For those who don't follow my Tumblr blog, I want to apologize for disappearing unannounced. It grieved me to do it, but I had to put the story on temporary hiatus due to academic responsibilities that became too overwhelming. As of today, the story will be resuming weekly updates on Mondays for those interested. Thank you to all readers for your patience as well as your continued support. I appreciate it so much! As per usual, I don't own anything, I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy.

32- Art for Art's Sake

My parents never troubled themselves very much over caring for their children. My whole childhood, I never saw much of them. It was all a blur of nurses and nannies, none of them ever staying long enough to form a bond.

Miss Hayze began her story, and Lina tried to make herself comfortable in a way that wouldn't lead to her falling asleep. She needed to pay attention.

The one person who really raised me was my older brother. He was much older, actually- eleven years my senior- but he was the most caring young man I've ever met. By the time I was about five years old, of course, he had already begun going off on his own journeys around the world. He had many friends and was a powerful warrior… but he always remembered to visit me often and bring me souvenirs from his travels. His gifts were the things that originally got me interested in studying history. I decided from a young age that I wanted to research history, just like my brother seemed to be doing, and he was proud of me. He promised that, when I got old enough, he'd take me on a trip with him. But… that never happened. When I was ten years old, he went away on a journey and never returned.

Lina's grip on the blankets tightened. She'd had a feeling that the story was going in this direction. It wasn't as though she felt kinship to Miss Hayze, considering the fact that they barely knew each other, but she'd had more than her fair share of death-related experiences recently.

"What happened to him?"

The report that we were given said that he died in battle against a Mazoku. One of his friends was in danger, and he took the strike for his friend instead, knowing full well that it would cost him his life. He was willing to sacrifice everything so that his friend might live.

Lina cringed. "Yeah, that story sounds very… familiar."

My parents expressed their grief very privately. Looking back on things, I have no doubt that they were just as stricken over losing their son as I was over losing my brother. But I never saw their tears, and therefore I assumed that they had shed none. I was a grief-stricken little girl, and I felt betrayed by the only family I had left. I found myself sitting by my brother's grave every day with nothing much else to do. I'd take books sometimes, and buy flowers to place over the grave, but other than that, I-

"Excuse me." Lina interrupted. "This is really emotional, and I'm very sorry for your loss, but… uh, this is the story about the Knight of the Aqualord, right?"

Miss Hayze didn't seem insulted at all, and nodded in reply. "Sorry for being long-winded. I'm leading up to that; yes."

"No problem." Lina waved one hand. "Continue."

Eventually, one day when I went to visit the grave, I was met by a strange man. He was a beastman, tall and muscular, with dark fur almost like a panther's. I recognized him a little bit- I'd seen him with my brother before. He was one of the friends with whom my brother had travelled. It took only one look at his expression to realize why he had come.

Lina gasped. "He was that friend."

I approached him timidly, but finally got up the nerve to ask him a question. "Mister?" I began. "Are you… the friend that my brother saved?"

He didn't answer right away- in fact, it took him a while to do anything, and before I knew what was happening, he began walking away. I was a spoiled little girl, and I wasn't used to anyone ignoring me, so I ran after him, continuing to pester him with questions.

"Please, sir! Just tell me! I need to know! Why did my brother have to die? Why did he-"

The beastman turned to me and cut me off. "Do you know who your brother was?"

I was quiet for a moment, unsure of how to answer. I knew exactly who he was. He was my big brother, my most faithful caretaker and my closest friend. And yet, he had a life that I knew nothing of. All of his journeys, his adventures with his friends, his battles and hardships… I knew nothing of them. So I answered truthfully.

"No."

There was another long pause before the beastman finally answered back. "Your brother…" he spoke softly. "…was the Knight of the Aqualord."

A gasp caught itself in Lina's throat. "…so that's why…"

After that revelation, he began walking away again, and so I had to chase after him.

"What is that? What does it mean? Is that why my brother died? Because he was some important knight?" The beastman wasn't answering, and I was growing desperate. "Please, at least tell me something! I don't even know your name!"

"My name…" he murmured. "…that's something I no longer deserve to wear."

That was the last thing that he said to me before he vanished from my life forever. I don't know what happened to that beastman, and I still wonder about it sometimes. But he was the one to tell me the truth behind my brother's death. And so, from that day on, I became committed to studying about the powers of the gods. I became obsessed with it- the concept of godly strength given to mortal beings. I wanted to hold the power of the gods in my hands, just as my brother had done. My studies of the Knight of the Aqualord drew me closer and closer to gaining that power… or so I thought. But the truth is, it was all drawing me closer and closer to him. More than a decade after my brother's death, I was finally reunited with him again. It wasn't him, exactly, but it was.

"Lyos." Lina gasped. "That's why you were so fond of him. In his past life, he was your brother!"

"I didn't know it at first." Miss Hayze replied. "It wasn't until we discovered the Banisher that I knew for sure it was him. But I had grown very fond of him by that point, and would have supported him even if he had not been the one."

"Then it would make sense." Lina murmured, nodding her head. "The sister of the former Knight of the Aqualord would have in her possession… the legendary Key of the Aqualord."

"I'm sorry- what?"

"The Key of the Aqualord!" Lina exclaimed. "My friends and I have been searching for it for months! And just when we were starting to lose hope, we finally found you!"

"I-I'm afraid I don't understand." Miss Hayze seemed overwhelmed by Lina's enthusiasm. "I don't know what you're talking about. I've never heard of this Key of the Aqualord."

Lina froze.

"…what?"

"I don't know if you're mistaken, or if you were given bad information…" Ren was genuinely apologetic, not that it was helping very much. "…but I don't have anything in my collection like that."

"B-but-but-but-" Lina protested. "Luke said you had it!"

"And where did Luke get this information?"

"The person who wanted you dead! His employer!"

"And who gave his employer the information?"

"You expect me to know?" Lina sunk back in the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "What are we gonna do now?"

"I don't think that I've heard of it." Ren spoke up again, seeing Lina's disappointment. "But there's a possibility that I'm wrong. Perhaps it's something that I just don't recognize yet. Maybe you could help me find it."

"You'd search with us?" Lina sat up again.

"If it would help, yes. I resumed contact with my family again a few years ago, and I have reacquired all the artefacts that I previously had in my collection. Some had been damaged, and a few disappeared, but it's possible that the Key of the Aqualord remains."

"Th-that would be fantastic!" Lina enthused. "That you so mu-"

"Miss Hayze?" A servant had appeared at the doorway. It wasn't the same as the one who had spoken with Lina in the hallway before, but he was dressed similarly. "The healers are ready to see you now."

"It is about that time again, isn't it? I was just starting to notice. Give me a few more minutes with my guest, would you? Our conversation had nearly reached a conclusion."

"As you wish. This is for your sake, not theirs." The servant bowed and retreated from the doorway again.

"Are you sick?" Lina asked, inching away from her host timidly.

"Yes, but don't look so concerned. I'm not contagious."

"Oh." Lina resumed her earlier position with a sheepish grin. "S-sorry. It wasn't like that at all- I just wanted to-"

"You have a good reason to be concerned for your health, Miss Lina. Your behaviour didn't offend me at all."

"O-Okay, well…" Lina found herself having difficulty thinking of what to say. "I hope that you get well soon."

"Thank you." Ren smiled brightly as she got up and gathered the tray and all of its contents to take back to the kitchen. "It's nice to hear someone say that."

Lina decided not to press the issue further, watching the woman as she began to close the door behind her. "Thank you for everything!"

"Thank you for entertaining me, Miss Lina." Ren replied. "I am a person who believes strongly in the power of fate. Your appearance in my garden was fate, gifting me with a way to help the world. It is an exciting prospect, and my curiosity is eager to get its hands on this Key that you speak so highly of."

"…yeah… mine too…" The woman's calm words and the warmth of the extra blankets had lulled Lina into a drowsy state, and it was nice to lay her head against the pillow and rest her mind for a while.

"If you would, please, wait here for the Lady of the house. She is busy with personal affairs, but should be able to join you shortly."

Led by a different servant than the one who had found them in the cold, the group was glad to at least be able to shuffle into a large room with several lit fireplaces around it. Amelia and Pestis immediately huddled around the fire, while Zelgadis and Shizuri found themselves entranced by all of the decoration around the hall. Pieces representing almost every significant era in art history were displayed, all depicting scenes of divine beings or humans bestowed with divine power. Zelgadis, as a historian, and Shizuri, as a priestess, were both captivated by the scenes. Lyos, meanwhile, was in a daze of his own, and that left only Gourry paying enough attention to actually respond to the servant's orders.

"W-wait a minute! What about Lina?"

"Don't worry. She is well and in our care. You may meet with her soon, but for now-"

"How soon is soon?"

"I-It will be when the Lady arrives back fro-"

"And when will that be?!"

"I don't know, but I can only imagine that it will be quite shortly-"

"There you go again! That's the same as soon, isn't it?"

"Sir, please. I'm not the one in charge. Can't you be patient just a little longer? I assure you, she is safe and comfortable."

Gourry wasn't satisfied, and his disappointed expression made that clear. The servant seemed to be taken off-guard by this man who appeared dangerously powerful, yet behaved more like a hurt puppy when provoked. Zelgadis was paying enough attention to at least notice this.

"If you don't take him to see Lina, he'll keep making that face. I've seen him keep it up for hours."

"Don't cry, Mister Gourry." Amelia latched onto his arm affectionately, prompting Shizuri to join in as well.

"Amelia's right! You know that if you cry, then I'll start crying too!"

"Your face is too handsome to be wearing a frown like that!" Pestis didn't seem to have the slightest idea what the point of the whole pity party was, but he was quick to join in anyway.

"And I'm sure that Lina is just as miserable to be separated from you as you are." Zelgadis reasoned. "She's probably pestering the servants taking care of her with the same questions that you were just asking, and she-"

"Okay, okay, okay." the servant stepped in, waving his hands. "If you want to see the girl so badly, I'll take you- but just you. Everyone else must stay here and behave themselves. If anything happens in my absence, the other staff members will be alerted immediately. Do remember that."

"Yes'sir!" Pestis gave a dramatic salute, drawing stares from the rest of the group.

"You can trust us." Zelgadis gave a wave to them as the servant led Gourry up a grand staircase on the other side of the hall. Once the two were out of sight, he pulled his hand down and sighed in relief.

"Okay, you guys! He's gone! Now let's steal the paintings and make a break for it!"

Zelgadis resisted the urge to strangle Pestis.

"Don't joke! We're relying on these people to host us until this storm blows over- we can't let ourselves get on their bad sides!"

"S-sorry. I was just playing around." The professor drew back and hid behind Amelia.

"Zelgadis," Shizuri began. "do you think that this may be the estate that we're looking for? That the Lady might be…"

"It's possible." Zelgadis replied. "We're just going to have to hope that she doesn't feel troubled by our appearance. Having our group suddenly show up helpless on her doorstep isn't exactly the way to endear ourselves to her."

"But if she knows Mister Lyos, then surely she would welcome us." Amelia suggested. "Isn't that true, Mister Lyos? …hmm?"

"I don't know anymore." Lyos spoke with his back turned to the group. He was staring into one of the fireplaces across the room, and his voice was barely audible across the distance.

An awkward silence filled the room as the rest of the group glanced at one another. None of them felt like trying to cheer him up, considering the fact that it never did much good. The only people who'd ever had much success with that were Lina and Gourry, or so it seemed.

"Hey, uh… cool paintings here, huh?" The silence finally got to Pestis, and he had to say something. "I mean, there's nothing like a good painting to start the imagination going. Fantastical images are perfect when trying to be creative and brainstorm new ideas for- h-hey! Look! This is one of Maria's! She painted this!"

The professor began jumping up and down with excitement over one of the paintings on the opposite wall- a bright depiction of an angelic being.

"Maria who?"

"Um, Maria Nisery…?" Pestis seemed genuinely disappointed that Shizuri had forgotten the name.

"O-oh!" Shizuri stiffened. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to sound so-"

"Maria Barton Nisery. She was one of the foremost painters of the Kōma War period, and her paintings most often depicted an empowered vision of peace, as an argument that peaceful resolutions were a sign not of weakness but of strength. Seeing her work for sale has become somewhat of a rarity these days, and I buy it whenever I can. She is my favourite of all the artists whose work I have displayed here."

The woman had joined the group so quietly, most of them hadn't noticed. Shizuri jumped at the sound of the woman's voice interrupting her apology, and backed away a little bit.

"Hey, no way! She's my favourite too!" Pestis chimed, not at all bothered by the new addition to their conversation. "Honestly, she just really liked drawing angelic figures. This one- The Angel Pandora- was one that she sketched out late one night that she was sick and couldn't sleep. She didn't like it very much, and shoved it behind a bunch of blank canvasses until a few months later when she dug it out again and painted it."

"Did she, now?" The woman smiled at Pestis. "That's a story I haven't heard before. She really was an interesting woman, and a very talented painter."

"Yeah, well…" Pestis' face contorted into a smug grin. "…she was pretty talented at other things too."

Zelgadis elbowed the professor, who flinched instinctively. "I'm sorry about him- are you the Lady of this house?"

"Don't apologize. I am- Lady Su Lin, of the Lin Estate. It's a pleasure to meet a group of fellow lovers of art. You are Miss Lina's companions, I assume. Are you her husband?"

"Me? No." Zelgadis replied. "He went to see Lina already. One of your servants showed him the way. I hope that's not a problem."

"No, no- I'm glad. She was worried about him. As long as she knows that all her friends are safe, that is the important thing. In fact, we've already had a long discussion about her reason for coming here. The search for the Key of the Aqualord has led her to-"

"Milady?"

The conversation stopped suddenly stopped, and everyone turned to look at Lyos. He had finally approached the group and interrupted the Lady as she spoke. She looked back at him, her face turning pale.

"…Lyos?"