They say when you talk to God, it's called prayer. When God talks to you, it's schitzophrenia. -Fox Mulder

        "So, Xellos, how are you finding Seyruun?" L-Sama asked the Trickster Priest sweetly, then took a delicate nibble of a cookie and watched his jaw stiffen ever so slightly. What are you up to, you tricky little weasel?
        Xellos smiled back, wondering how much she knew about what he was doing in Seyruun. "Oh, just lovely, My Lady! Seyrunn is such a tourist’s paradise, I enjoy every visit. Have you tried the soft serve ice cream?"
        Ah ha! He must be into something really big to be this evasive, she thought. This ought to be good. "I can’t say that I have. Is it very good?"
        "Delicious!" Xellos beamed, then took a sip of tea.
        Zellas smiled politely and poured him another cup. She, too, was wondering just what in the bloody hell he was scheming now. She was aware of the Zelgadis thing and endorsed it, since it would bring a very powerful sorcerer under her command—a sorcerer who was in the process of losing his conscience. Putting his own genetic material into Zelgadis’ copy body had really been one of Xellos’ better sparks of inspiration. The fact that it now enabled him to control Zelgadis like a puppet made it even better. But she got the feeling he was doing more in Seyruun than making a convert out of a misanthropic chimera, something to do with none other than the heir to the throne, herself. She remembered Princess Amelia’s attack on Xellos in Marrigan with great fondness, savoring anew the girl’s raw rage and murderous hate. It had been like honey to a bear. Could Xellos be trying to rekindle that dark spirit in Amelia and bring her into the fold, as well? Hm, not bad. Having a puppet on the throne of Seyruun could be useful, but they’d have to be careful. Garv had tried to do the same thing and failed miserably, thanks to Lina Inverse, who was also in Seyruun and had witnessed the Princess’ little temper tantrum in Marrigan. Lina might be watching Xellos, waiting for him to move on the Princess, which would make the plan dicey.
        Was that it? Was that all Xellos was up to? Just Zelgadis and Amelia? No, there had to be something bigger for him to be so evasive with L-Sama, bigger than new recruits from the ranks of the Good Guys. But what? Something or someone in Seyruun, other than Zelgadis and Princess Amelia. Lina Inverse again? No, he’d just about given up on recruiting her. Some secret knowledge he hadn’t told her about, perhaps something similar in magnitude to the Claire Bible? If so, what? Seyruun boasted many important magical texts, and Zellas was familiar with all of them. Was it possible they had one she didn’t know was there? She decided to quiz her minion after the Lord of Nightmares left.
        L-Sama watched Zellas try to keep a pleasant expression on her face while her mind went into overdrive, no doubt working on the same problem she was: What Xellos was up to this time that was big enough for him risk trying to hide it from God. Last time he’d tried that, in Marrigan, L-Sama thought she’d been far too merciful. If allowed to get away with cheekiness once, the servant fails to learn proper respect. Xellos would not get away with it this time, she vowed. No more Miss Nice God.
        "Ice cream," she frowned ever so slightly. "You’re telling me you’re in Seyruun for the ice cream?"
        Xellos forced himself to swallow a mouthful of tea and put down his tea cup without slamming it or rattling it on its saucer. Her tone and hard eyes made her position clear: She wasn’t going take any of his shit today, so he better cough up some legitimate-sounding information. He cleared his throat with a self-conscious chuckle and told her: "I was just making small talk, My Lady. Pay it no mind. If you want to know what I’m doing in Seyruun, you have only to ask, and I’ll be happy to tell you. I’m attempting to recruit Zelgadis Greywers and possibly Princess Amelia into my Master’s service. Zelgadis is my top choice, Amelia is second. If I can get both, I’ll be delighted, but just Zelgadis will do. There. Is that what you really wanted to know, My Lady?"
        A tiny smile lifted one corner of her painted pink mouth, and her eyes sparkled with amusement. He wasn’t telling her everything yet but he would with a little subtle probing, she was sure. And if he didn’t, he’d slip up somewhere along the line and reveal his hand to her in some way, if only with a single, critical clue. "So you hope to have someone you can control on the throne of Seyruun. I know you’re aware of Garv’s failure, what makes you believe you can succeed?"
        Xellos wasn’t fooled. It was obvious she suspected there was more to his story than the Zel/Amelia thing, so he had to be careful not to drop hints. In light of that, he couldn’t figure out how to ask her about the tomb. Maybe he shouldn’t. Maybe he should bug Lina about it, or even Urlich. Definitely not Jessica, considering her history with the Lord of Nightmares. Hm. Yes, asking Lina might be a safer plan than asking L-Sama. But how to get her to open up after his blunder with Dopey? He was sure Lara Sorez’ tomb contained something of critical importance if someone had gone to the trouble of making a spell to keep him out.
        Hold it. Zelgadis had been in the mausoleum several times in the past two days. If the spell was Xellos-specific, that part of himself that was in the chimera should have prevented Zel from entering the tomb. At the very least, it should’ve made trying to get in very painful. Furthermore, Urlich seemed able to come and go freely, and half of him was Xellos. Therefore, the spell wasn’t aimed specifically at him, but was more likely directed at full-blooded Mazoku! Unless the person who cast the spell had been clever enough to direct it at one who was full-blooded Xellos… The only way to know for sure was to have another Mazoku attempt to enter the mausoleum. If they were unable to do so, then he knew the problem was being fully Mazoku, rather than just fully himself. So who could he send? Zellas had made him, so she might not be the best candidate, but she was the only member of his race he even remotely trusted. He didn’t even trust her other minions, whom he saw as a bunch of weaklings, anyway, compared to himself. How humiliating it would be if one of them could get in when he couldn’t. They’d never let him live it down. He’d have no choice but to kill them all and find some way to explain it to his master.
        Alright, he’d hesitated long enough. Better answer L-Sama’s question. "I don’t know if I’ll succeed where Garv failed. Lina Inverse was the key to Garv’s failure to put a puppet on the throne of Seyruun, and Lina Inverse is staying at the Royal Palace. Furthermore, she’s on to me, and so is the Princess." He sighed dramatically and reached for a cookie. "I think I might have better luck if I concentrate my efforts on Zelgadis. He’s almost one of us, anyway. Shouldn’t be too far a stretch."
        "I thought he hated you," L-Sama reminded him coolly. "He might refuse your offer just because it’s you asking."
        Oh yeah. Xellos shrugged. "We’ll see. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I’ve always said. And I’ve stacked the deck in my favor this time, so maybe he’ll get over his feelings for me in favor of personal gain. Or maybe," he recrossed his legs under the table and took a bite of cookie, chewed and swallowed. "Maybe he’ll imagine he’ll be in a better position to destroy me if he’s part of the organization. He’ll fail, of course, but it’ll be delicious watching him try."
        L-Sama smiled. "What about his dream of becoming human again? You’re doomed to fail, Xellos. The most important thing to Zelgadis isn’t power, it’s restoring his body to its original form. Neither you nor Zellas has the power to do that, and he knows it." She accepted more tea from Zellas and added in a harder voice: "I told him there was no cure in this world, and there wasn’t. So I put one there for him, and told him he alone could find and use it. Zelgadis knows my cure is his only hope to be normal again. There is no other leverage you can use to convince him of anything than promising him a cure. Since he knows you can’t, you’ve already lost."
        "Ah," Xellos nodded. She was missing the point of the exercise: It wasn’t the destination but journey. Zelgadis was such a bottomless pit of angst and despair, especially now that he was struggling to come to terms with his Mazoku cravings, that it really didn’t matter if he took a job with Beast Master. The hatred he would feel when Xellos made the proposition was worth his refusing it. More than worth it. "Well, I still say it doesn’t hurt to try."
        "Knock yourself out," she chuckled. She did get the point but actually felt a little bit sorry for Zelgadis. His whole life had pretty much sucked from the get go, and people like Rezo and Xellos had only made it worse. Poor kid. And just when he was about to score with the Princess, too. Well, it wasn’t too late. He hadn’t found his cure yet, though he was sniffing around the most important piece of the puzzle—
        The mausoleum! Ha! That’s what Xellos was after in Seyruun. He must have tried to get in when Lina and her friends discovered the writing on the walls, only to find he couldn’t even see inside, much less enter! Damn! And she hadn’t been there to see his frustration! It must be eating him up, not knowing what’s in the tomb or who cast a spell to keep him out. Priceless! She decided not to ask him about it, since that would give away her involvement. Far more entertaining to let his curiosity eat him up while his favorite toy (Zelgadis) found his first legitimate bit of hope.
        Now that she’d figured that out, L-Sama finished her tea and, after a few more minutes of small talk, took her leave of the Metalliums, reminding Xellos once again that his plan to turn Zelgadis and/or Amelia was doomed to fail. Just so he’d think she thought that’s all he was doing in Seyruun. Then she returned to her home to watch the post-tea debriefing that would surely come now that she was gone.
        Xellos sighed and slouched in his chair, letting go the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. "She left too quickly," he thought to himself with a knot in his gut. Would she try to interfere with his plans, as she’d done in Marrigan? He had no illusions about being forgiven for that thing with her children a thousand years ago, no matter what she’d implied at dinner in Marrigan. The Lord of Nightmares still held a grudge against him and would find a way someday to avenge herself on him for choosing to save his family instead of hers. Using Ullan and Zellan hadn’t worked, which didn’t surprise him in the least, considering their pacifistic tendencies. That plan had failed eight hundred years ago and again last week. Serendipity had saved him both times. "Huh. It’s about time for my dumb luck account to go bankrupt," he thought sourly, citing that morning as the first indicator of trouble in that department.
        "Xellos," Zellas asked him in a voice that brought him out of his pity party in a major snap, "what are you really doing in Seyruun?"
        Should he tell her or not? She might know something useful… He decided he had nothing to lose. "The tomb of Dr. Lara Sorez is in Seyruun. It has a spell on it which prevents me from entering or seeing inside. No one will tell me what’s in the tomb, not Lina Inverse, not my son, not anybody I’ve asked. Who would put a spell on Lara’s tomb to keep me out? But more importantly, who would have that kind of power?"
        "L-Sama," Zellas told him flatly. "She has the power and the motivation. The question is: What’s in that tomb that she doesn’t want you to see?"
        Xellos shrugged and favored her with an evil smirk. "A dead human, as far as I know. What else could there possibly be?"
        "Treasure?" Zellas suggested. "Magical texts or talismans?"
        Xellos’ eyes lit up when she said "magical texts" and he giggled. Magical texts! Of course! If L-Sama was the one who cast the spell, she could very well have done it to protect Zelgadis’ cure, which she put in Lara’s tomb, knowing he’d go there! No, no, that couldn’t be right. Only Zelgadis was supposed to be able to find that cure she’d left for him, and Xellos knew for a fact that more people than Zelgadis had been in that tomb and had seen something troubling. Rumor had it Amelia had fainted because of what she’d seen. What could be scary enough to put the Princess into a faint? Aside from her father’s tacky taste. Hm. If it wasn’t the spell, itself, that was in the tomb, could it be merely a piece of it? Was the spell a puzzle that Zelgadis had to put together from pieces scattered throughout the world? Oh, how wonderful! Zelgadis would have to tear up the countryside, looking for clues left for him by God. Surely he’d fail a few times, bark up a few wrong trees and get seriously frustrated. Well, there was nothing to keep his least favorite monster in the world from tagging along, was there?
        "Master, I might be going on a little journey…"

        Gourry sat in a chair by the window and turned Firedrake before his eyes, watching as if hypnotized as the sunlight sparkled on its perfect steel surface. Lina slept on the bed, snuggled under a pile of covers for warmth. Occasionally she would sneeze, getting a quick, worried look from Gourry, then he’d go back to studying his magic sword. He replayed the battles with Xellos earlier that day, when he’d unlocked Firedrake’s mystical power without even trying. Everyone from Zhara to Xellos had told him how difficult that sword was to master, that someone who’d never held it before couldn’t possibly activate it on the first go. Zhara had suggested that his experience with the Sword of Light gave him an advantage, but she was still a bit surprised at how readily Firedrake had responded to his will.
        "I know for a fact that you’re not related Dolgen Feitt," she’d told him. "He was celibate his entire life, dedicated to the perfection of his spirit through mastering Firedrake. I don’t know how it is you were able to use his sword without years of hard work and meditation to recalibrate it to your lifeforce."
        "I guess Dolgen’s spirit likes me," Gourry had suggested with a shrug, "or he knew I was fighting Xellos for my life and helped me."
        With a sage nod, Zhara had conceded that he might just be right. "His spirit is a part of that sword, Gourry. Treat both with respect."
        "I always treat a sword with respect," he’d told her proudly. It was true. A sword was the deadliest, most efficient close-quarters weapon ever created, and a sword of Firedrake’s magnificent craftsmanship was a fearsome blade, indeed. It felt right in his hand, as if it had been forged especially for him. The balance was perfect, making the sword itself seem like an extension of his arm. No, it was an extension of his will, maybe even his spirit. Maybe Dolgen Fiett’s spirit had realized he was fighting Xellos and had decided to help him. The question was: Would he still be able to use the sword if he wasn’t fighting Xellos, or would he have to go through all that meditation and training Zhara had mentioned to make Firedrake his own?
        Gourry held Firedrake so its point aimed at the ceiling and turned it so the edge of the blade faced him. Beautiful. He’d never seen its equal in all his years as a wandering swordsman. Suddenly he gave the sword a wry smile and joked quietly: "If you were a woman, I’d marry you."
        "I heard that!" Lina grumbled from under the covers. "Let’s see it give you what I do. AH-CHOO!"
        Gourry chuckled and got up to fetch her a handkerchief from the nightstand. "Good point. You wouldn’t happen to feel like—"
        "AH-CHOO!"
        "Guess not." He waited till she’d blown her nose, then tucked her in and gave her a peck on the forehead. "I think you have a fever, Lina," he told her and tested her skin temperature with his hand. "Maybe you should let me get a doctor to have a look at you."
        Lina wanted to tell him she didn’t need a doctor, but her body told her she definitely had a head cold. "Okay."
        Gourry patted her shoulder and started to leave. "I’ll be right back."
        "No! Wait!" Lina cried, almost falling out of bed with the effort of trying to stop him before he got too far. "Don’t leave me alone. Please? Just call out the door for a servant to do it."
        Lina was scared? That was weird. Maybe it was just because she had a cold. Gourry smiled, went back to her bedside and pulled on the bell cord that hung over the nightstand. When the servant appeared at the door, he asked that a doctor be summoned for Lina, then went back to his chair to wait. "Don’t worry, Lina," he assured her bravely, "I won’t leave you. And I can use Firedrake enough to make Xellos think twice about messing with me."
        She nodded with a grateful smile and snuggled back under the covers. "Thanks, Gourry."
        "Well, I am your guardian, aren’t I?" He teased and was rewarded with a giggle that turned into a coughing fit. "Sorry. I’ll try not to be funny."
        "Good plan."

        Jessica stood in Lara’s mausoleum and pondered the hieroglyphs on the walls and the disturbing fresco on the ceiling. Urlich had told her Lina’s suspicion that Xellos couldn’t get into the tomb and didn’t know what was in there. That’s why he’d kidnapped Gourry, thinking the intelligence challenged swordsman might accidentally volunteer what was on the tomb walls. That plan had failed rather dramatically but had illustrated the point that Xellos had no clue what was inside Lara’s tomb, aside from the good doctor’s remains, but Jessica was beginning to wonder if those were there at all. The vines sealing the sarcophagus were what made her suspect something other than an innocent corpse was inside. What the contents could possibly be, however, she couldn’t guess. Nothing in that tomb made sense, Phil’s decor notwithstanding. Why was L-Sama’s creation spell painted on the walls? Why was the greatest battle between Seifeid and Shabranigdo painted on the ceiling? What were those vines supposed to keep inside that sarcophagus? And what did it all have to do with Lara Sorez?
        She wondered if the Lord of Nightmares knew and would actually tell her if she asked. Then she wondered if she had anything to lose, in spite of the little falling out she and her old boss had had eight hundred years ago. L-Sama had restored most of her powers, so maybe she was in a forgiving mood. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Jessica popped back to the palace to tell Urlich and Lina where she was going, just in case they needed to reach her while she was bonding with God.

        "Wow, why didn’t I think of that?" Lina asked nobody in particular when Jessica told her of her plans to ask L-Sama about the tomb paintings. "Ask her about the Sorez-thing, too. You know…Lara, Lita and maybe more copies?"
        Jessica nodded. "I can’t promise anything, but I’ll ask. Url? Any special requests?"
        Urlich shook his head. "Can’t think of anything, unless you think you can get her to make Dad bugger off."
        Jessica gave him a very deep frown.
        "Guess not." Urlich put his hand back on Lina’s forehead and continued healing her. He hadn’t been too sanguine about caring for the girl who’d torn his favorite cravat, but peer pressure worked on him as well as the next guy, so there he was. Actually, peer pressure from the loudest Royal family in the land had convinced him to use his magic on Lina. His healing power was stronger even than Princess Amelia’s, though Url figured the girl was more than up to the task. However, Amelia had insisted he do it, since it was his fault Lina had a cold in the first place. In Urlich’s opinion, the hot headed sorceress had gotten her just desserts for ripping his best cravat, but no one else saw it his way, especially Lina.
        Jessica patted him on the shoulder and kissed his cheek, then she was off to see the Lord of Nightmares.
        "Probably a futile exercise," Urlich sighed when she was gone. "We’re not exactly L-Sama’s favorite family."
        "Isn’t Jessica her high priestess?" Amelia asked. "Even if she did disobey orders before, the Lord of Nightmares gave her back her powers, so…" she shrugged.
        "So, what?" Url pressed her in a tight voice.
        "So maybe she’s forgiven Jessica," Amelia explained brightly, choosing to ignore Urlich’s impatient tone of voice, "so she’ll tell her about the paintings."
        Lina coughed. "If she had anything to do with them."
        "But it’s her creation spell, right?" Amelia persisted, looking from Lina to Urlich.
        Url shrugged. "True, but that doesn’t mean she knows why it’s there."
        "I wanna know what the deal is with those vines," Lina told them thoughtfully. "What’s in the sarcophagus that needs stone vines to keep it inside?"
        "You’re creeping me out again, Miss Lina," Amelia complained with a shiver. "Do you think Lara’s an evil zombie, or something?"
        Lina closed her eyes and sighed, lacking the energy to even try to think about that one, much less vocalize her thoughts to Amelia. "Speaking of Lara," she said instead, "where are Lita and Zelgadis?"
        "They went to the mausoleum," Amelia told her. "Daddy went along to make sure Zelgadis behaves himself."
        There was a stunned pause, then Urlich grumbled: "How long has it been since the last time you visited reality, Princess? Zelgadis is practically Mazoku. He’s also physically stronger and faster than your Daddy and more powerful, magically. Now, Phil’s a pretty big, energetic guy, and I’m sure he’s good to have around in a fight, but—"
        "Shut up, Url," Lina sighed, "she’s had a rough day. Just leave her alone for once."
        Blink. "I wasn’t picking on her! I was just being realistic!" He looked over his shoulder to find the Princess so mad she was practically blowing steam out of her ears. "Look, Princess, I’m just concerned about your Daddy, ok? I don’t trust Lita Sorez, I really don’t trust Zelgadis and I don’t even want to think about what kind of weird shit is inside that sarcophagus. Dammit, Amelia, if I’d known they were going to the tomb, I’d have sent Gourry with them!"
        "Should I go now?" Gourry asked worriedly and started to get up, but Amelia was suddenly in happy warrior of justice mode. Her face went from peeved to touched as Urlich spoke, but by the time he was done, the Princess had a happy tear trickling down her cheek. With a big sniffle, she launched herself at Urlich and wrapped him in a big hug from behind. "Oh, Urlich, you really do have a heart! I knew you weren’t as big a jerk as Lina thinks you are!"
        Lina coughed and blushed self-consciously at her frowning healer before turning a reprimanding glare on Amelia. "Jessica called him a jerk."
        Url shook his head. "Don’t worry about it. Everybody calls me a jerk sooner or later. I am you know," he added with smirk. "A rank bastard, and don’t you forget it."
        "I think I’ll go down to the tomb," Gourry said as he headed for the door. "You know, give Phil some back up if he needs it. Is that ok with you, Lina?"
        She didn’t want him to leave but knew he and Url were right: Gourry and Firedrake would be good to have handy if anything unexpected happened in the mausoleum. So she nodded at him and told him she’d feel better if he was there to give Prince Phil a hand if he needed it. "Be careful. I can’t predict Zel’s behavior anymore, Gourry. He’s not the guy we’ve known all these years, so stay sharp, ok?"
        He nodded gravely, then left.
        Lina closed her eyes and let Urlich finish his work as a chill grew in her stomach. This day was only going to get worse, she just knew it. "Damn you, Xellos," she thought bitterly, "what’s your problem now?"

        Zelgadis and Lita studied different walls of Lara Sorez’ tomb. Zelgadis worked on the wall that included the entrance, while Lita worked on the one to his right. That worked out great for Zel, since it made it easier for him to watch her expressions change as her mind worked. When he left out the Xellos part of his affair with Lara, looking at Lita was a pleasant bit of deja vu. She really was very pretty with her long, silky blonde hair, delicate round face and big, green eyes. Her figure was especially nice: All soft and curvy, just the way he liked it. He was getting a kick out of the cute way she bit her lip when she was turning over a particularly gnarly problem in her head. So she was a copy, big deal. Technically, so was he. But did she find him appealing? Zel’s heart sank. Probably not. How could she find a guy with stone skin and mucked up emotions appealing? Wait a sec! Didn’t she work with Lara? That would mean she, too, was a psychiatrist, or at least a counselor of some sort, right? Maybe she liked men with problems because she liked unraveling them! In that case, she’d have a mate for life with him.
        Prince Phileonel leaned against the back wall and watched Zelgadis and Lita with a suspicious scowl. He didn’t like the predatory way the chimera was looking at Lita, but since she didn’t seem unhappy, he knew Zel couldn’t be feeding off her. So it had to be attraction, especially considering the way he’d felt about Lara (even though it wasn’t really Lara, but Xellos disguised as Lara—the fiend!) Well, there was certainly nothing evil about love. Phil just felt sorry for any girl who got mixed up with Zelgadis in his current condition. Secretly, he was glad Amelia was backing off from her long-time affection for Zel in light of his new nature. He just wasn’t good for her anymore, if he ever had been, and Phil wasn’t so sure about that, either; Zel had always seemed a bit surly to him, a poor match for the perky Princess. But he’d supported Amelia’s love, since she was obviously so dead-set on having Zel for her own. It was admirable the way she adored him in spite of his monstrous appearance, seeing beneath the surface to the man inside. It brought a tear of pride to his eye to think of it. His Amelia had such a noble spirit!
        He turned his eyes from Lita and Zel to Lara’s sarcophagus. Like everyone else who had seen it, the Prince was mystified by the stone vines that seemed to be sealing something inside. The only way that made sense was if someone had stolen Lara Sorez’ body after the burial. If he’d had any reason to think something like that might happen, Phil would’ve put guards on the tomb. Hadn’t killing her and throwing her body into the river been enough for that disgusting criminal? What sicko would steal a dead body? And for what fiendish purpose? His eyes immediately went to Lara’s copy, Lita, and he had his answer. But could a dead body provide viable genetic material, or did it have to come from a living source to make a copy? He had a good idea of who might know the answer.
        Phil cleared his throat. "Excuse me, Lita," he began self-consciously, "I know this is probably a sensitive topic for you, but…I was just thinking about these vines and wondering if Lara’s body isn’t even in here anymore," he lay a respectful hand atop the sarcophagus and cleared his throat again. "What I’m wondering is: Could someone have stolen Lara’s body and did all this stone work without us knowing it. Er…more specifically, if you don’t mind answering questions about this, I was wondering why someone would steal a dead body, and, er…I thought of copy making, you see…and I wondered if…er…"
        "If copy material can come from a dead body?" Lita finished for him in a thoughtful tone. She bit her lip as she thought about it. "Hm…I’m not sure. I’ve never seen any documentation to show that someone had tried to use material from a non living organism. Are you suggesting someone might have taken Lara’s body so they could make a copy of her, Your Highness?"
        Phil flushed red and coughed. "That was my thought, yes…"
        Zelgadis frowned. "The research you and Lara did," he asked her carefully, "did it involve a lot of copying? You told us Lara made you but wasn’t willing to disclose details about the donors she used, outside of herself. Did you do a lot of research into copy making? I mean, would you consider yourself an expert on the subject?"
        Lita fidgeted, then admitted she wouldn’t consider herself an expert, as such. "As far as I know, I’m the only copy Lara made, of herself or anyone else. I do know that she used the copy machine at the main copy research facility in Sairaag." She brightened and added: "They’d know! You could send a message to them if you really want to know the answer."
        "Just don’t include the name Lina Inverse," Zelgadis snorted, "or Amelia’s or Gourry’s names, either. They managed to get on the facility’s bad side last time we were in Sairaag."
        "Oh?" Phil asked pointedly. Amelia hadn’t said anything about visiting the copy research facility, much less getting on its bad side. "And how did they do that, exactly?"
        Zel smirked. "They blew up the machines by accident, making copies of Lina and Gourry."
        Oddly, that made all the sense in the world to Phil. "Ah! I knew it: Amelia was just an innocent bystander—"
        "She was the one injecting the growth solution, actually," Zelgadis interrupted with satisfaction. That’s it, Phil…dismay, disbelief, anger. Lovely. "So the copies wouldn’t have grown too fast and blown up the machines if she hadn’t kept putting in more growth solution." Ok, so it had really been Lina who had overdosed the growth solution. Details, details.
        Phil’s jaw snapped shut in shock.
        "But I’m sure if you asked in someone else’s name," Zel went on, reveling in the Prince’s discomfort, "I’m sure they’d be happy to help you. Why don’t you send a personal message, Your Highness? Who could refuse the Crown Prince of Seyruun on a matter of this importance?"
        Burble.
        "Or maybe your theory is far-fetched, after all," Zelgadis mused, tapping his chin with his finger. "Why would someone steal Lara’s body of all the bodies in this cemetery? Surely there are greater luminaries than her around here." He began to pace as he talked the problem through, still tapping his finger on his chin. "Perhaps it was all that monster summoning she was doing… We still haven’t ruled out a monster as the murderer, though the way in which she was murdered and her body dumped does indicate it was a human. Even if a copy can be made from a dead body, why make another copy of Lara when we already—" He froze in mid-sentence. Lita wasn’t a perfect copy of Lara. She’d said it herself: Lara had injected other genetic material into her to make her a little bit different from the original.
        Zelgadis spun about and pointed a finger first at Lita, then Phil. "That’s it! They wanted a perfect copy of Lara! Lita, you said Lara put other material into you to give you variety, so you’re not a perfect copy of the original!" Suddenly his face fell back into an expression of deep thought. "But why would someone want a perfect copy of Lara?"
        "It seems to me," Phil grumbled, "that you would be the only one with a motive for that, but you didn’t arrive in Seyruun until long after her funeral."
        Lita was shaking her head throughout Phil’s reply. "No, I don’t think anyone stole Lara’s body for copy material," she said slowly. "If her body was found floating in a river, then it couldn’t have been in very good condition, possibly not even good enough condition to get a usable sample from it."
        Phil nodded. "She looked pretty bad, poor woman. We estimated she’d been dead for days before her body was found."
        "You may be right then," Zel agreed, "and her body wasn’t stolen. At least," he cast a thoughtful glance at the sarcophagus, "not for making a copy."
        A troubled silence fell upon the mausoleum as they pondered what use anybody could have for Lara Sorez’ dead body, if not to make a perfect copy of her, and if they did make a perfect copy…why? Zelgadis turned his eyes upward to the battle on the ceiling and wondered afresh what it had to do with Lara and L-Sama’s creation spell. "Maybe it’s just unrelated artwork," he wondered to himself, but some artwork! The realism of it gave even him chills.
        Lita and Phileonel followed his gaze, and the three of them stood staring at Shabranigdo duking it out with Seifeid in a sea of flames until Lita started to feel a bit dizzy. And yet, she couldn’t pull her eyes away from the scene over her head. It was so real, as if she was watching it happen through a window into the past. She imagined she could feel heat on her face from the flames, hear the mighty roars of the combatants as they struggled to destroy one another, wind whipping her hair, the ground rumbling… Then all of a sudden everything went black.
        "Lita!" Zelgadis cried when she collapsed. He and Phil rushed to her side. Zelgadis patted her cheeks and urged: "Lita! Lita, answer me! Are you alright? What happened? Lita!"
        She shook her head and groaned painfully. Why did her head hurt so much? Then she slowly opened her eyes. The first face she saw was Prince Phil’s, which she recognized with a smile. "Your Highness," she moaned, "where am I?"
        "You don’t remember?" Zelgadis asked worriedly.
        She turned her head to find the source of the voice and almost choked when she saw Zelgadis. "Who are you?"
        There was a long pause, then Phil took her hand in his and gave it a fatherly pat. "You just looked at that horrible painting for too long, Miss Lita. It scared Princess Amelia into a faint yesterday."
        "Lita?"
        "Oh gods," thought Zelgadis in dismay, "she doesn’t even remember who she is!" He exchanged a worried look with Prince Phil.
        "Lita’s dead," she told them and sat up with help from Zelgadis. "I’m Lara."