The group met the next morning in Sylphiel's 'office'.

"I'm sorry if I caused you any alarm," Sylphiel started. "When I was examining Mr. Gadget, I came across some very strong memories. They were a little overwhelming."

Lina nodded. "Well, I'm just glad you're okay."

The shrine mother smiled and took a deep breath before continuing. "I also found something that I can only describe as a blockage of some kind. It's not evil like Gourry-sama's, it's…" Sylphiel struggled for a moment, trying to find the right word. "…it's not natural."

"What do you mean, 'not natural'?" queried Lina.

Sylphiel blinked a couple of times. "Right now, all I can say is that it's not something that I can detect with my abilities."

Lina thought for a moment. "Could it have something to do with his gadgets? They appear to be made of some kind of metal."

Sylphiel nodded thoughtfully. "That is certainly possible. Priestess training only teaches us how to detect entities, not tools or machines or other nonliving things."

The inspector leaned forward. "Are you saying that my gadgets are the problem?"

Sylphiel waved her hands in front of herself. "No, not at all. They might be the cause of your amnesia, but they may also have nothing to do with it. I don't have enough information to say for certain." She looked sadly at the inspector. "I'm so sorry that I couldn't help you."

Gadget smiled at the shrine mother. "There's nothing to be sorry for. Thank you for trying to help me."

Lina rubbed at her scalp, then sat up in her chair. "All right, that's all the sappiness I can handle." She turned to Sylphiel. "Are you still going to be able to fix Gourry when you wanted to? The kitchen is starting to look pretty bare."

Sylphiel giggled. "Yes. I will be spending today in meditation, which should prepare me more than adequately for tomorrow."

The next morning, Lina was up early to have her usual mountain of breakfast. If she was to face another monster (another!) she wanted to be properly prepared. Which meant enough food to feed a family of five…for a week.

Gadget sat across from her, open-mouthed but in no danger of having any food put in it. Instead, he watched as plate after plate of food disappeared into the young woman. "Where do you put all of that, Lina?"

Lina was about to give him a dirty look and an equally dirty answer when she noticed the genuine wonder in his eyes. "Well, as a sorceress, I-"

"Lina-san!"

Lina looked up from her pile of food. "Zel! Amelia!"

The princess of Seyruun approached the table, followed by Zelgadis, who gave the inspector a nod, along with his typical suspicious look.

Amelia carried no such expression. She gave Lina a quick hug before turning to smile at the inspector. "Lina-san, is this a friend of yours?"

"Hm?" Lina grunted, looking at the inspector. "Nah, I found him shortly after leaving Seyruun. Apparently he has amnesia, so Sylphiel checked him out." She noticed the way Zelgadis was eyeing Gadget and added, "He's clean, Zel, so could you turn the glower down a bit?"

Zel simply grunted, then turned the glower down a bit.

Amelia practically bounced over to the inspector. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir! I am Princess Amelia Tesla Seyruun, but please call me Amelia!"

Gadget couldn't help but chuckle at Amelia's exuberance. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess Amelia. I am Inspector Gadget."

Zelgadis noticed the title. "An inspector, eh? Which kingdom do you work for? I'm pretty sure Prince Philionel didn't appoint you."

"Kingdom?" Gadget started to stammer. "I-I don't understand…I don't work for any-"

"Calm down, Gadget," Lina interrupted. "Zel, he doesn't work for any kingdom. Where he comes from, he's called a police officer, a law-enforcement official." She smiled slyly. "Ask him about his badge; it's really neat."

"So where are you from, Inspector?" asked Amelia.

"I live in Metro City with my niece Penny and her dog, Brain."

"Brain?" repeated Amelia. "What an interesting name for a dog."

"If you're her uncle," intoned Zelgadis, "where are her parents?"

"Her parents? Hmmm." Gadget stopped for a moment, putting a hand to his chin in deep thought. Finally he concluded, extending his index finger, "I can't remember!"

"See?" Lina concluded. "Amnesia."

"Has Sylphiel checked him out?" asked Amelia.

"Just yesterday," answered Lina. "All she could find was an 'unnatural blockage' and some apparently bad memories."

"Well, if anyone could help him," mused Zelgadis, "Sylphiel could."

"Yup," replied Lina. "Now…back to breakfast!"And with that, Lina back to inhaling the most important meal of the day.

Zel and Amelia sweatdropped at the abrupt change. Gadget, being an American cartoon character, had to settle for widened eyes.

The gang had to find ways to kill time before the exorcism. Amelia and Zelgadis wandered around Sairaag, and talked about the possibility of Seyruun sending aid for its rebuilding. Inspector Gadget followed them, looking around in awe at the devastation that remained throughout most of the city. Gourry hung out at his usual place behind the temple, practicing his swordsmanship skills.

Lina sat on a nearby fence and simply watched. In fact, she was so quiet that Gourry didn't realize that she was there until one of his techniques caused him to turn to face her direction.

"Hey, Gourry..."

Gourry finished his sequence before stopping to answer. "Yeah Lina?"

Lina swung her leg a couple of times, tapping the fence as she did so. "If…If Sylphiel's able to get whatever's in your head out, what do you think will happen?"

Gourry sighed heavily as he swung his sword over his shoulder. "I dunno. She says that my memory should improve. I don't know if I'll be able to remember stuff from before." He shrugged, chuckling. "Hopefully I'll be able to understand you when you explain stuff to me."

Lina smirked at his last statement. "Oh, I doubt that." She ran a hand through her hair in a dramatic fashion. "Beautiful sorcery geniuses like me are far beyond what you could understand."

Her attempt at humor flew right over Gourry's head as he grimaced. "Yeah, that's probably true."

Lina had to grab the fence to keep from face-faulting. "I was kidding, you oaf! Anyway, I'm looking forward to it. Hey, maybe you'll become an even better swordsman!"

"You know, I've thought about that," Gourry said, and Lina had to grab the fence again. "I mean, I've been told that I have natural ability, but perhaps I could learn more styles."

"Learn more styles?" Lina and Gourry turned to see Amelia approaching, with Zelgadis and Gadget in tow.

"Gourry hopes that with his head cleared, he'll be able to become a better swordsman." Lina answered, jerking a thumb toward Gourry, who put his free hand behind his head and smiled somewhat sheepishly.

Amelia bounced over to Gourry. "Even better? Gourry-san, you're the best there is! How could you get better than that?!"

"I think I could see how," Zelgadis commented. "If he were able to learn other styles and techniques, he could incorporate them into his own unique style." His visible eye widened slightly. "Gourry, do you know if you have any magical ability?"

"Magic?" asked Gadget.

"Magical ability? Me?" Gourry rubbed his chin. "I suppose. I have a powerful spellcaster somewhere in my family from a long time ago."

Amelia balled her fists under her chin. Her eyes positively glowed. "Wouldn't that be awesome? Then you could really be a Hero of Justice!" She straightened and started counting on her fingers. "First we'd need to come up with your hero name, then design your costume…although we could do both at-"

"Gourry-sama?" Sylphiel's voice interrupted. "Are you ready? Oh, good! You're all here." The shrine mother smiled with a contented sigh. "If any of you need time to prepare, please do so. But please be quick; I will be prepared for only so long."

"Understood," Lina replied. She had to remember to keep her voice even and calm, or she could undo all of Sylphiel's meditative preparations. She turned to the others. "Are we ready to go?"

Everyone nodded.

"Then come this way, please," Sylphiel gestured to the nearby entrance before entering it herself. Gourry and Lina then entered, followed by the inspector, then Amelia and Zelgadis.

As they walked, Amelia motioned to get her fiancés' attention before whispering, "I'd still feel better if Filia-san was with us."

Zelgadis shrugged. "It can't be helped. It would have taken her too long to get here. Besides, she's busy taking care of Val's egg. We'll be fine," he assured her. "Gourry only has so much room, so we should be able to handle whatever is exorcised."

Amelia nodded understanding, then started working on what spells she would most likely need.

The group descended several sets of stairs before reaching a large ornate door. Sylphiel laid a hand against it, then closed her eyes briefly in concentration. A pattern on the door glowed, then the doors swung open, seemingly of their own accord. As they entered the room, Lina studied the pattern on the door with a measure of respect.

The door was warded, preventing entry or exit by any entity of evil, and Lina wondered if it would be possible to trap Xellos in the room. She filed the question for later, to ask the shrine mother.

Her attention returned in time to see Gourry taking his seat in a simple wooden chair in the middle of a huge magic circle, even more ornate than the door.

Sylphiel pointed toward a section of the room outside the area of the circle, where a bench and a few random chairs waited. "Please sit or stand over there. Once the process begins, I need all of you to stay out of the circle; only Gourry-sama and I will be in here."

The group grunted their acknowledgements and made their way over to the sitting area. Amelia took a chair, sitting as a princess should, and Zelgadis sat in his chair, legs crossed as usual, while Lina took the bench, sitting lengthwise with her legs stretched out before her. The inspector chose to stand at parade-rest; feet shoulder-width apart, back straight, hands clasped at the small of the back.

Sylphiel addressed the group one last time. "Is everyone ready?" All nodded assent.

The shrine mother walked around behind her husband and, gathering her courage once more, laid her hands on either side of Gourry's head.

Lina and company jumped to their feet when Sylphiel suddenly chirped "Oh!" She gave the group a smile. "I'm sorry, I forgot to do something."

Lina growled as she sat back down. "Is this going to take long?"

Everyone settled back in place as Sylphiel walked around in front of Gourry. She knelt and gently squeezed Gourry's hands. Then she placed her hands on Gourry's cheeks. "I love you, Gourry-sama."

Lina felt a little uneasiness in her stomach, but was getting used to ignoring it.

Gourry placed his hands over hers. "I love you too, Sylphiel." He smiled lopsidedly. "One new me, coming right up."

Sylphiel giggled and exchanged a brief kiss on the lips before returning to her place behind him. Once again she laid her hands on his head and let her eyes close slowly.

The group watched as Sylphiel moved her hands on Gourry's head and shoulders, apparently trying to find good 'anchor points' for the exorcism. Finally, she settled for one hand atop Gourry's head and the other on the side.

Her hands began to glow softly, gradually increasing in intensity and brightness. Her long dark hair began to wave, as though blown by a gentle breeze.

The lines of the circle also started to glow, starting at the center, under Gourry's chair. It was as though liquid light was being poured into the middle of the circle, and was slowly filling in the circle's etchings.

It took several minutes for the circle to fully illuminate, and Lina had to stifle a yawn. Even though there wasn't much happening, she studied Gourry and Sylphiel, to watch for any problems, and just due to good-old-fashioned curiosity.

"How long do these usually take?" Gadget whispered to Lina.

"I dunno," Lina replied. "This is this first time I've ever seen one."

Amelia leaned toward Lina and Gadget slowly and carefully, so as not to distract the shrine mother. "I've heard that these can take a long time. Daddy had one done for one of his servants a long time ago, and it took hours. I guess it was so long that the servant fell asleep during the process."

Zelgadis started, then pointed toward Sylphiel and Gourry. "Something's happening."

Lina looked at the couple. In addition to the white light that Sylphiel's spell had been generating, a purple glow was starting to appear. "Could that be whatever's in Gourry's head?" Lina swung her feet off of the bench to stand and readied her hands in a spell casting position. She spoke in a low voice: "Amelia, Zel, we'll probably need the Rah-Tilt. If anything comes out, I'll hit it with a Fireball first to test its strength."

"What about me?" asked Gadget, also in a low voice. "Can I help?"

Lina regarded the inspector. "I'll let you know if we can use any of your gadgets. For now, just stay where you are. Got it?"

Inspector Gadget nodded his understanding and returned to standing at parade-rest by the wall.

Sylphiel's eyes slowly opened, and she seemed to notice the purple glow. Her eyes slightly widened, then set in determination as the white glow from her hands intensified.

Suddenly a flash of purple emanated from the glow, forming a whip of sorts, which lashed out at Sylphiel. She barely had time to cry out before being batted back, slamming into the wall behind her and sliding to the floor.

"Heh heh heh…NYAAAH HAH HAH HAH HAAAH!"

Lina's blood froze in her veins as she recognized the laugh. "It can't be…"

Amelia and Zelgadis immediately began the incantation for the Rah-Tilt but held back due to the glow's proximity to Gourry. Normally, a Rah-Tilt would not affect a human, but Gourry's presence within the magic circle could cause unforeseen problems.

Unbidden, Gadget ran over to check on Sylphiel.

The purplish glow began to grow, withdrawing completely from Gourry's body as it did so. It moved a short distance away and began to take shape, laughing almost the whole time.

"Go-go-Gadget arms!" The inspector's arms hyperextended into the circle, carefully wrapped around Gourry, and pulled him back to where Gadget knelt next to the unconscious shrine mother.

As soon as Gourry was clear, Lina shouted, "Let him have it!" She did not want to give this particular entity a chance to form. "FIRE-BALL" She hoped that the creature would be weak enough to be killed easily.

"HEH HEH HEH…LINA INVERSE…IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME…"

"He knows you?" Zelgadis asked Lina while holding a mostly-completed Rah-Tilt.

Indeed Lina and the entity knew each other, but she thought that she had killed him…with the help of Gourry's grandfather.

"Joyrock…" she whispered.