Zelgadis felt his skin itch as he led the group through the caves. He resisted the urge to scratch it, telling himself it was all in his mind. Unfortunately the sniggers and jeers from Luna's men were not. They didn't even bother to make an effort to lower their voices. No, they talked loudly with each other, speculating about whether or not he was contagious, talking about how hideous he was, even proclaiming that had they been afflicted, they would have had the decency to die. Zel bit his tongue, and resolved to get them to Petesborough and ditch them as soon as possible. And then it would be time to find another place to disappear to.

Zel tried to ignore how lonely the thought made him. He had just accustomed himself to a life of isolation when he met Lina, Gourry and Amelia. He found an acceptance with them he never thought he would. But of course, it was doomed. He would do what he could to help his friends, to repay them for their companionship. And then he would disappear, and become re-accustomed to loneliness.

His only regret would be not parting under better circumstances with Amelia. But she deserved better than life with a freak.

He rounded a curve, and was stunned to see a man sitting on a rocky ledge jutting from the cave wall. A feeling of hatred washed over Zelgadis that he did not understand. He was certain he'd never seen the man before in his life. But Zel hated every inch of him, from his perfect purple hair to his shit eating grin to his ridiculous staff. Behind him the group stopped. Luna stepped forward. "Xellos?" she asked, panic besieging her voice. "What are you doing here?"

"Come now, Luna, is that any way to greet your future brother-in-law?" Xellos asked.

Zel's eyes widened. He was the man Lina was supposed to marry?

"Only, by now it should have been official." Xellos stated.

"Lina has taken ill." Luna said. "There's a rare medicine in these caves that we are searching for. I'm sorry for not contacting you sooner."

"Is that so?" Xellos asked, "Then how is it I saw her today in Enilria with the village blacksmith?"

"Enilria!" Luna yelled, "Wait, that's a day's journey in the opposite direction of Petesborough."

Zel's stomach fell. Luna shook her head, "Wait a minute, how could you have been in Enilria and gotten here to tell us?"

Xellos shrugged, "When you know these caves as well as I do, you know a lot of little short cuts."

"How do I know you're not lying?" Luna asked.

"I could ask the same of you. It appears you are heading to Petesborough. Were you expecting to find your sister there, perhaps?" Xellos grinned, "Someone is lying, but it's not me."

"Let me explain," Luna said.

Xellos waved his finger in her face dismissively. "Now, now, Luna. It appears that this union was simply not meant to be. Perhaps if you had been pointed in the right direction this morning the situation could have been salvaged, but now it's too late."

Luna turned red with rage as she looked at her men and pointed at Zel, "Seize him."

The men looked at each other in fear at the thought of touching him, "You do it." One of them said.

"No, you!"

For once, Zel was glad for his cursed skin as they argued about having to touch him. Unfortunately, in the close confines of the cave with Xellos in front of him and the rest of the men behind him, he really didn't have any great choices on where to run. Banking on the fact that running past one man would be easier than six, he bolted towards Xellos. After all, what were the chances he would risk touching him?

Not good it turned out. But then, Xellos didn't need to. Xellos neatly moved his staff in Zel's path. In the narrow cave, there was little that Zel could do to avoid it. He fell face forward, scraping his skin against the harsh cave floor as he did.

"Get him now, before you regret it!" Luna barked.

A well of despair opened within Zel as he felt someone tie his hands behind his back. From behind him he heard Luna ask, "How long ago did you see them? How quickly can you get us to Enilria?"

"Perhaps you misunderstood me, Luna." Xellos said, his voicing taking a dangerous edge as Zel was hauled to his feet. Zel could feel blood seeping from the cuts and scrapes on his hands. "I have no intention of marrying a runaway bride. I just came here to inform that I have called the wedding off, and why. Now, do forgive me, but I have other pressing matters to attend to. Ta-ta!"

Luna's fists clenched by her side and Xellos walked away from them and quickly disappeared behind the bend. "Back the way we came then." Luna eventually sputtered. And then she looked at Zel, loathing etched over her face. "I've got some consequences to mete out."

Amelia's hands were shaking so much that she could not transcribe the document she was working on. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves, got up, and walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water. As Amelia passed the window she noticed Luna coming down the road with a group of men. Amelia's stomach sank. To say Luna looked mad was a great understatement!

In a matter of seconds Luna was pounding on the door. Amelia stood where she was, shaking with fear as her father poked his head out of his office. "Who could that be?"

Luna threw the door open and swiftly walked to Amelia, and grabbed her arms harshly as she reached her, "You lying little wench!"

Luna smacked her across the face. Amelia brought her hand to her burning cheek as Phil stepped out of his office, "What is going on here?" he roared as he put himself between Luna and his daughter.

"Your daughter lied to me! She told me Lina went to Petesborough! Turns out she was in Enilrea! Which is in the opposite direction!" Luna yelled.

Amelia moved to stand beside her father, "Well what did you expect? You didn't believe me when I told you the truth, and you kept pressing, so I didn't know what to say!"

Luna's hair seemed to stand on end, "Don't you go blaming me for this! You're under arrest."

"What?" Phil demanded. "You can't do this!"

"She lied to the mayor's wife during a missing person's case." Luna said as the men came towards Amelia bearing chains, "I warned her. So I can and I will."

"I'm going to talk to my brother about this." Phil said as one of the men chained Amelia's hands behind her back. Amelia couldn't think, couldn't move. This couldn't be happening! She was always so careful to be good and walk the right path. How could she end up in jail?

Phil gently grasped Amelia by the shoulders. "I'm going to get you out. By tonight, tops."

Amelia nodded dumbly. And then Luna was leading her out of the house, surrounded by guards. As if she were some sort of dangerous criminal! Amelia blinked away tears as the townspeople stopped what they were doing to watch, muttering among themselves as they did. They seemed to appraise her condemningly as she walked through the crowd, which seemed to grow bigger by the minute. Some shook their heads in disapproval.

Tears started to fall down her face. Had lying really been enough to warrant this? But then, a lie was a lie. And only bad people tell them. What if she wasn't as good as she always thought she was? The lie had hurt Sylphiel and Luna, and worse, she had roped Zelgadis into it.

Amelia suddenly felt sick. Where was Zelgadis? She was afraid to ask!

They got to the jail, a small, ramshackle building at the end of town. Amelia never liked walking past it. It reeked of body waste and foulness. It was all she could do to keep from gagging as she walked in. Luna led her to a tiny cell. "Get in."

Amelia did as told and felt her heart sink as the bars closed and she heard the click of a key. She was now trapped in this horrible place! She looked around the bare cell that was covered in grime and rot. How could she have ended up here?

"How do you like it, Princess?" Luna asked.

Amelia couldn't speak. Luna grinned, "Look out the window."

Amelia did. She nearly collapsed. She hadn't thought it could get any worse! But Zel was outside, his arms tied in front of him and connected with the saddle of a horse placed in front of him. He had been stripped down to a pair of briefs. Luna's threat to parade him through the town in his freakish glory echoed through Amelia's mind. "Oh no, please!"

"He made his choice. Just like you did." Luna said with satisfaction. Then she looked at one of her men, "Make sure she watches. If she refuses, well, we have cells that are so tiny you can't fully stand in them. I hear it becomes agonizing after a while."

Tears of hatred ran down Amelia's face as she watched as Luna left the jail and mounted the horse. Yet, much as she hated Luna, Amelia wondered just how evil she was to have allowed this to happen to Zelgadis.

Sylphiel stirred, flashing briefly to consciousness. She found herself in her parents' cottage. And then she remembered why she was at her parents' cottage and not her own home. She moaned and turned around, determined to go back to sleep. From outside her door she heard her parents talking.

"What's going on out there?" her mother asked.

"Luna just arrested Amelia for lying about Lina's whereabouts." Eruk explained.

Sylphiel's eyes widened as their words broke through the fog in her mind. Amelia had been arrested? Sylphiel trembled. Her feelings towards the scribe's daughter were mixed. Growing up she had been fond of her, though they had never been friends. But as Amelia and Gourry became drawn into Lina's world, Sylphiel was baffled and frustrated with both of them. But she certainly did not want to see her arrested. And what would Luna do to the poor hermit? Sylphiel had felt an overwhelming pity for him since Gourry had first mentioned his existence to her. It was easier for her to see the appeal Lina's world held for him.

But then her mother asked the question she was dying to know, "Did they find them?"

"No. That's the problem. And now they have such a lead on them that Luna has little chance of tracking them down. She's still sending men out, but in the meantime she is determined to make an example of Amelia and the hermit it seems."

A strange, unexpected feeling rose within Sylphiel. Little chance of tracking them down…So that means…

"Do they have any idea where they are?

"Apparently they were spotted a day's journey away in Enilrea. But considering how long it will take to get there, and how much of a lead they will gain, added to the fact that no one seems to have any idea about where they are going, it's highly unlikely we'll be able to track them down."

Sylphiel laughed, a nervous, breathy sound.

"Sylphiel?" her mother said as she came into the room. Sylphiel sat up on the bed and embraced her as relief ran rampant within her. "What is it?"

"I'm free." Sylphiel said.

"What?" her mother said, mystified.

"I don't think I realized until now. But I could spend the rest of my life trying to make him love me, or I could move on."

"But he jilted you!" her mother protested.

Sylphiel bristled as the pain bubbled to the surface, "I know." It still hurt like hell, "But if he's gone it will fade. But if he comes back, if he's here every day again and still doesn't love me, Mama, that was so horrible. But if he's gone, then I don't have to live like that! I can move on."

Sylphiel stood up and grabbed her kerchief. "Where are you going?" her mother demanded.

"I have to speak to Luna."

Yes, get your fill of looking at the freak! Zel thought hatefully as he walked behind Luna's stallion and ate the dust he kicked up. It harshly scratched his lungs, and Zel worried that he was going to cough them up. He did his best to ignore the crowd as they stared at him in disgust and horror. But it was harder to ignore the rotten fruits, vegetables, eggs and the occasional rock that was hurled at him.

Cries of freak, toad, and demon rang through the group. Occasionally Luna would stoke them on as she would yell about how he was a liar and how he'd corrupted the scribe's daughter. Zel feared that Luna would whip them into such a frenzy that they would kill him!

From his left, Zel watched as a tall, stately woman broke from the crowd. He felt as though he had been punched in the gut. Were they going to surround and beat him now? But the woman didn't walk to him. Instead she got in Luna's path and grabbed the horse's bridle. "Stop, please stop!" she said.

"Sylphiel?" Luna asked, and Zel recognized the name of Gourry's wife. Zel realized this was about to get very bad.

"There's no reason for this!" Sylphiel pleaded. "He's harmless. Let him go."

Zel couldn't believe what he was hearing! Was Sylphiel really intervening on his behalf?

Luna looked just as surprised, "Didn't you hear? He lied! Because of him we lost our best chance to bring your husband back."

"I heard." Sylphiel said, "But this won't bring him back. It won't…" Sylphiel bit her lip and struggled to compose herself, "It won't make him love me."

Luna scowled, "You never had the guts to keep him! And now you don't have the guts to get him back. I thought this morning…"

"Please," Sylphiel said as tears started to fall down her face, "It's over. Let it go. Release Amelia. Release the hermit. Call off your men. Let's move on."

"Move on?" Luna countered, "I will not rest until we have recovered them, and you have your explanation!"

Sylphiel shook her head, "I have my explanation."

Zel felt a change in the air as Sylphiel turned to address the considerably large crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen. As you know, my husband ran off with Lina last night. What you don't know is that the reason he did this was because she was a witch who had put him under her spell!"

"What?" Luna screamed. Zel smiled in satisfaction. While the ignominy of having a family member stricken with insanity was not a good mark for a family, witchcraft was by far worse.

Sylphiel continued, "Think about it? How else could a crazy woman steal a man from someone like me?! A lunatic couldn't manage to do it." People in the crowd nodded in agreement as Luna screamed, "Lies!"

Undaunted, Sylphiel continued, "Lina feigned insanity to cover her wicked activities. Her family went along with it because they didn't want you to know the truth! It was witchery! She also placed the hermit and Amelia under a spell. But now I will break it."

Luna dismounted from her horse and grabbed Sylphiel by the arm. Sylphiel shook her off. Luna was about to move again, but was stopped when the townspeople yelled, "Let her do it! Let her purify the hermit!"

Zelgadis watched incredulously as Sylphiel walked up to him. She thrust an amulet in his face and then made a great theatrical performance of speaking in a strange language. She looked at him meaningfully. Zel felt put on the spot. But then he managed to step back as though hit by an invisible force before yelling, "I'm cured! You lifted the spell!"

Sylphiel smiled at him. The crowd went wild. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Zelgadis Greywards."

Sylphiel stunned him by grabbing his hand, "He's seen our worst side. Let us show this newly purified man our best one. His name is Zelgadis Greywards! Please, treat him kindly."

Zel couldn't believe what was happening. He was so used to encountering hatred. But as he listened to the crowd, he found that their locus of hatred had spread. Now they were talking about how they would have to kill Lina on sight if she ever returned to their village!

"Come, let us go to the jail to help Amelia!" Sylphiel said.

But before she could make it too far, Luna grabbed her arm, "What did you do?" she asked, panic seeped into her voice.

"I told you. If I can't make him love me, then I don't ever want to see him or your sister again. So I gave you a very good reason to call off the search." Sylphiel explained quietly. "Or are you wanting to bring your sister back just to see her burn to death?"

Luna's arm fell to her side before it clenched into a fist. "You picked the wrong family to mess with."

"Release him." She ordered.

"Make me!"

Sylphiel looked at the crowd, "Release Zelgadis!"

Someone bearing a knife broke from the crowd and cut the rope tying Zel to the horse. And then he cut the bindings on his wrists. Zel was unusually overcome with emotion as someone else came and wrapped a blanket around him. "Come on." A woman who wore the clothing of a healer said, "You have some nasty bruises. Let me patch you up."

The shock of receiving such kindness after experiencing such cruelty was jarring. Hadn't the crowd been out for his blood mere seconds before? How had Sylphiel managed to placate them so thoroughly? Or were they so tired of being cowed by Luna that they were willing to follow the lead of the first person to stand up to her?

The healer led Zel off to her shop, while Sylphiel walked to the jail, a small crowd in her wake, as Luna watched and wondered what to do next.