I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking so good, either. -Scott Adams

      "WHAT?! WE ONLY GOT FOUR CLUES RIGHT?!" Lina screamed in Zelgadis’ face, causing the chimera to take several cautious steps back. Despite his new nature, he still found Lina Inverse in a rage pretty intimidating. Also, delicious (if she didn’t make him so nervous at the same time). Lina stabbed her finger in Zel’s face and growled: "Are you sure that’s what Melfinius said?"
        Zelgadis slapped her finger aside. "Of course I’m sure. I’m not deaf!"
        She plopped down onto the sofa to think. "So the only ones we got right were the battleground of Seified and Shabranigdo, Naga, Firedrake and *gulp* the Knight of Seified?"
        Naga clapped her hands together with delight. "Am I really a clue, Lina?"
        "She can’t get a clue," Lina muttered under her breath, "but she can be one. Go figure."
        "Excuse me?" Naga demanded, suddenly appearing on the couch beside Lina and getting in her face. "Could you repeat that, Lina?"
        Lina cleared her throat. "It’s, um, nothing. Forget it. Good to see you again, Naga."
        "I knew you couldn’t stay away from me for long, Lina! I, Naga the Serpent, your loveliest and most powerful rival! OH-HOHOHOHOHO!"
        "You’ll be my most dead rival if you don’t stop doing that!" Lina grumbled as she rubbed her fingers in her ears.
        Amelia shyly sat down on Naga’s other side and lay an awkward hand on her older sister’s arm, bringing Naga about with a start. They stared at each other like frightened deer for a moment, then Amelia asked: "I don’t understand how you’re a clue, Naga."
        Naga opened her mouth to say something boastful about her beauty, her talent, her power…then changed her mind. "I don’t know," she replied slowly, holding Amelia’s eyes for as long as she could bear it. Little Amelia was so grown up! And so serious. Was that because of their mother’s murder? Or because of her experiences since then? Either way, Naga hoped Amelia would want to tell her about it, if only they could find a moment alone. She’d never realized she actually missed her family until one of them was right there in front of her.
        Amelia wanted so to take Naga’s hands in her own, or to wrap her in a big hug, right in front of everybody but she controlled herself. That could come later, when they were alone. Naga seemed to want to keep her secret, and Amelia was resolved to respect that. "Well," she said with a little blush, "I guess we’ll find out as we go!" She looked around Naga at Lina and added brightly: "Right, Miss Lina?"
        What was up with Amelia and Naga, Lina wondered. Had they met before? "Uh, yeah, right. Absolutely!"
        "But what are we going to do about those other three clues?" Gourry asked as he sat down in a chair near Lina. "We can’t go back to Seyruun. Phil won’t let us."
        "Phil won’t let Zelgadis go back to Seyruun," Urlich corrected him, doing that Xellos finger and a wink thing to everyone’s annoyance but Naga’s, since she’d never met the Trickster Priest. "The rest of us can come and go as we please."
        Zelgadis took a chair opposite Gourry. "So someone needs to go back to Seyruun and look for more clues in the fresco. I vote for Amelia."
        Amelia narrowed her eyes at him. "You would. I’m the only one who can really keep you in line!"
        "Not so," Jessica interjected coolly. "Urlich and I have a great deal of experience dealing with Mazoku. That’s why your father wanted us to accompany Zelgadis on his quest."
        "For a nice, fat fee," Zelgadis muttered.
        Urlich grinned. "It was his idea."
        "You didn’t turn it down," Zelgadis argued smugly.
        "Oh, like you would have!" Lina accused.
        Zelgadis snickered. "Anyway, I think Amelia should go, since no one’s going to keep the Princess out of her own city. Jessica should go with her because of her vast, arcane knowledge. Discussion?"
        Zhara sighed. "I agree with Zelgadis. Princess Amelia and Queen Jessica are the best choices to return to Seyruun for more clues. I would only add Lina to that team."
        Lina shook her head vehemently. "No way. Uh-uh. I am not letting Zelgadis out of my sight."
        "What do you think I’m gonna do, Lina?" Zel shot back heatedly. "Pillage villages on the way? Start chumming around with Xellos?"
        "No," Lina retorted, "I think he’ll chum around with you, and since he seems to be able to control you like a puppet, you’ll need somebody on hand to free you."
        "Which is why I should stay with Zelgadis!" Amelia jumped in. "I can lovey-dovey Xellos into a coma! I make him sick! None of you can pour on the love for all mankind thing like I can! Admit it!"
        Lina frowned. "I hate to say it, Amelia, but you have a valid point."
        Ullan cleared his throat and raised his hand. "Um, excuse me. I know I’m not technically part of the search party, so my opinion probably doesn’t count, but…"
        "Actually," Jessica encouraged him, "according to Melfinius, you are, since you had dinner with L-Sama last week. So your opinion does matter."
        Ullan blinked. "Oh. Really?"
        Jessica nodded. "As well as Zellan, Sylph, Zhara, Xellos and Beast Master."
        "But we haven’t figured out what Xellos’ and Beast Master’s roles are," Lina added quickly. "Anyway, you were saying?"
        "Well, I was just going to say that," Ullan looked around at friends, family and business partner and blushed. "Well, you see, I know Zellan and I have sort of been the Sons of Chaos for centuries—you know: Big, bad, unwashed, drunken wreakers of havoc. But, I think I’m, well, you know, not really like that, right? I’m really a pretty nice guy and—"
        "Make your point, little brother," Zellan mumbled and elbowed Ullan in the ribs.
        Ullan cleared his throat again. "What I want to say is, I can be super-nice, too, and…um…" he blushed and hung his head. "Nevermind. I’ll go make tea, ok?"
        "No, wait a second," Lina stopped him as he headed for the kitchen. "I know what you mean, Ullan. I mean, you seem like a really nice guy to me, but do you think you can do the peace and love thing after being a Son of Chaos all those years?"
        Ullan blushed some more, then caught Gourry’s hard stare and stood up straighter. Was that guy really still jealous of him? "Sure I can! I’m more dragon than Mazoku, you know. So’s Zellan. He just won’t admit it."
        "You mean, you’re more human," Zellan sighed and rolled his eyes. "Our father was human, so we’re half human and one quarter each dragon and Mazoku."
        "Yeah, but Dad had a piece of Shabranigdo in him," Ullan argued, "and was a powerful sorcerer, so he was more than human."
        "Guys," Lina sighed, "we’re getting off track, here. I appreciate your offer, Ullan, but I think we can deal with Xellos."
        "What does he want this time?" Sylph asked quietly from a chair next to Gourry’s. "To keep Zelgadis from finding his cure? Why would he care?"
        "Ruining my life some more is only part of it," Zelgadis replied. "He wants me to join him and work for Beast Master. I’m pretty sure that’s it. I’m powerful to begin with but with a part of him in me, I’m even more powerful—plus, as Lina pointed out, he’s able to control me. He’s already done it once."
        Sylph bit a claw thoughtfully. "He wants to recruit you… I suppose that would give him a reason to keep you from finding your cure. He may lose his power over you if you became human again. On the other hand," she held out her other hand to illustrate, "if you become human, you’ll be worthless to him, since your power is attached to your current form. Isn’t that what you told me?"
        Zelgadis nodded. "I don’t care about losing my power. I just want to be normal again."
        "What I’m driving at is this," Sylph went on, "There must be something about you that he wants, otherwise he wouldn’t try to stop you from getting your cure."
        "He’d do it to make me miserable!" Zelgadis snapped.
        "That’s only gratifying for a short time," Zhara said thoughtfully. "I agree with Sylph: If he’s trying to keep you from getting your old body back, there’s a reason. Maybe that reason is he wants you in Beast Master’s service very badly. In that case, I can tell you from experience, he’ll just kill you if you become human again instead of accepting his offer, if he’s that determined. But I’ve never seen him this determined without direct orders from his master."
        "Maybe he does have orders from his master," Lina mused, "but that’s not what we’re trying to decide! Someone has to go back to Seyruun. I agree with Zelgadis: It should be Amelia and Jessica. Jessica is powerful enough to protect Amelia from Xellos—or at least get her away from him if he attacks them. I think he’s more interested in Zelgadis. So, Amelia and Jessica should go back to Seyruun to find more clues. The rest of us will either stay here and try to figure out why and/or how Naga and Firedrake are clues, or go to one of the other clue sites and see what we can find there. All in favor?"
        "Hold it!" Zelgadis interrupted. "I think we should split into more than two teams to cover more ground in less time. Amelia and Jessica will go to Seyruun. Lina, you lead the team that goes to Zefilia to find your sister the Knight of Seified."
        "Your sister’s a Knight of Seified?!" Ullan and Zellan exclaimed together.
        Zelgadis frowned at them for interrupting him and went on. "Yes, her sister is a Knight of Seified. Luna Inverse. You probably haven’t heard of her since you were sealed out of the world until last week. May I continue?"
        The Sons of Chaos looked sheepish. "Uh, yeah. Sorry." Zellan coughed.
        "Thank you," Zelgadis growled. "Lina, Gourry and Naga will go to Zefilia. I’ll take Urlich and Lara with me to the battleground. Since Prince Phil is paying Url to babysit me, I figure he’ll follow me whether I like it or not."
        Amelia glared at him. "Why Lara?"
        Lara leaned back in her chair and smirked. "Because he doesn’t want me out of his sight, of course, Your Highness. He’s curious about me and doesn’t trust me."
        "That goes for all of us," Lina snorted.
        ::Excuse me,:: Icedrake interrupted impatiently. ::Do you mind telling me what’s going on?::
        "Later, ok? I’m kind of busy right now!" Lina hissed back.
        "Who are you talking to?" Zelgadis asked her in irritation, then remembered about her sword and nodded. "Icedrake, right? Can she hear me?"
        ::Of course, idiot. I’m not deaf::
        Lina fought down a smirk. "She says ‘of course, idiot, I’m not deaf.’"
        Zelgadis thumped his fingers on the arm of his chair. "You two are perfect for each other."
        "Hey!"
        "My ancestor Rezo the Red Priest," Zelgadis began, "turned me into a chimera—"
        "Because you wanted power like his," Lina interjected smugly, "and didn’t want to work for it."
        Zelgadis fought for control. "He turned me into a chimera, and I’ve been trying to find the counter spell ever since. Last week, the Lord of Nightmares told me there was no existing cure, so she put one in the world for me. It’s split up into seven pieces, and the clues to the pieces are in this fresco that’s painted in Lara Sorez’ tomb in Seyruun—"
        ::I thought she was Lara Sorez::
        "She says ‘I thought she was Lara Sorez,’" Lina translated and pointed at Lara.
        "Maybe she is, maybe she’s Lita Sorez, like she was until the fresco scared her yesterday and turned her into Lara." Zelgadis retorted tightly."
        ::That must be some fresco::
        "It’s creepy as hell," Lina filled her in. "It’s the battle between Seified and Shabranigdo, only it’s so realistic, it’s like you’re really there. It made Amelia have nasty visions."
        ::Sounds fabulous. You mortals are so fragile::
        Lina had just about lost her patience with "mortal" being used as a derogatory term. "Excuse me? Who’s dead here? You got killed, meaning you were mortal, too."
        ::Barring violent intervention, my lifespan would have been limitless. I can’t say the same for yours::
        "But you were killed," Lina argued. "Mortality."
        ::I don’t need this::
        "Fine. I don’t need you, either."
        ::Give me to Gourry, then!::
        "I will!" Lina pulled Icedrake out of her belt and was about to hand the sword over to Gourry when Icedrake stopped her.
        ::No, wait! I didn’t think you’d really do it, you idiot! He’d always use Firedrake and never use me!::
        "Apologize."
        ::For what?! You insulted me!::
        "Did not!"
        ::You called me mortal!::
        "And what’s so insulting about that?"
        Zelgadis growled and threw up his hands in disgust. "Do you Ladies mind if we get some business done, here?"
        Lina bit her lip but stuck Icedrake back in her belt. "You can apologize later."
        ::You, too!::
        "I have nothing to—"
        "Linaaaaa!" Zelgadis raged.
        "Sorry."
        ::What an asshole. Is he always like that?::
        Lina snickered. "He’s worse now that he has part of Xellos in him, but yeah, he was always kind of like this."
        "Like what?" Zelgadis demanded at the same time as Icedrake sighed:
        ::Poor kid. I wouldn’t wish Xellos on anybody::
        Lina giggled.
        Zelgadis boiled over. "WHAT’S SO DAMN FUNNY?!"