Make God laugh--plan for the future. -Anonymous

        "ZHARAAAAAA!"
        Zhara flinched ever so slightly as she moved from the central table in the library to a shelf by the window and ascended the rolling ladder in search of a book on the top shelf. Lina’s angry voice jangled the crystal in the chandelier which hung from the middle of the vaulted ceiling, as well as Zhara’s nerves. She gritted her teeth and prepared for the assault she’d been anticipating ever since she lifted her sleep spell at sunrise. Hopefully, Lina wouldn’t notice she’d been ensorcelled, or the ensuing conversation could get ugly.
        The woman herself stormed into the library with her furious companions (and a rather amused-looking Naga) in tow. Ullan and Zellan charged up behind the group, looking like they’d only just barely managed to throw on some clothes before coming downstairs to see what Lina was freaking out about. Seeing Zhara atop the ladder, Lina stomped over to stand at the foot of it with her hands on her hips, angry red face upturned.
        "You just let Zelgadis leave without telling me?!" She screamed.
        Zhara’s jaw tightened, but she kept her expression calm as she found the book she sought and descended the ladder with it. "I knew you’d stop him and make him come back here," she explained coolly, "rather than letting him get on with his part of the quest, and you get on with yours. I know you’ll do just about anything to get out of going to Zefilia. Anyway," she set the book down onto the table next to the other immense tome and began flipping through it, looking for a certain chapter, "I sent Urlich and Lita ahead of him and Sylph to intercept him."
        Amelia, Gourry, Naga and the Sons of Chaos gathered around the table while Lina fumed at Zhara’s side, trying to get in her face. However, Zhara was more interested in the books than Lina’s gripe. "How dare you not tell me?! Zel’s my friend—"
        "Our friend!" Amelia corrected sternly.
        Lina waved a dismissing hand at her. "That’s what I meant. You should have told us he—"
        Zhara carried on as if no one had said anything to interrupt her previous train of thought: "And while chatting with Lita, Urlich had a bit of a revelation about what Dr. Sorez was doing with Mazoku in her lab."
        "—left in the middle of the—" Lina stopped and blinked at Zhara. "He had a what?"
        Zhara smirked. She found the chapter she was looking for and began to search for a specific passage. "A revelation, an epiphany, a moment of enlightenment. I think he might be on to something."
        "Specifically…?" Lina prodded impatiently.
        "Dr. Sorez didn’t make those copies of herself as decoys for an assassin," Zhara explained, looking up from her book to meet Lina’s eyes for the first time, "she made them as vessels to host pieces of dead Dark Lords—or at least one Dark Lord that we know of for sure: Garv the Chaos Dragon."
        Zellan gasped: "Mum, are you sure?"
        "You mean it wasn’t an accident?" Amelia asked in a shaky voice.
        "Why would she want to do that?" Lina asked at the same time.
        Zhara took in her audience one by one. "Good question. Url asked me to do a little research to see if it’s even possible. I have Melfinius working on it with Jessica at his shop." She returned her gaze to her books and added irritably: "I’ve been trying to reach my father, but he never responds when I actually want him around."
        Lina nodded with a knowing smirk. "I’m familiar." She came closer to see what Zhara was looking at. The runes in one of the books looked like the ones in Lara’s tomb, but Lina couldn’t identify the runes in the other book. "What are these runes?" She asked, pointing at the ones that were unfamiliar to her.
        "Copied from ancient Mazoku texts," Zhara explained. "Jessica gave them to me, though L-Sama only knows what she was doing with them. These two books basically contain the same sort of spell from two sides of the coin, as it were: This one contains the Mazoku version of the creation spell, while this one has L-Sama’s spell—with annotations, cross references, etc, etc, etc…The Lord of Nightmares is a detail person." She waved her hand around as she spoke and almost smacked Amelia in the face as the Princess came around to her side of the table to have a look at the Mazoku text, herself.
        Amelia didn’t actually expect to recognize any of the Mazoku runes and was very much surprised to discover one or two of them actually looked familiar. "I’ve seen these before," she thought aloud, pointing to the two familiar runes. "They were in Lara’s tomb…on the sarcophagus, I think."
        Lina looked at the runes. "I don’t remember seeing those there. Are you sure they weren’t in one of your visions?"
        Amelia shook her head. "No, I’m sure I saw them on the sarcophagus when it grabbed me." She looked at Zhara and found the horned woman staring at her very keenly. Amelia took a step back and asked hesitantly: "Can you read them?"
        Everyone else was now leaning over the table to see the runes, though Zhara was the only one in the room who could read them. Even Naga was curious, mushing her gargantuan breasts onto the table as she leaned over with her bottom in the air to get a better view. Zhara’s sons turned quite red at that.
        "I can read them very well," Zhara told Amelia with an expression that didn’t make the Princess feel any more at ease beneath her sharp, amber eyes. "As I said, both are creation spells, though the Mazoku spell calls an astral form into the physical plane, rather than creating life from nothing. Those two runes are part of a spell that a dispersed Mazoku can use to reform the body it used in the physical plane. As you know, Mazoku exist in the Astral Plane, but the more powerful of them can take physical forms in this one. The most powerful can pass flawlessly as humans," she gathered everyone’s attention back to herself with a long, steady gaze, "which should tell you something about Xellos’ power."
        Lina nodded thoughtfully. "Garv told us Xellos is the most powerful Mazoku outside of the five Lords made by Shabranigdo. Until then, I thought he was a human sorcerer, though I sort of suspected there was more to him than that. I didn’t think he was Mazoku, though." She tapped the runes Amelia had pointed out. "I’ve never seen runes like these before, and I’ve read a lot of magical texts—more than the average magic user—so I find it hard to believe Lara Sorez could’ve gotten her hands on these, much less been able to read and understand them."
        "Unless somebody translated them for her," Gourry suggested thoughtfully. "If she was experimenting on Mazoku, she could’ve gotten one of them to read it for her, right?"
        Lina smiled at him. When Gourry’s brain had a moment of clarity, it was a wonder to behold. "I guess she could have, if bringing back dead Dark Lords was something they thought they needed her to do for them, which I doubt. Still…" she tapped her chin as she considered.
        ::We’re a capricious breed:: Icedrake told her smugly. ::We don’t think like you do. I for one would love to have my master back in the world to finish what he started::
        Lina glared at her sword and growled: "I bet you would! L-Sama killed your master, and I personally hope he stays that way."
        "Icedrake again?" Zhara asked with a raised eyebrow. "She wants Phibrizzo back, eh?"
        Lina nodded with an unpleasant frown on her face. "The Lord of Nightmares destroyed him, herself, so I don’t think he’s coming back," she said as much to Zhara as to her sword. However, she wasn’t as confident of that as she would’ve liked. She’d thought Hellmaster had destroyed Garv completely, yet there was a piece of him in Lita. Who was to say that Urlich’s theory wasn’t correct, and Lara had managed to put a piece of the most powerful Lord under Shabranigdo into the body of a copy? What if she’d called a piece of Shabranigdo into a copy, too? Lina had to lean on the table to keep her knees from buckling under her at the thought of Shabranigdo in the world again.
        "How many surviving Lara copies are there?" She asked the room at large. "Does anybody remember what Xellos said?"
        Zhara shook her head. "I don’t know. That’s one of the reasons I wanted him here—"
        "On the off chance that he’d actually give you a straight answer?" Amelia sneered. "Yeah, right! Even if he did answer, he’d probably not tell us everything, or just lie to us. Why even bother?" She crossed her and tossed her head with a huff. "You of all people should know not to trust him, Miss Zhara!"
        A low growl rumbled in Zhara’s throat as she stood up to her full height to glare at the angry Princess. "My father is more likely to level with me than with anyone else. That’s what I know, Princess. Solving this mystery is in his best interest, as well, so I think he’ll work with us on this one."
        Amelia looked away with angry tears stinging her eyes and said nothing. There was an uncomfortable silence filled only with Zhara’s feral growl, then Lina said: "I agree with Zhara. If any of the dead Lords come back in any form, it’s in Beast Master’s—and Xellos’—best interest to know about it. I think he said he was able to account for four copies made and was pretty sure all but one were dead. I don’t know if he meant aside from Lita/Lara, or if he meant her, though."
        "Urlich seemed to take it to mean there was another outside of Lita/Lara," Zhara told her. Then she turned to Amelia and lay a hand on her shoulder. "I’m sorry, Princess. I’m upset about this, and took it out on you. You’re right about my father: He can’t be trusted, but I really believe he’ll give us at least some useful information on this because it has such serious repercussions for him and his master."
        Amelia wiped her eyes and nodded. "I hate him…"
        "With good reason," Zhara assured her with a light pat on her shoulder, then returned her attention to her books. "But we need to know what he knows, and he’s decided to be stubborn today."
        "I’ll bet he’s with Zel," Gourry snarled. "Do you think Url and Sylph’ll be enough to protect him from that puppet spell Xellos put on him?"
        Zhara sighed. "I don’t know. The longer Zelgadis has that piece of Xellos in him, the harder it will be to free him from the spell. That’s why I let him go without telling you," she looked at Lina, then Gourry and Amelia. "I have this terrible feeling that he’s running out of time."
        "Me, too," Amelia said in a small voice.
        Lina agreed. "I’d rather be with him, though," she sighed. "He’s my—our—friend."
        "And you’ll serve him best by going on with your plan to go to Zefilia, while Amelia and Jessica return to Seyruun for another look at the tomb," Zhara retorted firmly. "Princess, join Jessica at Melfinius’. You can leave for Seyruun from there, hopefully armed with more information to help you find those missing clues. Lina, Naga and Gourry: I think you should leave for Zefilia as soon as possible. I’ll continue my research, here, with Ullan and Zellan and keep trying to reach my father. If he comes to you first, quiz him then report back to me. I’ll keep in touch with Urlich and let you know how Zel’s doing."
        Lina nodded. "I think we should check in with each other at certain times everyday. I vote for evening, right after dinner. Any objections?"
        Zhara shook her head, then looked at the others, who shrugged.
        "Sounds like a plan to me," Gourry said. "Amelia?"
        The Princess nodded, smiling for the first time since she entered the library. "I think that’s a good idea. Zhara can tell Urlich what clues we find, and he can tell Zelgadis." Her face fell all of a sudden, and she added: "I guess Zelgadis wouldn’t want us bugging him directly, huh?"
        Lina frowned thoughtfully. "Probably not, but that won’t stop me if I find something!"
        Amelia and Gourry grinned and nodded.
        "Alright," Zhara declared, "I guess we’re ready to go, then. Get some food in your bellies and get out of here."
        With a Go Team cheer, Lina, Gourry, Amelia and Naga dashed out of the library in search of breakfast. Ullan and Zellan, having no illusions about who was expected to prepare said breakfast, followed with a dejected slump to their shoulders. They barely reached the door when their mother stopped them.
        "Please come back here and help me when they’ve left," she ordered, then looked up to see if they heard her. "I know I’m working you two pretty hard—"
        "It’s ok," Ullan told her with an affectionate smile. "It’s nice to be useful in these forms and not have to be Them."
        Zellan grinned and nodded. "But if you need the Sons of Chaos again, Mum…"
        "I’ll let you know," she smiled. "Now scoot."

        Meanwhile, on a well-traveled road south of Seaward…
        "Zelgadis, I’m tired!" Lita complained. "Can’t we please stop and sleep for a little while? We’ve been walking all night, and some of us aren’t super-human!"
        Zelgadis gave her a condescending sneer. "So that unknown part of you isn’t Mazoku, eh? You’d have no trouble keeping up with us if it was."
        She sighed. "Whatever. Can’t we please stop?"
        "No."
        Lita misted up and turned to Urlich for support. He looked as fresh as a daisy, though the spring in his step wasn’t quite as bouncy as Zelgadis’. Lita suspected the chimera was just doing that to make her feel worse and wondered if part of her weakness wasn’t due to making a meal for her stony traveling companion. No, she thought, it was definitely due to the fact that they’d been walking for almost six hours, non-stop.
        Urlich clamped a hand down onto Zelgadis’ shoulder and stopped, forcing Zel to stop with him. Sylph stopped, too, and Lita outright collapsed. The others on the road just went around the group, staring at them suspiciously as they passed. "You’re killing her, Zel. Let’s stop at the next village and rest."
        Zelgadis growled at him, which naturally had no effect on Urlich. "We don’t have time to waste. If she can’t take the pace, then forget her."
        Lita started crying, more from frustration and weariness than from Zelgadis’ harsh words.
        Urlich and Sylph lashed out at Zelgadis for her.
        "Don’t be such an asshole!" Urlich snarled.
        "Yeah," Sylph chimed in with a very hard tug on Zelgadis’ ear. "Knock it off, Zel. I’m tired and hungry, too, so we’re stopping at the next village." She twisted his ear until his eyes watered. "No argument!"
        Zelgadis growled but finally agreed. "She’ll just slow us down!" He whined as soon as Sylph let go of his ear.
        Urlich offered Lita his hand, but she couldn’t get off the ground, even with his help. With a disgusted sigh and dirty look for Zelgadis, Urlich crouched down and put her on his back. Zelgadis was right about her slowing them down but that was no excuse for this kind of treatment, even for a guy who was turning into a Mazoku. "You know, Zel," he quipped, "you get more and more like my dad everyday. He’d be just this callous."
        Zelgadis’ back stiffened, and he turned his head very slowly to glare at Urlich. Url just grinned back. "I’m not like him," Zelgadis hissed, "and I never will be!"
        "Of course not," Urlich agreed mockingly. "It just looks that way to those of us who know him better than you do."
        Sylph sighed. "Guys…can we just get to the next village in peace?" She brushed Lita’s hair out of her eyes, then took off the woman’s glasses and put them in a pouch on her belt. "I’ll take care of these, ok?" She produced a filmy handkerchief out of nowhere and dabbed Lita’s face with it, then pressed it into her hand. "He can’t help it, what he’s becoming. It’s just how Mazoku are. You understand that, don’t you?"
        Lita nodded and clutched Sylph’s kerchief. She gave Zelgadis a simmering look, then buried her face in the collar of Urlich’s coat. He sighed and adjusted his grip on her legs. "You really are an asshole," he grumbled at Zelgadis as he started walking. To Sylph, he hmphed: "I don’t know why you’re so nice to him. You used to have such great taste in men—OW! What was that for?!" He shook his head in lieu of rubbing the spot she’d thumped, since he had his hands full at the moment.
        Sylph tossed her hair and stomped ahead to walk next to Zelgadis, who looked over his shoulder to smirk at Urlich. Url glared back. "What’re you lookin’ at, asshole?"
        "Please don’t fight," Lita whispered against his neck, and Urlich shut up with an angry growl. "You said that’s what he wants…for us to get angry. Don’t give him the satisfaction, Urlich."
        That surprised everyone, especially Urlich. "You’re right," he muttered, then glared at Zelgadis and Sylph and said more loudly: "I can’t believe I fell for it. Thanks for the assist, Sylph."
        Her ears and tail drooped. "You’re a big boy, Urlich," she retorted without much conviction, "you don’t need me to protect you from a hungry Mazoku."
        "I told you," Zelgadis snarled, "I am not one of them!"
        Silence.
        "I’m not!" Zel insisted, silently begging at least one of them to agree with him. None of them did. "I won’t let him win," he muttered after a while. "I won’t give him the satisfaction."
        Sylph punched him in the arm. "I know you won’t. You just have to stop pushing your allies away, Zel. He can control you with a spell, remember? Without allies, what’ll you do when he makes you his puppet again?"
        Zelgadis looked away and didn’t reply.
        "It’s only a matter of time before he tries it again," Urlich agreed in a somber tone. "You know it, and we know it."
        "So I guess you’re sort of stuck with us," Lita sniffled. "Even me."
        They walked on in silence after that, Zelgadis watching the people and the scenery without really seeing it while Sylph tried to encourage him with her touch, and Urlich watched them in a jealous snit. Lita closed her eyes and let Urlich’s warmth lull her to sleep, determined to ignore the bad vibes sizzling between the two men.

        The Lord of Nightmares watched them and shook her head. Zelgadis was becoming more and more Mazoku everyday, Urlich was right about that. She frowned and spun on her heel to go flop onto her throne in a huff. "This simply will not do. After all I went through to keep this from happening before…" She jumped up and returned to her crystal ball, commanding it to show her Xellos. He was with his master in her lair, having a chat that was apparently making both of them very happy. "Congratulating yourselves?" She growled at them. "You think to outwit me, Xellos Metallium, servant of Beast Master? Think again. Now," she started pacing her throne room, hands clasped behind her back, head lowered in thought, "should I just kill you and your master? Or should I play with you first?" She paced for a few more steps, then stopped and chuckled darkly to herself. "I can play your game far better than you can, little monster. I was merciful to you once, Xellos, and one time is all you get with me."
        The Lord of Nightmares’ maniacal laughter echoed about her throne room long after she’d disappeared.

Chapter 24