A girl was crying somewhere close by. Zelgadis turned around and around, trying to find her but all he could see was a vast empty space, like a wasteland. It felt…lonely here. He shivered as a chill wind tossed his hair and raised goosebumps on his skin. Human again and not Amelia. How could that be? He could still hear someone weeping, closer now, to the right. Zel ran in the direction of the sound, pulling his cloak more tightly about himself against the cold of this strange place. There was something up ahead, barely visible in the dim glow that lit the barren landscape. Zelgadis slowed as he closed on the thing, not wanting to believe what he was seeing. It was an iron cage so small that its occupant could do no more than sit with her knees tucked close to her chest and her head bowed. As she wept, she shivered—naked, cold, frightened and lonely.
        "Amelia?" Zelgadis knelt down beside the cage and reached his hands inside to touch her wet cheeks. She turned her head, her enormous eyes bloodshot and shining with tears. The fear and sadness in her eyes suddenly gave way to joy as she at last realized who it was that had touched her.
        She took his hands in her hears and kissed his palms, then drew him close until the cold bars pressed into their flesh. She slipped her fingers into his hair and kissed his lips with the passion and longing of love that had gone too long unreturned. When she at last released him, Zel sat back and tasted her salty tears on his lips, felt their dampness on his face. "Who did this to you?" He demanded.
        Amelia shook her head in confusion. "But, Zelgadis…you did! I—this is what I wanted, remember? To loan you my body while Lina made you a new one."
        Zelgadis felt his chest clench, as if someone had suddenly gotten his heart in their fist and was squeezing all of the blood out of it. He shook his head, unable to believe he could have imprisoned his friend. "I would never knowingly do this to you, Amelia! I’ll free you right now!"
        "NO!" Her panicked command stopped him from leaving. "You mustn’t! Not until the copy is finished!" She gave him a sad smile. "Can’t you see, Zelgadis? You’re asleep and dreaming, but you really are talking to me."
        "Your consciousness! Of course!" Zelgadis finally realized what was going on. While dreaming, his subconscious mind was able to find where the Spirit Transfer spell had sealed Amelia’s consciousness to allow his to dominate. She wasn’t in a real cage, but her mind would be a prisoner until he left her body. He stroked her cheek, and she leaned into his touch, turning her head to kiss his hand again. "It’s only for a few more hours, Amelia," he promised her in a gentle voice. "It’ll be over soon."
        Her lips tickled his palm as she asked: "Will you stay here and talk to me until you wake up? It’s really lonely here, Zel."
        "Of course, I’ll stay," he smiled. "We can talk about anything you like."
        Amelia drew back and returned his smile. "Tell me what’s happening out there."
        Zelgadis nodded. "Alright." He took off his cloak and passed it through the bars. She took it with a grateful smile and wrapped it around herself. Zelgadis leaned against the bars, so she’d have physical contact to comfort her and began the tale of the Sons of Chaos, as told to him by Xellos.

        In her dreams Zhara stood on the Plain of Kairn. It was that day, the day she had sealed her own children between worlds. Jessica was on her left, Urlich and Sylph on her right. Xellos and Zeris faced Ullan and Zellan. Suddenly, the red jewel in Xellos’ staff flared and red light lanced out, aimed for Ullan’s heart. Zeris cried out and threw himself between his cousin and the lethal energy and was vaporized. Sylph screamed, Urlich roared his grief and transformed into his more powerful shape. With one downbeat of his mighty wings, Urlich was upon Xellos, who swatted him aside with no more effort than a horse swishing its tail to rid itself of a fly. Ullan and Zellan laughed—great, earth rumbling bellows that split the ground beneath their feet. Zhara used the distraction to fire upon her father. He saw it coming out of the corner of his eye but not soon enough to dodge it completely. Black Mozoku blood spurted from his chest and burnt everything it touched. He fell to one knee, clutching his cloak to the wound and chanting a spell of mending while at the same time using his staff to create a barrier around himself against Jessica’s and Sylph’s spells.
        "Why doesn’t he retaliate?"
        Zhara summoned her allies from Marrigan, but the Sons of Chaos soaked the earth with their unnatural blood. Xellos sent attack spell after attack spell at Ullan and Zellan, punishing their protective barrier until at last he was able to break through and draw blood. Blacker than the darkest night, like onyx was their blood, and it filled the air with a suffocating, foul stench. But the wounds were minor and weakened the Sons of Chaos not at all. Sylph attacked Xellos, her kitsune powers searing the flesh from his bones in terrible, bloody chunks that exploded upon striking the ground. Urlich’s shuriken flew like a swarm of hornets through Sylph’s spells, carving out even more of Xellos’ hide, even nicking his bones.
        "Why doesn’t he retaliate?"
        Then Ullan and Zellan turned their attacks on Sylph and Urlich, forcing Zhara’s hand. "We must seal them," she said to Jessica.
        "You will need my power," Jessica replied. She stood tall and proud, the jewels that dangled from her royal circlet sparkling on her pale forehead but not bright enough, even in the moonlight, to outshine the ancient shaman’s eyes. "You haven’t the strength to do this on your own."
        They combined their power into a spell meant to last till the end of the universe, itself. In the end, Sylph and Urlich were near death, Xellos was gone, the Sons of Chaos sealed, and Jessica was nothing but an empty shell.
        "Why didn’t I argue with her?"
        Zhara gave Jessica new memories, memories that didn’t include ever being able to use magic, for how could one of the world’s mightiest shamans bear to exist without her magic? Then Zhara used her powers of creation to change her beloved friend, the nearest she had to a sister, into one of her Marrigans: A Vampire, the most powerful creature in her arsenal.
        "Why didn’t I just let her die with honor? Why did Sylph let me do that to her sister? And why didn’t the kitsune want my blood for it?"
        She’d robbed them of their queen, their spiritual leader and guide and had turned her into a person who was common by comparison—even crude. She was almost as old as Zhara and Urlich, certainly wiser. But not now. Not anymore.
        "Daddy’s right: She’s not the woman who fought beside me on that day."
        In her dreams Zhara wept.
        Urlich held his sister against his chest and let her tears dampen his shirt, his wings shielding her from scrutiny. He knew she was dreaming of their last battle with her sons. It had sent her into seclusion for two hundred years, a miserable wraith who wandered the halls of her house between worlds, weeping more often than not. It was only in the last century that she’d been able to bear Jaz’s company but she still found it hard to look into the vampire’s eyes. Urlich had chosen a different way to deal with the problem of how to treat the creature Zhara had made out of Jessica’s shell: He chose to befriend and eventually love her, as much as he was capable of love. In his mind, Jessica died eight hundred years ago. Jaz was someone else, some other sister of Sylph’s. That’s how her people read it, as well. Only Sylph stood between Zhara and kitsune vengeance, even now. Well, it looked like Jessica’s people would have their revenge at last. And what could be more appropriate in their minds than for Zhara to die by the hands of her own children, who had been the cause of Jessica’s "death".
        Url had always been a cynic, always the one to come up with the worst case scenarios for any situation. The worst case for this situation was obvious: Everybody dies. Not just those who fought that long ago battle, but the whole world. Ullan and Zellan tended to overreact like that. Urlich had always figured that was Shabranigdo in them, since the Dark Lord always had a flair for drama. His spirit had passed to the Sons of Chaos through their father, whose body had hosted Shabranigdo until Seified sealed him in the earth. Sons of Chaos, sons of Shabranigdo the embodiment of chaos. Could they fight Ullan and Zellan and have even the slightest prayer of winning? Even with Xellos’ help, if what he’d told them about having a mission from the Lord of Nightmares was true.
        Hm. Xellos hadn’t returned any attacks during that fight, had only defended himself with a protective barrier. His only attacks had been directed at Ullan and Zellan. Urlich closed his eyes and remembered the worst day of his life. He saw his son, his only son, disintegrate in an attack spell cast by his own grandfather. Why would Xellos want to kill Zeris? He’d hardly taken notice of the boy until that day! Unless… Unless Xellos was telling the truth and his real target had been Ullan and Zellan, and Zeris had thrown himself into the spell’s path.
        "Feh!" Urlich shook his head. That didn’t make sense! Zeris had been an impulsive young man but never stupid. Surely he hadn’t thought he could survive one of Xellos’ attacks? Or did he know he’d die and had sacrificed himself to save his cousins? That didn’t make sense, either! That attack wouldn’t have done much damage to the Sons of Chaos. It was just as pathetically inadequate against them as Xellos’ later attacks, though heaped on top of one another, they had begun to take a severe toll. Then Zhara had sealed them, ending the battle. Why would Zeris needlessly sacrifice himself? Was he so much of a fool, and was his father too blinded by pride to realize it? The boys had always been close, maybe Zeris’s sacrifice had been pure reflex, after all.
        And the biggest question of all, the one that was keeping Urlich from napping despite the punishment his body had taken in the last 24 hours: Why did the Lord of Nightmares send Xellos to kill Ullan and Zellan? She would have done better to send one of the great Lords, like Phibrizio, perhaps; he was still around then, though his power was diminished from constructing that barrier around the land. Still, he would have been a more worthy opponent than Xellos, surely! Unless Xellos really was more than he appeared, just as Urlich had suspected since childhood. His father’s ruby used to feel different, if memory served—but maybe it didn’t serve. Urlich sighed. He’d been a boy, then, and Xellos still riding the wave of success after almost annihilating two races of great dragons. The ruby had glowed whenever it got near Mother or any of her kind. They never spoke when Xellos had it with him, never looked at it, as if it was some kind of evil talisman. He hadn’t set it into a staff yet but wore it on a gold chain around his neck. Then it had felt like a dragon, now it felt like Xellos, so Urlich wasn’t sure his memories were anything more than a little boy’s awe struck imagination. Dad had been his hero, then, though he sensed Mother couldn’t bear to be near him.
        "What power did you get from Mother’s kind?" Urlich asked his father in his mind. Xellos sat across the cave with his back against the wall and his staff across his thighs. The ruby was dull, as it always was when not in use. Urlich followed his father’s gaze and was rather surprised to find he was watching Lina Inverse sleep, her head pillowed on Gourry’s thigh. The big swordsman was awake and watching Xellos with open hostility. One of his hands absently caressed Lina’s hair, the other rested upon the Sword of Light which lay in its sheath on the floor at his side.
        Zelgadis dozed nearby, wearing Amelia’s body and one of Urlich’s favorite shirts. "Reckless bastard!" Urlich seethed with hatred and the powerful desire to make Zelgadis suffer every injury Sylph had endured because of his stubbornness. But not while he was in the Princess’s body, that would defeat the purpose of the whole exercise. Zelgadis’ flesh and bones had to tear and break, not Amelia’s. There would be no justice in punishing Amelia for Zelgadis’ sins, though Urlich didn’t like the little Princess of Seyruun very much, either. However, he had to admit she had very nice legs and actually looked cute in nothing but one of his silk shirts.
        Sylph stirred where she slept back to back with him. Her soft moan turned his thoughts from Amelia to her. He had loved her more than his own life once—and in a way, he still did—but they’d grown apart after Zeris’ death. Urlich had always wondered if she was afraid to have more children with him, lest they wind up going off on some damn fool crusade as Zeris had. She’d loved the fact that her son was a Knight of Seified, had been so proud. It made up for his not inheriting his mother’s ability to change forms. Sylph’s people had always been loyal to the old dragon, just as Urlich’s mother’s people had been. Still were, what was left of them. Jaz had also been a Knight of Seifeid, and Zeris’ mentor, before using her power to seal the Sons of Chaos.
        It was full daylight in the outside world, and Jaz had had a rough night, too. She slept with her head in her sister’s lap, enjoying the dreamless death-sleep of a vampire. Urlich really envied her that, for he could only imagine what she would dream this day if she could. Over the past eight centuries, memories had returned to Jaz in flashes, little bits of her previous life, but nothing substantial. Nothing to give away the truth. What Xellos had revealed in his story had seemed to trouble Jaz, but she’d said nothing, and no one had dared ask what she thought of his story. If she could dream, Urlich thought she might dream her memories of that day she lost her true self and all of her power. That day her best friend robbed her of an honorable death and turned her into a lesser creature because she couldn’t bear to lose one more person she loved. And neither he nor Sylph had been able to do anything to stop her.
        That battle had changed them all and had set their feet on the path to the next battle, the final battle, which could prove to be their last. When Zhara left for the Plain of Despair in the morning, she wouldn’t go alone. Gods, how the world seemed to be holding its breath! If they couldn’t destroy Ullan and Zellan this time, Zhara’s boys would kill them, then plunge the world into chaos. Odd that Dad wouldn’t want them to succeed, or perhaps he had no choice when the Lord of Nightmares gave an order, no matter how badly his nature might cry out against it.
        She said she wouldn’t interfere with Zelgadis’ predicament for 48 hours, but would that prevent her from helping them against the Sons of Chaos? Urlich knew in his heart that they were on their own. L-Sama hadn’t helped Xellos eight hundred years ago, why would she help him now? His eyes wandered over to Lina Inverse once more. L-Sama had used her to destroy two Dark Lords, including the most powerful of them all, Shabranigdo. If Lina joined the fight, would the Lord of Nightmares use her against Ullan and Zellan as she had against Shabranigdo and Phibrizio? Maybe Lina was their key to victory! But if she was, L-Sama wouldn’t use her until the 48 hours were up, since Lina was part and parcel of Zelgadis’ quest to remain in the land of the living. Not as much as Princess Amelia was, naturally, but a big part of it nonetheless.
        "Damn. Wish I could get laid just once before I die." Urlich muttered, trying to recapture some of his usual bravado. Then suddenly he smirked to himself. "Guess I’ll just have to stay alive, then!"
        Behind him Sylph giggled. "Good logic, Url. I had no idea hormones were such a big part of your survival instinct."
        "It’s a guy thing," he joked back, "you wouldn’t understand."
        "Well, you know what they say, Son," Xellos called to them, still not taking his eyes off Lina, "live by the sword, die by the sword. Of course, they never specified what kind of sword."
        From anyone else, Urlich would have thought that was a pretty good joke, but it was his hated father, so he didn’t find it funny, and neither did Sylph. "Why are you staring at her?" Url asked instead of laughing, indicating Lina with a nod of his head.
        "He’s just being Xellos," Gourry said darkly, "and it’s about to get him into a lot of trouble." He patted the Sword of Light and glared at Xellos with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.
        The Trickster Priest feigned terror for a moment, then brushed off the threat with a derisive snort. "You would weaken me before I have to face the Sons of Chaos? Would you endanger your beloved world by hurting the person who’s been commanded to save it?"
        "Just ‘commanded to save it’," Gourry growled, "not ‘the person who will save it’, or ‘who can save it’? I didn’t believe a word of your story, especially that part about having orders from the Lord of Nightmares to kill these Sons of Chaos. They sound like just what your kind wants—somebody to plunge the world into chaos. Isn’t that what you said you guys wanted?"
        Xellos grinned and winked at him. Gourry’s grip on his sword tightened. "The Lord of Nightmares is the ultimate power in the world, so it doesn’t matter what I want when she gives an order." His expression became more serious as he added: "I would disobey my own master, even Shabranigdo had he taken notice of me, but I will not—I cannot disobey L-Sama. Your distrust is misplaced, Gourry, and your disbelief as well. I will fight the Sons of Chaos and I will destroy them or be destroyed by them. If I fail, you must help Lina fight them." Xellos looked down at the ruby in his staff, his hands stroking the long wooden shaft of the weapon that had seen him through so many battles before but had been almost impotent against Ullan and Zellan. The Heart of the Dragon reflected the moss light that illuminated this cave and the rest of the catacombs, but it shone with no light of its own. That was through Xellos’ will, for without it, the stone would react to Urlich and Zhara, try to bond with their dragon halves and ruin millennia of work to bend it to his will. The fact that he could keep it from reaching out to them was a triumph in itself. Keeping it from trying to latch onto Firia those long weeks that he had traveled with the dragon maiden had been exhausting, to say the least.
        "Gourry," he said quietly, looking up again, "I know you hate me, but you must get past that and see the big picture. You don’t want your world reduced to a sea of chaos, right? Well, if you fight me now, my chances of defeating the Sons of Chaos will be lessened because I’d have to use my energy against the Sword of Light. If you weaken me at all, it will affect my ability to carry out my orders. Now, really, Gourry: Do you still want to fight me?"
        Gourry took his hand off his sword, closed his eyes and sighed. "Yes, but I won’t." He opened his eyes and gave Xellos a most severe look. "Just quit staring at Lina if you want her help later, got it?"
        Xellos shrugged. "She’s pretty."
        "Just don’t do it anymore."
        "Fine." Xellos pouted at Gourry for another second, then lay his head back against the wall, closed his eyes and tried to rest. Watching Lina sleep was more interesting: She really was very pretty, especially when she was sleeping and her guard was down. What in the world did she see in that big dope of a sword slinger? Aside from his good looks and muscle, what did he have? "I’m certainly a more entertaining conversationalist. And, Lina, you do so love to talk." The only power Gourry had was the Sword of Light. People of Lina’s caliber belonged with others of similar power, like Xellos, for instance. She was stooping too low with her love for the Swordsman of Light, in Xellos’ opinion, and it bothered him to see her date beneath her station.
        The Trickster sighed deeply and snuck a glance at Lina through narrowed eyes. With a wicked giggle, he echoed his son’s sentiment, just because it would really irritate Gourry: "I so wish I could get laid just once before I die!"
        From the other side of the cave, Sylph snorted: "So that’s where Url gets his libido!"
        Urlich reached back and thumped her on the head.

        Zelgadis ended his tale, but unexpectedly Amelia didn’t have any questions. He looked down at her, their shoulders sandwiching the iron bars of her cage between them. "Amelia?" He asked softly. "Are you asleep?"
        "No," she replied in a quiet, almost languid voice, "I’m just enjoying this while it lasts. When we’re not in the same body, you don’t treat me like this. You’re nice to me," she hastened to add, "but you’d never let me kiss you like I did and you wouldn’t snuggle like this. I mean, if you can call it a snuggle. I guess it isn’t, technically, snuggling, but it’s like snuggling. Sort of . I guess."
        Zelgadis smiled and reached over to ruffle her hair. "I know what you mean." Even that gesture seemed to put a happy glow on her face. "Have I really been so cold?" Zelgadis wondered to himself. He thought back on his acquaintance with the Princess, all those crazy things she did that had amused him or endeared her to him. She was one of his best friends, one of the very few people in all the world that he’d die to save. Hadn’t she been able to see that? And if she loved him so much, couldn’t she understand why he was so unwilling to be physical with others?
        "Amelia," he said after a long silence, "I do love you. You’re one of my best friends—and friends are something I’ve never had many of. And…if it came to that, I’d die in your place." He ran a nervous hand through his hair, savoring the texture he knew he wouldn’t feel again for a long time after his spirit was put into the copy they were making of his old body. "It’s easier to be…affectionate when I’m human like this. I just feel like such a monster in that body Rezo cursed me with! I don’t like touching people with those stone hands!"
        Amelia shut her eyes against tears and asked a painful question: "Then how did you do it with…with Xellos? I mean, I know you didn’t know it was him, but," she hesitated, then found she couldn’t think of anything else to say that would make her question clearer.
        That wasn’t something Zelgadis wanted to think about ever again and certainly nothing he wanted to discuss with Amelia or anyone else, but after what he’d said about not liking to touch people with his stone hands, Zel guessed he owed her an explanation. "There was sorcery involved," he told her in a dull voice. "I think it was in the incense she burned when we were together that time and in her perfume. It made me more susceptible to suggestion, weakened my will. I can’t think of any other reason that I’d hop into bed with a woman I’d only known for a few days. It’s just not like me." He blushed and looked out into the void of Amelia’s sleeping mind. Even if Lara had been so incredibly beautiful and so close to all he’d ever dreamed of in a woman, he couldn’t tell Amelia that. "I was never…you know, good at relating to girls, even before Rezo changed me. Shy, I guess. I mean, I’m kind of short and the other guys in our village were always picking fights with me until I got good with a sword. Then it was the apprentice sorcerers that came after me since I was related to Rezo. The girls always went for the taller boys, anyway. You know, the ones with the big muscles and deep voices—Gourry types. I was such a loser before Rezo turned me into a monster and now I’m even worse!"
        "You’re not a monster!" Amelia protested. She grabbed his shoulders through the bars and shook him. "And you’re not a loser! Don’t ever say that again!" As she shook him, Zel’s cloak slid off her shoulders and onto the floor, leaving her naked before him once more.
        This time, he noticed. Both of them turned bright red and turned their backs to each other while Amelia covered herself again. "I’m not really good with boys, you know," she confessed, "they’re always intimidated ‘cause I’m the Princess. And, um," she blushed some more, "I think they think I’m weird. You know, because I’m so outspoken about justice and everything. Boys like girls to be all delicate and meek and weaker and dumber than they are—or just want us to act like it, so they feel big and strong and like they’re protecting us."
        Zel shook his head. "Not me. I like intelligent girls, ones I can actually talk to and who aren’t afraid to speak their minds. And I hate it when girls—or anybody—pretend to be something they’re not. It’s dishonest. I like to know where I stand with someone."
        "Me, too," Amelia giggled. "That’s what I always liked about you: You’re always just you, even when you don’t think before you say something."
        "What do you mean?" Zel protested. "I always think before I open my mouth!"
        "Even when you yelled at Sylphiel after Rezo blew up her home and killed her father?"
        He’d forgotten that. "Ok, that was kind of harsh, but we didn’t have time for mourning! We had to act before Rezo did!" Zel turned to face her suddenly, but before he could say anything more, Amelia’s hands were on his cheeks.
        She smiled into his eyes, then her gaze dropped and she drew close to kiss him once more. Kissing felt different with human lips, Zel thought muzzily. It was warm and soft. But most of all, he could feel more: Her lips were closer to hot and her mouth tasted salty from her earlier tears. Flower petals touching his lips, salty wetness as her tongue sought his. He’d never imagined skin could be so satiny, nor hair so like strands of the finest gossamer silk. Her hands were gentle but strong as they moved from his face to his chest, then around his neck. If only those damn bars weren’t in the way, he could hold her properly! He released her lips to brush her cheeks and throat with his mouth, then pushed his cloak off her shoulder to kiss that part of her for a while.
        "I’m waking up," he whispered into her skin as he kissed his way back to her mouth. "I’ll be back next time I sleep."
        "If you’re not in your new body," she sighed between kisses. A tear found its way between their lips, the only indication that her loneliness was returning.
        "Then we won’t have these stupid bars between us," he shot back with a wink, just as she disappeared and his eyes fluttered open to find Xellos was staring at him far too keenly.
        "Pleasant dreams?" Asked the Trickster with his usual irritating smirk.
        Zelgadis ignored him. Instead he closed his eyes and savored his time with the Princess, wondering what their relationship would be once they were no longer sharing a body. His eyes flew open when Xellos’ yelped, though, just in time to see Gourry returning to Lina, rubbing his fist and grinning to himself.
        "And don’t stare at Zelgadis, either!"