Chrono Slayers
CHAPTER 2:  LOST CHILD OF TIME
By KitsuneDream

      Without further ado, the young girl jumped down from her perch and landed between Zel and the other man.  She smiled arrogantly and tossed her flame red hair as she took a confident step forward towards the fuming stranger.

     “Out of the way, kid!”  The older man snorted.  “You don’t want to get hurt, don’t you?”

     “Shut up!!!   And who are you calling a ‘kid’!?!   You’re the one who should get outta my way!!!”  The girl bared her teeth.

     “Don’t you have any  idea of who you are dealing with?!”  For no particular reason the older man started to laugh.  The man jabbed a finger at his chest and flashed a set of pearly white teeth.  “I’m Zangulus!  Now, if you don’t get the hell out of here, I’ll let my sword do the talking.”  For emphasis, he drew out a long menacing looking sword.

     “Hah!!!  So what?!”  The girl yawned, unimpressed.  “I’m the beautiful genius sorcerer, Lina Inverse!!!”

     “Hahahahahaha!!!”  Zangulus clutched his stomach as he broke into laugher and pointed at Lina.  “You’re Lina Inverse?! Hahahah!!!  A flat chested runt like you…is the most wanted bandit killer??!!  Hahahaha!!!”

     “Arrgghhh!!! SHUT UP!!!!”  Lina’s face turned red with anger.   She raised one hand in the air and a mass of swirling energy began to gather at her palm.  “FIREBALL!!!”  She threw the magic spell at the laughing swordsman.   Who then  turned crisp black, stuck in a ridiculous pose with his mouth hanging open.  

     But that punishment wasn’t enough.  Lina quickly began pummeling the burnt out swordsman to the ground.  “How dare you call me flat chested you overgrown buffoon!!!”  Zel winced as he saw Lina kick the guy at the butt that sent him flying through the air.

     “I won’t forget thi------sss!!!!!”  Zangulus shouted as he sailed through the air and landed somewhere over the mountains in a huge puff of smoke.

     “Ooohhh I’m so scared!”  Lina glared at the general direction where she sent the swordsman.  “I’d be happy to take you on anytime, you jerk!!!  You think the greatest sorceress in the whole wide world will lose to you!  Hah!!!”  Lina shouted after Zangulus.

     Zel cleared his throat, catching the attention of the red head.   “You alright?”  She smiled broadly and offered her hand.  “I’m Lina.  Zel, that’s your name isn’t it?  Nice to meetcha!” 

     “It’s Zelgadis.”  He shook her hand.  Zel raised one eyebrow somewhat surprised seeing how casual the girl was being, considering they’ve never seen each other before in their lives.

     “Whatever, Zel.”  She dismissed his statement with a wave of a hand.  “You got any idea why that stupid jerk was after you?”  Lina walked towards the stone marker and stared at it.

     “I’ve got no idea.”  Zel shrugged, getting a little uncomfortable on seeing her read what was supposedly his grave marker.   “I’ve never met that guy before.”

     “What do you mean you’ve never met him before?”  She blinked and shook her head.  “Ah…forget it.  It’s really none of my business anyway.”

     “Damn right…”  Zel muttered under his breath.

     “What did you say?!”  Lina’s crimson eyes grew wide and flashed defiantly.  “Hey is that the way to act to someone who had just saved your life?  I just couldn’t stand that bloke ganging up on you like that.”

     “Hmph.  I didn’t ask for your help.”  Zel rolled his eyes towards the sky.  This was getting to be a really annoying day.   Given all the weird stuff that has been happening around him , he was a little bit short on his straws right now.  “I could have handled him perfectly fine.”

     “Geeze.  A simple thank you would have done just fine, you know.”  The girl put her hands on her hips and glared at him.  “Now  look , I don’t want any trouble.  I’m new to these parts and I certainly would want someone to help me out with the directions here.  So what do you say we team up together for a while?”

     “I wouldn’t like to get messed up with bandits…”  Zel muttered.

     “Now hold on a sec!!!”  Lina stomped right in front of him and peered defiantly into his eyes.  “First of all who are you calling a bandit!  I ain’t no bandit!  Second are you telling me that you’re going to refuse the company of a lonely, sweet, vulnerable, extremely cute girl like me?!”

     Zel bit his cheeks to keep himself from laughing at the angry expression on Lina’s face and the irony of her words, as he felt his annoyance begin to slip away.   “Look, I just don’t want any trouble and I’ve got things to straighten out right away.”

     “Yeah right!”  Lina grumbled as began to leave.  “You sure about this?  That guy probably won’t leave you alone and there might be more of them.  And who knows?  You might live to regret not having me along, you know.”  She said her voice softening a little.

     Zel blinked hearing the sincerity in the girl’s voice, amid that arrogant attitude.   “No thanks.”  He shook his head.  “Besides I wouldn’t want you to get involved in my troubles.”

     “Sheesh…Have it your way.”  Lina shrugged.  “It’ll be getting dark pretty soon, you better go find someplace to stay.    I suggest you  head to Termina, from what I hear it’s the closest town from here.  Ja ne!”  She raised a hand in a gesture of a wave and left without turning to look back.

     Zel sighed as he watched the young girl disappear.   She was right, it was getting dark.  The sun almost completely sank into the sea and the stars began to peek out from the dark shadows in the sky.  It wasn’t really safe to travel alone at night since this usually was the time monsters and the Mazoku came out.   Idly Zel, wondered if that girl, Lina, was going to be alright.  But then seeing how she ‘handled’ that swordsman she was probably more than capable of taking care of herself.

     He sighed and glanced back at ‘his’ stone marker not knowing what to think.  This could have been someone’s idea of a bad joke.  But then again , he couldn’t seem to figure out who held a grudge on him considering he took enough pains to stay out of everybody’s way.   He refused to think it was otherwise for he was alive wasn’t he?  He could be seen, could be heard, could be touched and his senses appeared to be functioning normally as well.

     In the end, that really brought him to a conclusion that this was a joke.  Joke or not, it was not funny; at least not to him anyway.  But he didn’t want to cause a stir, he’d just go back to the village and sleep this thing off.  By showing off his emotions, it would probably just make whoever started his mess laugh harder. 

     Well, he wasn’t going to give anyone that satisfaction, was he?

     But first…

     “DIL BRANDO!!!”       There was a slight rumbling sound as the ground beneath the stone marker shifted before shooting upward.   As the cloud of displaced dust began to settle back to the ground, Zel felt his eyes widen.

     ‘This is impossible!’   The marker, which should have been blown to pieces, stood still.  He could barely see a small blue magical bubble seemed to encase the marker so that it couldn’t be affected by magical attacks.  ‘What the…!’  With a growl, Zel stepped forward and swung his sword down the marker.   There was a  dull sound was as his sword came into contact with the stone but  the marker didn’t break and there wasn’t even a single scratch that his sword had inflicted upon it.

     “What’s going on?!”  Zel said aloud, to no one.   He couldn’t understand why someone would take pains just to ‘protect’ this marker.    “All right!!!”  He growled.  “Whoever did this show yourself now!!!”   Zelgadis waited for anyone to respond but there was no answer except the howling wind and the waves crashing below him.  

     He looked back down and reread the marker.  ‘Ten years ago…’   What could have happened at that time?   Then he shook his head.  He shouldn’t take this prank that seriously.   He then turned his back and began to walk away.   But then that doesn’t mean that he will let whoever did this just get away.

     Zel grit his teeth and swallowed the urge to look back on ‘his’ marker.  Although, he wasn’t planning on telling Rezo about his ‘gravestone’; the best course of action was to ask his grandfather regarding the magical seal.  With that in mind Zelgadis headed back to the village.

*****************************

     If yesterday was worse, today isn’t getting any better.

     After coming home to an empty house, Zelgadis was harshly awakened by a stranger who demanded why he was sleeping in his house.  This stranger promptly booted him out of the premises before he could explain anything.   He tried talking to the villagers but then they turned deaf whenever he approached them.  As he walked across the village, he could hear ripples of rumors about him being a thief and breaking into homes were pretty much bugging the hell out of him.   Now, he was trying to reason out to a man from the local tavern, asking for any information that would help him.

     “My name is Zelgadis Graywords.”  Zelgadis tried to keep his voice even as he spoke to the bartender, who wasn’t paying attention to him.  “I stay with my grandfather, Rezo, who is the village chief.”

     “Stop trying to pull my leg!”  The bartender growled and slammed his fist on the table.  “I’m not going to take that kind of attitude from an outsider such as yourself!!!”  He yanked Zelgadis by the front of his shirt and pushed him towards the direction of the door.  “Now scram!!!”

     Zelgadis caught himself before he lost his balance.  Without another word, he swiftly left the tavern, ignoring the snickers and jeers of the locals at the tavern.  This really was getting to be a horrible day.  It seems like no one knew him in the village.   How could they have forgotten him, better yet his grandfather, overnight?  And where was Rezo anyway?

     There was a slight scuffle from behind.   Zelgadis grit his teeth and prepared to take on whoever would try to pick a fight with him.   Looking at the hostile attitude of the villagers, they would probably want to throw him out of the place as soon as possible.

     “Not everyday I get to see someone being thrown out of the tavern.”  A young voice called from behind.   Zel whirled around to find a short black-haired girl, shaking an accusing finger at him.  “It’s not nice to pick up fights mister.” 

     “What are you doing here, Amelia?”  Zel growled.

     “I just went out on an errand.”  Amelia looked puzzled for a moment, before realization sunk in.  “You’re the boy I met in the beach yesterday, right?”  Zel nodded quietly.

“I'm glad I found you here, though.  Zelgadis-san, right?”  Again Zel nodded, not feeling like he wanted to strike another conversation for the day.  Trouble seemed to occur whenever he opened his mouth.   “You know...I've been thinking...Maybe you had some kind of accident and hit your head.  That's why your memory's all messed up!”  Amelia exclaimed brightly her eyes lighting up.

Zelgadis face-faulted. 

But then Amelia didn’t seem to notice him and kept on talking.  “You're really someone else, but you think you're the Zelgadis who died 10 years ago.  I can't just leave you alone like this.”  She stated brightly.  “Justice demands that I help you regain your true identity!!!”

“I don’t know who you think I am.  But my real name is Zelgadis Graywords!  And as far as I can remember, I’ve lived in this village my whole life!  I’m not dead or anything and whoever put up that stone marker is someone’s weird idea of a joke!”  Zelgadis said in a rush, not giving her a chance to cut in.

“Tsk…tsk…”  Amelia had that sympathetic look in her face.  “You’re becoming delusional mister.   How can you be so convinced that you can be that boy who already died.  I think you should go to Termina and ask the authorities to help you.”  

“No thanks.”  Zelgadis was about to walk away when he felt Amelia grab his arm and began to drag him off toward some direction.  “What are you doing!?”  He demanded.

“I’m taking you to Termina, mister.”  Amelia frowned at him.  “It’s not just to leave you out here by yourself where you can cause trouble for the villagers.   And since I have some errands over there, I think I should accompany you to make sure you don’t end up in trouble again.”

Zel wrenched his arm out of her grasp.  Maybe his best course of action was to go to Termina.   Besides, there wasn’t anything much to do in the village.   He had thought about his situation over the night.  There was definitely something strange going on.  And the only person he could think that might know some answers was that swordsman named Zangulus.  But after that girl, Lina, fireballed him yesterday, Zangulus might not be open to answering his questions.   Then again, he didn’t want to encounter that swordsman anytime soon. 

Without anything else to do, he stuck his hands in his pockets and trudged behind Amelia.   They spent the journey to Termina in silence, with Zelgadis lost in his own thoughts.

‘This just isn’t my day…’

*****************************

Lina Inverse was bored.    She reached the town called Termina early evening yesterday.  It supposed to be the best looking town in the continent with white marbled streets, modern waterways and bridges.   It was also the town that carried the protection of the Fire Dragon God.   But Lina didn’t care about that.    There were no interesting magical items or whatsoever.   And worse…there was nothing nice to eat in this place except seafood.  And frankly, she’d had enough seafood to last her for a lifetime…well…maybe a week…since she came in this continent.

To top it all off, she wasn’t getting anywhere in her search.  The last news she heard was that he was coming to this continent on some sort of business.  But there are no new leads or whatsoever, that she was beginning to doubt if the information she obtained was correct.

“I’m sorry.”  A voice wafted through Lina’s bored ears.  “I’m totally out of bellflowers.  There’s a big ruckus down at the valley.  Some soldiers were setting up roadblocks down there today.  I’ll be able to get some in a few days, so come back again then.”

‘Soldiers?  Roadblocks?’  Lina’s ears piqued and she walked closer to the sound of the voice. 

“I’m sorry ma’am.”  An embarrassed male voice answered.  “You know the Knights are here to protect you right.”

“Oh that’s all right.  I get my flowers from other places too.”   Lina peeked from behind a tall wooden crate where listening through the conversation.   Below her, she saw a middle-aged flower seller and a tall muscular young man with long blond hair, dressed in simple armor.   “By the way, I haven’t seen Zangulus around lately.  What is he doing these days?”

“Zangulus?”  The blond scratched his head for a moment as a blank look shifted through his eyes.  “Well…he told me that was ghost hunting down the south.   I heard a rumor that it was a direct order from the general upon the request of a guest at the mansion.  But yesterday he was so angry at someone called Lina Inverse.”

“Lina Inverse!!!”  The woman gasped and put a hand at her mouth in hide her surprise.  “I wonder what the bandit killer is doing here?  And all this talk about a ghost.   I hope this isn’t an omen about a pending disaster.  Anyway say hello to Zangulus for me if you see him.”

“I will.”  The swordsman smiled brightly and waved at the woman.  “Good-bye.”

Unfortunately for the blond swordsman who wasn’t exactly paying attention to where he was going, he crashed in a red headed sorceress who was in deep thought.   The crash resulted to the sorceress being thrown off her feet into the sidewalk.

“Owwww!”  Lina grimaced and rubbed her sore behind.  “Watch where you’re going!!!”  Lina glared at the blond swordsman who blinked dumbly in reply.

“Oh.”  He smiled and then ruffled her red hair.  “Sorry little girl.”  With that the blond whistled merrily down the road, failing to help the red head who was glaring daggers at his back.

“Why that…”  Lina jumped up to her feet as she pulled the sleeves of her tunic up to her arm, getting ready to cast a spell that would fry that overgrown ingrate on the spot.  

“I think I can take care of myself!”  A rather annoyed voice but familiar floated through Lina’s hearing. 

Lina turned around to see the blue haired boy she ‘saved’ yesterday.  She then felt a smile cross her lips.  ‘Now what do we have here? If it’s the ghost boy…’  

“Oi!!!”  Lina shouted over to Zelgadis.  “Guess we meet again!”  Lina frowned when she saw turn paler than he already was, upon recognizing her.  ‘It’s not as if I’m that hard on the eyes you know!’

 “Gawd you’re so slow!!!”  Lina rolled her eyes and tapped her foot impatiently as Zelgadis made his way towards her direction.  “Ya made me wait forever!  Making a lovely young lady …!?”  Lina paused when she saw a girl with short black hair chattering endlessly at Zel’s ear.  

She then got a mischievous glint in her ruby red eyes as she sauntered towards the them.   Lina could have laughed seeing, Zel wince as she got near them.  The young girl on the other hand just blinked.  “Oh I get it!”  Lina giggled.  “Ahhh…this damsel here is your sweetie huh?”  Lina looked at Amelia and then frowned when she saw that such a young girl could be more endowed than she was.

“No need to be shy!”  Lina continued as the girl blushed at Lina’s observation while Zel sputtered like a gaping fish.   “I’m not so crude as to break up lover’s tender moments.   I’m understandin’.   I’ll just wait till your little date is over.”  Lina then bowed graciously and began to walk away.   “Oh yeah…”   She then glared at Zel for some reason she can’t seem to figure out.  “Have a bloody good time!!!”

‘How dare he decline my invitation to have him join me when he jumps at the first girl with uh…bigger assets!!!’   Lina huffed as stomped away.  That boy seemed to be pretty much like her, a stranger to these new lands.   She’d much rather go with a stranger like herself than without someone familiar with the place who would probably end up conning her.

“Oh how sweet of your friend to think that we’re a couple.”  The young girl gushed, making Lina grit her teeth.

“Wha!!!”  Zelgadis exclaimed.  “Now look here.  First, we are not a couple.  Second, you can leave me alone now.  I don’t need you to hold my hand as if I’m some lost boy.  Third,  that girl is NOT my friend.   She’s a traveler I met yesterday.  Other than that I’ve never seen her before in my life!”

“Oh sorry!”  The girl gave an embarrassed giggle.  “I guess I got a little carried away.   I suppose we better continue to the security headquarters.  They may have some information about you’re missing identity.”

“How many times do I have to tell you I can take care of myself!!!”  Zelgadis’ exasperated voice became fainter as the two began to walk away from where Lina stood.

‘Hmm…’  Lina leaned back against the wall and tapped her finger to her lips meaningfully.   She had little doubt that it was Zelgadis who the soldiers were looking for.  And this rumor going around…this guest.

‘Well, Zel,’  Lina grinned as she tipped her head back.  ‘Looks like you’re gonna need my help after all.’

*****************************

Zelgadis rested his chin in his hands looking through the office with a bored expression.   Amelia had brought him to the local authorities, saying that he was a ‘missing person’.  The officials there were not able to find any recent reports of anyone missing that fit his description.   But then Amelia insisted that they look at previous missing person records and other records pertaining to head injury and possible insanity.

Amelia would have gone through the records herself if she hadn’t forgotten her errand.   Fortunately, Zel reminded her of her errand, causing her to storm out of the office and leave him with the company of the security officials.   As much as he would have liked to crawl away from here, Amelia had ordered the officials to keep a close eye on him lest he gets lost and cause further injury to himself, before she comes back.

He had been stuck here for about an hour or so with only the boring white washed walls to keep him company.   The authorities seemed to have given up searching for his identity, for they got more important matters to take care of other than babysitting a kid.   Zel kept himself busy trying to conjure a plan to get the hell out of this place and as of the moment he’s come up with nil.

His period of languishing in this boring station gave him some time to think.   By now, he has accepted that there was something has gone horribly wrong that he is presumed to be dead and the people he knew didn’t seem to know him.   The only way he could think of clearing up this mess was facing Zangulus again.  There must have been a reason why Zangulus, had called him a ‘ghost’ other than the stone marker over at Cape Howl.    How did he even know who he was to begin with if ‘Zelgadis’ died 10 years ago?

Zelgadis was broken out of his reverie as a extravagantly dressed young man, around his age, with dull looking straight cut light brown hair hidden beneath a feathered hat, burst into the station and grabbed the nearest officer by the collar of his shirt, practically knocking the stocked man to his feet.  

“You’ve got to help me sir!!!”  The young man screeched, shaking the man before him.  “I’ve lost something very dear and valuable to me!!!  I simply cannot part with this item!!!”

“Calm down!”  The officer barked and pushed the young man away.  “What? Is this a robbery or something?”

“A robbery?”  The young man looked puzzled.  “No, no, no sir.  Nothing as dreadful as that sort.  I’m here to report a missing item.”

“Not again.”  The officer groaned and rubbed the bridge of his enormous nose with his fingers.  “All right please state whatever it is that you have lost and we’ll try to get back to you as soon as we can.”

“Oh no sir!”  The young man looked alarmed and began prancing in the room back and forth.  “You don’t understand,  I need this item right now.  I have a very important meeting  today and it is imperative that I have this item with me.”

“Listen here boy,”  The officer noted with a bored look.  “This is a guard outpost and not some magic guild of sort.  We do not pull out items from our hats like some damned rabbit….We….”   The officer stopped as the young man flashed a handful of gold coins before his face.  “We will find that item as fast as we can.”   The officer cleared his throat.

 ‘Things certainly speed up here with that…’  He noted sarcastically at the back of his mind before he resumed his planning on how to get out of this place before Amelia comes back.  

From the corner of his eye, he saw the young man sit back confidently at the chair beside him, humming happily as several guards scrambled out of the office to look for whatever item he had lost.   “Yes siree, it never fails to work anytime.”  He said with a smile, that Zel wanted to pound his fist into.

The young man must have noticed his quiet brooding companion.  “Good day there, old chap!”   The young man tipped the end of his feathered had in greeting.  “My name is Hallas.  May I inquire as to what is yours?”

“Zelgadis.”  Zel nodded in acknowledgement without saying anything else, hoping that this guy will get the hint and leave him alone.

“My, my, certainly is a fine day today isn’t it?”   Hallas mused out loud.

‘Fine doesn’t begin to describe it…’  Zelgadis thought darkly as he tried to shut out Hallas’ voice.

“Though, it should be.  Today is the day blessed by the omniscient L-Sama herself for today is the day that Hallas shall grace the Devas of the Fire Dragon God!”   Hallas jumped off his seat and posed dramatically, thereby startling Zel from his thoughts.

 “From what I hear there is a vacancy among the four devas.”  Hallas gracefully hopped on top of the table.  “Such a position is perfect for such a splendid swordsman as I...One graceful flash of my sacred sword will surely have them saluting moi as the guest of honor...”   Then he dramatically raised his arm over his forehead.  “But alas!  What a cruel mistress fate could be!  As I was on my way to the mansion I had realized that I lost my sacred medal of honor, my symbol of heroism!   Without it I will surely be turned away at the manor gate…”

‘Uh Hello?  Is there anyone home?’  Zelgadis sweat dropped as he watched Hallas’ loony stage play.

“Though the light of justice shines upon these noble men of service as they search for my missing treasure!!!”  Hallas continued.  “Surely, I would be able to regain my symbol of honor and soon the name of Hallas shall join the well renowned names of Zangulus…”

‘What the…’  Zel’s head shot up at the mention of Zangulus.  “Do you mean this Zangulus is one of the four devas of the Fire Dragon God?!”

“Why of course, my poor uninformed friend.”   Hallas plopped down from the table and patted Zel sympathetically on his shoulder.  “The honorable Zangulus has been called to serve the Holy Dragon for as long as I can remember.  And now destiny calls upon me to follow on his footsteps and bring greater glory to the legacy of the Holy Dragon in its battle against those vile Mazoku beasts!”

‘This is going to be harder than I thought…’  Zel bit his lower lip.  ‘What could those people possibly want from me?’  Then an idea on how to get out of the security outpost flitted through his mind.  He had a feeling that he would regret it afterwards but if it was a way to get out of here…

“You would be going to the manor?”  Zelgadis inquired.  Hallas nodded and begun to open his mouth to speak but Zel beat him to it.  “I was going to ask if I may go with you.  I’m currently looking for a job myself and the manor might be a good place to start.”

“Hmm…I did hear that there was also a vacancy for people to work in the kitchen.  A dishwasher perhaps…”  Zelgadis clenched his fist as he silently counted up to one hundred in his head but Hallas didn’t seem to notice for he seemed to be more caught up in his own monologue.  “Alone, of course, I would have no problems but you could also be useful...After all, thorns like you are necessary to add enchantment to a rose...”

Zelgadis was about to throw all his reservations out of the window and beat Hallas to a pulp when the officers returned with a triumphant look in their faces.   “Here go you Sir Hallas.”  One of them bowed his head low and extended his arms.  In his hands lay a shinning gold medallion that sparkled even in the dim light of the station.

“Ahh la lah, what a darling you are!”  Hallas picked up the medallion and hung it over his neck.  “Merci,  merci, thank you!!!”  He then took out his gold pouch and proceeded to pour gold coins into the greedy hands of the officials there.   Hallas paused and fixed his hat before striking another pose. 

“Now follow my lead my faithful follower!”  He directed towards Zelgadis.  “History awaits!!!”  Hallas waited as one of the officers courteously opened the door for him and he walked confidently to the streets.

Zelgadis shrugged and followed the loony youth out of the station grateful that the authorities didn’t give him a second look.   He watched as Hallas confidently strode through the cobbled walks…only to trip at his own feet and fall face down onto the ground as a tangled mess.

‘What have I gotten myself into now….?’  Zelgadis groaned inwardly, wondering what else could happen to happen to him that he didn’t notice a red blur that seemed to follow him.

*****************************

The manor was home to the General and his soldiers.   People say that the General, himself, was one of the Holy Knights of the Dragon God, Ceiphied, during his earlier day.  Today, he recruits young people who are willing to protect this continent ruled and train them to be future knights.   The Devas were the four highest ranking soldiers in the General’s army.  Their skills range from weaponry, strength, magic and intelligence.

It was a two hour walk from Termina to the manor.  By the time they got there, it was already late afternoon.    From the dirt road, Zelgadis couldn’t see much of the manor for it was enclosed by high walls.   There was only point of entry to the manor.   The manor’s golden gate was wide and the path that lead towards it was  lined up with huge trees that stood in rapt attention.   The grasses over the sides were cleanly manicured and the bushes were trimmed in a neat fashion.   As they got closer to the gates, Zel could see a huge building just beyond his reach.

“Wait here.  I’ll handle this!”  Hallas confidently strode forward, to talk to the two soldiers who were guarding the gates.  “Yoo-Hoo there, Mr. Soldier Man!”  Hallas flashed a smile across his face and waved at the soldiers.  Zelgadis suppressed the need to smack Hallas head while the soldiers just gave them weird looks with quirky eyebrows.  “I have here to do you a favor and join the Knights of the Holy Dragon!  Open the gates my good men!!!  Ta-ta-tah!!!”  Hallas made some pathetic move on trying to mimic a swordfight.

The soldiers exchanged puzzled looks, scratching their heads.  “We don’t need street performers!”

“Now go home!”  The other one growled.  “Got it?!”

“But…but….I’m a hero!!!”  Hallas sputtered and raised the medallion on his chest for the soldiers to see but they just yawned.

Hallas’ shoulders slumped and he shuffled his feet on his way back to Zelgadis.  “They said no.  Even my medal of honor didn’t work.  What do you think we should do now?  We can’t just barge in?”  

“We’ve come this far, so I don’t think we should turn back now.”  Zelgadis glanced sideways at the guards.  “We should be able to figure out a plan.  I think I should just go there and talk to them to clear…”

“Leave it to me, my good friend!”  Hallas put out a hand to stop Zel from moving forward.  “I have a fool proof plan!   Just follow my lead.”

‘That’s what you said a while ago…’  Zelgadis thought darkly to himself but just nodded.

Once again, Hallas strode confidently towards the guards.  Then all of a sudden he clutched his stomach and crumpled on the ground, writhing in mock pain.  “Ahhhhh....Oh the pain...the pain...Help me…!!!”

‘Good lord…’   Zelgadis smacked his hand to his forehead, seeing Hallas’ pathetic display.  ‘Does he actually believe that they’d buy that act?’

The guards blinked in surprise.  “Hey! Somebody come out here!”  One of them called out.

Immediately, another pair of guards reappeared behind the gate.  “Yeah?  What’s wrong?”

“This joker fell sick.  What should we do?”  One of the guards pointed at Hallas, who was still doing a crappy interpretation of a human being in pain for it seemed more like a lizard whose tail had been cut off.

The two other soldiers took one look at Hallas’ performance before they burst out laughing.  “Ah…whatever.  Let’s just get rid of him.”  They opened the gates and the soldiers began to advance towards them with menacing looks on their faces.

“Eh!!!”   Upon hearing that Hallas quickly stood up and backed away from the guards.  

“So what do we do now, oh great leader?”   Zel hissed sarcastically.

Hallas blinked.  “Well there’s one thing left to do.”   Hallas posed courageously as he pointed towards the guards.  “CHARGE!!!”  He yelled while running away to the opposite direction to jump behind a bush.

“Dammit!!!”  Zel exclaimed angrily as a bunch of soldiers launched themselves at him.  He growled and drew out his sword, preparing for a fight.  Though he can probably use magic to get things over quickly, it would not be a good idea to use massive destruction spells since he would just end up attracting more soldiers.  ‘There’s no turning back now…’

“EYAAAHH!!!!”  Zelgadis blinked as he saw Hallas sailing towards the soldier.   He  screamed as he collided head first against the first wave of soldiers,  resulting to them losing their consciousness and sporting huge bumps on their heads.

‘What the…?!’   Zel whirled around to see one of the bushes rustling wildly before coming to an abrupt stop.  ‘An animal…?’  But then all of his thoughts were cut off as a flash of silver attempted to slice him into half.   Zelgadis quickly dodged the attack and launched an offensive strike, hitting the soldier squarely upon his gut.  

Before he could ready himself again, another soldier rammed him towards the ground, knocking him off his feet.   The soldier let out a battle cry as the swung his sword down.  Zelgadis raised his hand and opened his palm, stuck in a bad position he hand no choice but to use magic.  “DIEM WING!!!”  A strong gust of wind suddenly hit the other soldier knocking him backwards, thereby hitting a tree and slumping down unconscious.

Zelgadis quickly picked himself off the ground and yanked Hallas up to an upright position.   “Oooh…look at the stars…”  Swirly-eyed Hallas pointed upwards.

“Wake Up!!!”  Zelgadis shook Hallas roughly by the shoulders, not caring if he breaks his neck.   “Come on!!!  There’s not much time to loose!” 

“Erg?”  Hallas’ eyes refocused and he tried to stand upon his wobbly feet.   “Hah!!!  They were certainly mo match for my prowess!!!”  Hallas beamed as he surveyed the unconscious bodies of the soldiers.  

A vein popped in Zelgadis’ head.  “There’s no time for that!!!”  He yelled at Hallas’ ear and beamed him in the head.  “If we don’t get moving more soldiers will come out!”   Zelgadis dashed towards the open gates, leaving Hallas behind to rub his sore head.

“W---wait!!!”  Hallas exclaimed as he ran after Zelgadis towards the manor courtyard.  

“Keep Quiet!!!”  Zelgadis hissed.  “You don’t want  alarm to be triggered right away don’t you?!”   Hallas mutely nodded.  Sooner or later, the soldiers would probably discover that intruders had infiltrated the manor.   That would surely result to the security being tightened and search parties to be dispatched. 

The courtyard was massive and very beautiful.   The lawn was immaculately trimmed and the side of the courtyard was bursting with colorful flowers.    There was a small grove of tall trees towards the corner that shaded a quaint gazebo.  Beyond the courtyard was a magnificent structure.  The mansion was humungous and made out mostly of polished wood and marble that gleamed golden.   It  looked like it was built to withstand any attack.  There was a huge door that was probably the entrance to the mansion, being guarded by two guards who appeared to be dozing off on their watch. 

‘There’s no way we can sneak inside right now.’  Zelgadis looked up the darkening skies.  ‘Maybe a little later…’  When the area was momentarily clear of guards, Zelgadis stealthy, he ran towards the small grove of trees dragging Hallas with him.   He put a finger to his lips and motioned Hallas to be quiet.   The latter gulped and nodded.

“Listen, if we want to go inside that mansion, we have to wait until its dark.”   Zelgadis spoke in a low voice.  “We don’t want to attract the attention of the guards or else we’re done for.”

“K…Ok…”  Hallas stammered.

“Good.”  Zelgadis crouched down the tree, keeping his eyes alert.  “Now keep quiet.”

From his place, Zel could see a number of guards constantly walking back and forth across the courtyard, no doubt patrolling the area.  Then their movements became erratic and a little bit quicker, making Zel suspect that their intrusion had already been discovered.

Tap…tap…tap…  Hallas played with his sheathed sword.  Then Zelgadis glared daggers at him.  “Oops…sorry…”

After a few minutes, Hallas began plucking the feathers off his hat.  “How much longer…”  He complained, getting bored with all the waiting.  “I’m sooo…urk…” 

Zel drew out his sword and leveled it at Hallas’ face.  “If you want to get through this alive, I suggest you better shut up from now on, understand?”

Hallas nodded quickly.  Zelgadis then went back to studying how the guards moved and did their watch.   If they are to be able to sneak inside, they should know when the guards are coming or where they are at the moment.  

“Eeek!!!”  Hallas squeaked. 

“What?”   Zel didn’t bother on turning around to see what Hallas was fussing about this time.

“It’s a dra---dra---dragon!”   Hallas said in a fearful voice, as he looked up in the sky and saw a silhouette of a huge dragon flying across the mansion.  Oddly enough this dragon seemed to have a ribbon tied to its tail.

“So what?”  Zel muttered, shifting himself to a more comfortable position while making sure that he remained out of sight.  “Haven’t you seen a dragon before?”

“B-but they say that dragons are signs of bad omens.”  Hallas’ shuddered.  “Just like the Mazoku.  It’s not good for humans to associate with the Ryuzoku and the Mazoku since it only spells trouble…”

‘And here you are trying to join the Holy Knights of Ceiphied, the master of the Ryuzoku.’  Zelgadis sweatdropped. He narrowed his eyes when he noticed that the guards guarding the main gate began to end their shift.   “It’s time to get moving…”  Zel hissed as he tensed to break into a run and get to the door before the next set of guards are position.

“Let’s go!”  Zel ran as fast as he could without being too obvious towards the huge door.   With his heart thumping wildly in his chest, he prayed that it was not locked.   He breathed a sigh of relief when he was able to twist the golden door knob and push the door to go inside.  

“Wow…”  Hallas said as entered the door.   While there was practically no furniture in the main room, the ceiling was so high and was painted to look like a mural of the heavens.   The walls were made from polished marble that made the whole room look lighter.   There seemed to be two identical gates over the left and right side of the room.   Up ahead was another huge wooden door and a strange spiral structure over its left side.  

Zel carefully made his way to one of the gates, wary of some traps that might have been set up.   The gates were sturdy and made from gold.   It was also locked tight from the inside.   Then he went to inspect the huge wooden door, which was also locked.   ‘There must be a trick into opening these doors.’  Zel was in deep thought unable to see Hallas creeping up from behind to study the spiral sculpture.  

“Hmm…”  Hallas touched the sculpture.  “I think I can twist this thing…”

Zel’s eyes widened as realization hit him.  “No!!! Wait!!!”  But it was too late, as the floor collapsed from beneath them and they fell downwards towards some kind of prison cell.

“What the…”  A startled soldier turned to see two people fall from above.  “Intruders!!!”

“How’d you get past our security?!”  A second soldier demanded.

“Heh heh…”  A third guard joined in.  “I can’t believe you’re stupid enough to fall for a trap like that!”

“So what do we now?”  The first guard asked.   

“You two call Commander Zangulus.  He’ll know what to do with these idiots.”  One of the soldiers smirked.

“Dammit!”  Zelgadis cursed his luck.  This wasn’t exactly the position he wanted to be caught in.  Certainly, by now the soldiers won’t believe him if he tried to act innocent…even though he really had no idea on whatever is going on.

Hallas, on the other hand, broke into rivers of tears and began making a lot of noise by shaking the metal bars that encased them.  “Shut up!!!”  The soldier barked, which only made Hallas cry out  louder.  “I said enough…”

A red blur came out of nowhere and knocked the soldier down.   Zelgadis’ eyes widened when he recognized the person before him.

Lina rested her feet over the soldier’s unconscious body and smirked.  “What are you guys doin?”  She asked brightly before shaking her head in disgust.  “Getting caught so easily…You’re so pathetic.”

“How’d you get in here?!” 

“I followed you.”  Lina said in a casual tone.  Then she began to search the fallen soldier for keys to open their prison.  “Not bad…Not bad fellas.   You managed to get in here but…”  She walked over then and dangled the keys before them.  “Maybe I’ll just wait and see how things go by yourselves.  Or maybe you can actually join me…”

Hallas eagerly nodded his head.   “Alright.”  Zel muttered, backing away from the cell door.

“Can’t do nothing without me, huh Zel?”  Zel growled while Lina laughed good-naturedly and opened the cell door.  “Just don’t go interfering with my work, okay?”  Lina pulled the cell door open and let the two out.

“My dear goddess, thank you!!!”  Hallas instantly leaped out of the cell, got on his knees and kissed Lina’s hand.  

Lina face quickly turned into the same shade as her hair and steam poured out from her ears.   “How dare you!!! You idiot!!!”  Then she punched him squarely on the face, which was pretty timely since he collided with the two soldiers who were returning back to their position, thereby knocking them out.  

“Are you done tempting fate yet?”  Zelgadis commented on the background.  “You’re making a lot of noise.”

“Shut up!”  Lina hissed and began taking off the armor of one of the unconscious soldiers. 

“What are you doing?”  

“It’ll be easier to move around this place if we disguise ourselves with these.  We’ll store their bodies over that closet over there.”  Lina pointed at the armor and its helmet.  “Nobody will know its us…just as long as there’s no screw-ups.”  Lina shot a nasty look at Hallas, who was trying to untangle himself from the other soldiers. 

“They’ll wake up sooner or later…”  Zel mused, a little wary about the plan, as he helped Lina drag the bodies to the  nearby closet.

“Yeah, but by then we should have been able to get outta here.”  Lina began taking off pieces of the armor and snapping it to herself.  “Hey, hurry up!   You two should suit up now before any more guards appear.”   

Zelgadis shrugged and began to follow Lina’s lead.  “This armor is too small!”   Hallas complained and lifted the helmet.  “I don’t….”   However, his complaints were cut off by a loud scream coming from above.

“WOOOOOOOOAAAAAHHHHHHH ---- Oooffff!!!”

Then there was an ungraceful heap of yellow and blue inside the prison cell.   Zel raised one eyebrow while Lina blinked at the dazed newcomer.

“Now where are they?!?!”   A loud, but familiar voice, snarled.   Several heavy footsteps began to echo against the walls of the small room.    

Lina stomped towards Hallas, put the small helmet at the top of his head then crashed her fist down to it.   There was an audible pop, once Hallas’ head fitted the helmet.

“Are you three the ones on position here?”   Zangulus barked as he reached the scene.  “Where are the intruders?!”

Lina wordlessly pointed at the prison cell’s new occupant.

“GABRIEV!!!”  Zangulus shrieked.

The blond captive, untangled himself and waved ecstatically at Zangulus, wearing a bright smile on his face.  “Oiii!  Zangulus!  Long time no see!”

“What the hell are you doing there!!!”

“Huh?”   The blond scratched his head.  “Oh I fell down from the main room.  I forgot the code again.”

“Arrgghhh!!!”  Zangulus pulled at his hair in frustration.  “How many times do I have to tell you?!!  You have to twist the statue seven times to the right then twice to the left!”

‘Bingo.’   Zel smiled behind his helmet.

“Let him out.”   Zangulus ordered.  Lina stepped forward and unlocked the cell to let its captive out.  

The swordsman slapped Zangulus back.  “Thank you so much Zangulus!  I knew I could always count on you.”  Zangulus grumbled something inaudible before dragging the blond swordsman out of the room by his long hair.

“All right everyone, let’s get moving!”  Lina made her way to one of the doors over the side.  

“How do you know where to go?”  Zel inquired curiously.

“Well…Unlike you I didn’t go on falling for a trap.”  Lina chuckled.  

It was funny how they had blended in easily with the rest of the knights.  No one bothered to look at them twice.   Everything seemed smooth sailing from this point on.  ‘Or it may just be the calm before the storm…’ Zel thought darkly, not letting his guard down.

“Hmmm….”  Lina stopped before one intricately designed door.  “Wonder what this is?”

“We don’t have time for this!”  Zel hissed loudly enough for Lina to hear.

“Hold your horses.”  Lina opened the door cautiously and took a peek.   “Oh wow!”  Lina giggled like a kid and hopped into the room.   The whole room was filled with beautiful pots, vases, furniture, armory and gold.   Lina’s eyes flashed at the sight of the golden moneybags lain casually over the side.   “Money!!!”   She jumped up and down in glee.

“You’re just a regular thief…”  Zel muttered shaking his head.

“Who asked you?!”  Lina lifted the visor form her helmet and stuck her tongue at him. 

“This certainly is a fair amount of riches.”  Hallas gave a low whistle as he looked around the room.

“Now don’t you touch anything!”  Zelgadis grabbed Hallas before he could inspect a shinny medallion hung over the wall.  “This place is probably rigged with traps as well.  I don’t think we’ll be that lucky the next time we get caught.”

Lina pouted for a moment before agreeing.  “You’re probably right.”  She sighed.  “Oh well, I don’t see the Frozen Flame around here anyway…”

“Frozen Flame?”  Zel’s head shot up as warning bells rang in his head.  

“Yeah.”  Lina muttered distantly.  “I guess I better have a personal talk with this general guy.  Come on, let’s get out of here!”  

‘The Frozen Flame?’  Zelgadis thought.  ‘She can’t be talking about father’s stories, could she?’   From the stories, Zel could remember that before only the Mazoku and the Ryuzoku roamed the land.   Then a Frozen Flame fell from the heavens and when the beasts of the land came in contact with this flame, they transformed into human beings.   Afraid that it would fall into wrong hands, L-Sama hid the frozen flame.  

‘But then that’s just a story…It’s not real…’

“Alright we’re here!” 

Zel woke up from his stupor and found himself back at the main room.    Lina didn’t waste anytime and headed straight to the spiral statue and began to turn it using the combination Zangulus said earlier.   The door gave a loud creak and opened slowly. 

“Great!”  Lina cheered as she squeezed herself in before the door completely opened and ran up the stairs leading towards another door.   Zel and Hallas followed shortly.   The next room was more humungous than the first.  Two sparkling crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling.   There was a strip of royal red carpeting over the side.  Other than that there was no furniture except for something like resembled a platform with a huge chair at the middle end of the room but it was suspended up in the air by some sort of device.

“Hmm…”  Lina pulled out her helmet.  “This place reminds me of a throne room or something.”

“And what’s a young girl like you doing here?”   A soft velvety voice whispered against Lina’s ear.

“EEEEYYAAAHHH!!!!”  Lina instinctively landed a right hook under the jaw of the stranger who was standing close to her.  “Get the hell away from me, you creep!!!”  Lina yelled and launched another punched at the stranger with straight purple hair that reached up to his shoulders and wore long robes like that of a priest.  The stranger dodged the punch easily and teleported out of Lina’s reach.

“Wha…”  Lina shook in surprise, seeing the priest teleport.

“Now now…”  The priest reappeared before them with a strange looking smile on his face.  “That’s not how a nice young lady should act, Lina.”

“How the hell do you know my name?!”  Lina demanded angrily.

“And who do we have here?”  The priest walked over Zel.  “Now is that Zelgadis, I see inside that pathetic looking armor?”   The priest lifted Zel’s visor and smiled into his face.  “Still trying to be strong, little boy?”

“Why you…!” 

“And you…”  The priest teleported once more before Zelgadis could slug him.  This time he reappeared beside Hallas.  “Hmm…I don’t know who you are.”  Hallas sobbed, wondering why his two other companions were well known while he wasn’t.

“Who are you?”  Zelgadis asked, trying to keep his temper in check which had shot up since that loony stranger showed his haughty face before them.

“Oh how could I forget my manners.”  The stranger gallantly bowed before them.  “I am Xellos, Lei-sama’s right hand man.  Most people call me the trickster priest.” 

“And why is that?”  Lina muttered crossly.

     “Sore wa himitsu desu.”  Xellos then turned to look at Zel.  “Actually I suggest, you all turn back now.  It is not wise to defy Lei-sama.  If you do not wish to get hurt you better leave.”

     “What’s you’re problem?!”  Lina grabbed the loony priest by the collar and shook him.  “You’re just one of Lei’s pathetic minions!  Why the hell should I listen to you!”

     “I’m just looking out for you, my dear.”  Xellos extricated himself from Lina’s grip.  “But I shouldn’t be caught with you two…Imagine the trouble I will get into…”  Xellos mused with an amused smile on his face.  “Oh well.  See you later!”  He called out brightly before teleporting out of sight.

“Ignore ‘im!”  Lina muttered stomping towards the elevated platform.  “I think there may be something up there.” 

Zel cranked his head up.  From behind the massive chair, he could see an opening.  “I see an opening of some kind.  Could be a door?”

“Well there’s only one way to find out.  LEVITATION!”  Lina slowly floated up to the platform.   “Hey you’re right Zel!”  She exclaimed brightly.   “It is a door!  Now hurry up you two!”

“Eeepp…”  Hallas backed away.  “B—but  I can’t fly.”

Zelgadis shook his head.  “Hold on to my arm.  I’ll bring you up.”  Hallas hesitantly held on but then screamed when Zelgadis levitated from the ground.

“Shut up!!!”  Lina floated beside Zelgadis and Hallas.  She promptly whacked Hallas in the head.  “You’re going to give us away with all that screaming!!!

When their foot touched the solid ground of the platform, Hallas fell to his knees and began kissing the ground he was upon in relief.   Lina snorted in disgust and yanked Hallas to his feet.  “You two better keep your guard up.”  Lina warned. “I can feel Lei’s presence.  I can smell the stench of that bastard anywhere!”

Zel  nodded and cautiously stepped inside the opening with Lina and Hallas behind him.  Before them was a narrow hallway with a two three rooms, and a passage way going outside to a darkened balcony.  “So which one?”  Zel motioned at the doors.

Lina shrugged and pointed at the middle door.  “We might as well start at the one closest to us.”  The three of them headed up the door and slowly opened it.

Inside was a small room that looked like an office.  There was a huge oak desk sitting at the middle of the room.  Behind it was a plush chair and a tall bookcase lined up with books.   There was nothing particularly interesting except a medium sized crystal structure that glowed softly from the desk.

“Could that be…”  Lina walked towards the desk and inspected the crystal.  “Nah…This isn’t it.   And there’s no interesting treasure here, either.”  Lina sounded a little disappointed.  “I guess I better ask the General then…”

“What is it that you wanted to ask me?”  A muffled voice called out.

The bookcase moved aside to reveal a slightly tall old man with a balding head.  “My compliments on getting past my security.  Now, may I ask you, who in heaven’s name are you?”

“So you’re the General, eh?”  Lina put a hand on her hips.  “Don’t feign ignorance on me now.  Why did you send your soldiers to get Zelgadis here?!”  Lina unceremoniously pointed at Zelgadis who was backing away from them as far a possible.

‘Why did you have to bring that up?’  Zel groaned.

“Zelgadis...?”  The old man looked genuinely puzzled.  “I'm afraid, my dear, I haven't the foggiest idea what you are talking about.”

“General,  I believe these people are here to see me.”  A cool low voice reverberated through the room.   From behind the General, another man stepped out.   This man was dressed in a simple long sleeved shirt and slacks, colored entirely in black.  He wore a cape and a hood over his head.   His face was concealed with a mask that only this sharp blue eyes could be seen. 

The man glanced at Zel, who was trying to gulp down a wave of fear.  “Well, it seems like you saved me the trouble of finding you.”  The man smoothly drawled.

“Lei!!!”  

“Hmmm?  Are you….?”   The man’s eyes narrowed at Lina.

“What’s the matter?”  Lina took a defensive pose.  “Scared?  I’ve finally caught up with you!  I’ve come for two things…the Frozen Flame and your life, you murderer!!!”

“Ahh…”  Lei snapped his fingers, and the armor that they wore decapitated into dust.  “Now isn’t that much better, now that I can actually see your faces.  You must be Lina Inverse then, are you not?”

“Lina Inverse?!  The dra-matta?!”  The general gasped.  “This young lady…?”

“Don’t let her innocence fool you, General.”  Lei warned.  “She is quite ferocious…”

“Ferocious?!  My ass!”  Lina scoffed.  “After what you’ve done?!”

“I hate to disappoint you my dear Lina.”  Lei took a step forward.  “The Frozen Flame is not here.  The fire lies in the Sea of Eden, the place that connects to the domain of L-Sama, the Sea of Chaos.” 

“Alright…then I’ll put off that part until later.  In the meantime, I’m settling my score with you Lei!  Prepare to meet your maker!!!”  Lina growled and extended both of her arms in front of her and began to chant.  “Darkness beyond twilight…Crimson beyond blood that flows…”

‘Oh Shit…’  Zel immediately set up a magical shield when he recognized the kind of energy that Lina was drawing.   He wasn’t sure if the his shield would be enough but some form of protection was better than nothing.  Behind him Hallas cowered in fright.

“Are you sure about that, little girl?”  Lei extended one of his hands towards Lina and began to chant something as well.

“Wha…?”  Lina stopped in the middle of the spell and stared wide eyed at Lei Magnus.  “What are you doing?!!”  She screamed as she felt the energy she was channeling being absorbed Lei.  

“You forget…”  Lei dropped his hand.  “That I am a master of the black arts as well.  You cannot hope to defeat me by using my own technique against me.”  Lina’s jaw dropped to the floor upon hearing that.

Lei snapped his fingers towards Zel and dispelled the barrier that he had set up.  “Now Zelgadis…What is it that you desire from this world?   Do you want to live again?  Do you want to erase your demise from the pages of history?”  Zelgadis stumbled backward, suddenly unsure of his footing.   Pain wracked his head as Lei took a step towards him. 

“What’s wrong Zel?”  Lina ran and set herself in between Zel and Lei.  “What are you doing to him?!”  Lina demanded.

“Listen to me…”  Lei ignored Lina’s question.  “The end of the human world is near!  When that time comes, Zelgadis, there shall be a deep enmity between you and the world!   This is neither a speculation or prediction…This is history itself!”  Lei took another step towards them, his blue eyes began to flash red.  “And when that time comes, whose side will be on, Zelgadis?”

“This isn’t good…”  Lina shivered, as she felt Lei draw more dark energy into himself.

“You cannot escape.”  Lei continued, from behind him the crystal on the desk began to flash erratically.  “Neither can you delay your inevitable fate…”

“General, here are the reports from…”  A soft voice entered the room.  Lina’s eyes darted to the side to see, a young lady with long black hair dressed in a priestess garb, standing at the door.  

In a flash, Lina was behind the girl and she raised a dagger to her throat.  “Stop it!”  Lina yelled. “And don’t you move unless you want this girl to die!”

“Oh my!”  The girl, Lina held, yelped.  “Who are you?”

“Sylphiel!!”    The General exclaimed.  “Why you dirty little brat!!!  Let go of my niece now!”

“Shut up, grandpa!!!”  Lina began to back away to the door.  “Our lives are at stake!  There’s nothing dirty about trying to save your own life!”

“Just stay calm and quiet.  If you do that, then I won’t hurt you, ok?”   Lina whispered to the girl.  “I just need you to come with us until we reach a safer place.”  Sylphiel fearfully nodded.

“Zel!  Are you alright?”  Lina asked while glaring daggers at Lei. 

“Y..yeah…”  Zel shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs in his head.  ‘What was that, just now…?’

“Then let’s get the hell outta here!”   Lina reached from behind and opened the door while dragging Sylphiel with her.   Zel and Hallas followed her out, tensed and ready to fight if necessary.

“HALT!!!”   Zangulus and a bunch of other soldiers came bounding through the hallway.  “You brat….!  Release her now!!!” 

“Oh…Ok…”   Lina blinked and cocked her head sideward.  “What do you take me for?  An idiot?!”  She snapped angrily at Zangulus, as she began to back away towards the staircase leading the balcony.

“GRRRRR….!!!”

“This way!”  Lina gestured towards the balcony.  Outside, the night air was cool and the whole place was illuminated green globes of light casting eerie shadows across the balcony.   Lina kept on moving backwards until she hit the edge of the balcony.

“There’s no way out of here!”   Lei sneered, seeing Lina trapped at the edge.  “Unless you are willing to jump to your deaths.”

“Yeah right.” Lina shot back defiantly.   She looked sideward, for a moment at the edge of the balcony where nothing lay but pitch darkness.

And all it took was a moment for Lei strike back.  Seeing Lina momentarily distracted, Lei immediately whipped out a knife and threw it at her.   Zelgadis, tried to warn Lina but his voice seemed to have been caught somewhere.   The knife stuck Lina at the arm and she stared at it in surprise.  Seeing her chance, Sylphiel broke away from Lina’s grasp and ran away.  

“What the hell was that?!”   Lina demanded as pulled the knife from her arm and weakly threw it back to Lei.   Her blood began to freely flow down from her open wound and dripped to ground.   Lina hissed in pain as she brought her free hand to cover her exposed wound.  She weakly took one step back and toppled over the edge into the nothingness below.

“Lina!!!”  Zelgadis quickly ran to the edge and looked for any signs of the fallen sorceress but he could not see anything beyond the darkness the seemed to surround the bottom.

“What do you live for?”  Zel whipped his head back to see Lei slowly advancing towards him.  “What are you willing to die for?  I’ve been waiting for you Zelgadis…waiting a long long time for you…”

‘Think dammit!’  Zel berated himself as he tried to look away from the hypnotic blue eyes of the enemy.   At his side he could sense Hallas, shaking like a leaf in fear of Lei.

“Now, come to me…”  Lei as he extended a hand towards Zel.

Zel growled and shook his head fiercely.  Without warning, he pushed Hallas over the balcony.  And he himself willingly jumped down, letting the darkness envelope him completely.

Chapter 3

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