal they were gathered around was a simple stone slab atop a short cylindrical construct with a square base. What was engraved onto the surface of the slab was the interesting part. A magic circle, evidenced by the runes carefully carved into the off-white stone, was etched there, a slight shimmer of power evident in the gloom. The slim, tall figure raised a gloved hand towards it, causing the runes to flare with reddish light, illuminating the three at last. The shortest was indeed female, with sharp, hard features, eyes slanted and slightly sinister in appearance despite their soft, blue color.

Her hair was cropped short and dark blue in color, ears decidedly elfish in shape. She wore dark grey robes, tied shut by a black sash. The one who had raised his hand before was male, hair long and black, held back in a closely tied pony tail, his own ears the rounded shape of a human's. His features were cold and as perfect as well carved marble, his eyes decidedly off in their silver hue. He wore a long, dark green cloak, with leather armor beneath that creaked slightly as he lowered his arm back to his side, where a simple enough looking sword was resting.

The third was by far more bulky than the other two, dressed for battle in gold trimmed plate armor, the symbol of the Seyruun kingdom upon his breastplate. Two axes were strapped across his back, curved and deadly, his arms coming up to cross over his chest. His own hair was cut in the common military style, its color a dark brown going grey at the temples, his face covered by a short trimmed beard, eyes black and cold.

"Alright, Victor, why have you called us here?" The Seyruun soldier, because the kingdom obviously had to have a peacekeeping force, rumbled in a gravelly voice. The slimmer man turned his gaze to him then.

"I would think you would have heard…Lina Inverse has returned to your precious kingdom," the now revealed Victor replied, voice a smooth baritone. The soldier's face crumpled into a scowl.

"That dragon spooking witch?" He sounded like he didn't care for her at all. "She was invited to the Princess's wedding?!"

"Apparently," Victor said quietly, hoping to calm his colleague. "The Princess obviously holds the sorceress in high regard." The elf woman scoffed at this.

"She's obviously not very smart, befriending the enemy of all who live," she muttered, causing the soldier to her left to bristle with anger.

"How dare you insult the Princess?!" He snarled, starting to reach for his axes. "That beast she is marrying has obviously bewitched her, so I suggest you hold your tongue!" The elf was about to offer a snappish retort when Victor intervened.

"Borin, Teliel, stop fighting at once," he ordered coldly, causing the two to tense. It was obvious he had no patience for them today. "I did not call us together so the two of you could be at each other's throats." He continued once they settled down. "I called us here, because she has brought something interesting with her."

"Interesting?" Echoed Teliel, one thin eyebrow arched out of curiosity. Victor nodded.

"Yes, a certain artifact we had been unable to procure before," he said rather cryptically. Both of his cohorts' eyes widened.

"You mean…?" Borin trailed off, obviously shocked by this news, to which his human compatriot nodded yet again.

"Yes, it has been found at last."

0o0o0o0o0

Lina sneezed over her now empty plate, rubbing her nose afterwards.

"Uh oh," Gourry began worriedly, "this is really a bad time for you to get sick, Lina." The sorceress waved away his concern.

"Nah, someone's just talking about me is all…most likely discussing how wonderful I am," she said dreamily, causing Gourry to roll his eyes.

"Yeah, sure." He got up, laying down the money for the food. "Shouldn't we go see Amelia and Zel?" This snapped her out of it.

"Well, of course," she replied, standing as well. "You think they'll be happy to see us?" Gourry offered her a warm smile.

"Of course they will!"

0o0o0o0o0

Amelia sighed tiredly, head thumping against her desk, the Seyruun Princess in her study. She was going over some last minute details of the wedding, much to her annoyance. She had no idea weddings were so much work before now. There was the catering, the decorations, the floral arrangements, the security details, the dresses for her bride's maids…the list went on and on. Most of it was finished already, of course, as the wedding was only in a few days, but problems in regard to security kept popping up. This time it was how many of the royal guard would be guarding the perimeter, in addition to those inside of it. She just wanted to get it all over with at this point. A pair of familiar hands came to rest on her shoulders, massaging gently, causing her to groan quietly in relief.

"You're very stressed," Zelgadis, her soon to be husband, murmured, working out some kinks in her neck next.

"You try arranging everything like I've been and see how stressed out you get," she muttered into the wood of her desk, the chimera laughing quietly in response.

"Well, I DID offer to help, but you had to be stubborn," he reminded her chidingly, still working out the knots in her shoulders and upper back. "So, you have no one to blame but yourself."

"Meanie," she murmured, becoming more and more relaxed under his ministrations. "I didn't want you to…feel like I was using you to…slack off." Zelgadis snorted lightly at this.

"Hardly," he muttered, in fact having been bored to tears the last few months. "I would have been glad to have been of use." When she didn't reply he frowned. "Amelia?" Then he heard her start to snore softly, causing him to smile. She'd really been working much too hard lately. "Time for bed, my dear Princess." Then he lifted her gently into his arms and carried her to bed.

0o0o0o0o0

Xellos feared he would soon go mad. The happy atmosphere of Seyruun was oppressing in its intensity, making him feel mildly ill as he and Claire made their way towards a temple of Cepheid, though he was easily able to hide his discomfort from the girl. The sooner he was done in this cursed place the better. It hadn't been this bad the last time he was here, but the mazoku figured the wedding had a majority of the populous in high spirits. How disgusting.

"Mr. Xellos?" Claire's voice broke him from his train of thought. "I have a question." He wasn't exactly surprised by this, especially if his theory about her was correct. He gestured for her to continue. "You told me before that Cepheid and Shabranigdo were fighting for control of the world…why?" This caused the priest to actually open his eyes, giving her a thoughtful look.

"Well, I told you also that the mazoku want to destroy the world, didn't I?" She nodded. "Well, the great Flare Dragon was obviously opposed to this, and so a war between his forces and the mazoku inevitably broke out with Cepheid the victor, as I said."

"But why do the mazoku want to destroy the world?" She pressed, obviously curious. "I mean, wouldn't doing something like that destroy them as well?" He nodded. "Then why?"

"Well, I'm afraid that is the mysterious nature of evil, Miss Claire," he told her, not able or willing to tell the truth. Didn't want her catching on to his true nature, after all. "We have never been able to understand their reasons for such things and we most likely never will."

She frowned, obviously thinking now. "But…hasn't anyone ever tried speaking to them?" This threw him for a moment. She was still on this track after what he had said? A truly curious creature, this woman.

"I'm sure someone had at some point but…" He trailed off with a shrug, deciding to don an ignorant persona in this case. "There were no records of any such instance in the temple library, though."

"I see," she murmured, sounding disappointed. "Thank you, though." He smiled again, eyes drifting shut once more.

"Not at all, Miss Claire," he said softly, letting himself pull ahead of her a bit. While her disappointment was sweet, her thankfulness made it a tad bitter to swallow…figuratively, anyway. At any rate, once they had seen a priest he would be able to move on, not that this hadn't been entertaining. If she knew what he needed, great, but if not…what a waste of time. The Greater Beast would want a progress report soon and-wait. Something clicked in his head, the general-priest glancing at Claire, who was taking in the sights around them.

Would Zelas want to study the girl, if his theory was right? It was possible, since she was known to take an interest in curiosities, such as Claire. If so, then the girl could be in trouble…how absolutely delightful. In fact, there was a very good chance of it, now that he was thinking about it. The girl had survived a blast that had leveled an entire keep, not to mention the strange light he had witnessed before. But, best not to get ahead of himself. Memory retrieval first, possibilities later.

0o0o0o0o0

It had been awhile since Lina and Gourry had been to see their friends, the pair looking forward to the reunion. Lina wondered if Zelgadis was still searching for a cure to his condition, or if he had finally gotten over it. After all, despite what he thought, being a chimera had its advantages. He couldn't be harmed by normal weapons, his magical powers were impressive, as were his strength and speed. While the hair was most likely annoying, and having rock hard skin could be a detriment, the positives could really outweigh the negatives, at least as far as she was concerned. She was also curious to see how Amelia had changed during their time apart. Was she still the justice spouting princess, or had she grown up a bit? Well, she would find out shortly, since they were swiftly approaching the palace.

Gourry, meanwhile, found himself filled with a mild case of trepidation. He'd never been to a wedding, not a real one in any case, and was worried he would screw it all up somehow. Maybe he could talk to Lina later on about it, but right now he decided to concentrate on the thought of seeing their friends again…well, two of them at least. He wondered briefly if they had changed at all, but decided not to bother because he would soon find out.

They were met at the gates by a courtier, who informed them that the Princess Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun awaited them in the audience chamber and that he was to escort them there. It was obvious he found them distasteful, but he kept it to himself, his posture stiff as he showed them to the previously mentioned audience chamber. Guards stood evenly spaced on either side of the chamber, ramrod straight and alert for danger. Amelia sat on the thrown of the crown princess, dressed in a regal gown of pure white. Upon their entrance she stood, walking down to meet them, smiling brightly. She had grown, much to Lina's depression, during their absence, no longer shorter than the sorceress.

"Miss Lina, Mr. Gourry," she said warmly, hugging them each in turn, which they returned. "It's so wonderful to see you both!"

"It's good to see you, too, Amelia," Lina replied with a smile of her own, looking around. "Hey, where's Zel? He too good to see us now?" She was only joking, of course, but she had expected to see him here with Amelia.

"Oh, he's helping Daddy with a few last minute things," the princess replied, the look in her eyes growing softer. "He's been so wonderful…it's like a dream sometimes." Lina and Gourry exchanged a look, glad their friends were happy together…though both were secretly envious. Amelia seemed to collect herself. "Anyway, how have you two been? It's been, what, a year now?"

"Wow, that long?" Gourry mused aloud, looking thoughtful. "Time flies, I guess." Then he shrugged. "Yeah, things have been great…right Lina?"

"Oh, yeah," she said, forcing a chuckle. "Hunting bandits, grabbing their loot, eating good foods…it's been a blast!" Amelia frowned ever so slightly at this, noticing an underlying tension in the two that neither really seemed aware of. She'd have a talk with Lina later, see if she couldn't draw it out of the fiery sorceress.

"Oh, right, the gift!" Gourry exclaimed suddenly, slapping his right fist against his left palm, turning to Lina. "Do we give it to her or…?"

"Gift?" Amelia echoed, then smiled slightly. "You two didn't have to go to any trouble-"

"Oh, yes we did," Lina cut her off firmly, smiling back. "You guys are getting married…no way were we going to show up without one." Gourry nodded sagely in agreement. "So, where can we stash it until the wedding tomorrow?"

"I'll have someone show you later…right now I think we should find Zelgadis so we can all catch up properly."

0o0o0o0o0

Xellos stifled a yawn, having had to sit and wait while the priest went about trying to restore Claire's memories. They had to have been in there for at least an hour already. Not to mention the fact he despised being in such a place to begin with. Right now he was sitting in one of the pews of the temple's main antechamber, a statue of Cepheid predominately featured at the far end behind an altar. The head priest of the temple had taken Claire into another room in order to perform the magic required to retrieve lost memories. Now all he could do was wait for them to return.

Claire, meanwhile, was kneeling in the middle of a white magic circle, fighting the urge to fidget while the old priest continued his chant. How long had he been chanting, anyway? An hour? Longer? Her legs were starting to go numb, for crying out loud. Suddenly the old one stopped, frowning slightly.

"Is this some kind of joke, young lady?" He asked, sounding disapproving. It was Claire's turn to frown, confused by his question.

"Joke? What do you mean?" She asked in turn, genuinely having no idea what he was talking about. The old priest shook his head slightly.

"You don't have amnesia, young lady, and I for one don't like being made a fool of," he said coldly, evidently angry with her now. "Leave this temple…I don't have time for people who think it's funny to make up stories about such things." Then he turned and left the room, the door closing behind him with a sharp click. Now Claire was even more confused than before. She didn't have amnesia? But, she had no memories before waking up in the cabin with Xellos. She just didn't understand. So she headed out into the antechamber, looking around for the trickster priest…only to find he wasn't out there waiting for her. Where could he have gone?

"Mr. Xellos?"

0o0o0o0o0

The priest in question was currently on top of the Cepheid temple, perched on the steeple. He imagined it was cruel to just up and leave the girl like this, but her usefulness and amusement factor had run out. Now he would have to return to his master and explain why he had been unable to procure the item she had sent him in search of. Not exactly a fun prospect, but he had little choice but to answer her summons. So he prepared himself to phase-shift to Wolf Pack Island, admitting, to himself at least, that he would miss the particular emotional turmoil Claire carried around with her. Who knows? Perhaps he would see her again, maybe even in the company of a certain enemy of all who lived.

0o0o0o0o0

Lina sneezed for the second time that day, feeling irritated once more. That was the problem with being a beautiful sorcery genius…people tended to talk about you a lot. Currently she, Gourry, Amelia and Zelgadis were all having tea in Amelia's sitting room, which was just off of her bedroom and office. They had caught up some, which mostly consisted of her and Gourry recounting their adventures.

"I almost wish I had been out there with you," Zelgadis admitted, taking a sip of tea. "I mean, yes I'm excited about the wedding, but there really hasn't been much to do here except read."

"Wow, sounds like you have it really rough," Lina said quietly, voice dripping with sarcasm. "In any case," she went on more loudly, "I think I should warn you guys that we ran into Xellos earlier today."

"What?!" Zelgadis took it about as well as she had expected. "What's that fruitcake doing in Seyruun, now of all times?!"

"Well, you know him, he wouldn't say…what was odd is that he wasn't travelling alone." Her response drew puzzled looks from the quite soon to be married couple. "I know it's really weird…it looked like a human girl, about my age, but I couldn't sense anything off about her."

"Why would Mr. Xellos be travelling with a human girl?" Amelia asked, sounding as confused as Lina felt.

"I don't know," she replied honestly, resting her chin in her hands. "It can't be as innocuous as it looked, though."

"I'll talk to Daddy about increasing the number of mages at the wedding," Amelia stated after a moment. "If he thinks to ruin our wedding, I'll sing 'Life is Wonderful' till is head explodes." Lina couldn't help but snicker at this.

"That's the spirit, Amelia," she encouraged, grinning at the prospect. "No way am I going to let that fruitcake ruin the wedding of two of my best friends."

"I'm not sure if I can help much, but count me in," Gourry added his two copper bits into the conversation.

"With love, courage and justice on our side, things will turn out for the better in the end!" Three guesses who said that and the first two don't count.

"Uh, what she said," Zelgadis agreed…sort of. Like hell Xellos was going to ruin things for them. Little did they know, of course, that he had already left town.

0o0o0o0o0

Claire stared up at the castle before her, unable to be anything but awed by its grand and beautiful design. Everyone she had asked had said the red headed sorceress Xellos had been talking to had headed here, making the memory bereft young woman wonder just who she was.

"Only one way to find out," she murmured, heading up to the gates, only to be stopped by a pair of guards.

"Good day, miss," the older of the two said pleasantly, though he continued to bar her path. "Can't say I've seen you before…what's your business here today?" Claire smiled tentatively.

"Well, I'm looking for a friend of a friend and I was told I could find her here…"

A/N: that's a wrap for now. Again, sorry for the horrid delay and feel free to rant and rave over it. Anyway, tell me what you think, as always. Until next chapter!