A doctor can bury his mistakes but an architect can only advise his client to plant vines. - Frank Lloyd Wright

        "Well this is a frustrating development," Xellos muttered and flopped down on top of a tombstone to pout. He’d just received word from his master that they would have tea with the Lord of Nightmares that afternoon at two--whether or not Xellos especially liked the idea or had the time to spare from his evil antics. "I don’t even like tea that much. Coffee’s better." He scratched himself and added thoughtfully: "Harder on the stomach, though. I do get such dreadful heartburn from coffee. Hmph. But tea, now…tea reminds me of Filia, which is as bad as any heartburn in the world. Though much more satisfying." He savored the fond memories of tormenting the self-righteous Dragon Maiden, then reluctantly dragged himself back to the here and now to decide what to do about L-Sama. Naturally, she’d want to know what he was up to this time, and, just as naturally, he didn’t want to tell her. The question was: How could he keep his plans to himself until it would be too late for her to do anything about them?
        Meanwhile, he suspected the person about which his plans revolved was holed up in a mausoleum that for some inexplicable reason he couldn’t enter or even see into clearly. He’d tried to get a sense of who had put such a powerful spell on Lara Sorez’ crypt (the Lord of Nightmares having been his first guess) but hadn’t even been able to feel any magic at all, much less who had wrought it. He doubted he’d get a straight answer if he asked L-Sama point blank if she’d put the spell on the mausoleum but figured it was worth a shot. He had nothing to lose and a lot to gain. Of course, he might not want to let on that someone was successfully keeping him out of someplace he really wanted to enter, so he’d have to phrase the question carefully.
        He could see the tomb from where he sat, though the most he could see inside it was shadowy movement. He wondered which of his victims was moving about in the crypt. Zelgadis? Amelia? Jessica and Urlich? Perhaps Lina was there! He licked his lips, remembering that kiss he’d stolen in Marrigan and how deeply it had upset her. He must try that again sometime. If Zelgadis was there, he could see if his controlling spell worked through the spell that shut him out of the mausoleum. So Xellos rolled up his sleeves, aimed his staff at the crypt and concentrated on Zelgadis.
        Zelgadis shivered in a corner of the mausoleum, still unconscious. His dreams were not pleasant ones.
        "I’ve never felt this way about anyone before," Lara confessed as she lay beside Zelgadis in their bed, savoring the afterglow of lovemaking.
        Zelgadis sighed and stroked her sweat dampened hair. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d been this happy, not even before Rezo had changed him. Her love gave him hope that maybe finding a cure wasn’t all that urgent after all, that people really would accept him as he was. He thought of Amelia with a twinge of guilt. The Princess had always told him he was just fine the way he was. No, she’d always told him she loved him the way he was, that she’d be his friend and staunchest ally no matter what, and this was how he rewarded her loyalty: By sleeping with a woman he barely knew. Then he felt guilty for thinking about Amelia while lying in Lara’s arms.
        He rolled over to look into Lara’s face only to find Xellos lying beside him, giggling happily. "Surprise!"
        Zelgadis awoke with a terrified scream, bringing the others in the mausoleum to his side in a rush.
        "Zel! Zel, are you ok? What’s wrong?" Lina shook him by the shoulders, her eyes filled with worry.
        Zelgadis felt a pull on his mind, but as soon as he tried to resist it, it faded into impotence. It was still there…a sort of tickle, not much more, but it had no power to control him as it had in the dungeon. He shook his head to clear the last cobwebs of the dream from his memory. When he looked up, it was straight into Amelia’s uncertain eyes. She hid behind Gourry, peering around his body like a frightened child. "Are you alright, Mr. Zelgadis?"
        Zel sighed and tried not to betray the fact that he was sipping her fear like a nice cup of coffee. "You don’t have to call me ‘Mister’, Amelia," he told her wearily, "we’re friends, remember? Friends forever, just like you’ve always told me." He got up and brushed himself off, lamenting his singed clothing and the ash on his craggy skin. "No matter what I look like, or what happens to me, we’ll always be friends. You haven’t changed your mind about me, have you, Amelia?"
        Amelia shook her head and looked like she was going to cry. Gourry tucked her under his arm and hugged her against him protectively, glaring at Zelgadis like he was the very embodiment of evil.
        Lina put herself in Zelgadis’ face and told him with a furious growl: "You’re just trying to get a rise out of her Zel! I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t try to cop a meal off of your friends!"
        Urlich made a disgusted noise and rolled his eyes. "Some friends you are," he snorted. "You’d rather have him terrifying the good citizens of Seyruun, I suppose? Is that what you want, Your Highness? A budding Mazoku feeding off your beloved people?"
        Apparently none of them had considered that aspect of their arrangement with Zelgadis, so focused were they on not having their own life energies drained. Amelia was naturally more guilt ridden than the rest of them at the very thought of allowing her people to be persecuted. Lina and Gourry felt pretty bad about it, too, but were still a bit more concerned with their own hides than those of complete strangers.
        Jessica stood behind Urlich and shook her head. "Zelgadis isn’t a full Mazoku. He weakens much more quickly than even a lesser monster would. If you don’t allow him to feed, he’ll starve to death, and you will have killed your friend with your selfishness."
        Lina frowned. "So it doesn’t matter if he kills us, is that what you’re saying?"
        Urlich and Jessica exchanged amused looks, then Url turned back to Lina with a chuckle. "Let me ask you this: How long did you hang around with my dad?"
        Lina thought about it. "Two years, I guess."
        "I noticed you’re not dead," Urlich smirked, "or weak. And you’re afraid Zelgadis will drain you to death when Xellos didn’t?" He shook his head, still chuckling. "I don’t believe you. Xellos could’ve killed you any time he wanted—and you’re worried about some guy who hasn’t enough Mazoku in him to kill a cockroach with his hunger. That’s rich."
        Lina and Amelia flushed with embarrassment and avoided Zelgadis’ eyes. "Well, um," Amelia stammered, "we didn’t think of it like that…"
        Urlich put on a high-pitched voice and mocked: "’Well…um…we didn’t think of it like that’." In his own voice he growled: "No shit you didn’t think of it like that! Gods you people are pathetic!"
        "HEY!" Lina, Amelia and Gourry protested.
        "So you just let any Mazoku feed off you?" Lina asked innocently with a nasty gleam in her eyes. "You and Jessica? You just let somebody like Xellos lap it up while you—"
        "Hell no," Urlich smirked, "we have better self control than that. See, it’s up to you whether or not you become monster fodder, ‘cause a Mazoku can’t help its nature. They’ll feed whether they say they won’t or not. So if you don’t want Zelgadis to get a belly full of your tasty emotions, you’ll just have to cultivate a little self control." He shook his head and returned to the door to watch his father get annoyed on a tombstone across from the mausoleum. "Personally, I don’t think you know the meaning of the term."
        Lita cowered in a corner, dividing her attention between the conversation inside the crypt and the monster outside it. She knew him by description and reputation, though they’d never actually met. He was Xellos, chief Priest and General of Beast Master, the man single-handedly responsible for the slaughter of thousands of dragons, and the only monster to have bred with a dragon. There in the doorway stood one of the products of that union. Urlich was nothing like she’d imagined the son of a monster would be. He dressed like a wealthy gentleman in a suit of dark burgundy silk with a black silk shirt and burgundy velvet vest. His dark, waist-length hair was held back by a discreet black, silk cord. On his right hand was an enormous diamond solitaire set in a heavy gold ring. A gold ring in the form of an emerald-eyed dragon curled around his left index finger. He carried a cane with a dragon handle, though he didn’t lean on it, which suggested to Lita that it was merely an affectation. Hard to believe such an elegant man had such a high-ranking monster for a father.
        Jessica was clearly the most beautiful creature Lita had ever seen with her long, curling, raven tresses dotted with sparkling gems and delicate silver chains that were only visible when the light hit them. There were diamonds on her forehead, in her ears, about her neck, on her ivory arms and set into her silver belt. Chains with glittering emeralds, rubies, amethysts and pearls hung from the belt like a spider web, shining in the folds of her silver gown. The ancient Queen of the Kitsune, Lita thought with a sigh. Jessica had disappeared for almost a thousand years, according to the stories, but here she was, peering at the hieroglyphs on the walls of a tomb in Seyruun, seeming to shine with her own light. The way she and Urlich looked at each other, Lita was sure they were lovers, which made her heart sink a little. And Gourry was obviously attached to Lina, and Zelgadis to Amelia—in spite of his attack the previous day. Lita supposed they’d been in love before then, which might explain their willingness to try and make up. She sighed. Being on the lam was lonely but being amidst other people again could be even lonelier, especially when no one trusted her.
        "So can you read it, or what?" Lina asked Jessica grumpily, still stinging from Urlich’s chastisement.
        Jessica gave her an impatient look over her shoulder, then went back to reading the glyphs. "Of course I can read them. I may be old but I can still remember when this form of writing was popular among the religious classes."
        "’Religious classes’?" Lina prodded curiously.
        Jessica gave her a look usually reserved for complete morons and rubbed her temples in exasperation. "You know: Worshippers of God, The Lord of Nightmares?" She growled. "Her priestesses used these hieroglyphs to cast spells of incredible power. However," she held up a finger before Lina could ask another question, "the secret of the glyphs was stolen by a Priest of Shabranigdo. It was then stolen from him by a Knight of Seified. They let it spread throughout their human servants, and so the glyphs lost their original power, since mortals could only use the parts they were able to control, which is to say very few." She pinned Lina with eyes that held the depths of the night sky and added ominously: "And you thought the Giga Slave was too dangerous for mortals. Hmph! It’s nothing compared to the power of these simple characters, the power to create life from nothing."
        The words "holy shit" leapt into every brain but Amelia’s at that, though the Princess’ thoughts were no less awesome. The ability to create life from nothing, she thought in awe. Here, in pure Seyruun, the very heart of white magic, the holiest of holy cities. In her city. The mind simply boggled, but there was justice in it! Justice and rightness in these ancient magical hieroglyphs of the Priestesses of L-Sama being painted on a tomb in Seyruun! It was the great city’s reward for being the last bastion of truth and justice!
        "What do they say?" She sighed to Jessica, her eyes a-sparkle with flames of a pure heart that loved justice and all that was good and right. "Is this the spell that creates life from nothing?"
        With a totally straight face, Jessica replied: "No. This is a recipe for Pot Roast with Fig Pudding and mashed potatoes. L-Sama loves Fig Pudding."
        Blink.
        "Just kidding!" The kitsune giggled.
        Urlich thumped her on the head with a snarl. "Jessica…"
        "Heehee! You guys are so gullible—gulp. And have no sense of humor." She backed away from the small angry mob that growled at her and cracked its collective knuckles. Then she hit the wall with a thump and resignedly explained: "Ok! Ok! It’s the spell! It’s not like any of you can actually cast it."
        "Why is it here?" Lita asked timidly from the rear of the pack. "Why is it in Lara’s grave? I’ve never even heard of that spell."
        "It was lost," Jessica explained with a shrug. "You must remember, it was in use at the beginning of time in the service of the god who created the world. Magic was stronger back then since the powers of light and darkness were many and more powerful than now. In these latter days, most of the greatest Mazoku Lords have been destroyed or sealed away. Seified sleeps, many of his most powerful allies dead. Even my own kind are mere shadows of what they once were—except for the First Born, like me, of course." Her eyes glazed over as she remembered the way the world was in her youth—but only for a moment. "No mortal can cast this spell, not even the mighty Lina Inverse."
        Lina was ready to smack her, then realized she wasn’t being mocked and lowered her hand. "Can you cast it?"
        Jessica hung her head and looked away. "Eight hundred years ago, the answer to that question would’ve been yes, but I’m not the person I used to be."
        "I thought L-Sama restored your powers," Amelia asked gently. She looked to Urlich for confirmation, but he turned away.
        Jessica sighed and shrugged. With a wan smile, she told them: "In fighting the Sons of Chaos, I went against the will of the Lord of Nightmares. I was once her Chief Priestess, so she couldn’t leave me as I was—a vampire with no magic. However, she had to punish me somehow, so she didn’t restore me to my former strength. I’m powerful enough to rule my people, but I’m not the great priestess I once was." Another shrug. "I can live with that. People like me are no longer needed in this world, anyway."
        A sad silence fell over the group as Urlich put his arms around Jessica and buried his face in her hair. "You are needed," he whispered, "you’ll always be needed."
        "So," Lina sighed after a while, "we have the most powerful spell ever and someone who knows how to cast it—only she doesn’t have the power to cast it." She turned to face Lita, who gulped at the suddenly keen attention. "Which brings us back to Lita’s question: Why is it here, in the grave of Lara Sorez, who was engaged in summoning Mazoku when she was killed? And what does the spell, or that painting—" she pointed at the ceiling—"have to do with Lita, who trance painted them here? Now, it’s obvious to me that these hideous statues," she patted one of the creatures at the foot of Lara’s sarcophagus, "are intended to ward off some kind of evil. It’s a common enough practice, putting a pair of guardian creatures at a grave site or temple—but I counted half a dozen outside the crypt and four more inside. That’s overkill, even for Prince Phil." She ran her hand over one of the stone vines that seemed to bind the lid onto the great marble sarcophagus. "And what about these vines? Lita told us they weren’t here before she started painting. Look at them." She did so as she spoke, running her fingers over the marble. "There’s no seam where they cross the lid. It’s like they’re trying to hold it shut. Why would that be? Unless—" She spun on Lita, who yelped and backed into Zelgadis. "Unless there’s something in that sarcophagus the powers who painted through Lita don’t want to get out. Far as we know, there’s a dead human female named Lara Sorez in there—but what if it’s something else?"
        "Cut it out, Miss Lina," Amelia wailed through chattering teeth, "you’re scaring me!"
        "Well look!" Lina shot back and slapped one of the stone vines where it crossed the meeting place between lid and base. "I’d think there’d be a crack here, so the lid could be removed if it didn’t matter who or what was in there!"
        "That’s really creepy, Lina," Gourry gulped. "Maybe you should’ve had breakfast before coming out here."
        "Yeah," Amelia added, "I think last night freaked you out worse than it did me! At least I’m not imagining things!"
        "I’m not imagining this, Amelia, look at it!"
        Amelia examined the vine, then walked around the sarcophagus, checking out all the others. Gourry followed right behind her, then Lita and Zelgadis, Urlich and Jessica. The kitsune looked particularly troubled by Lina’s words and the vines. She asked Lita: "Are you sure there were no vine carvings on the sarcophagus when you started painting?"
        Lita nodded, laying her hand on her sister’s final resting place. "There are so many of them, I’m sure I would’ve noticed them when I first came into the mausoleum."
        "Tell me everything you can remember about what you experienced while painting," Jessica urged, her fox ears pricked forward curiously. Lita noticed for the first time that the tip of a furry black tail was peeking out from under the hem of Jessica’s skirt.
        "Um," Lita began uncertainly, then cleared her throat and started again. "I came in with my paints and brushes and set up over there," she pointed to the corner where the glyphs began their tale of the beginning of the world. "I mixed the first batch of paints and loaded up my pallet. Then…I felt like…I don’t know how to explain it. It’s the way I always get when I trance paint, only much stronger. Usually I’m aware of my surroundings and the passage of time, but this time I wasn’t. I remember loading up a brush, then the next thing I remember I was cleaning my brushes over there." She pointed to the corner across the sarcophagus from her starting point. "I remember a feeling of enormous power, as if I was filled with…I don’t know. It was completely--" she shook her head with a little sigh, "indescribable."
        Zelgadis looked the diminutive artist up and down, getting an estimate of her height, then compared it with the distance from floor to ceiling, then from the top of the sarcophagus to the ceiling. Either way, Lita couldn’t have reached the ceiling to paint the fresco in such detail. Furthermore, she’d said nothing about plaster, which is essential in the making of a fresco. Or having brought a ladder with her, for that matter. "How did you do the ceiling? You didn’t say anything about bringing a ladder with you, or plaster, and that’s obviously a fresco."
        Everybody looked up, then at Lita who could only shrug helplessly. "I don’t remember that part. It was there when I finished painting the inside of the tomb, that’s all I know." She wrung her hands and added in a frightened voice: "Those don’t even look like my brush strokes! It’s not my usual style of painting at all," she ran to one of the walls and pointed at a hieroglyph. "See? This isn’t my style, either! I don’t paint like that, so someone used my hands to do their work!"
        Lina rolled her eyes. "Yes, that’s usually how trance painting works."
        "No it isn’t!" Lita insisted. "Have you ever done it?"
        Lina had to admit she hadn’t. "But I’ve read up on the subject…a little."
        "Well, you’re wrong," Lita told her firmly. "You’re usually a little bit aware of where you are and how much time is passing—like, a long time or a short time, nothing specific. And a little bit of your own style shows through. With this, it was like I loaded up a brush then right away cleaned it. Only it was morning when I entered the tomb and the sun was setting when I left. And there’s no trace of my style in any of these paintings! I don’t remember anything except for the power!"
        "And what did that feel like?" Jessica pressed her. "Good? Evil? Light? Dark? Neutral?"
        Lita concentrated, trying to recall the exact feeling of the power that had used her to create such dramatic art work. It was no use. Just when she was sure she had it, the memory would slip away. "I can’t hold on to the memory long enough to tell you. It’s as if I’m not being allowed to remember. I know that sounds like a cop out, but that’s how it seems to me."
        Jessica frowned. "No, it doesn’t seem like a cop out," she mused, "but it doesn’t help me determine who might have painted all of this through you, either."
        "Isn’t it obvious?!" Amelia interrupted excitedly. "It was the Lord of Nightmares, herself! She put this here for Zelgadis to find! It’s the cure only he can find and—oh, wait. That’s not right, is it? If only Zelgadis can find it, then none of us would be here, and you wouldn’t be able to understand it, Queen Jessica."
        Her tragic expression was too much for Zelgadis and he had to look away. In spite of what he’d become and the cruelty of his attack last night, Amelia still only wanted his happiness. Oh gods, he didn’t deserve her loyalty anymore! Couldn’t she see he’d just destroy her? Couldn’t any of them see that? He clenched his fists and resolved anew to part from his friends and seek L-Sama’s cure alone. Now that he knew what the writing in the tomb was, he was one step closer to being able to separate himself from Lina and the others. It was for their own protection. Anyway, he preferred to work alone.
        Lina’s hand on his shoulder brought him about to find his old travelling companions looking at him with hard, determined eyes. "You were thinking about going off on your own again, weren’t you, Zel?"
        Gulp. "It’s for your own good, Lina," he tried to explain, but she quite clearly wasn’t buying it, "and I work better alone. I like being alone, really."
        "You like being fair game for Xellos, you mean?" Lina taunted him. "Sitting duck?"
        "Uh…"
        Gourry slapped his hand down onto Zel’s other shoulder with a dark frown. "You know how we feel about you going off on your own, Zel. We’ll just follow you."
        "Or fate will pull us together again!" Amelia added with tears in her eyes. "It always does. Face it, Zelgadis, we’re meant to be together! I mean, all of us friends. We’re a team, so no matter how hard you try to get rid of us—"
        "They’ll come back on you like venereal disease," Urlich finished with a sneer. Gods he hated these sappy scenes. Why didn’t his dad attack them, so he’d have something constructive to do? "Hell, look at me and Jessica. We don’t even like you people, and here we all are together again."
        "Oh, speak for yourself, Url," Jessica teased. "I think Gourry’s cute."
        The big swordsman turned bright red and gave Lina a panicky look. This was just like with that waitress back in Marrigan—the one who’d flirted with him in front of Lina. Of course, that had ended with him and Lina confessing their true feelings for the first time, then having really amazing sex. Hmmm…
        "Hands off," Lina snarled.
        Jessica giggled.
        Zelgadis sighed and leaned against Lara’s sarcophagus with his arms folded crossly and a deep scowl on his face. All these warm, fuzzy feelings were supremely unsatisfying. Time to change the tone a little. "We still don’t know why the most powerful spell in the world is here or why that painting is here or why stone vines are trying to keep the lid on this sarcophagus."
        The group went back to feeling creeped out, confused and uncomfortable, which suited Zelgadis’ tastes much better than the previous love fest. Urlich and Jessica were more controlled, of course, but Zelgadis had accepted the fact that he wasn’t getting anything from them.
        "I can’t answer those questions," Lita said quietly. "I can’t even tell who used me to paint all of this, or say what the power felt like to give you a clue. I’d hoped to find the answers myself, that’s why I came back here." She sighed heavily, hugging herself with a forlorn expression. "I lied to you about being the family’s representative. They didn’t send anyone, so, since I was coming here, anyway, I let you in. I have my own key, you see. I, um, had it made without them knowing it…from a wax mold I took of the keyhole." She flushed and coughed in embarrassment. "You learn a lot of tricks when you’re running from monsters."
        "Eh?" Urlich and Jessica raised their eyebrows and turned curiously to Lita. "Running from monsters?" Urlich repeated. "And why would you be doing that, exactly?"
        Lita recounted the story she’d told Lina about Lara summoning Mazoku and sending them to kill her for not helping with her experiments. Urlich didn’t believe her. "If a monster wants to kill you," he told her in a dangerous tone, "it kills you—or you kill it. There’s no other way to save yourself from it. Back me up on this one, Jess."
        Jessica opened her mouth to do so, but Lina said: "Or another monster makes them leave you alone. That happened to me once. Xellos made another monster leave me alone. I think he was just afraid of Xellos, since your dad is Beast Master’s chief servant, and this guy was a lesser monster."
        "If that’s the case, it begs two questions: 1) Who was the little fish and 2) who was the big fish who scared him away." Urlich closed the distance between himself and Lita, swinging his cane as he backed her across the mausoleum until she was against the far wall. "Who did this sister of yours send to kill you? Do you know?"
        She shook her head. "I never learned his name."
        "But you’re sure it’s a male?" Jessica probed more gently than Urlich. "Did you see him at any time?"
        Another head shake, no. "But I could feel him, and he sent me nightmares. He laughed at me—an evil, hungry laugh, deep like it was coming from inside the earth." She shivered just thinking about it until her legs gave out and she slid to the floor with her knees tucked up to her chin. "And he kept telling me I’m not real. I’m just an imitation. A fake." She buried her face between her knees and cried. "I’m not a fake! I’m as real as anybody else!"
        Amelia knelt in front of her and gently stroked Lita’s hair. In a soft voice, she asked: "Why would he tell you you’re a fake, Miss Lita?"
        That only made her cry harder, her shoulders shuddering with her sobs.
        "A fake?" Lina wondered. "Why would he call you that? Because you’re a twin? Or because," she hesitated and looked from face to face just long enough for Lita to look up with a quivering lip and tears streaming down her face. "Because you’re not Lara’s twin at all, but her copy. Is that it? You’re a copy?"
        Lita paled and didn’t answer right away. She didn’t like all this attention, all of these strangers staring at her and believing the worst about her. But she had no one else to turn to anymore. Every friend she’d ever made had been killed by the monster Lara sent to kill her. The family would have nothing to do with her…and not just because they feared retribution from the monster if they gave her shelter. But she wasn’t a fake! She was just as real and just as much of a person as anybody else! She could look between Urlich’s knees and see Xellos sitting on a tombstone outside the crypt, looking inside with a maniacal smirk. Was he looking at her? Was he the monster Lara sent? No, that couldn’t be. Xellos was too powerful. There was no way someone of his power and authority would let himself be summoned by a mere mortal just to play assassin. But what if Lara had offered him something he really wanted? Mazoku collected powerful people, just as she’d told Lina earlier, and the power of her paintings was certainly unusual… Maybe Xellos was the one who was after her, but to make her his servant, not kill her. Well, too bad. She’d never serve the monster race! Never! Their power had corrupted and killed Lara, it wouldn’t do the same to her!
        "Lita," Zelgadis pressed her as he got down on one knee beside Amelia, "please tell us the truth. Are you Lara’s sister, or are you her copy?" Because if you’re her copy, he added to himself with a fluttering heart, then I really want to get to know you better. He cast a sidelong, guilty look at Amelia, and his cheeks colored in spite of him.
        Lita sniffled and made up her mind. She had nothing to lose anymore with Xellos just outside the door and his son standing before her. "I’m sort of her copy," she confessed.
        "Sort of?!" Several voices echoed dubiously. "What’s that supposed to mean?" Lina demanded.
        Lita took a deep breath and explained. "She added genetic material from others to inject variety into the copy, me. Without variety, the copy is just a lesser version of the original. I’m not sure who the other donors were," she shrugged. "Lara would never tell me that. That was another reason we fought. I wanted to know what I was, and she refused to tell me. I felt like a daughter whose mother wouldn’t tell her who her father was. She swore there’s no Mazoku in me, which actually makes sense, since she wasn’t even considering summoning them when she made me. That was before she started down that path."
        "How long ago did she make you?" Amelia asked, then backpedaled. "I mean, if you don’t mind my asking!"
        "I don’t mind," Lita replied with a warm smile. It felt good to tell them the truth. None of them looked ready to condemn her, either, or call her a fake, or "just a copy". They were genuinely interested in her. "I’m five years old. Lara started talking about involving Mazoku in her experiments two years later."
        "So did you kill her?" Lina asked sharply.
        Lita shook her head vehemently. "No. Absolutely not. She turned me out two years before she was killed. At the time of her death, I was halfway across the continent, ready to take ship from Kormurant." When Lina just looked skeptical, Lita pleaded: "I don’t know how you can check my story—but if you can, then do! It’s the truth! I didn’t kill Lara!"
        "Do you know who did?" Zelgadis asked.
        She shook her head slowly. "No. At first I thought one of the monsters she conjured took offense to being summoned by a mortal and killed her, then I realized a monster probably wouldn’t dump its victim’s body in a river. Then I wondered if maybe she’d just fallen into the river and drowned, but the newspaper article said she’d been strangled. I didn’t think monsters killed people like that, anyway, so I guessed it was a human that did it, but I can’t think of any humans who wanted her dead."
        "Except you," Lina persisted. "Face it, Lita, you’re the only one with a clear motive—unless you can finger somebody else."
        "I give up," Lita sighed in disgust. "You’re determined to think I’m a murderer, so no matter what I tell you it won’t do me any good. I’m telling the truth: I didn’t kill Lara, nor did I arrange for her to be killed, but I’ll help you find out who did kill her, if you’ll let me."
        Zelgadis and Amelia put their hands on her shoulders at the same time and blushed at the coincidence. Then in unison, they said: "I believe you."
        Amelia cleared her throat and added: "It’s wrong to convict somebody without enough evidence. I think you’re sincere and welcome your help in tracking down the true murderer and bringing them to justice!"
        "You would," Urlich, Lina and Zelgadis muttered under their breath.
        "And I know everybody here feels the same way!" Amelia went on, choosing to ignore her friends’ snide comment about her love of justice. "Right, guys?"
        Pause.
        "RIGHT, GUYS?!"
        "Oh, yeah, right, right," everybody hurried to assure her, even Urlich and a rather amused Jessica.
        Lita gave the Princess a beatific smile. "Thank you, Your Highness."
        "You’re in Seyruun, the capital city of justice and fairness," Amelia explained proudly, jumping to her feet to strike an appropriately patriotic pose. "Rest assured that the vast resources of Seyruun will be at your disposal to hunt down the murderous fiend who killed your sister—and the wicked monster who is trying to kill you, too, Miss Lita! I, Princess Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun give you my royal word of honor! IT SHALL BE DONE!"
        "Damn," Urlich grumbled into Lina’s ear, "does she do that a lot?"
        "This is nothing," Lina told him dryly. "You should see it when she tag teams with Phil. It’s totally mind blowing."
        "DON’T MOCK MY DADDY, MISS LINA!"
        "…eep…"

        Xellos could just vaguely sense a lot of very strong emotions coming from the mausoleum and wished to the gods he didn’t have that he could hear what was going on in there. Maybe Amelia was on a justice kick again. Those were always good for a snack when Lina was around. Damn! He was sure he was missing a lot of fun because of some crazy spell. And just who had cast that thing, anyway? He must definitely ask L-Sama about Lara Sorez’ tomb when they sat down to tea. Definitely. Hm. He should discuss Lita with his master, as well, but that could wait till the Lord of Nightmares had gone home. Power like that cute, little painter possessed was well worth courting, and if the new and improved Zelgadis could be bundled in with the package, all the better. Ah, and how his master’s eyes would shine if he was finally able to bring Lina Inverse into the fold! It was unlikely he’d score Lina after failing repeatedly in the past, but the path to success was paved with annoying persistence. He’d have to break her spirit a bit, he decided, weaken her defenses. Just corrupting the Princess wouldn’t do it. He’d have to do something to her idiot boyfriend, like…Xellos grinned a truly evil grin as an idea he’d never before entertained jumped into his crafty little mind. "Xellos, you sly devil," he congratulated himself as he hopped off the tombstone to go in search of a snack in Seyruun, "why didn’t you think of that before? Get to Lina through Dumdum!" With a happy giggle, he disappeared.

        Meanwhile, in Zhara’s parlor in Marrigan, Naga sat on a velvet couch with her legs pertly crossed and delicately sipped tea with her new business partners. Once they’d gotten Naga into their mother’s house, Ullan and Zellan had felt much more secure. The chaperone (Zhara) listened to the trio talk herbal and mineral mixtures, beauty treatments, architecture and interior design with a benign expression on her face. She sipped her wine and tried not to smile. They were so cute with their eyes all a-sparkle as they excitedly discussed their fondest dreams with that outrageous friend of Lina’s. Gods, who told that woman she could dress? And poor Ullan was almost hypnotized by her chest, which was threatening to pop out of her tiny, leather bra and bounced every time she laughed. That laugh was far worse than Lina had described and was only slightly more tolerable at lower decibels, upon which Zhara had insisted if Naga thought she was going to enter her house and do business with her sons. It had taken a gag spell to show Naga she meant it but now everybody was getting along just fine, and even Zhara was getting excited about the project. A classy hot springs spa in Marrigan. What a concept. Marketing the thing would be a bitch, considering Marrigan’s well-earned reputation as a deathtrap for mortals, but Zhara figured she’d address that problem when the spa actually opened. Hm, maybe locate it outside the city… At any rate, it was nice to have her boys home again and to see them so happy.
        "Speaking of happy, I wonder how Urlich and Jessica are faring in Seyruun?"

        "He’s gone."
        Everybody gathered behind Urlich to verify that Xellos was, indeed, gone so they could leave the mausoleum and feed Lina before she passed out from hunger.
        "Great!" Lina crowed. "The coast is clear! Let’s eat!"
        Urlich got his face mushed into the iron bars of the door in Lina’s haste to get out, then she pushed him down the stairs and disappeared in a cloud of dust. He picked himself up and brushed off his suit, complaining about uncouth gluttons in general and Lina Inverse in particular. Jessica slipped her arm into his on the way past and told him to lighten up and buy her an ice cream cone when they got back to the city.
        "She is the most disgusting, ill-mannered, greedy, badly-dressed, loud-mouthed woman I have ever met!" Urlich grumbled under his breath. "I can’t imagine what Gourry sees in her. Probably good in bed."
        SMACK!
        Gourry rubbed his hand and stepped over Urlich with a smirk. "Don’t talk that way about Lina."
        Zelgadis chuckled and enjoyed Urlich’s momentary lapse of self-control enormously. Amelia and Lita brought up the rear, chatting like old friends about how good the ice cream was in Seyruun and how Lita shouldn’t mind Lina, since the sorceress was always mean when she was hungry. Jessica helped Urlich to his feet and brushed him off with a chuckle. "You asked for that, Url, you really did."