Slayers: Ironic Chapter I " Rezo, my love, they still think you’re dead?," a woman in a long flowing red dress with a red floor length cape asked Rezo as she walked up behind him. Her steps clicked sharply on the stone floor, indicating she was wearing heels of some sort. " Yes. I haven’t shown myself to them since you have resurrected me, and they have no idea of your cloning technology or that you were able to preserve my powers, memories and feelings using a spell when I died. Nor do they even know of your existence," Rezo explained to her. His eyes were shut, even though he was looking into a glowing sphere, watching a group of four people walking around in a ruin. The woman scoffed, " Why don’t you just show yourself to them? Why are you watching them, anyway?" " Changer, my love, they are after the Book of Healing," Rezo sighed. " Book of Healing? Do we need it? If we do, why don’t you just show yourself to them and tell them we are allies now? After all, the first time you fought them, it was actually Shabernigdo and the second time, it was but a copy," Changer said as she watched the group. " And what am I, but a copy?," Rezo asked her, his eyes were still shut. " You are different then that other copy. You have all the memories of your life up until the moment you died! You have all your powers and knowledge. Plus that copy could. . . .never mind," Changer said. " See? Yes, I know. My eyes are to badly wounded for even us to heal." " I’m sorry I brought it up, love," Changer stammered, " How could I be so insensitive!," she yelled at herself in her mind. " Quite all right love, quite all right," Rezo smiled and held out his hand to Changer. She took it, " I need the Book of Healing! It may have a spell in it that can cure my eyes! Our friends are now in a ruin looking for a cure for Zelgadis. I want you to go to them and tell them of my existence. Then I will show myself and once we have convinced them we are now their allies, we can join them in the search for the book!" " Certainly, but why join them? Can’t we just get the book on our own?" " A map that leads to the book is in the library that they are almost in. We would have to confront them anyway, so why not just make allies of them?," Rezo said. " Of course! I’ll be on my way," Changer said, kissed Rezo on the cheek and vanished. " Hurry my love," Rezo whispered. " Oh! Zel! Hurry it up will you!," Lina shouted, " Where is this dumb library of yours!" " It should be around here. Perhaps behind these double doors," Zelgadis said as they came to the end of a hallway. " Lets go!," Amelia yelled in her happy, perky voice. " Be quite!," Zel snapped as he opened the doors. Everyone stood gapping at the sight. The library was huge. It had two huge stairwells that lead to balconies, and it was almost floor to wall books. But Lina, Zel, Gourry, and Amelia weren’t staring at that, they were staring at the woman in red standing before them. Her hair was blacker then the blackest night, and her eyes were deeper green then any forest. The strangest thing about her was her skin, it was almost a deathly shade of white. " I’ve been waiting for you," she said with a smile, " My name is Changer." " Wow! She’s beautiful!," Gourry smiled. " I have much to tell you," Changer said. " We’re a little busy," Lina snapped. " Oh, but I think you’ll want to here this information. It’s about Rezo, the Red Priest." " We are all ears," Zelgadis said as he looked at the woman standing before him with a slight hint of curiosity in his eyes. Changer just smiled and nodded. Chapter II " What about Rezo?," Lina demanded. " He is alive, and quite well. It’s the real Rezo this time, mind you, not a copy," Changer said. " Rezo is dead," Zel said as he crossed his arms, " He died when we killed Shabernigdo." " Yes, but I used a magic spell to preserve his memories, emotions and powers." " You used a spell to preserve his soul on earth!?," Amelia yelled. Changer nodded. " Then using a technology unknown to you, I cloned his body," Changer explained. " So let me get this straight, you made an exact copy of Rezo’s body, a ‘clone’ as you called it. Then you had used a magic spell to hold his soul on earth. Once you had the body, you put the original Rezo’s soul in it. Am I right?," Zel asked. " You are correct, Zelgadis," Changer smiled. " So it is a copy, just with Rezo’s soul," Gourry said. " Basically, but since you have the original Rezo’s soul in the new body, technically, you have the real Rezo," Amelia said. " I’m lost," Gourry sighed. " So, um why exactly do we care that Rezo is back?," Lina asked. " We want to make peace with you and join you on your quest for the Book of Healing," Changer said. " Who is we?," Gourry asked, totally dumbfounded. " Rezo and I." " Who are you to the Red Priest?," Zel asked. " Me? Who am I?," Changer laughed, " Haven’t you guessed?" " She is my wife," Rezo said as he materialized behind Changer. " It-it is Rezo!," Amelia yelled in terror. " Yes, it is I," Rezo said, "Zelgadis, I am willing to help you look for a cure, and will do all that is within my powers to help you return to human form." " Yeah, right," Zel muttered. " You’re really the real Rezo, aren’t you?," Lina gasped. " Yes. No Shabernigdo. Not a copy, but me, Rezo, the Red Priest. You have all meet my wife, Changer, the Red Priestess, as she is sometimes called," Rezo smiled. " Are you still blind?," Lina asked. " Yes, and Changer and my magic is not enough to cure my eyes." " That’s why you want to come with us on our quest for the Book of Healing," Zel snickered, " So you can cure your eyes." " So, you’re really going to help us?," Gourry asked. " In any way we can," Changer said. " We don’t need your help!," Zel snapped. " Oh, then you don’t want to know about the map?," Rezo asked, in a mischievous voice. " What map?," Zel demanded. " The map that is in this library that will lead you to the Book of Healing," Rezo smiled. " Where is it?," Zel yelled. " Hidden, among the books," Rezo answered. " This library is huge! It’ll take forever to find it!," Lina moaned. " Then we better get started," Zel said. About a half an hour after Changer, Zel, Lina, Gourry and Amelia began searching for the map, Syphil showed up. She had been getting some supplies from a near by village. Rezo wasn’t looking for the map. He mostly just stood under the balcony where Changer was looking for the map, and asking the others questions. This went on for another good six hours after Syphil arrived, and everyone was getting tired. " I found it!," Changer cried out. " Finally," Lina sighed. " I’m on my way-aaahhhh!," Changer screamed before she finished her sentence. " Changer?," Rezo asked. " I slipped on a book, and feel over the rail. I’m right over you and I’m losing my grip! I’m going to fall!," as soon as Changer has explained this, she lost her grip and screamed. It was at least a two-story drop to the floor. Rezo, who was under her, turned to face the balcony as his wife fell, and by some miracle (or just a little help from a spell) he managed to catch her in his arms. " Are you all right?," he asked as he set her down. " Yes. Thanks to you," she stammered. She threw her arms around Rezo’s neck, and he held her. " I’m going to be sick," Lina moaned. Then Changer and Rezo kissed, " I’m gonna barf!," Lina howled. " Me with you," Zel gagged. " You want this map or not?," Changer asked. Rezo was still holding her. " Hand it over!," Zel yelled. " Why should I? You obviously don’t trust us with it, and I don’t exactly trust you. How do we know you wont just run off with it and leave us behind?," Changer sneered. " Changer, calm down," Rezo sighed, but he knew it was of no use, when Changer got mad, she got mad! " Oh why don’t you just-," Zel started. " Zel! Look, weather any of us like this situation or not, we have to work together on this one," Lina said. " Lina is correct," Rezo said, " Changer, give her the map, I think we can trust her not to run off with it." " But if they leave, you won’t ever get your eyes healed." " I’ve lived with this blindness all my life, I can handle it forever. Give her the map." " Alright, my love," Changer sighed and handed Lina the map. Suddenly, Changer’s head snapped up as if someone had called her name, " Kosha," she whispered. " Kosha! What of her?," Rezo demanded. "I’ll be back!," Changer said and vanished. " Whose Kosha?," Zel asked. " Changer’s daughter. I raised her by myself since Changer couldn’t due to some odd circumstances regarding Kosha’s father," Rezo explained, " She is my daughter in all but name and blood." " How old is she?," Lina asked. " Seventeen. Changer visited us often, of course, but when Kosha turned twelve, Changer came back to live with us. When Kosha turned sixteen, she ventured out on her own." " So she wasn’t around when Shabernigdo was reborn," Zel muttered. " No, she wasn’t. Over the past year, Changer and I have missed her terribly," Rezo said. " You love her?," Syphil asked. " Yes, as I said, she is my daughter in all but name and blood," Rezo said. There was a flash as Changer reappeared. A girl was with her, along with two creatures. One was small and yellow with pointy ears that were black tipped. It had bright red circles on its cheeks, and its tail was shaped like a lightning bolt. The other creature came up to the girl’s knee and was bigger then the other one. It was a brownish color with orangy cheeks. Its tail was long and the end was a yellow thunderbolt. The girl on the other hand, had beautiful lavender eyes and Changer’s pale skin and jet black hair. She had on a pair of black boots and had on a red dress that fell to her ankles. She had on a red cape and her hair spilled down around her shoulders. She also had a staff that resembled Rezo’s, but it was smaller. " Kosha, I presume?," Zel asked. " Yes, I am Kosha. This is Pika-baby," she said and pointed to the yellow creature, " and this is Raichu," she said and pointed to the other creature, " I’m glad to be joining you and my parents on this quest." " What!," the others yelled as Rezo smiled slyly. " Welcome home, my daughter," he said with a smile. Chapter III " Just who said that you could come with us?," Lina snapped. " My mother, of course. I called to her telepathically and asked her if anything was going on. She told me of your quest for the Book of Healing, and I decided to come along," Kosha said, " I’m not just going to sit around while all of you have an adventure!" " Me either! It’s been almost a year since we last saw Rezo, and this is the perfect opportunity to hang out with him," Pika-baby said and her ears twitched. " Rai," Raichu muttered. " Rai?," Amelia asked. " Raichu can only say ‘Raichu’. That’s how it is with all Pokemon. It takes years to teach a Pokemon English," Kosha said. " Before you even ask, Pokemon are wild creatures that roam a parallel dimension to ours," Rezo said, " Kosha, my dear, am I not even worthy of a hug?" Kosha laughed and gave Rezo a hug. He kissed her forehead. " I missed you, Daddy," she smiled. " I missed you too," Pika-baby laughed as she jumped up onto Rezo’s shoulder. " Raichu!," Raichu added enthusiastically. Rezo leaned down and scratched Raichu between his ears, " Chu," the Pokemon mumbled happily. " I missed all of you as well," Rezo said with a smile, " Now, I do think you should be introduced." " We can handle telling them our names," Lina snapped, " I’m Lina Inverse." " I’m Gourry." " My name is Syphil." " I’m Amelia!" " I’m Zelgadis." " You two don’t know each other?," Amelia said. " No. I never really associated with Rezo since he was always traveling, Kosha was with him, I presume." " Of course," Rezo said. " Look, we need to get going," Lina said. " Does my appearance appall you that much, Kosha?," Zelgadis asked her. She had been staring at him since he had introduced himself. " No. I actually think you’re pretty cute!," she smiled as she headed out of the library. " She-she said I was cute?!," Zel muttered in wonder. " Yep, that’s what she said," Lina said. " She left," Gourry muttered. " She is not the patient type," Changer explained. " I suggest we hurry after her, she will not hesitate to leave us behind," Rezo said as he to headed for the door, Pika-baby was still riding on his shoulder. Kosha suddenly walked back in. " Um, I just realized I have absolutely no clue where we’re headed," she muttered. " Come on, it’s getting late, and we might as well go back to the inn for the night," Lina said. She left the library, the others behind her. " I’m sorry I offended you, Zelgadis," Kosha said as she left the library by his side. " Don’t worry about it, I was a bit harsh," Zel said, " Call me Zel, by the way." " Okay Zel." " You really think I’m cute?" " Yep! I think you’re quite handsome!," she smiled. Zel looked at her, just then realizing she was beautiful. Chapter IV " How can you eat so much?," Kosha asked Lina and Gourry in total wonder. " It’s not really that much," Lina said, her mouth was crammed full of bacon and eggs. It was the next morning, and everyone was down in the inn’s dining room eating breakfast. Everyone but :Gourry and Lina had eaten their fill, and were waiting on them to finish. Pika-baby was curled up on the floor asleep by Rezo’s feet, and Raichu was busy drawing on a napkin with a pen Syphil had given him. " Are you two done?," Changer asked as Lina cleaned off her sixteenth plate. " Yeah, I guess, how ‘bout you Gourry?," Lina asked. " Yeah, let’s get going," Gourry said. " Finally," Kosha sighed. As everyone stood up. Rezo grabbed his staff from beside his chair, and stood up. Being blind, he didn’t see Pika-baby under his feet, and he stepped on her tail. " PIKACHU!!!!!!," Pika-baby screamed as she woke up and let lose a huge thundershock. " Ouch," Rezo muttered as he fell over. " Sorry!," Pika-baby yelled when she realized what she had done. Everyone was just staring at Rezo, lying on the floor. Zelgadis was standing behind the main group, but had seen the whole episode. A huge smile took over his face, and he started to chuckle. Everyone turned to him, his chuckle had grown into a full- fledged laugh, and he was laughing so hard, tears were rolling down his cheeks, and he was clutching his sides. Everyone just looked at the two most bizarre sights they had ever seen. Rezo, out-cold on the floor, and Zel, who barely smiled, rolling with laughter. Changer broke the amazed silence, " Rezo, are you okay?," she asked. " Yes. Just give me a minute to get over this tremendous headache I have. I’m not sure weather it’s from the electricity or from hitting the floor." " Zel?," Kosha asked. Zelgadis was still laughing. " I can’t breath!," he gasped. He walked back over to the table and sat down, panting as he tried to catch his breath, " That was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my whole entire life!" " Glad you enjoyed it," Rezo snapped in a tone that was dripping with sarcasm. " Hey, Kosha, where’s your dress?," Gourry suddenly asked. " She’s been in that new outfit all morning," Zel muttered. He was regaining his normal seriousness. Kosha was now in a red skirt that fell to right above her knees, she had on a red shirt and the cape that she had earlier. Her boots were black and came up to just above her ankles. Another new element to her outfit was a sword that was hanging from her belt. She still had her staff. " I figured this was an outfit more suited for traveling," she smiled. Rezo had pulled himself up off the floor. " Shall we be on our way?," he asked as he straightened his robes. " Sure thing," Lina said, " According to the map, we need to go West." " That was so funny," Zel whispered to Kosha as Rezo walked by. She smiled and playfully hit Zel in the arm. " I didn’t mean to do it," Pika-baby sniffled, she had been crying, " I hope he’s not mad at me." " Oh, don’t worry he knows it was an accident," Kosha said as she scooped Pika-baby up into her arms. Rezo turned to them. " All is well between us, my dearest pikachu. You have nothing to worry about," he smiled. Pika-baby giggled and jumped from Kosha’s arms up to Rezo’s shoulder, and they all proceeded out of the inn and onto the street. " I still think it was hilarious," Zel thought to himself with a small grin. Chapter V " I’m tired! Can’t we stop to rest?," Gourry whined. It was almost noon, and they had been walking since almost eight that morning. " Do you want to find this book or not?," Pika-baby snapped, " It’s going to take us days to get to this ruin if we keep stopping to rest and eat and all that jazz." " Gourry’s right! I’m tired too!," Amelia whined, " Can’t we stop for just a little bit?" " Oh, I guess. We can eat lunch, then we have to be on our way! This ruin is very far away," Lina said as she sat down by a tree. Zel stopped in the middle of the road and watched Rezo and Changer walk father down the trail before stopping. Suddenly, something slammed into his back. " Ouch!," Kosha yelped and rubbed her nose, " Sorry, Zel," she added, turning almost as red as her outfit. She was holding an open book in the hand she wasn’t rubbing her nose with. " Reading and walking, were we?," Zel asked. " Yeah. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going," Kosha smiled. " You two just going to stand there, or are you going to eat?," Lina asked, her mouth was full of a bite of cold roast chicken. Zel rolled his eyes and walked silently over. " Ouch, now I know first hand that his skin is made out of stone," Kosha muttered to herself and made sure she hadn’t broke her nose when she rammed into the back of his head. Then she went over and sat down by Gourry, who also happened to have the food. " Hey, where’d Rezo and Changer go?," Gourry asked. " They’re down the trail a little further. To be alone, I guess," Amelia said. " Oh. Wanna go down and keep them company?," Gourry asked, not quite getting the privacy concept. Lina leaned over and beat him over the head. " They want to be alone Gourry! Get away from us for a little while, talk with each other, and make out. You know the things couples do! Duh!," Lina yelled. Suddenly, laughter rang out through the air. " Whose laughing?," Amelia asked. " Maybe it’s Mom or Dad?," Kosha mussed and leaded over so she could see around the tree and get a clear view of her parents. Rezo was leaning against a tree, and Changer was snuggled up next to him and they were talking but neither one was laughing. The laughter was still ringing through the air, " That’s really weird!," she cried. " What? Is it one of them?," Zel asked. " No! That’s what’s so weird!," Kosha explained. " It’s me, if you must know," a man said as he materialized on the path. He has shoulder length purple hair and was wearing black robes. He also had a wooden staff with a ruby sphere on it. " Xellos!," Lina hissed. " Yes, aren’t you so happy to see me?," he asked. " Why were you laughing? And why are you here?," Syphil demanded. " I was laughing because it’s rather amusing to see Lina beat up on Gourry, and as for why I’m here," he closed on eye and waved his index finger at them, " it’s a secret!" " What are you talking about!," Kosha asked. " Oh la la! Who might you be, young lady?," Xellos asked. Changer had just spotted Xellos from her position, and she and Rezo were coming to investigate. " My name is Kosha, and if you request a last name, the only one I can give you is Greywers," she said as Xellos kissed her hand. " Married to Zelgadis!?," Xellos cried out in shock, " Pity. You’re far to beautiful for the likes of him." " No, I’m not," Kosha blushed, " Rezo the Red Priest raised me." Zel had balled up his fist and the only reason he didn’t slug Xellos was the fact that Kosha was standing between them and he wasn’t about to take the risk of hitting her! " I see. Good, that means you’re not married," Xellos said as he kissed her hand again. " Who might you be?," Changer demanded, her hands on her hips, " You’d better have a good excuse for kissing my daughter’s hand!" " I am Xellos, the Trickster Priest." " Huh, this means nothing to me. What are you doing here?," Changer snapped. She didn’t like it when people just appeared out of nowhere and started hitting on her daughter. She also didn’t like the magic ‘smell’ she was getting of this Xellos person. " It’s a secret!," Xellos said and waved his finger at Changer. " Xellos, the Trickster Priest," Rezo said, " You are a demon correct?" " Yes, very good, Rezo! You are Rezo the Red Priest are you not?" " I am. What is your business with us?," Rezo asked. " You will all find out in due course. Now, my lady, who might you be?," Xellos asked Changer. " Changer, the Red Priestess and wife of Rezo," Changer said, " What is your business with my daughter?" " You will find that out in due course as well," Xellos winked. " You’re not joining us, are you?," Amelia moaned. " Oh I am! This quest interests me quite a bit! Now, shall we be off?," Xellos asked. Changer was leaning down whispering something to Pika-baby and Raichu. They nodded. " PIKACHU!!!!!!" " RAICHU!!!!!!!" The two Pokemon yelled as electricity flew through the air and roasted Xellos. " That should teach you to wave your finger at people!," Changer snapped, " I suggest you refrain from doing it the rest of this journey, unless you like Pika-baby and Raichu frying you!," then she turned to Lina, " Which way?" " Uh, just keep going down this way," Lina smiled. Everyone was smiling, even Rezo. The sight (or thought, as the case may be) of Xellos getting fried had been quite amusing. " Let’s go!," Syphil laughed as they all continued on, except Xellos, who was recovering from his rather shocking experience, and Kosha. " Are you all right?," Kosha asked as she helped him up. " Yes, I believe so. Is she always like that?," Xellos asked. " Only when you make her mad," Kosha smiled, " Come on, they’re leaving us behind!" Chapter VI " Where is our daughter?," Changer demanded. She and Rezo were behind Lina, who was leading the way. Pika-baby was riding on Rezo’s shoulder, enjoying the beautiful sunshine and the warm weather. Behind them came Syphil and Amelia, with Gourry between them. Zel was behind them, and Raichu was walking beside him. Zel was listening to the Pokemon chatter to himself, and Zel couldn’t understand a word of it. The Pokemon had given up trying to talk to him. Xellos came after Zelgadis, walking backwards to he could look Kosha in the eye while he flirted with her. Kosha was bringing up the rear. " I do not know. I do believe she is perfectly able to take care of herself," Rezo smiled. " In case you hadn’t noticed, Xellos was hitting on her!," Changer said, " That should get his attention," she thought. " What!?!," Rezo yelled and stopped in his tracks, causing Pika-baby to fall off his shoulder, and Gourry to slam into his back. Amelia and Syphil stopped to see if Gourry and Pika-baby were all right, and Raichu ran into the backs of Amelia’s knees. Zel slammed into Gourry’s back, and Xellos rammed backwards into Zel, Kosha has enough sense to stop before running into Xellos, and looked down the line of jumbled bodies to see what the commotion was all about. Lina, who had turned around to see what all the ‘ouch’s, ‘that smarts’s, and ‘what the’s were all about, shrugged helplessly at Kosha. Changer, who hadn’t expected Rezo to slam on the brakes like that, shook her head and rubbed the bridge of her nose. " Someone’s in trouble!," Pika-baby sang with a giggle. " Why’d we stop?," Gourry wondered. " Kosha! Get up here now!," Rezo yelled. " I didn’t do it!," Kosha yelled, Rezo turned around, and he didn’t have a happy expression on his face. Kosha gulped, and added, " Coming, sir!" Rezo pulled her aside and began to lecture her. She rolled her eyes, and somehow, Rezo knew this and told her not to roll her eyes at him. " I don’t see the-," Kosha started, but Rezo silenced her, and started talking again. When he finally shut-up, Kosha gave him a hug, kissed his cheek, then she said, " I’m a big girl and can take care of myself! You don’t have to worry about me, I’m not going to do anything stupid!" " Kosha-," Changer started, but Kosha cut her off. "Mother," she said, closed one eye, and shook her index finger at her mother, " get over it! I can handle this one on my own!" " Oh be quite!," Changer couldn’t help but laugh, " Alright, alright. I give. You’re on your own on this one!" " Good, now lets get going!," she said as she marched past the others and back to the end of the line. " I missed something!," Gourry sighed. " I think we all did this time," Amelia said as they continued on their way. " It’s getting dark," Lina said as she came to a halt. It was almost ten o’clock, but the sun always set that late at that time of the year, " This is as good a place as any to camp for the night." " Camp!?," Kosha wailed, " You mean on the ground with wild animals?" " That’s the general idea," Syphil smiled. " Don’t worry! We’re here to protect you!," Gourry said as he flashed Kosha his cutest grin. " She has my protection, and that’s quite enough," Rezo said as he sat down with his back leaning against a tree. Changer had used a spell of some sort to conjure up some pillows and blankets and distributed them to Kosha and her husband, then she plopped down next to Rezo. " Who has the food?," Pika-baby demanded from her position on top of Xellos’s head. She had been there for most of the afternoon, discussing everything under the sun with Xellos, and she had mastered her own ‘it’s a secret’ look and had the perfect tone of voice to say it in. Kosha, meanwhile had spent her afternoon talking with Zel. Now, as she sat down beside her father, resting her head on his shoulder, she was struggling to sort out her thoughts and feelings. " Something troubles you?," Rezo asked her. " Oh Daddy! I’m so confused!," she whimpered. Rezo smiled softly, he already had an idea of what was bothering her, and he pulled her into his lap and held her up against his chest, just like he had when she was a little girl and had had her feelings hurt by other children. " Come on, we’ll go for a walk and discuss this," he smiled as he helped her to her feet. " Hey, Kosha, where are you going?," Xellos called after her. " I’ll be back soon," Kosha smiled as she and Rezo walked off. " It’s all your guy’s fault," Changer muttered to Xellos and Zelgadis. " Our fault?," Zel asked. " Yes, it’s beyond obvious that you two like my daughter, and I think she’s falling for the both of you." " Why would she ever like a dumb ass like Xellos? I thought she had better taste then that," Zel sneered, " Ouch!" As soon as those words had left his mouth, Xellos had swung his staff up over his head and beaned Zel with it. " You had better take that back!," Xellos sneered. " Or what? You’ll hit me with you’re dumb staff again?," Zel challenged. In response, Xellos hit Zel over the head again. That was all Zelgadis could take, " Fireball!," he yelled. Xellos dodged, and a tree was engulfed in flame. " What was that?," Kosha asked. " I sensed magical energy, so my guess it that someone used a spell," Rezo said. Kosha saw the flash of the fire. " Back at the camp! We have to hurry!," she yelled as she and Rezo raced back to camp. " You stupid chimera!," Xellos roared, " I’ll get you for that!" " Stop it!," Amelia and Syphil yelled in perfect sync. Rezo and Kosha jumped out of the forest. Xellos was about to chunk a huge fireball at Zelgadis, and Zel had a Flair Arrow ready. " No!," Kosha yelled and dove between her friends just as both men let lose their spells. Xellos’s fireball slammed into Kosha’s chest, flinging her backwards, right into Zel’s flair arrow. " Kosha!," Zel, Xellos, Changer, and Rezo all screamed in terror as Kosha crashed to the ground. The others stared in stunned silence at her still form. Chapter VII " Is-is she dead?," Syphil wailed. " Kosha! Not my baby!," Changer screamed as she fell to her knees. Tears were streaming down her face. Rezo was the only person acting with any common sense and was at Kosha’s side the moment she fell and was muttering a healing spell. " Oh," Kosha moaned as her lavender eyes fluttered open. " Thank the Gods!," Syphil laughed. " This is all your fault!," Xellos yelled at Zel, now that he knew his beloved Kosha was okay, he could start chewing Zel out. " How is this my fault!" Zel sneered. " You insulted me first and threw the first spell!," Xellos argued. " Oh shut-up you wanna be Demon Lord!," Zel yelled as he started to mutter another spell. " Both of you stop it this instant!," Changer screamed. She sounded like a mother scolding two small children, which was exactly how Xellos and Zel were acting, " You almost killed my daughter! And now all you can do is sit here and bicker!" " Mom, I’m okay really," Kosha said as Rezo carefully picked her up of the ground. " You need rest," he told her. " Kosha. . . ..I-I am so sorry," Zelgadis said. " I am okay, really," she smiled, actually, she felt as if her insides had been ripped out, rearranged, then put back in. " Kosha," Xellos whispered as he got on one knee before her, " I am beyond sorry as well. We could have killed you, and all I was worried about was saving my own hide. Am I forgiven?" " You’re both forgiven. Just don’t ever do that again!," she said, " Daddy put me down!" " You need rest!," the Red Priest said stubbornly. Changer had used the blankets to make a bed on the forest floor. " Lay her down over here," Changer instructed her husband. Rezo gently lay his daughter down. Her head softly fell back on a pillow. " You guys I’m okay! Really!," Kosha said, stifling a yawn. " Kosha, do you-," Xellos started as he looked over at her, but she was already sleeping, " Not tired, huh?," he smiled " She needs rest. As do I," Rezo said, " Bringing someone back from the dead is exhausting." " Back from the dead!," Amelia wailed, " You mean she was. . . .?" " Yes, the force of both the spells killed her," Rezo yawned as she lay down next to his daughter. Soon he was asleep too. " He’s not her natural father?," Zel asked Changer. " That’s what we said, isn’t it, why would we lie?" " Just making sure," Zel said. Xellos burst out laughing. " Oh, how ironically fun that would be if Rezo was her father! You being his grandson and all. We’d have quite a case of incest on our hands, wouldn't we?," Xellos giggled. " Shut-up!," Zel roared. Kosha sat up, still half asleep, garbed a spare pillow and chunked it at Zel and Xellos, who were on the verge of killing each other, then she thunked back down " Yes, do be quite. People are trying to sleep!," Rezo mumbled. " Yes, well, I guess I’ll be going to bed too," Xellos said as he picked up the pillow Kosha had thrown at him, then he went over and laid down next to Kosha. " You’ll regret that move," Changer said, " She’s a very rough sleeper. She tosses and turns all night!" " I won’t mind," Xellos said. In her sleep, Kosha rolled over and through her arm over Xellos’s chest and snuggled up against him, " In fact, I rather like it!" " You’re pathetic!," Zel sneered. " And you’re just jealous!," Xellos teased and then he stuck his tongue out at Zel. " Can you two quit bickering for five minutes?," Changer asked as she laid down next to Rezo, " It’s late and we all need to get some sleep! Chapter VIII Kosha awoke the next morning with a yawn. The first thing she noticed was that she was snuggled up between her father and Xellos. Then she noticed her pillow was actually Xellos’s chest. Then she realized that it was Xellos’s arms that were wrapped around her keeping her warm and not a blanket. Her mind hit the rewind button several times, but she couldn’t remember how this situation came about! " Good morning!," he said cheerfully when he noticed she had woken up. " What’s going on?," Kosha asked on a confused voice. " You snuggled up against me in your sleep. Don’t worry. You didn’t forget anything." Kosha sat up and looked around camp. Lina, Gourry, Syphil and Amelia had all crashed together in a heap and were still sleeping soundly. Zel was on the other side of camp, with Pika-baby curled up on his chest, and Raichu was using his stomach as a pillow. Her mother was on the other side of her father, the two of them were wrapped up in each other’s arms. Kosha lay back down, and rested her head on Xellos’s chest again. " You’re comfortable," she said. " Are you just going to lie there like that until the others wake up?," he asked, hoping against hope she would. " You have a problem with that?," she asked. " No, not at all, not at all," he smiled as he wrapped his arms around her again. They lay like that for the better part of an hour until Changer woke up and had a conniption thinking more physical things had happened between Xellos and Kosha, and woke up the rest of the party. Chapter IX The sight Zelgdis awoke to was a strange sight indeed. Changer was holding Xellos up of the ground by his shirt and was screaming at him. Kosha was yelling at her mother, and Rezo had a rather amused look on his face and was leaning against the tree. Lina, Gourry, Syphil, and Amelia were also watching this, as were Pika-baby and Raichu, who were now standing at the chimera’s feet. " Mom! Nothing happened!," Kosha was wailing. " She’s telling the truth!," Xellos managed to choke. " Let him go!," Kosha yelled. " What’s going on?," Gourry asked before Lina shushed him by hitting him upside the head. " Look what you’ve done now! You woke everyone up!," Xellos said. " Changer, perhaps you should allow them to explain before you decapitate our demon friend," Rezo suggested. " Daddy, you’re not helping," Kosha sighed. " Xellos, what happened?," Changer demanded as she dropped him like a sack of bricks. He simply couldn’t resist the temptation. " It’s a secret!," he said. Changer screamed and began to chaise him around. " Xellos!," Kosha yelled. " I’m sorry! I couldn’t resist!" " Changer, just nail him with a fireball," Lina suggested helpfully from the sidelines. " I can’t use magic. I wont be able to for the next three or so days," Changer sighed. " Oh, that time of the month. That explains quite a few things," Xellos said. " I’m gonna kill you!," Changer howled and tackled him. " Mother! Calm down!," Kosha yelled and pulled her mother off of Xellos. She broke free, and tackled him again. " Don’t just stand there!," Rezo said, " Help Kosha." Pika-baby took him up on his offer. Changer had been getting on her nerves, so Pika-baby let lose a huge thudershock attack that sent Changer reeling. Then she fell to the ground unconscious. " That was not exactly what I meant, Pika-baby," Rezo sighed as he pulled a red and white sphere from his robes. " No! Not the Pokeball!," Pika-baby wailed. " Pika-baby, return," Rezo said. " Oh crud!," Pika-baby muttered and crossed her arms, and sat down as she was turned into red energy and sucked into the Pokeball. Xellos was lying on his side on the ground, his head resting in one hand, " Anyone for breakfast?," he asked. Chapter X Rezo had used a few healing spells on Changer to revive her, and then they had all enjoyed a huge breakfast that Lina had prepared. How she got Canadian bacon, eggs, hash browns, and a few gallons of orange juice into the forest was a totally mystery to all, but no one wanted to piss Lina off, so they just kept their mouths shut. After breakfast, Lina lead the way. As usual, Rezo and Changer feel in behind her, Raichu was with them, Kosha was after them with Zel, Gourry and Syphil came after them, and Amelia and Xellos were bringing up the rear. " Lunch time!," Lina yelled happily around noon. " Thank the Gods! Beastmaster owes me for this one!," Xellos thought as he ran (literally) over to Kosha and Changer, Amelia was way too perky for the Trickster Priest. Rezo released Pika-baby, who sat by herself, muttering about how it wasn’t fair that she was crammed in a Pokeball for half the day and that she hadn’t really hurt Changer at all, so she didn’t see what the big deal was. " Hey, Kosha, you want to go for a walk?," Zel asked her. " Sure!," Kosha yelled as she jumped up. There was a stream near by and they headed in that direction. Xellos, who had been sitting by Kosha, flirting again, got up to follow, but Changer, who was on his other side, grabbed hold of his cape as he got up, and pulled him forcefully back to the ground. She was still mad at him from that morning. " Just where so you think you’re going, Mr. Trickster Priest?," she asked bitterly. " Um," Xellos started, he was about to say, ‘it’s a secret’, but he didn’t think that one would go over to well, so he just said, " a walk." " Nuh uh. Incorrect answer," Changer snapped. " Changer!," Rezo called, " have you seen my spell book?" " Hold on a sec! It’s in my pack!," she called to her husband and ran over to him, totally forgetting that she was supposed to be watching a certain demon. " Now’s my chance!," Xellos said and ran off after Kosha and Zel. " So you really hate him?," Kosha asked Zel after hearing how Rezo had turned him into a chimera. " Well, not as much as I used to. I guess it was really Shabranigdo that turned me into a chimera, but I know Rezo has the power to turn me back into a human!," Zel said with a sigh. " I-I just can’t see Daddy being that evil and cruel," she sighed as she sat down next to the river. There was a deep guttural growl from behind Kosha. She whirled around just in time to see a huge black wolf, with purple eyes, tackle her. " Kosha! Cast a spell!," Zelgadis yelled as the wolf grabbed hold or Kosha’s necklace. " Flair Arrow!," Kosha screamed and missed the wolf by a mer centimeter as it ran back into the woods, " It has my necklace!" " I’ll get it back," Zel smiled as he followed the muddy paw prints. " Humans are so gullible!," Xellos snickered from a branch of a tree as Zel passed. He examined Kosha’s necklace for a moment, then he jumped down, snickered in Zel’s general direction and headed over to Kosha, " I saw our chimera friend chasing a wolf. Is everything okay here?" " Yeah. Stupid wolf! I almost nailed it with a Flair Arrow when it was running off. It stole my necklace." " What an odd thing for a wolf to do! This dropped out of his fangs as it ran by, is it yours?" " Yep! That’s it! Thank you so much!" Kosha smiled and gave Xellos a hug and a kiss on the cheek, " I hope Zel is okay." " Lets get back to camp," Xellos said, " I’m sure Zel is fine, and he’ll probably head back to camp once he loses the wolf," he added as he took Kosha’s hand and lead her back to camp. About an hour, a very tired, very mad Zelgadis marched back into camp. Not only had he not been able to find a stinking trace of that wolf, he’s lost Kosha’s necklace in the long run. The first thing he saw was Changer, Kosha and Xellos. The women were laughing and Xellos had his trademark, ‘I’m so cute!’ grin on his face. " Here wolfie, wolfie," Xellos whispered as Zel walked by, and because he used him demon powers, only Zel heard it. " You! That was you! You slimy little demon freak!," Zelgadis roared. Xellos smiled and assumed his ‘it’s a secret position. " It’s a secret!," he laughed at Zel. Zel couldn’t take it anymore and heaved a Freeze Arrow at the Trickster Priest. That was the beginning of the second Zel Vs Xellos magic wars. " I’ll handle this," Rezo smiled. He muttered a spell, there was a flash, and where the two powerful magic users once stood, two rather odd, but still beyond cute, Pikachus stood. One looked like a normal Pikachu, except it had purple hair that was styled like Xellos’s. The other Pikachu was the bluish color of Zel’s skin, and it had Zel’s hair. There were also little bits of stone on the blue Pikachu’s skin. " Look!," Gourry laughed. Everyone else was laughing too. " It’s Zelchu and Xelloschu!," Lina giggled. " How dare you turn those little snots into Pikachus!," Pika-baby screamed at Rezo. " Pika Pika?," Xelloschu wondered. Even his staff had shrunken down to fit his new size. " Pikachu!," Zelchu screamed as he looked down at his hands, err, paws. " This quest keeps getting weirder and weirder," Changer sighed. Chapter XI " Pikachu chu chu Pika Pi!," Xelloschu yelled at Rezo. " He says he demands to be able to speak English," Pika-baby translated. " You’re hardly in the position to demand anything, but, alright," Rezo said, " I’m feeling nice today." " That’s better!," Xelloschu muttered, " Well, at least I’m still cute," as he said this, he closed his eyes and smiled, just like he always did in his real body. " Oh! You’re right! You’re simply adorable!," Amelia squealed and picked Xelloschu up and squeezed with all her might. Syphil ran over and started to scratch him between his ears. " Amelia’s right! You’re cute as a button!" " I can’t believe-," Lina started, but then Xelloschu smiled at her and she melted, " You’re such a little cutie!," Lina yelled and started to scratch his back. Changer held her ground, trying her best not to look at Xelloschu who was trying his best to get her attention. Finally, he went ‘Pika Pika!’ in his cutest voice and she couldn’t stand it anymore. She ran over and started to tickle his tummy. Kosha had been over by Zelchu asking if he was okay and giving him hugs to make him feel better, when Xelloschu gave her his cutest grin yet, and she giggled and ran over and began to pet him. " Why can’t they ever give me this much attention while I’m in my real body?," Xelloschu wondered to himself. " This is pathetic!," Zelchu raged, mostly at the fact that Kosha had ditched loving on him to go love on Xellos. " This is not what I intended by turning him into a Pikachu! He is supposed to be suffering! Not having the time of his life!," Rezo said darkly. " Then turn him back into a demon! He doesn’t deserve to be that cute!," Pika- baby spat. Rezo pondered this for a moment, then he muttered a spell. Suddenly, Xelloschu was just plain old Xellos again, and the girls dropped him like he had turned into a dead rat, and ran over to Zelchu. " I knew it was too good to last," Xellos muttered. " Aren’t you going to turn me back into myself?," Zelchu asked. " No. One of you needs to stay a Pikachu so we don’t have to worry about you two killing each other. Once you’ve suffered enough, I’ll change you back," Rezo explained. " What about him! Doesn’t he deserve a punishment?," Zelchu yelled. " I suppose he does," Rezo smiled evilly, then he cast a spell on Xellos. " I don’t fell any different," Xellos said. " I’ve stripped you of all your magic powers. Every last bit of them," Rezo laughed, " Until you’ve both learned your lesson, you’re stuck." Chapter XII " I don’t mind this that much," Zelchu though happily to himself. He was riding on Kosha’s shoulder, listing to Xellos whine, and he was glad the demon was suffering. " Will you be quite!," Rezo yelled, " The longer you whine, the longer I’ll make you stay powerless!" " Kosha," Zelchu whispered, " do you like Xellos?" " Yes. I like you a lot too," Kosha said, " That’s why I’ve been so distracted lately." " Oh." " Kosha smiled, lifted Zelchu off her shoulder, kissed him, and gave him a hug, " I’ll be right back!," she said and handed him to the person behind her, who just happened to be Xellos, and ran up to her father. Xellos got and evilly fun sounding idea go punt kick Zelchu into tomorrow, but he decided it would make Kosha to mad, and set Zelchu down in hopes that it would reduce the temptation. He was wrong, and his sense of humor wouldn’t let him alone. He backed up a few steps, ran forward, and kicked Zelchu as hard as he could. Xellos had to resist the very strong urge to yell out ‘field goal’ even though he had no earthly idea what those two words meant. Lina noticed her pint-sized pal flying through the air, and used her Levitation spell to catch him. Everyone turned back to glare at Xellos. Who was trying to look as innocent as possible, but was failing miserably. " You kicked me!," Zelchu roared. " I would never do such a thing!," Xellos lied. " Lets just get going," Lina said, " Zelchu, you can stay up here with me." " Ouch!," Xellos yelled out in pain as he tried to follow them. " Now what?," Changer asked. " I think I broke my foot!," Xellos wailed. " Serves you right! Zel’s part golem, remember! That probably carried over to his Pikachu form, so you just kicked a stone Pikachu! I hope your foot hurts and I hope you suffer for it too!," Lina yelled. Kosha glared at her, and ran back to Xellos. She cast a healing spell in his foot. " Kosha! Why’d you do that for?," Gourry asked. " Look, Xellos may not be your friend, and you may not like him! But he is my friend, and I do like him! I’m not going to let one of my friend’s hobble around on a broken foot anymore then you would let one of yours! You should all be ashamed of yourselves for being so mean! Expressly you Amelia, defender of justice my foot!," Kosha said, " As for you, Xellos, you better apologize to Zelchu for kicking him!" Everyone just stood there, gapping at Kosha. Rezo smiled. " Well said my daughter, well said," Rezo smiled, " Now after Xellos apologizes to Zelchu, if you two promise not to fight anymore, I’ll turn you back to your old selves. The Gods help us." " We promise!," the two men said together. " Zelgadis, I’m sorry I kicked you," Xellos said. There was a flash, and they were back to there old lovable (in Zel’s case anyway) selves. " Next time either of you so much as argues with the other, you’re back to Pikachu-dom," Rezo warned. Xellos thought about this for a moment, then he turned to Kosha. " Did you like me better as a Pikachu?," he asked. " You were cuter," Kosha said, " but it’s not like you’re not cute now!" Xellos smiled and began to think of a way to get Rezo to turn Zel and Xellos himself back into a Piakchu without it being blamed on Xellos. As he walked along, he pondered this, and didn’t notice that everyone had stopped to look out over a valley, so he ran right into the back of Zel with enough force to send the chimera to his knees. Xellos stopped to rub his forehead. " You ran did that on purpose!," Zel roared. " Did what?," Xellos asked, looking blankly at Zel, and honestly not knowing what he had done. Zelgadis stifled a string of curses and swung at Xellos, who dodged by disappearing and reappearing in a near by tree. Then he teleported again and materialized behind Kosha. There was a flash and Zelchu and Xelloschu were back. " Oh fudge!," Xelloschu muttered. He had accomplished what he wanted, but everyone thought it was his fault. " Raichu chu Rai chu chu," Raichu yawned. " It is not! I don’t even know what I did!," Xelloschu yelled, obviously defending himself. " He wasn’t watching where he was walking. He didn’t mean to run into Zel," Syphil said. " See! It wasn’t my fault!," Xelloschu said and hit Zelchu over the head with his Pikachu-sized staff. Sparks flew from Zelchu’s cheeks as he began to chase Xelloschu around. Kosha sighed as they ran around her feet in circles. She bent over and picked Xelloschu up and Amelia made a grab for Zelchu. " Pika!," Zelchu yelled. Amelia had grabbed his tail, and it was a reflex to send electricity flowing through her. Soon, a roasted Amelia was lying twitching on the ground, " Sorry, Amelia," Zelchu said, not really all that sorry at all, as Changer gathered him up. " You two really need to cool it! Or just get used to being Pikachus for the rest of your lives!," Lina howled. Xelloschu smiled at her, " You’re cute again. Why do you have to be so adorable?" Pika-baby and Zelchu were glaring at Xelloschu, he giggled, " Don’t hate me ‘cause I’m adorable!" " If you weren’t in my best friends arms right now, I’d fry you!," Pika-baby screamed. " I’ll help you!," Zelchu sneered. " Rai," Raichu nodded in agreement. " Why did everyone stop anyway," Xelloschu asked. " Look," Gourry said and pointed. There was a huge valley, and the group was standing on the edge of it. There was a huge crumbling stone building that looked like an old cathedral or temple of some sort. " Oh. That’s the ruin I take it," Xelloschu said. " Yep!," Lina smiled. " One question," Xelloschu said in his most polite voice, " Where’s the entrance!," he screamed. " Uh. . . .it’s a secret?," Gourry tried. Xelloschu slapped his forehead with his paw, and everyone else rolled his or her eyes. " Anyway," Lina sighed, examining the map, " Ah! It says that the entrance is hidden in an old tree!?" " A tree?," Pika-baby wondered. " There’s a tree over there," Gourry said. Sure enough, there was a huge gnarled old tree over by the ruin. " Shall we go check it out?," Rezo asked, but Kosha (and Xelloschu since she was still holding him) were way ahead of him. Kosha was running as fast as she could toward the tree. " Here we go again," Changer sighed, " I was wondering when she was going to take charge again." " She knows where we’re going, and what to do. She has no need for the rest of us now, or in her opinion, at least," Rezo said. " Ah! They went in without us!," Zelchu howled. " She’s back to normal," Rezo smiled to himself, things should begin to get interesting now. Aloud he said, " We should hurry." Meanwhile, Kosha was speed walking through a long stone hallway. There were lit torches on the walls. There was a corner up ahead, and a cat came around the corner. " A Meowth?!," Kosha wondered. " Meowth! We told you that that stupid kid didn’t come in here!," a guy with lavender hair said. He and a girl with reddish pink hair had just come around the corner. " Hey! Who are you?," the girl demanded from Kosha, " and why is your Pikachu wearing a purple wig?" " And why does it have a staff?," the boy added. " Uh oh! I recognize those outfits! They’re part of that Pokemon stealing group, Team Rocket!," Kosha thought. " I’m-," Xelloschu started, but Kosha slammed her hand over his mouth. " Uh, he, um, we’re on our way to a costume party," she giggled, " Please buy that dumb excuse and don’t try to steal Xelloschu!," she thought desperately. " Oh. Have you seen a kid-," the boy started, the girl pulled a mallet from out of nowhere and hit him with it, " Ouch! Jessie! What was that for?" " James! Don’t tell her anything! I don’t trust her! I don’t think that’s a wig her Pikachu is wearing, I think it actually has purple hair!," Jessie said. " My thought’s exactly! That’s no ordinary Pikachu!," Meowth grinned. " You said it, Meowth!," Jessie and James said as they headed for Xelloschu. " Run! Go tell the others! I’ll take care of these idiots!," Kosha told him as she threw him in the direction they had come, " You’ve messed with the wrong girl! I’ll teach you to try and steal my boyfriend!" " Oh, we’re so scared of a girl that’s dating a Piakchu!," Jessie laughed, " After it!" " Firebaaaaaaalllllll!," Kosha yelled, nailing Team Rocket. " That Pikachu isn’t worth this!," James wailed. " Lets get out of here!," Meowth yelled. " Looks like Team Rockets Blasting off again!," they yelled as they ran off. Xelloschu was running as fast as his Piakchu legs would carry him towards the entrance, " Did she say ‘boyfriend?," he wondered to himself as he turned a corner, he could have sworn-but he lost his train of thought. He had run into something. He looked up to see what he had careened into. It was another Piakchu!? " Pika?," it asked. " Hey, what are you doing all alone in here, little guy?," a boy asked. " Leaving," Xelloschu said. " Hey! You can talk! Who are you? I’m Ash," they boy said. " Me? I’m Xellos the Trickster Priest." " I’ve never heard of a Pikachu being a priest," Ash said skeptically. " I’m not really a Piakchu! I’m a really an all powerful Mozuka!," Xelloschu said, he had decided that most humans preferred the word ‘Mozuka’ to demon even though them meant the same thing!, " I’m under and enchantment right now, so call me Xelloschu." " Oh. Have you seen a guy with black hair or a red-headed girl around here?" " Um, I saw a red head named Jessie. Is that who you’re looking for?," Xelloschu offered. " No. The people I’m looking for are named Brock and Misty," Ash sighed. Just great. Team Rocket was crawling around this place too! " No, I haven’t seen them," Xelloschu said, " Maybe my, uh, associates have. We should go meet up with them." At the entrance to the ruin, Lina and the others has just stormed in. " I can’t believe she just ran off!," Lina yelled. " Get used to it. The only reason she stayed with us on the way was because she didn’t know where this place was and knew she’d get fireballed if she tried to take the map from you," Changer snorted. " What is wrong with that Pikachu!," a girl screamed as she and a boy came around a corner. She was of course referring to Zelchu, " You should get to a PokeCenter right away!" " I’m not really a Pikachu!," Zelchu yelled, " I’m really a chimera. I’m 1/3 golem, 1/3 demon and 1/3 human! Actually I’m really a human turned into a chimera turned into a Piakchu," he explained. The girl just blinked at him, " Never mind, just call me Zelchu." " Hey, have you guys seen Xelloschu?," Kosha said as she pushed past the two strangers to her friends. " No. Last time we saw him was when he was still with you," Syphil said. " You-you-you LOST Xelloschu!!!!!," Amelia screamed, her voice went up and octave with every word, by the time she said ‘Xelloschu’ her voice was practically loud enough for only dogs to hear. " That’s bad?," Zelchu asked. " Very funny!," Kosha rolled her eyes, " We got separated when we ran into a couple of Team Rocket members." " Were their names Jessie and James?," the boy asked. Kosha looked at him like she was just noticing that he and the girl were there. " Yeah," she said slowly, her tone of voice had that ‘do I know you and why are you talking to me?’ tone to it. " Don’t mind them. They’re total idiots. I’m Brock, by the way, and this is Misty." " We’re looking for our friend Ash and his Pikachu," Misty said, then she glanced at Zelchu, " It’s a real Pikachu, not whatever Zelchu said he was," she added, " Have you seen him?" " No," Changer said, and shook her head, sending her tremendous volumes of jet-black hair rippling. " But I have!," a very familiar voice said cheerfully as a boy with Xelloschu on one shoulder and a normal Pikachu on the other came around the corner. " Xelloschu! You’re safe!," Kosha smiled. " Of course, m’lady." " Ash! Pikachu!," Misty laughed. " Good. Now we can get out of this freaky place!," Brock said, " Thanks!" " I hope you’re enchantment gets lifted soon, Xelloschu!," Ash called as he walked off. " Pika Pikachu chu Pi!," Pikachu added. " Enchantment?," Lina asked Xelloschu. " I had to give him some excuse why I looked like his," Xelloschu said. " This place is really, really strange!," Kosha added. " Why? They were just a couple of lost kids!," Gourry said, with his usually cluelessness. " Yeah, from another dimension!," Xelloschu roared and fried Gourry, hoping to jump-start the swordsman’s brain. " I’m getting magical readings from this place," Rezo said, ignoring the fact that Gourry had just been zapped, everyone else was too, " This could be and inter- dimensional transporter." " Mommy?," Gourry asked. " Snap out of it, man!," Rezo yelled and kicked Gourry with surprisingly good aim for a blind person, " You ever call me ‘mommy’ again, I’ll turn you into a rat!" " I don’t get it!," Amelia wailed, " Please don’t turn me into a rat." " Look, what he’s saying is that this ruin is probably linked to all sorts of other worlds. Only the Gods know who or what we’ll run into in here, so we should stay together!," Xelloschu explained. " That must mean all these freaky names are other dimensions!," Lina giggled, " I thought they were room names." " Let me see," Xelloschu said and jumped up on her shoulder, and surprisingly, didn’t get fireballed. There were actual rooms in the ruin, and then there was the library, which took up a good chunk of the first through third floors, but there were also hallways leading to other worlds, " This place is a maze!," Xelloschu muttered as he looked at various dimension names. There was their world, of curse, and ‘Pokeworld’, ‘Lodoss/Marmo’, ‘Spooner Continent’, ‘Hyrule’, ‘Mushroom Kingdom’, Earth’, ‘Outworld’, ‘B5’ , ‘DS9’ plus quite a few more that Xelloschu couldn’t make out. The thing that struck him as most odd was the fact that the attic was labeled ‘future’ and the basement ‘past’, " Huh, that’s odd," Xelloschu muttered. " Well, here’s us, and the others were from Pokeworld. So, do you think we’ll run into people from all the worlds, Rezo?," Changer asked her husband. " Quite possibly, love," Rezo said, " This may be harder then we originally thought." " Look, it’s late. I’m exhausted. Why don’t we all get some rest and continue our wonderful little journey tomorrow?," Kosha yawned. " Looks like there’s a room up ahead that we can crash in," Lina said and lead the way. The room was barren except for a table with several books on it. Zelchu jumped off his perch on Changer’s shoulder and looked trough them to make sure one of them wasn’t the Book of Healing, but none of them were. Changer handed out pillows and blankets again, and everyone crashed in their own little area. Changer and Rezo were together, of course. Xelloschu curled up on Kosha’s pillow by her head and Zelchu was curled up on her stomach. Soon everyone was sleeping. Chapter XIII " Get up!," Lina yelled at Gourry, " We gotta go find the library!" " I’m up! I’m up!," Gourry said as he sat up. Everyone else was awake and standing by the door, " No breakfast?" " No time! We have to get outta here fast! Rezo says the portals might not be stable and we might get trapped in here for eternity," Lina said. " Is that a long time?" " Anyway," Changer said, totally ignoring Gourry’s question, " Do you think those kids we ran into yesterday had any idea they were in another dimension?" " I very seriously doubt it," Xelloschu said, and Rezo nodded in agreement " I really want my old body back," Zelchu whimpered. " Alright! I’ll give you two your bodies back! Just quit wining please!," Rezo sighed, there was a flash, and Zel was back, but Xelloschu was still there. " Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!," he screamed. " Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!," Kosha shrieked. " What?," Amelia asked. " It’s a secret!," Kosha said. Everyone stared, " Sorry, reflex. Anyway, I’m not Kosha! It’s me, Xellos!" " He’s telling the truth!," Xelloschu wailed, " I’m Kosha!" " Oh boy," Changer moaned. " So Xellos is in Kosha’s body and Kosha is in Xelloschu’s body," Syphil said in a horrified voice. " Yep," Lina nodded. " Daddy! Fix this! I don’t wanna be a Pikachu!," Xelloschu/Kosha whimpered. " I’ve been trying! This stupid ruin is messing up my magic!," Rezo sighed. " Oh just great! Not only am I a guy, I’m a guy Mazoku in a Piakchu body!" " Hey! It’s not like being a girl is a picnic for me!," Xellos snapped, " I don’t see why you’re complaining! Being a practically immortal Mazoku has go to be better then being a human!" " But I’m a guy!!!!!!!," Kosha screamed. " So, I guess we are going to call Xellos Xellos and Kosha Kosha even though they’re not in their right bodies?," Amelia asked. " I suppose we should," Rezo said. " This is not good," Zelgadis sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. Kosha whimpered some more. " My magic isn’t messed up. At least in this body it’s not, so it shouldn’t be in my real body," Xellos said. " Huh?," Lina asked. " I guess it’s ‘cause I’m a Mozuku. I could probably pull off a Soul Transfer, except Kosha needs to be in my real body, not Xelloschu form," he explained, as he started to play with Kosha’s waist length hair. " I could probably pull of a spell to turn Xelloschu back into Xellos," Changer volunteered. " I thought it was that time of the month," Gourry said. He was totally lost, but didn’t want to risk get beat by every female in the room if he asked what was going on. " Not any more!," Changer fumed, " Anyway, like I was saying, I could probably pull off the spell." " Then I could do the Soul Transfer and get Kosha back into her body and myself into mine," Xellos smiled. " Please don’t do that," Zel said, " Kosha is very cute when she smiles. Since it’s actually Xellos smiling, right now, I’m thinking Xellos is cute." " You’re cute too, Zel," Xellos joked. Changer rolled her eyes and performed the counter spell. " I’m still Xellos," Kosha said through clinched teeth. " Well, at least my body is back!," Xellos said cheerfully, then he turned to the others, " This is a very complicated spell. I need all of you to be quite. Don’t make a single sound! And don’t interrupt me, either! You could seriously mess things up!," he explained. Everyone nodded. Xellos cast the spell, and both he and Kosha we surrounded in a brilliant blue light, it flashed then dimmed. Xellos looked down at his hands. Bluish gray gloves, just like normal, he smiled as he looked up at Kosha to see her feeling her face and examining her hands. She let out a sigh of relief. " Now that that’s over with, let’s get going before anything else goes wrong," Rezo said. Changer shuddered at the thought of anything worse happening. She took Rezo’s hand in her own. He looked over at her and smiled, then he squeezed her hand. Kosha lingered as everyone was leaving. She had an indescribable urge to check her rear for a tail. After everyone had left, she did. When she looked up, she saw Xellos smiling at her as he leaned against the doorway. Kosha turned a few brilliant shades of red. He smiled at her and gave her his ‘it’s a secret’ look to say ‘it’ll be our little secret’ without the others hearing. " Will you two come on!," Lina howled from the hallway, " You two better not be kissing!" Kosha and Xellos laughed as they ran out to join their friends. Changer XIV " Hmmm. This door should lead to the library," Lina said as she swung open a door. Everyone entered. " This isn’t a library, Lina," Xellos said. " You’re real good at stating the obvious, Xellos, you know that?," Zel muttered. Xellos just smiled. Zelgadis rolled his eyes and looked around. They were standing in a fairly large hallway with a black, white and maroon tiled floor. The walls were adorned with tons of little maroon doors that had little knobs with numbers on them. The little doors themselves were also numbered. There were larger tan doors along the walls too. There was a tan door every twenty feet or so, and by them were little maroon plaques. The tan door nearest to them was labeled ‘C101’. The tan doors also had narrow windows in them. They hallway they were in gave way to a much larger one. There was a huge poster with the words: ‘Drive Safely SHS! Buckle up!’ painted on it. " Where are we, Lina?," Gourry asked. " Oops! I was holding the map upside down!," Lina giggled nervously, " We’re in a dimension called ‘Earth’." " The portal is closed," Rezo said dryly, " We’re stuck here until one opens again." Suddenly, a bell rang as a little sign sticking out of the wall changed to ‘3:00.’ Children with bags and book in their arms came swarming out from behind the tan doors. They went over to the little maroon doors and began turning the knobs in different directions to get the doors to open. They talked loudly and laughed with one another. Some of the kids were just shoving their way through the crowd. " What kind of place is this!," Kosha wailed, getting several strange looks from the children. " They’re probably some sort of slave labor," Zelgadis said in his most serious voice. Kosha shuddered and clung to his arm. Zel didn’t shake her off, but instead he gave her a reassuring hug and a smile. Xellos was examining one of the little maroon doors. He turned the knobs, but the door wouldn’t open. A girl with blondish brown hair and glasses came up. " Excuse me, this is my locker!," she said and pushed Xellos out of the way. She spun the dial to the right, stopped on 19, spun the dial left twice, stopped on 5, spun the dial right again and stopped on 23. The ‘locker’ as she had called it, opened. She put all of her books in it, and grabbed a binder, slammed the locker shut, spun the dial and walked off. " Xellos, what are you doing?," Rezo asked as he and the others came up. " These little maroon doors are called ‘lockers’ and the children store books in them," Xellos explained as he mimicked the girls actions and spun the correct numbers on the dial, the locker sprang open, " See?," he said with a smile. The books were labeled ‘Biology I’, ‘English’, ‘World Geography’, ‘French’ and ‘Algebra’. There was also a black and red book that was sealed with some kind or miniature teeth, and Xellos couldn’t get it open. " Come on! We have more important things to do then fiddle with some ‘lockers’!," Lina said. " I suppose we do," Xellos sighed as he shut the locker and spun the knob, like the girl had. They wandered down a hall and came out next to a large open room with lots of tables and blue chairs stacked on top of them. While they had been wondering, Xellos had noticed that the kids often had names on their shirts. There was Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Polo, Gap, Guess, Nike, Old Navy, Calvin Klein and a few others. Xellos assumed they were the names of the kid’s owners, since the kids were slaves. By the big room, there were kids putting little green slips of paper into large metal rectangles and getting items out of the rectangles. They eyed the group. " Must be with the anime club," a girl whispered, " I think they’re from ‘Slayers.’ I recognize them from some pictures Heather Allen had." The group walked across the room with the tables and chairs and headed down another hallway. They saw two girls come out of a smaller hallway. " Hey. Meg, do you know what we’re watching?," one girl asked. " Heather! I’ve told you three times! ‘Slayers’!," Meg sighed. " Oh, yeah. I forgot," Heather laughed, " I wish Rezo hadn’t gotten killed. Copy Rezo sucks!" " Yeah, but Zelgadis is cool!," Meg said. " They knew Rezo and Zel," Amelia said. " After them!," Changer said. No one argued and they continued down the hall. The building they were in was mostly empty now, and Xellos noticed anther black sign sticking out of the wall. It now read ‘3:14’. He figured that this was some kind of way of keeping track of time. As they continued down the hall, he saw a library. He wanted so badly to go in there and read all about this place called Earth! Xellos sighed as they continued on past the library. No time for stopping to have fun. They had a mission to do. Heather and Meg had walked past a group of clear glass doors. Zel looked out as they passed, and saw a large, yellow tube pull up. Several of the children climbed into it, and it rolled away, at a rather fast pace. It reminded Zel of a coach without horses. He sighed and shook his head as they walked on after the girls. The ceiling was now wavy and mirrored, but the girls turned off into a smaller hallway. Amelia noticed more of the things Xellos had called ‘lockers’ and there were also tan doors here too. Heather and Meg had just entered a pair of the tan doors, and the group came to a stop in front of them. There were small rectangular windows in the doors, so the group looked in. Inside the room, was a group of six kids, Heather and Meg, and an adult. " Where is everybody. Jeff?," Meg asked. " JD kicked all the Magic Card people out," Jeff answered. " Yeah, they got really pissed," a girl laughed. " Christie, it’s not funny!," another girl said, " Actually it is, but that’s beside the point." " Oh, yeah Brandee, your lecturing Christie when you threatened to leave with the others," a boy laughed. " Shut-up, Joe!," Brandee yelled. " How about we all listen to JD who is trying to start the meeting?," another boy asked. " Thank you Jason!," the last boy said, who had to be JD, " We’re watching ‘Slayers’ today. Mr. Davis, where’s the remote?" The man handed JD the remote, which looked like a small piece of black metal with buttons on it. JD pressed one of the buttons, and a black box hanging from the wall lit up with color and light. " It, it can’t be!," Lina gasped, " It’s me!" " Not just you! Most of us are up there on that box thingie," Gourry said. " This is fun!," Xellos giggled evilly and swung the door open. All eight of the students whirled around to see who had come in. Mr. Davis looked up from a gray box on a desk, " Hello, everybody!," Xellos smiled. " Alright, who spiked the soda, and what exactly did you spike it with?," someone asked. " Spike?," Syphil asked, confused. " What is going on?," Meg asked, " Who put you people up to this?" " Up to what? My feet are on the ground," Gourry said. " Well, whoever is playing him has the attitude and voice right," Jason said. " Playing?," Rezo wondered, " Oh, they think we’re actors." " Duh," Heather said, " Aren’t you?" " No. We are the people you’re watching on the light filled box," Zel said. " Yeah, and I’m the Queen of England," Christie giggled. " Queen of England? Where’s that?," Amelia asked, " I’m a Princess!" " This is too weird!," Jeff said. " I know this id going to sound crazy, but, maybe they really are the ‘Slayers’ crew. I mean, they look way to much like everybody, even for costumes, and they have the voices down pat," Heather said. " I think she may be right," Mr. Davis said. " Of course we’re really us!," Lina said. " We are from another dimension, Lina, the wonderful map follower she is, even when she is holding the map upside down, lead us here," Xellos said. " Fireball!," Lina yelled, nailing Xellos. The kids all dived under a table. " Well, that proves it, they are really who they say they are," Joe said. " Why are you under the table?," Kosha asked. " Who are you?," Brandee asked, " You’re not on the show, and neither is that other chick." " Last time I checked, a Pikachu and a Raichu weren’t on ‘Slayers’ either," JD added. " I’m Kosha." " I’m Changer." " You know the rest of us then?," Rezo asked. " Yeah. All of you are on the TV show," Jason said. " TV?," Zel asked. " This box thing. Don’t worry about it. How did you guys get here anyway?," Heather said. " I told you, we were in some freaky ruin and Lina was holding the map upside down and we wandered here instead of to the library," Xellos said, " Oh, how come none of you have your master’s name on your shirts?" " What?," Meg asked. " You know, your masters. You are slaves, aren’t you?," Xellos asked. " Uh, no," Meg said, " Slavery was abolished hundreds of years ago." " This isn’t a slave camp?," Changer asked. " Nope," JD said. " Then who are Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren-," Xellos started to ask, but all the kids had started laughing. " Those are fashion designers! They make clothes, and are very popular," Meg said. " Oh. So it’s a form of fashion to walk around with other people’s names on your clothes?," Xellos asked. " Yep," Christie said. " So, if this is not a slave labor camp, what is it?," Rezo said. " A school." " School?," Syphil asked. " Yeah. Kids are sent here five days a week to learn. It a law for us to come here and there are twelve grade levels. Generally, we start school when we’re six and graduate high school when we’re eighteen," Meg said. " You’re parents don’t teach you?," Zel asked, stunned. " Nope. We come here to learn," Jeff said. " Strange culture," Changer sighed, " You want to explain why, exactly we’re on a ‘TV show’ as you put it?" " Oh, you are characters on a show called ‘Slayers’. It’s a really neat show and is pretty popular with people who watch Japanese animation," JD said. " Japanese animation is a type of TV show," Joe added. While they were explaining this, Brandee had wondered over to Gourry and was hovering by him. After a minute or so, he just ignored her. Then she did something totally unexpected by all: she stole the Sword of Light! " I got the Sword of Light!," she sang. " Brandee!," everyone yelled at once. " What?," she asked, " Light come forth!" " Ah! That’s a family treasure!," Gourry yelled, " Give it back!" " Brandee! Give it back!," Heather yelled. " You guys are no fun," she sighed, but handed Gourry back his sword. " Now, if only we could get back home," Amelia sighed. " You’ve got Rezo with you! What’s the problem? He’s used magic to kick your guy’s butts twice. Can’t he just use a spell to find the portal?," Christie asked. Everyone just stared at her. " Rezo is a pretty cool villain," Jason said. " Better then most. But Zel’s still my favorite character, with Xellos a close second," Heather said. " Yeah, and I like Lina too," Meg added. " Do you have a map of this school?," Rezo asked. " Here,". Mr. Davis said and handed Rezo a map. " The portal is in this large room," Rezo said, running his fingers over the map to ‘read’ it. " The cafeteria!," all of the students laughed. " Well, it explains the food," Jeff sighed. " Come on, we’ll show you the way," Heather said as she and Meg lead them down. The others decided to stay behind for one reason or another. As they walked down the hall, they saw a girl and a boy coming towards them. " Hey Amy! Hey Kerry!," Heather called. " Hey, you were supposed to meet me five minutes ago!," Amy said, totally ignoring Meg and the others. Kerry, on the other hand had noticed. " Who-what-how-," he stammered. " Long story, explain later," Meg said. " Hi Zelgadis!," Amy smiled when she saw him. Then it sank in, " Zel- Zel-Zelgadis!," she yelled, " How!?" " I’ll explain later. There’s a portal in the cafeteria to another dimension. We’re showing them how to get home," Heather said. " Why!?," Amy howled. " Look, can we continue?," Changer snapped. " Yeah, this way," Meg said and continued to lead the way. " Zel, you’re my favorite ‘Slayers’ character," Amy said. " Uh, thanks, I guess," he said. " Here we are," Meg said as they entered the cafeteria. It was the large room with the tables and blue chairs. Rezo muttered a few spells and the portal appeared. " Thanks for your help," Kosha said as she followed everyone through the portal. " Fascinating place, this Earth, maybe I’ll drop by again, sometime," Xellos said, mostly to himself. " Will you come on!," Lina yelled and dragged him through the portal. " That was really, really odd," Kerry said. " Oh yeah," Heather agreed. " You know, they probably started the tape up again without us," Meg said. " Lets go! Zel’s on this tape, right?," Amy asked as the four friends headed down the hall. Chapter XV " We’re a TV show!," Xellos giggled. " A popular TV show!," Gourry added. " They all loved me!," Lina sighed. " Actually they all loved me and Xellos," Zel muttered, then so the others could hear, he said, " We need to get back on the task at hand, don’t you think?" " Okay, okay. Now we need to go down this hallway," Lina said. " Are you sure?," Rezo taunted the sorceress. " Yes!," she hissed. " Just checking. Do continue leading us, Lina," Rezo smiled as they continued down the hall. Kosha was bringing up the rear, wondering why she wasn’t on the show, when a black gloved hand reached out from a corridor and grabbed her around the waist. A man with long jet-black hair and shinny black armor had snatched her, and was covering her mouth with the hand that wasn’t holding her back. He had a huge sword that was radiating magic, evil magic. A female elf was standing beside the man, and had a knife in her hand. Xellos, who had been taunting Lina, decided that the young sorceress wouldn’t take much more of it, and went to go talk to Kosha, but noticed she was gone. " Where’s Kosha?," he asked. " She’s back-," Zel started, " Hey, she’s gone!" " Maybe she just wandered off again," Syphil suggested. " No, she wouldn’t. She has no clue where the library is, and wouldn’t want to go anywhere else," Changer said. " This isn’t like her. I’m worried," Rezo said. " You should be!," the man said as he and the elf came out of the corridor, " You tell us where in Kardis’s name we are, or the girl dies. It would be a pity to waste such a lovely girl, but I don’t have time to worry about that now." " Who are you?," Amelia asked. This threw both the man and the elf off. " We must be far from home, Pirotess," the man said, " I am Lord Ashram of the Dark Island of Marmo, holder of the Demon Sword." " Demon Sword?!," Xellos said, " Hmmm. I faintly remember something of it. Was given to a witch in another realm ages ago. Has a rather powerful demonic spell on it, cast by the Lord of Nightmares herself, I do believe." " What?," Pirotess asked, " How do you. . . . . . ? Mazoku!," she yelled. " Correct, Lady Dark Elf. Now, do be good and let my Love go," Xellos snickered. " I don’t think so! Tell us where we are now!," Ashram yelled. Pirotess raised the blade she was holding to Kosha’s neck, and Kosha’s eyes widened in fear. " Let her go!," Zel roared and drew his sword. Xellos vanished, " Figures he’d leave when things get messy," Zel thought, but Xellos was materializing behind Pirotess. He grabbed her, and disappeared with her. He reappeared next to Zel. " Get the knife," Xellos said. Zel took it form Pirotess’s hand, " Be ready to decapitate this little Dark Elf if Ashram doesn’t give us Kosha back." Zel nodded, then smiled at Ashram, " Well, now what are you going to do?" " Give her back!," Ashram roared. " A trade, perhaps," Rezo said, " Your elf for my daughter. Or I could just use a rather nasty spell to incinerate you if you don’t give her back to us." " Why haven’t you done it already, wizard?," Ashram asked. " I prefer the term ‘mage’ or ‘priest’," Rezo sighed, " and the only reason you’re still standing is because it’s been a rather long morning and I don’t feel like exerting myself, but if you so much as harm Kosha, you will be dead before you even know what hit you." " Fine. A trade," Ashram said, and threw Kosha onto the ground. She cried out as her head slammed into the stone floor, but she pulled herself to her feet. Rezo started to fling a spell at Ashram, but Changer stopped him. Pirotess ran over to Ashram. " Tell us how to get home," Pirotess asked Xellos. " What realm are you from? I recognize Marmo, but can’t place it," Xellos said. " Lodoss," Pirotess said. " Ah, the Accursed Island," Xellos said, then he looked over to Lina’s map, " Go back down the corridor you were in, then take the first hallway to the left, turn right, and take the first door on the right. You will be transported home." Ashram and Pirotess ran off. " Kosha! Kosha!," Zelgadis yelled as Kosha fainted into his arms, " That bastard! He gave her a concussion when he threw her down!" " You should have let me incinerate him," Rezo said to Changer as he used a healing spell on Kosha, " She will be unconscious for a little while." " I’ll carry her," Zel said as he continued down the hall. Xellos sighed and followed. He was glad the others hadn’t questioned him about knowing of the Demon Sword or of the Dark Elves. It would be hard to explain that their world and Lodoss had once been one in the same, and that in a war between the Mazoku and the Dragons that no one but the survivors even remembered, the worlds were split. Chapter XVI Kosha awoke in a huge, black leather chair. She sat up and looked around. She was in a library, no correction a huge, gigantic, monstrous library, and her friends were tearing the place apart. The library was covered in books from the floor to the ceiling. There were seven balconies, plus the floor under the biggest one was five steps lower then the rest of the floor, making a little hollowed out area. There were also several smaller bookshelves around the main floor, there was also one against a wall, and it looked rather out of place, like it was hiding something behind it. Amelia was looking through the smaller shelves, Kosha’s parents were up on the biggest balcony, and Gourry was in the hollowed out area. Lina and Xellos were using their levitation powers to search through the books that were near the ceiling and too high for the others to see, the Pokemon, on the other hand, were searching the shelves that were at floor level. Syphil was searching along the books on the walls, and Zelgadis was by himself up on a balcony. Kosha sighed and stood up. " Kosha! Glad you’re awake!," Changer yelled down with a smile, " Now get your rear in gear and help us look!" " Okay!," Kosha laughed and bounded up the stairs to the balcony where Zel was searching by himself. Soon, the two of them were laughing, flirting, and basically having a lot more fun then the others. Xellos glared evilly at Zel. Zel just smiled at the Mazoku. Hours later. . . . . . . " What time is it?," Syphil asked with a yawn. " Almost midnight. We should stop for the eavining and get some sleep!," Changer said. Just like the night before, everyone got their own corner and crashed. Kosha awoke very afraid. She had a dream that Ashram had killed Zel in a sword fight and that Rezo had accidentally incinerated Xellos and Pirotess killed her. She wiped her cheeks off, she had been crying in her sleep. How she hated nightmares! She was afraid to go back to sleep alone. She looked around, Zel was away from the others, as usual. Kosha crept over to him. " Couldn’t sleep?," he asked her. " I’m glad you’re awake!," she sighed, " I had a horrible nightmare!" " Don’t worry. I’m here to protect you," he smiled. " Can-can I sleep over here, by you?," Kosha asked him. He nodded, and opened his arms to her. She smiled and let him hold her. " You will always be safe with me, Kosha, I swear!," Zelgadis whispered and kissed the top of her head. Soon, they were both asleep. Xellos awoke before everyone else as usual, and saw Zel and Kosha sleeping in each other’s arms, and since they hadn’t gone to sleep like that, he knew they got like that during the night, and it infuriated him. Then he realized something, something that most Mazoku would never admit. He, Xellos, was in love. It took all of his self-control not to lash out and kill Zelgadis. About an hour later, everyone else was awake, and they started to search the library again. Kosha was on her way up to the balcony with Zel when she saw Xellos watching her. " Xellos, mind if I join you?," she called to him with a smile. " Not at all," Xellos said. Kosha smiled and ran over to him. Soon, they were searching and having a rather nice time. Now it was Zel’s turn to be jealous. Hours later. . . . " We’ve searched this whole library, and The Book of Healing is now where to be found!," Lina screamed as she paced the library floor. " Maybe we just missed it," Syphil suggested. " This is not fair!," Zelgadis screamed, " This book is probably my only chance for a cure and we’ve blown it!," he yelled and kicked the smaller shelf that was against the wall. It fell over with a crash, books flying everywhere. There was a door, now in plain view since the bookcase was no longer blocking it. " Nice work, Zel," Xellos snickered as he opened the door, " This hallway on the map, Lina dear?" " No, and don’t call me ‘dear’," Lina said, " What’s in there?" " That is a secret!," Xellos laughed, grabbed Kosha’s hand ran with her through the door, and slammed it shut behind them, " Come on!," he smiled at her. " Xellos!," she laughed as she got a better grip on his hand, " Where are we going?" " That is a secret," he said, Kosha rolled her eyes and smiled, Xellos smiled and add," because I have no idea!" In the library, the rest of the group was staring stunned at the door. " Well, here we go again," Changer sighed. " Lets go," Rezo said as he opened the door, " We have to catch them before they get themselves killed, or worse." Kosha and Xellos were running down the twisting corridors, laughing and giggling like school children, until they came to another door. " Shall we?," Xellos asked as he swung the door open. Rezo, Changer, Lina, Amelia, Gourry, Syphil, Pika-baby, Zel, and Raichu were all running down the corridor after Kosha and Xellos. " They had better not make a habit out of this!," Lina roared. " Well, my dear, I do believe they both have a rather defined reputation of doing whatever the hell they want when they want too," Rezo pointed out. " What is with everyone calling me ‘dear’ today!?," Lina asked. Kosha and Xellos entered the room. It was rather small, and there were tons of viewing portals. " What the heck is that?," Kosha asked. " I’m not sure, my love. It may be a Mazoku of some sort," Xellos said, " We come in all shapes and sizes." Kosha and Xellos were staring at a pony. A seven-inch tall, white and royal purple pinto pony with a long lavender tail and mane, to be exact. It was standing up on its hind legs and looking at a bunch of little ‘TV screens’ as the kids from Earth had called them. It turned around and smiled at the visitors to its room and smiled. Xellos did a double take. Yes, a purple and white, seven-inch tall pony was smiling up at him. " Hello!," it said cheerfully, its blue eyes twinkling. Outside the door. . . .. " They must have gone in without us!," Zel said as he tried to open the door, " It’s jammed." " Move over boy," Rezo sighed as he pushed his way up to the door. Rezo slammed his shoulder up against the door. With a crack, the door splintered off its hinges and more or less fell into the room. Kosha and Xellos turned to look as the door banged against the wall with the sound of splitting wood and fell to the floor with a loud crash. " That was real smooth, Rezo," Lina rolled her eyes. " Oh, hello, everyone! So glad you could join us and our new friend! Um do you have a name, little one?," Xellos asked cheerfully. " Yep! I’m Zone!," the pony said. " Who said that?," Changer asked. Zone was at their feet, and everyone was expecting to see a person who was decently tall. " Um, he’s down here," Pika-baby said and tugged at Changer’s skirt. Everyone looked down. Zone smiled up at them. " Hello!," he chirped. " Oh! He’s cute! Even cuter the Xelloschu!," Amelia giggled. " It’s a seven-inch tall talking purple and white pinto pony!," Zelgadis sighed and shook his head in disbelief. " That’s right! Now, who are all of you? It’s been a long, long time since I’ve had any visitors here!," Zone chuckled. " Where are we, anyway?," Xellos asked, " As for who we are, it’s a secret!," he giggled, assuming the position. Lina hit him over the head, sending him crashing to the ground, " Ouch!" " Don’t mind him. He’s Xellos, the Trickster Priest, and he’s a Mazoku to make matters worse," Syphil smiled. Xellos just gave everyone his happy grin ™, and sat cross-legged on the floor, his staff across his knees. A few moments later, he began to float in that very position. " Anyway, I’m Lina Inverse, and my friends and I are looking for The Book of Healing." " Book of Healing!?," Zone laughed, " That old thing? I haven’t seen it in ages!" " I knew it! I just knew it! My one hope for a cure and it’s gone!," Zel sighed and threw his hands up over his head in exasperation. " I didn’t say it was gone, I just said I haven’t seen it, so it’s not here," Zone said and rolled his eyes. Humans! They take everything you say and twist it into what they wanted or expected to hear, " I can tell you where it is, but there’s a catch." " There always it," Xellos sighed. " Tell us!," Zel yelled and picked Zone up, holding the pony around his belly. " Do put me down," Zone said. Zel obeyed and the little pony shook his mane and swished his tail, " I hate it when people pick me up," Zone grumbled, " Anyway, to answer Xellos’ earlier question, this ruin is generally called Zone’s Ruin since I’ve been watching it since right after Ceiphed split Shabernigdo into seven pieces. Yes, I’m that old. Anyway, this room is the Dimensional Chamber. I make sure people don’t wander off to places they’re not supposed to be. For example, someone form Spooner Continent shouldn’t end up in The Mushroom Kingdom for all eternity." " There’s that word eternity again. How long is that?," Gourry wondered aloud. Lina smacked him and everyone else just ignored him. " Your point is?," Zel asked. " Without me opening and closing portals, you may have ended up on Earth for the rest of your lives! Jeez! You Humans can be so dense! I need to hang out with you kind more often. I’m used to intelligent people," Zone rolled his eyes. " You know other Humans?," Rezo asked. Kosha, Syphil, Changer, Lina and Amelia were all holding Zel back from killing the little pony. " Knew would be more accurate. Over one thousand years ago, I was friends with a man named Lei Magnus," Zone chuckled. " Hey, isn’t he Rezo’s ancestor? And didn’t he have something to do with Shabbybigtoe?," Gourry wondered. " Does he mean Shabernigdo?," Zone wondered. " Don’t mind him, he’s as dumb as a rock, maybe dumber," Lina said. " Yes, Lei Magnus is my ancestor," Rezo said, " Zone, please continue." " Yes, well, this place doesn’t function within the normal laws and boundaries of the universe. You can go back and forward in time, you can venture into other worlds where you’re a TV show character and real magic doesn’t exist and dragons are myths," Zone explained. " You can’t leave this room can you?," Xellos asked. " No. I have to watch people that wander into this place and make sure they wander back out again and that they get home," Zone said, " I know where The Book of Healing is, and I’ll tell you if you do me a huge favor and go to the attic and get a book entitled "Zones of Realms" and bring it back here to me. Can you do that?" " Sure!," Amelia yelled and assumed a justice pose, " We are off to be of assistance to the cute little pony Zone! To get the Book of Healing and bring a cure and happiness to Zelgadis and Rezo!" " Amelia, be quite please," Rezo cut her off. " Okey-dokey!," she smiled sweetly. " Lina, you have a map, so use it," Zone said, " I’ll be waiting my friends," he added as they headed back to the library. Everyone stopped in the hall outside the library as Lina examined the map. " To think a little pony decides our fate if we wander into another world!," Xellos giggled. He was still floating as he was in Zone’s room. Now he was hovering beside Lina. " Which way is the attic?," Changer asked. " Follow me, I’ll lead the way so a certain someone doesn’t run off ahead," Lina said as she glanced at Kosha. " What?," Kosha asked and shrugged her shoulders. Soon the group came to a huge spiraling stairwell that led straight up. There was a faded dust filled rug on the stairs, it was a gray color, but Changer assumed that at one time it had been purple. " I guess we should go on up," Syphil muttered as they began to trop up the stairs. They seamed to go on forever. The top of the steps was open and you could see directly into the attic, which was huge. It was about half the size of the library, but there were only six fairly small bookshelves. The group had stopped at the top of the stairs when all of a sudden they heard two girls’ voices. " It was the ‘Book of Zones’," one voice said. It was smooth and silky and low. It reminded Xellos of his master’s voice when she was happy. (Which was next to never) " No, Raya, it was the ‘Zones of Realms’," another voice sighed, this voice was smooth and low, a little husky and steady, but very feminine all the same, " and get down here and help me look!" " I am looking Zela!" " Yeah, at the ceiling," Zela snapped. The girls had rounded the corner, but their backs were still to the group. One was floating, so she had to be Raya. The other girl must have been Zela. Everyone could now get a good look at the girls. Raya, the one who was floating, had long, shinny purple hair that fell to her waist. Besides its length, Raya’s hair was styled just like Xellos’s. Her eyes were just like his too, right down to the beautiful amethyst color. Raya was in a purple ankle length skintight silk formal gown. It split open just above her knees, and was longer in the back.. The dress was low-cut as well, and was showing quite a bit of the girl’s cleavage, but not enough to be unflattering. The dress was quite the opposite, it flattered Raya, very much. On her feet was a pair of purple velvet high-healed sandals. Raya had on a black cloak that was identical to Xellos’s and had a staff that matched his as well. While Raya looked eerily like Xellos, Zela, on the other hand, looked eerily like Zelgadis. Zela’s skin was the same color as Zel’s, right down to the darker chunks of stone on it. Her hair was styled just like Zel’s except in the back, it cascaded down past her waist, and it was the same color as Rezo’s. Zela’s eyes were the same lavender as Kosha’s, but were shaped like Zelgadis’s. She was in a sleeveless dress that fell to her ankles, with slits up the sides all the way to her hips. She had on black tights under the dress and her boots were black as well. The dress was skintight, and was the same beigeish color as Zel’s. Zela had on a long flowing cloak that was the same color as her dress. A sword dangled from a black belt at her waist. " Xellos Raya, I swear if you don’t get down here and help me, I’ll-," Zela started. " Do absolutely nothing!," Raya interjected with a giggle, " I am your best friend, Zelagadis! I know you almost better then you know yourself!" " Wow! They look just like Xellos and Zelgadis!," Gourry said in amazement. The girls whirled around, saw the group at the top of the stairs and screamed. " I guess we should have expected to run into them up here, not in the library," Zela sighed when she caught her breath. " Who are you two! Gourry’s right, you do look and awful lot like Xellos and Zel," Lina said, her hands on her hips. " We’re from the future. Twenty years in the future. We’re not even born yet," Raya giggled, " My name is Xellos Raya, buy the way, but everyone just calls me Raya so not to get me mixed up with my dad." " Dad?," Xellos asked. " Yep! You’re my father," Raya laughed. She closed her eyes and smiled, just like Xellos always did, and she looked eerily like him. " I’m Zelagadis, but everyone calls me Zela," Zela smiled, " When you say my name fast enough, it sounds like Zelgadis." " I-I’m your father, aren’t I?," Zel asked her. " Yep." " Who is your mother?," Xellos and Zel asked their future daughters at the same time. " We’re half sisters," Raya said, not answering the question, " I’m two years older then Zela. My parents never got married because Beastmaster wouldn’t let her top minion marry a ‘mer mortal’, but that was after I was around anyway." " Almost a year after Raya was born, my parents go married and I was born a year later," Zela added, " We grew up together and have been best friends as long as either of us can remember." " Dad comes by almost everyday," Raya laughed when she saw the look Xellos had on his face when he thought about abandoning his daughter. " I’m your mother," Kosha whispered. " Yes, you are," Zela smiled, " None of you have changed much." " None of us?," Rezo wondered. " Well, heck, you’re our grandfather for crying our loud! We see you and Changer almost everyday, and we see the rest of you at least once a week, usually more," Raya said. " We grew up calling all of you aunts and uncles," Zela said. " I’m not cured, am I," Zel asked with a sigh. " Actually, you are. You find a cure when I was three," Zela said, " I hardly remember you looking like a Chimera at all. No one wants to risk using the cure on me because this is my original body, and I really don’t mind being a Chimera." " So, can we go home now?," Gourry asked. " No!," both girls yelled. " You have no idea how important it is for you to find that book!," Raya said. Actually, it wasn’t really all that important, and they didn’t think things would change much if they didn’t find it. But, both Raya and Zela had agreed before that if they ran into their parents and company in the past, they would make it seam like finding The Book of Healing was a major deal. " You really, really need to find that book!," Zela added. " It still may have a cure for my eyes!," Rezo added, he was a little irked that as soon as everyone found out that Zel wasn’t going to get anything out of this quest, they should just forget it! " Oh, well that is a secret!," Raya giggled, closing one eye and waving her index finger at the group. " That looks really, really creepy!," Amelia yelled. " Yeah, she looks way to much like Xellos," Lina agreed. " No, what’s really creepy is when she and her father do it at the same time. I’m talking in perfect sync. That’ll make your skin crawl every time, I don’t care how many times you see it!," Zela said. " This is only one possible future of many," Rezo mumbled to Changer as he pulled her aside, " There are to many variables. Our destiny isn’t carved into stone form the second we are born to the minute we die." " I was thinking the same thing," she whispered to him. Standing on her tip-toes trying to get as close to his ear as possible, " Look girls," she said as she turned to Zela and Raya, " we are kind of in a hurry. Could you excuse us, please?" " We have to be going anyway. Raya has a date with her precious Valgarv," Zela said and rolled her eyes, " and I’m supposed to meet up with Lisa to go visit a magic shop." " The demon girl," Raya shuttered, " I’m a Mazoku and even I’m not as evil and insane as that girl is. How can you stand her?" " Lisa is nice! You’re just mad because the dragons like her and they can’t stand you even though you and Valgarv are practically married and Aunt Filia likes you." " Your point?," Raya asked with a yawn, " Lina, Gourry, when you two finally get married, use birth control!" " Will you come on!," Zela yelled and pulled her friend through the portal. " Weird," Xellos muttered. Chapter XVII " Found it!," Amelia sang as she pulled a book of a shelf and skipped over to the others, who looked grim, " What’s wrong?" " Oh, we were just discussing Xellos Raya and Zela," Kosha said nonchalantly " Your kids?," Amelia asked. " They might not ever exist. That is only one possible future of many," Rezo said, " Now, you have the book?" " Yep!,’ Amelia said and handed it to Rezo. He ran a finger over the cover and smiled. " ‘Zones of Realms’. This is it, lets go," he said. " You read with your finger?," Syphil asked. Before Rezo could answer, a huge crash came from behind the bookcase. Everyone looked around the corner and saw Xellos Raya, sitting in a pile of books, looking rather embarrassed. " Hi," she giggled with her eyes closed, " I, uh, guess I missed the portal!" " Obviously," Xellos laughed as he pulled her up out of books, " You okay?," he asked. He felt a strong bond with this girl, and the only thing he could figure was because in the long run, he was her father. " Can we get back to the mission?," Zel asked with a sigh. He didn’t like the idea of a female Xellos running around with them. One Xellos was plenty, he didn’t know if he could take two of them. " Guess we go back to see Zone," Lina said. " Can I come?," Raya asked. She was floating, but was slowly turning upside down. When she was fully upside down, using her Mazoku powers, (at least that’s what Zel figured she did) her, skirt and cape remained at her ankles, but her hair spilled down towards the floor. " What are you doing? Doesn’t that give you a headache?," Syphil asked. " Huh?," Raya blinked, " Oh! I do this all the time!," she giggled, her head was even with everyone else’s, and it was very distracting, " Come on. Don’t we have a mission or something to do?" With that, everyone trooped down to the library. " Zone! We’re back!," Xellos called, " Hello? Where are you!," he yelled, then he turned to the others, " He’s gone." " He can’t be! He said he couldn’t leave this room!," Kosha said, but the little pony had vanished. " What’s base?," Gourry asked from a dusty corner. " What?," Zel asked. " Over here, in the dust it says ‘base’," Gourry said. Lina walked over and pushed him out of the way. In a thick layer of dust on the floor, the word ‘base’ and what looked like the beginnings of the letter ‘M’ were written. " Maybe it’s a clue to where Zone is?," Lina suggested. " Basement," Zel said after a moments thought, " This place has a basement, right?" " Well, lets go!," Raya said, she was still upside down. " I don’t like this. He said he couldn’t leave the portals unattended," Changer said, "Maybe that’s why you’re still here, Raya. The portals aren’t functioning correctly with Zone gone." " Which way’s the basement?," Kosha asked as Pika-baby jumped up on her shoulder. Raichu was with Rezo, like always. " Around-," Lina began, " Hey! I’m not telling you! You’ll just run off again! Come on! I’ll lead the way!" Soon. . . . " It’s cold down here!," Pika-baby shivered. " Stupid portal," a voice muttered from around a corner. " Zela!," Raya said. Suddenly, the perky Mazoku was on her feet and running around the corner. " She can run in those heals?," Amelia gasped as they followed her around the corner. Against the wall, Zela sat, looking very mystified. " Zela!," Raya yelled. " Raya!," Zela yelled happily when she saw her friend, " I’m so glad you’re here!" " I thought you made it home!," Raya said. " Nope. One second I’m trying to get you through the portal, the next, I’m hovering five feet in the air and crash right on my butt! It smarted too," Zela sighed. " You really need to learn to float! Why didn’t you just use a Ray Wing?," Raya asked. " I didn’t have time to think about it!," Zela yelled, " I don’t have enough Mazoku in me to float at will! I’m not even half like you or Valgarv!" " Valgarv," Raya sighed, " Oh! I had a date with him tonight! He’s gonna be pissed!" " Let me guess, you miss your loverboy?," Zela sighed. " You’re going out with Valgarv!?!," everyone yelled at Raya. " I permit this?," Xellos added. " Valgarv is a baby," Gourry said. ‘ Oh, twenty years in the future he certainly isn’t a baby! Even Zela thinks he’s a hunk!," Raya giggled, " And yes you permit it. After what happened with you and mom, you’d let me date Ceipheed himself!" " What happened, anyway? Did Kosha have an affair or something?," Lina asked, and Kosha turned bright red. " No! No! Nothing like that!," Raya said, " Shesh. It’s not like mom’s a slut!" " Yeah, you act like she’s been a bad girl, Zela said, " It’s actually kind of a sad story." " You wanna hear it?," Raya asked with a giggle. Everyone nodded, " Okay. But I’m going to summarize and leave out dates. I’m not even going to tell you when the whole thing starts, and for all you know we could be nineteen, or sixteen. Zela, you add in comments and such, and don’t interrupt, or I wont finish!," Raya said as she and Zela sat down, the others followed their example, when everyone got comfortable, Raya began, " Now, where to start?" " Start with Mom and Xellos," Zela said. Raya nodded, and began to tell Kosha’s tail. Chapter XVIII " Lets just say in the near future, Kosha gets kidnapped by an insane dragon lord. All of you decide to go after her, and Filia is there to. One night, Xellos decides to go get her by himself, and leaves," Raya said. " Somehow, he manages to free Kosha and the two of them get out of the dragon’s lair without getting hurt much. Mr. Dragon gets pretty mad when he finds out, and goes after Xellos and Kosha. The two of them together kill the dragon, but Xellos gets beat up pretty bad. Not that Kosha didn’t, just Xellos was worse off. Kosha uses the last of her energy to heal a pretty serious wound Xellos had, and then she falls unconscious." " They both wake up around the same time, and both figured that the other was a goner, so they were ecstatic that they were both alive, and well, being as happy as they were, one thing lead to another, and nine months later, I was born," Raya said. " The Lord of Nightmares help us!," Zela giggled and Raya hit her in the arm, " Anyway, after Xellos Raya was born, Xellos wanted to marry Kosha, but Beastmaster was being a royal pain in the ass and wouldn’t let him. Xellos got pretty mad, to say the least, and threatened to marry Kosha with or without Beastmaster’s permission." " To put a stop to that, Beastmaster decided to send Xellos on a pointless mission on another continent that would take almost three years," Raya sighed. " So, Xellos left, not that he wanted to. Kosha made him go because Beastmaster said if Xellos didn’t go she would kill him, and Kosha told Xellos, ‘I’d rather have you gone and alive then here and dead!’ Xellos left, and told Kosha that if she fell in love with someone else, to marry him and be happy because he knew three years was a long time to be alone," Zela said. " It was obvious to everyone that Kosha was going to need help. She was a young girl on her own with a baby to raise, so Zelgadis decided to help her out, and he moved in with her, totally ditching his quest to find a cure and everything. He even got a job at a magic store. Well, a year, actually, it was closer to two years, after Xellos left, Kosha and Zel got married, and a little under a year later, Zela was born," Raya said. " When Xellos came back, the first thing he did was go see Kosha and Raya. Then he told everyone to expect him to come by almost everyday. Raya was three and I had just turned one, and as far a Zel was concerned, Xellos had ditched Kosha and Raya, and he didn’t want Xellos to have anything to do with either of them, or me, or him for that mater," Zela said, " So, Zelgadis refused to let Xellos get anywhere near any of us." " In the end, Changer told Zel to get over it and that Xellos wasn’t going to try anything, and she didn’t care if Zel was her son-in-law, she’d still beat the heck out of him if he didn’t let Xellos see his own child," Raya laughed, " So, everyone welcomed Xellos back with open arms." " Things pretty much went back to normal, or as normal as things ever got for us. There was still the occasional quest. Zel finally found his cure, and Aunt Lina still killed a Demon Lord every once in a while. Zel and Xellos still couldn’t stand each other, and Zel was sure Xellos was going to pull something to break up his and Kosha’s marriage." " Princess Amelia was now in charge of Seyrune, and asked Xellos and Kosha to go on a diplomatic mission to a neighboring kingdom for her. On they way, Mr. Insane Dragon’s followers decided that six years was a long enough wait for revenge, and attacked. Kosha was mortally wounded in the battle, and there were no white magic healers with the party. Xellos had one choice: use his dark healing powers to heal Kosha and taint her with Mazoku blood, or let her die. What do you think he did?," Raya asked. " He healed her, of course. He couldn’t let the love of his life die. Beastmaster was PMSing again, and was furious that he’d saved her. Personally, I think she likes Xellos and is jealous of Kosha, but anyway, Beastmaster wanted to turn Kosha into a full Mazoku, but Xellos asked her if they could wait until Zelgadis died before turning Kosha into a Mazoku. Kosha would age as well of course, and when Zel died, Beastmaster would restore her youth and turn her into a Mazoku. Beastmaster agreed," Zela said. " So now, when Zel dies, Kosha gets turned into a Mazoku, and Beastmaster intends to make her Xellos’s equal and female counterpart," Raya finished. " My dad is pretty pissed and says Xellos and Beastmaster have been planing this for years and that they’re going to try and kill him off," Zela said. " Well, there you have it," Raya said with a grin, " Any questions?" Chapter XIV " So during all this, where are the rest of us?," Lina asked. " Yeah, we’d all want to help Kosha too!," Amelia said, assuming a justice pose, " Kosha is our friend, and whenever there’s a friend in need, I’m there, even if it’s Mazoku raw garbage like Xellos!" " Raw garbage!? RAW GARBAGE!!!!," Xellos howled, " I get enough of that from Filia! I don’t need you adding to it, Amelia!," he screamed in her face. " Anyway, to answer Aunt Lina’s question," Zela cut in, " Believe it or not, all of you are still friends, and go on tons more adventures together. Lina and Gourry eventually get married and have a daughter named Lisa." " Use birth control, I’m begging!," Raya said. " Just ignore her. She’s just mad cause the dragons like Lisa and not her cause she’s a Mazoku and Xellos’s daughter," Zela said as she rolled her eyes. " Um, hey, I just thought of something," Gourry said, " If Xellos was gone for three years, he had to have been doing something, right? If it took three years to do it, it must have been a major assignment. What was it?" Everyone just stared and blinked at Gourry. " Uh, it was nothing really, busy work, mostly," Zela answered, it a slightly panicked voice. " Yeah don’t worry about it," Raya added. She said it too fast. It was obvious to Rezo that they were avoiding the subject for a reason. " Anyway, let’s continue looking for Zone," Rezo said. " Zone? Who’s Zone?," Zela asked as they walked off. " He’s a seven inch tall, talking purple and white pinto pony," Zel said, " He runs this place." " Oh, I saw some guy carrying him off," Zela said, " They went this way. The guy was tall and had bright red hair." " We need to hurry! Zone is probably your only way home!," Syphil said as they ran down the hall, Zela leading the way, and Raya right behind her. Several hundred feet down the corridor, there was a stone door. " I suggest we all be ready for a magic attack," Xellos said. Suddenly Changer screamed. A small monster had appeared from nowhere and sliced her side open with a sword. " Ra Tilt!," Zelgadis yelled. In about point five seconds, Mr. Monster was dust. " Changer!," Rezo yelled and cast a healing spell, " Damn! She’ll be out for a while! We can’t just leave her out here alone!" " I’ll stay and watch her," Xellos volunteered, " Give her to me. We’ll need your magic in a fight, especially your healing powers. If I heal anyone but Raya, or myself they’ll be tainted with Mazoku blood. Not a good fate." Rezo sighed and nodded. Then he handed his wife to the Trickster Priest, who cradled her carefully as he sat down. " Are we ready?," Lina asked. She had a fireball ready. Everyone nodded. Gourry had the Sword of Light out, and was ready to slice and dice. Everyone but Syphil and Rezo had a spell ready. Syphil’s specialty was defense and Rezo was the most powerful healer of the group. " Do you want our help?," Xellos Raya asked. " Yes. We may need all the help we can get," Rezo said. In response Raya got a spell ready and Zela drew her sword, which had some kind of enchantment on it. Xellos was leaning against a wall, humming to Changer who was sleeping peacefully. " Gourry, the door," Zel said. " Oh! Sorry!," Gourry said, then he opened the door. " About time someone came looking for this thing," a rather evil looking man sneered. Lina reeled back. The evil magic power radiating from this guy was almost as powerful as a Mazoku lord’s!, " I’m not going to hurt any of you, so put your toys away!," he laughed. His eyes were red, an evil red, as was his hair. His skin was a tanish beige color, and he had on and brown and black outfit, with black shoulder armor and boots. Zone was on the floor at the man’s feet. His hooves were bound together with rope, and a muzzle was tied around his mouth. " What do you want with us?," Rezo demanded. " My enemy dead," he laughed, " My name is Ganondorf, King of the Gerudo. I come from Hyrule. My enemy is a young man named Link. He had a sword that can destroy me. Kill Link, and bring me his sword and I’ll let this little creature go. I believe he’s rather important to this shabby place." " Fine," Lina said, " How exactly are we supposed to find this guy?" " Here’s a map. Link lives in the Kokiri Forest," Ganondorf said and handed Lina a piece of worn paper, " Now get out of here. You’ve got two days. If your not back by then, this thing gets it." " We’re outta here then!," Raya said as they left the room. She slammed the door shut behind her, " What a coward! Even we Mazoku kill our enemy’s ourselves!" " What happened?," Xellos asked. He had his cloak off and it was wrapped around Changer like a blanket, " She was shivering, my cloak it the only thing close to a blanket I had." " Some ingrate is having us go kill his enemy and bring his sword back in exchange for Zone," Lina said, " Come on! Hyrule is this way." " We’re not going to kill this boy, are we Miss Lina?," Syphil asked. " It’s against the laws of justice to kill without a lawful reason!," Amelia added for good measure. " It may be our only choice. Without Zone, this place is dangerous," Rezo said as Xellos handed him Changer and they headed down the hall. " Like it wasn’t before?," Kosha asked. " Rai," Raichu agreed. " What’s going on?," Changer asked in a groggy voice as she woke up. Rezo smiled at her and brought her up to speed, " I can walk, you know," she giggled and Rezo put her down. The she walked over to Xellos and gave him a hug. Xellos’s eyes flew open in surprise. Kosha didn’t know who looked more surprised, Xellos or everyone else. Xellos hugged her back. " Why’d she hug Xellos?," Gourry asked. " Thank you," Changer smiled at Xellos and gave him his cloak back. " No thanks needed, my dear. What are friends for?," Xellos smiled. " For taking care of each other," Changer smiled, " Right guys?," she asked they others. There was a pause. " Of course," Kosha smiled. Syphil, Zela, Raya, Raichu, Pika-baby, Gourry, and Amelia nodded. " Friends till the end, I suppose," Rezo laughed. " I’ll always be here," Lina giggled. " If I must agree, I guess we’re all friends," Zel sighed. " Now on to Hyrule!," Lina yelled as they all ran down the hallway. Chapter XX " Well, here we are, Hyrule," Lina said as they looked around. They were in a huge green field. There were several worn paths. Lina examined the map, trying to figure out where they were, " I can’t read this strange writing!" " Let me see it," Xellos said and snatched the map from Lina, who promptly fireballed him, " You better be careful, Lina! You almost fried the map," Xellos giggled, his eyes closed as usual, " Hmmm. Ah, here we are! That river over there is Zora’s River. That large mountain to the North is Death Mountain, and this large fence to our left encircles Lon Lon Ranch. The castle to the North West is Hyrule Castle, and Hyrule Castle Town is in front of it." " Thanks for the tour, Xellos, but, um exactly where is the Kokiri Forest!?," Zel yelled. " Oh, it’s just over there to the right, down this trail," Xellos said and proceeded to lead the way, " You don’t have to get all snippy, Zelgadis." " Just shut-up and lead the way, Mazoku," Zel snapped. " A log? We have to walk through a log?," Kosha said, " Next thing you know, well be surrounded by three foot tall villagers," she sighed as they walked through a huge log, and over a bridge into the forest. " Well, well, my love, you weren’t far off," Xellos’s smile widened as they entered the forest. The Kokiri Forest was beautiful. It was a lush green, cool place. There were little sprites floating in the air, and the air was fresh and crisp and smelled as if it had just rained, but there wasn’t a cloud in the clear blue sky. The inhabitants of the forest, the Kokiri, were, to everyone’s surprise, children that had fairy companions that followed them everywhere. " Hello!," a boy said as he walked up, " My name is Mido, the leader of the Kokiri. Can I help you, strangers?" " Phibrizio would fit in here perfectly," Xellos snickered to himself. " Uh, we’re looking for a boy named Link. Do you know where he is?," Lina asked. " Link? Why didn’t you say you were the Hero of Time’s friends?," Mido asked with a grin, " He is up in the Lost Woods, my Hylian friends." " We’re not Hylians," Gourry chirped. " Then what are you?," Mido asked confused. " Humans, two Pokemon, two Chimeras and two Mazoku," Xellos said as they headed towards the Lost Woods, " Thanks for the help." " I think this Link kid is pretty popular," Syphil said. " Yeah, we may be dealing with the villain," Zel said. " Oh well, everyone dies eventually, right?," Xellos asked, his Mazokuness showing for a moment, " We need to get those portals fixed and get the Book of Healing!" An hour later. . . . . . " Oh! I’m tired!," Raya said and sat down under a tree. Zela thunked down next to her with a sigh. " No wonder they call this place the Lost Woods!," Amelia sighed, " I am so lost!" " This Ganondorf guy owes us big time!," Lina said as she leaned against a tree. " Followers of Ganondorf! I knew you were up to no good!," a blonde haired boy with blue eyes yelled as he charged out of the woods, his sword drawn. " Link, I presume?," Zel snickered as he drew his sword, " I’ll handle this one, Gourry." With that, Zel and Link began a huge sword fight. " Look, we don’t follow Ganondorf," Zelgadis said as he blocked a blow to his chest. " Huh?," Link asked, " Look, we may have a misunderstanding here." " Not really. We don’t follow Ganondorf, but in order for him to let one of our friends go, we need to kill you and bring him your sword," Xellos said from a tree branch where he had been sitting to get a good view of the battle, " It’s obvious that is a special sword, so you’re not just going to hand it over, so we have to kill you. Sorry," he grinned his evil grin, with his eyes open(tm). " Sorry! Who are you people?," Link demanded. " Oh, well, that is a secret," Xellos laughed as he waved a finger at Link with one eye closed. Link stared at this group. The man he was fighting was shaking his head and rolling his eyes. Most of the group was by a tree where two girls were sitting. The weird guy was in the tree that everyone was under. One man wearing red robes was standing farther away form the group, and his eyes were shut. A plan formed in Link’s mind. As the man he was fight charged, Link did a back flip and dodged. The man’s sword went into a tree, getting stuck more then halfway in. Link took this opportunity to run over to the man in red, as soon as Link reached him, he grabbed the guy around his shoulders and then proceeded to hold his sword to the man’s neck. " You better explain yourselves!," Link yelled. " Foolish, stupid boy!," Rezo hissed and used a spell to fling the boy into a tree-a tree that was almost one hundred feet away. Changer walked over to Rezo and helped him up, giggling at Link’s pitiful attempt to hold her husband hostage. Kosha on the other hand, was quivering with rage. " You idiot! How dare you try and hurt my father!? That was the last mistake you’ll ever make!," Kosha screamed at Link, drew her sword and charged. The Hylian barley had time to snatch his sword off the ground where it had landed and block a block Kosha’s swing at his chest. " Here we go again," Rezo sighed, " Kosha there is no need to kill the boy." " Again? What do you mean again? She dose this often," Xellos asked. He was still in the tree, but now his attention was on Kosha, who was beating the heck out of Link. " She is really mad," Gourry observed. " Yeah. She, uh, kind of gets like this every time some one try’s to hurt Rezo," Changer muttered as she found something very interesting to look at on the forest floor. " Note to self: never make Kosha mad," Xellos laughed as he jumped out of the tree. " Look, miss, I don’t want to hurt you!," Link was yelling at Kosha, who was swinging at him like a mad woman. Link already had several cuts and would have some very colorful bruises later on too. " So you’re just going to let me attack you?," Kosha snickered, " What’s the fun in that?" " Yeah, I think it’s safe to say she’s pissed," Lina said as Kosha’s sword caught Link’s side leaving a good sized, deep gash, " That hit some internal organs," Lina cringed. " Miss Kosha’s scary when she’s mad!," Amelia yelled. Kosha’s next swing left a gash reaching from Link’s right shoulder, across his chest and all the way to his left side. The boy fell onto his back, clutching the huge cut in his, side, which was bleeding profusely, in one hand, and holding his sword in the other. " Just kill me why don’t you!," Link yelled, feeling a little woozy. A sure sign he had lost too much blood. He coughed, sending blood out onto his chin, " Great," he thought, " I’m bleeding internally too." Kosha stopped in mid sword swing, and blinked at Link and dropped her sword, " What have I done," she whispered. The she stumbled back over to the others, " Why didn’t you stop me!?" " So, my stupid friend, you still want that explanation?," Xellos asked Link with a nasty grin, right before the boy fell unconscious. Chapter XXI " You-you killed him!," Syphil screamed and fainted. Rezo caught her. " Uh, no," Lina rolled her eyes, " He just lost to much blood. Amelia, go fix him up since Syphil is out." " Right, Miss Lina," Amelia said and ran over to Link. " Kosha, are you okay?," Lina asked. " I’m fine," Kosha said as she cleaned her sword, which she had retrieved from the mossy forest floor. " You are a wonderful fighter, my love," Xellos grinned. " Mr. Link is okay now, Miss Lina!," Amelia called. " Tie him to that tree," Zel said, " We need to find out who that Ganondorf guy is. I think this Link kid is actually the ‘hero’. Why else would he be so popular?" " I just kicked a hero’s butt?," Kosha giggled. " It appears that way," Zela giggled. " You pummeled him! Valgarv would have paid money to see that," Raya said. Kosha laughed, " He went after one of the few people I’m willing to die for. It pissed me off. I really hate having that type of rage." " Oh. I’m okay, really," Syphil mumbled as she woke up, " He’s not dead, is he?" " No. He’s fine, and he’s coming around," Lina said. " Joy. I guess the interrogation begins," Xellos said with an evil grin. " I’ll be doing the talking, Xellos," Lina sneered, " You’ll scare the kid to death." " And?," Xellos asked, his grin widening. " Stupid Mazoku garbage," Lina hissed to herself. " I heard that," Xellos sneered, " Be careful Lina. We wouldn’t want you getting hurt, now would we?" " FIREBALL!!!!!," was Lina’s response. A scorched Xellos hit the ground with a thud. " That hurt, Lina," he moaned. Chapter XXII Link opened his eyes to see his ‘captors’ arguing amongst themselves. The girl in the purple dress was screaming at a redheaded girl, who looked pretty mad. The girl that had beaten the snot out of him was kneeling on the ground using a spell of some sort on a man who looked like he had gotten fried. The man in red that he had tried to take hostage had a rather annoyed look on his face and was trying to get the others to calm down and pay attention, but the calm approach wasn’t working. " Shut-up!," Rezo roared. Everyone immedently stopped what they had been doing and stared at Rezo. Rezo never yelled, much less roared at them, " Thank you," he sighed, " The boy is awake." " Oh, hello!," Amelia smiled at Link, " We’re sorry Kosha almost killed you! I’m Amelia!" " You’re sorry. . . ..? I thought you were supposed to kill me," Link muttered in a bewildered voice, " That’s what the guy in the tree said." " My name is Xellos, and we are supposed to kill you!," Xellos said. " Don’t mind him, he’s a fruitcake," Lina sighed, " I’m Lina, by the way." " Look, I think we have a big misunderstanding here," Zel said as he ripped his sword out of the tree where it had gotten stuck during his battle with Link, " I’m Zelgadis, by the way." " Whose the leader here?," Link asked, " and why am I tied to a tree?" " I’m the leader," Rezo said before Lina could say anything, " My name is Rezo." " Look, Rezo, I’m sorry I tired to take you as a hostage and all, but what in the Three Goddesses names is going on here!?," Link yelled. " Introductions before explanations," Xellos giggled, " We wouldn’t want to be rude now, would we?" " I’m Syphil." " I’m Gourry." " I’m Changer." " I’m Zela." " I’m Raya." " Apparently, you all know I’m Link. Why are you helping that mad man?" " To be blunt, we come from another dimension. Ganondorf kidnapped Zone, the person in charge if the portals leading between worlds. Without him, people will get trapped in other worlds forever," Rezo explained, " Ganondorf will release our friend if we kill you and bring him your sword." " Figures! He’s getting others to do his work for him, others from another world for the Goddesses sake!," Link muttered with a sneer, " He wants to take over Hyrule, and my sword, the Master Sword is capable of destroying him, that’s why he wants it so much. He’s a power hungry fiend!" " We know the type," Zel said and glared at Xellos. " What?," he asked, " We Mazoku want to destroy the world, not take it over. Get your facts straight, Zelgadis." " Anyway, continue Link," Lina said with a sigh. " I’m the only one standing in his way. The one chosen by the Master Sword as the Hero of Time." " Hero of Time? And how can a sword choose someone? It’s not alive," Gourry said, confused. " Ignore him," Changer said and rolled her eyes. " Well, well. I guess we are all friends here after all," Xellos said with a grin. " Can I ask you something, Xellos?," Link asked. Xellos nodded, his grin widening a little. Link sighed, " Why are your eyes closed? So are Rezo’s and Raya’s. How can you see?" " I’m blind," Rezo answered. Raya and Xellos were to busy laughing like crazed maniacs to answer. Syphil shook her head and untied Link. " They’re Mazoku. The use the astral plain to ‘see’. They only open their eyes if they need too," Zel said, " or if they’re surprised." " Mazoku?," Link wondered. " Demons," Lina said. Link stared at Xellos and Raya who were still laughing, " Don’t worry. They won’t hurt you." " Sorry I beat you up earlier," Kosha said. " No hard feelings," Link smiled, " Hey, how about I go back to your world with you and help you get your friend back from Ganondorf?" " Sure. We could use some help from someone who knows him," Lina smiled as the group began to walk off. " Hey!," Zela yelled from the clearing, " Aren’t you forgetting something?," she asked and pointed a Xellos and Raya, who were still laughing. " FIREBALL!!!!," Lina yelled. Chapter XXIII After Raya and Xellos had recovered from being fireballed and the others had finished a laughing fit of their own, everyone headed back to Zone’s Ruin. The trek to the basement wasn’t long, and soon they were outside Ganondorf’s room. " Here we go," Lina said, " Stick to the plan." " We had a plan?," Gourry asked. " Just open the door, Gourry," Zel said through clinched teeth. " Took you long enough!," Ganondorf sneered as the door swung open. " We did it well within your time limit," Rezo said. " You have the sword then?," Ganondorf asked. " Yes," Xellos smiled. How he loved to play with mortal’s minds! " Hand it over!," Ganondorf roared. " Give us Zone first!," Kosha said. " Fine, fine! Here’s your dumb pony!," Ganondorf said and tossed as still bound Zone to Zel, " Now the sword!" " You want it? You got it!," Link laughed as he entered the room, holding the Master Sword in his hand, " How about I shove it into your gut?" " You lied! You said you had the sword!," Ganondorf howled at Xellos. " I didn’t lie! You asked us if we had the sword. I said yes, meaning someone in our party had the sword. Link just so happens to be that member," Xellos smiled, " I never lie. It’s no fun that way!" " Now, you had better get out of here. You are extremely outnumbered!," Zel snickered. Ganondorf roared out in anguish and tore down the hall. " I’ve got to go! Maybe I can catch him and end this!," Link smiled, " Next time you’re in Hyrule stop by. We can have a rematch, Kosha!" " You’re on!," Kosha yelled after Link as he charged down the hall. " Nice guy," Syphil said. " He was a defender of justice and truth!," Amelia squealed, " Just like us!" " Thank you so much!," Zone smiled up at them, " Shall we go back to my chambers?" Soon. . . .. " Okay, the portals are working again! You two girls should be able to go home," Zone told Raya and Zela, " Now, where’s my book?" " Rezo has it," Amelia smiled. " I gave it to Changer." " I gave it to Kosha." " I gave it to Raya." " I gave it to Xellos." " I know I put it in here some where," Xellos was muttering as he dug through a knapsack that he had pulled out of nowhere, " Ah ha! Here it is!" " Thank you," Zone smiled as he took the book from Xellos and set it on a counter, " Take the girls up to the attic and when you come down I’ll give you your ‘reward’." " Let’s move it or lose it, people! I may still get back in time for my date with Valgarv!," Raya giggled as she ran off. " Valgarv, Valgarv, Valgarv! He’s all you ever talk about Raya!," Zela yelled as she ran after her friend. In the attic. . . " Bye! I guess we’ll see you in two, three years, I suppose," Xellos said. " Bye!," Zela said. " See ya!," Raya said, but just before they could go through the portal, someone stepped out, " Valgarv!," Raya yelled and threw her arms around his neck. " Were in L-Sama’s name have you two been!?," Valgarv yelled, " Mom seams to be the only one besides me who is worried. Aunt Kosha keeps getting this goofy grin on her face and she keeps saying, ‘they’re with me and just about everyone else too.’ Mom thinks she’s gone insane." " Let me guess, too much time with the Mazoku garbage, right?," Zela asked and rolled her eyes. Valgarv laughed and nodded. " Let’s go," Val said as he picked Raya up and walked back through the portal. " Bye!," Zela said as she left. " Weird," Xellos sighed as they headed back downstairs. " Okay, let me see here," Zone muttered. As soon as they had gotten back down, Zel had demanded to know where the Book of Healing was. Now the perky little pony was looking threw a huge cabinet with little cards in it, " Book of Healing. . . ..Ah! Here we go!" " You found it?," Amelia asked. " Not the book, it’s card though," Zone said, " It’s been checked out! That’s why it wasn’t in the Library. It is way over due too. Lei Magnus checked it one thousand and one years ago. Course, getting sealed in the earth by Ceified is a decent excuse for not returning a book, don’t you think?" Everyone had stopped listing to Zone as soon as he said the name Lei Magnus. They had all turned to Rezo. " Um. . . .maybe it was in the tower. Heh. . . ..no hard feelings, right guys?," Rezo asked then he hid behind Changer. Zelgadis was about ready to slug his grandfather, and Rezo figured Changer would protect him. " Everyone just calm down!," Kosha said, " Just be calm! We can go to the tower and find the book. It’s no big deal!" " Well, it was nice having company!," Zone said, " Oh, Rezo, when you have time, could you please return the book? It is over due by one thousand years so the fine will bee, lets see here, 18,250 dollars and five cents." " Well, I won’t be returning that book," Rezo thought, " Let’s go everybody," he said aloud. " See you soon, Rezo! I would like that payment in gold if possible!," Zone giggled as they left. Chapter XXIV " The library is this way," Rezo said as he led his friends down the hall. " Gosh, I missed this place!," Kosha giggled as they turned a corner. " Here we are!," Changer said as she flung open a pair of huge pair of double doors. " Waaaaa!," Amelia screamed. Everyone covered their ears. " Someone say something so I can be sure I can still hear!," Xellos said. " Amelia! Why did you scream like that!?," Lina yelled as she grew fangs. " Yes, are you trying to handicap me further?," Rezo asked snidely. " No, but that library is huge!," Amelia yelled. " Well, duh!," Changer said as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. " I’m one of the Wisemen of the Age! All the books I ever read are in here!," Rezo yelled, " And a few even I didn’t know I had!" " Obviously," Zelgadis hissed. Rezo bopped him over the head with his staff. " Well, shall we?," Changer asked as she walked into the library. An hour later. . . . " Alright, it’s late, I’ll show you to some rooms," Changer said, " Meet in the dining room tomorrow morning." " Changer, I’ll be up in a while. I have to look for something," Rezo said as the others left. The next morning. . . Everyone did as Changer instructed and met in the dining room as they woke up. " Xellos!!!," Lina howled, " I don’t want to see you in your boxers!" " Then don’t look at me," Xellos said as his trademark happy grin spread across his face. Xellos was sitting at the table in purple silk boxers. " Miss Lina has a point, Mr. Xellos!," Amelia added. Just then, Changer walked in. She was wearing a long red nightgown and had a silk red robe on. " If she can wear her sleepwear, then so can I!," Xellos quipped. " But Miss Changer is decent!," Amelia wailed. " So am I! Everything important is covered!," Xellos said as he stuck his tongue out at Lina and Amelia. " What’s for breakfast?," Kosha asked with a yawn as she walked in. She had on a pair of purple flannel boxers and a matching tank top. A black teddy bear was tucked under her elbow. " Another person in sleepwear! Ha!," Xellos laughed at Lina and Amelia and slammed his hand down on the table. " What are you babbling about?," Changer asked Xellos and to her daughter she added, " Eggs and bacon." " What does Rezo sleep in," Lina asked. " Boxers, sometimes," Changer said as she sipped a cup of coffee, " Why?" " Sometimes!?," Lina gasped, her face grew really, really pale. Amelia’s did too. " What’s wrong with you two?," Kosha asked as she thunked down next to Xellos, " Woah!," she whispered. " What?," Xellos asked her. " You have a nice six pack," Kosha murmured, " Anyway-," " Oh, they want to be prepared if Rezo was in sleep wear. They can’t handle men in boxers. Like me!," Xellos giggled. Lina proceeded to beat the hell out of him. " Lina!? What are you doing?," Gourry asked as he and Sylphil walked in. They were dressed. " Huh? Oh, just beating Xellos. Why?," Lina asked. She was sitting on the Trickster Priest’s stomach. Her hands were around his neck.. " Um, Lina, it looks kind of. . . wrong," Kosha giggled. " Ahhhh!," Lina screeched and jumped up. Xellos started to giggle like a maniac, and tears began to stream down his face like rivers. " Good morning all!," Rezo said cheerily as he walked in, dressed, to Lina’s relief. " Breakfast is cooking, love," Changer said as she kissed his cheek. He kissed her too and gave her a hug. " Where’s Zel?," Kosha asked, " Doesn’t he want breakfast?" " Right here," Zel said as he came in a surveyed the dining room. What an odd assortment of ‘friends’ he had. Xellos was still laughing on the floor, Kosha was standing behind him, had a huge grin on her face, and was hugging a teddy bear. Changer and Rezo were hugging, Syphil and Amelia were at the table, sipping coffee, and Lina was hiding behind a dumbfounded Gourry. Zel sighed and smiled, " Well, I guess if I’m stuck with nutcases for life, I’m glad it’s you nutcases!" " I’m so glad you feel that way, Zel!," Xellos giggled. " Nutcase?," Rezo asked and raised an eyebrow, " Nutcase? I don’t think I qualify as a ‘nutcase’ as you put it, my grandson. Xellos, on the other hand is-" " A fruitcake!," Amelia interjected. " Exactly," Rezo smiled. " Hey! Xellos is not a fruitcake! And none of us are nutcases!," Kosha laughed, " Well, maybe we are, but if one of us is a nutcase, then all of us are!" " Kosha has a point," Xellos agreed as he wiped off his cheeks with the back of his hand. " Look, breakfast is cooking, so while Kosha, Xellos and I go get dressed, why don’t the rest of you get comfortable?," Changer suggested. " I am comfortable the way I am thank you," Xellos complained, he was still on the floor, " Maybe I wont get dressed at all today!" " Come on, Xellos, " Changer sighed, reached down and grabbed his ankle and pulled him out of the dining room. Soon. . . . Changer, Xellos and Kosha reentered the dining room in their normal outfits. Xellos was still pouting about being forced to get dressed as he took his seat at the table. After eating a huge breakfast and having a rather odd conversation about why it was a good thing Xellos got dressed, why anyone even cared and why they were even having the conversation in the first place, the group adjourned to the library. " All right, let me see here. . . .," Rezo was mumbling, " You searched threw all seven of those shelves yesterday?" " Yep, all seven," Lina nodded. " Follow me," Rezo said and lead the group to a small room, " It must be in here then, or in my lab on the outskirts or Siaraag." " Um Copy Rezo blew that lab up," Syphil said. " Then it had better be here, hadn’t it?," Rezo said. Hours later. . . . " IT’S NOT HERE!!!!!," Zel screamed, " Why do these things always happen to me!? Why!?" Everyone stared at him. " Sorry," he sighed as he regained his composure. " Maybe we should go back and talk to Zone," Syphil suggested. " No. he’ll make me pay that ridiculous fine and pay for the book as well," Rezo said as they went into the main library. " What’s that?," Xellos asked. " What’s what?," Kosha asked. " That box waaaaaayyyy up there," Xellos said and pointed up to the top of one of the gargantuan shelves. " I don’t know," Rezo said. He was quite as he thought for a moment, " probably junk." " Junk?," Lina asked, suddenly very interested, " Like junk you don’t need anymore that may be magical since you’re one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world?" " Perhaps. . . ," Rezo said, " Why?" " Can I have it?," Lina asked. " I do not know. I want to know what it is first before I just hand it over!," Rezo said, " Xellos, go and see what it is." " Aye, aye, Lord Rezo!," Xellos said and flew up to the box, " It’s full of dusty old books!" " See if one of them is the Book of Healing!," Zel called up. " Okay!," Xellos giggled and pulled a book out of the box, " The box says ‘Garage Sale’ by the way," he added. Then he chunked the book he had been looking at over his shoulder. It slammed right into the top of Changer’s head. " Ouch! Watch it!," she howled up to Xellos. She looked up just in time to see him heave another book over his shoulder, " Heads up!," Changer yelled. Everyone but Gourry moved. Gourry, thinking Changer had meant ‘look up’ had looked up-just in time to see a three-inch thick leather bound book slam into his face. " Ouch! That smarts!," the swordsman moaned before crashing to the ground. " Xellos!!! Watch where you’re throwing those books!," Lina screamed. " Huh? Oh, sorry Gourry," Xellos said, " Wow!" " Did you find it?," Kosha asked. " Find what, love?" " What do you mean ‘find what!’?," Zel shouted, " You stupid Mazoku! The Book of Healing of course!" " Oh. No. I found something else," Xellos grinned down, " ‘Mazoku’." " ‘Mazoku’!? You know plenty about Mazoku! You are one for L-Sama’s sake!!!," Lina screeched. " This is a book about Mazoku! I’m in it, in fact," Xellos smiled as he flipped threw the book, " I have a whole chapter!" " Xellos!!! Keep looking for the Book of Healing or I’ll blast you from here to Zone’s Ruin, and threw the portal to Earth!," Lina screamed. " Alright, alright. I can’t ever have any fun, can I?," Xellos muttered as he pocketed ‘Mazoku’ and kept digging threw the box. (he also kept heaving books over his shoulder, just to annoy the others) After a rain shower of about twenty books, Xellos began to laugh. Hard. " What now?," Syphil wondered. Xellos was laughing because he had found the Book of Healing. The book was in terrible condition. The cover was missing, pages were ripped, water stained, dog eared, and even missing. Printed in huge black letters on the cover page were the words "Book of Healing, second edition" under this in tiny, almost microscopic print was "the first edition can be found in the Library of Ages". A big red stamp was under the tiny print. It read " Second hand pawn shop". Xellos found all this rather funny. He also thought it was extremely hilarious that almost half the book was missing. " What is so funny!?," Changer demanded. " Oh, I found your precious book," Xellos said as he floated down, his grin widening, " I hope you weren’t expecting much!" " I can’t believe it!," Changer gasped as Xellos handed her the book, " This can’t be it!" " Well, it is. Read the title," Zel sighed as he took the book, and flipped to the table of contents. Several pages fluttered to the floor. He found the spell he was looking for, and searched for the page, " Oh no!" " What?," Rezo asked. " The half of the book with the spells we need is gone!," Zelgadis yelled. " You’re kidding!," Kosha yelled, fear welling up in her voice and eyes. " All of this for nothing! Nothing!," Lina yelled. Kosha’s legs had given out on her and she sat down on the floor, in a daze. Zel roared in anger. Rezo sighed heavily and shook his head. Changer had begun to cry. " There, there, my love," Rezo told Change as he put a hand on her shoulder, " Do not cry." " How can you be so calm?," Changer sobbed, " This was you’re last chance for a cure! You’ll be blind forever!" " I do not care. I have you, and I have Kosha. I need nothing more," Rezo smiled. " Oh, Rezo!," Changer said as she flung herself into his arms. He held her close. " Gods, Changer, I love you!," Rezo whispered. " I love you too!," Changer said. They kissed, and the others watched them. Lina, Kosha, Amelia and Syphil all sighed romantically and their eyes were all starry. " This may not be a good time to bring this up," Xellos started, and all of the girls glared at him for breaking the romantic moment, " so I’ll just shut up." " What?," Zel snapped. " That is a second edition copy, you know," Xellos said, " The first edition, which is most likely a whole book, is in the Library of the Ages. Can’t we just go there?" " We leave in the morning," Changer said, " Looks like we’re stuck together a little longer!" " Hey!," Gourry suddenly asked, " Where are the Pokemon?" " Oh, Pika-baby and Raichu are up in the Pokemon training room. They’ll leave with us in the morning, though," Kosha said. " Everyone had better get a good nights sleep," Rezo said as everyone left the library and headed to their room. Chapter XXV The next mourning. . . " Let’s move it or lose it, people!," Lina yelled. " Where is the Library of the Ages?," Kosha asked as she pulled on her boot. Then she swung her cape over her shoulders. " It’s the library where we found the map," Zel sighed heavily, " but that also means it’s hidden, or else we would have found it when we tore the place apart looking for the map." " I didn’t think it was possible for things to get anymore ironic," Xellos sneered, his arms crossed over his chest. " Obviously, people didn’t want the original book to be found," Rezo said. " We might as well get going," Lina sighed as they set off. Pika-baby was on Xellos’s head and Raichu was plodding along beside Lina. " How far is it?," Gourry asked. " Half a days walk," Rezo said. " Not long at all," Changer smiled, " Now let’s hurry!" Half a days walk later. . . . " Here we are again!," Lina said as they entered the Library of the Ages, " Anyone see any thing strange?" " Not besides that balcony with no stairs leading to it," Gourry shrugged. Everyone blinked at him. " How come we never notice these things?," Xellos asked as everyone cast various spells to get up to the balcony. " Because we are always looking for something complex," Rezo smiled. Pika- baby, Raichu and Gourry had been carried up. " I think this is it!," Zel said. " Those are really, really big doors!," Pika-baby muttered. " Shall we?," Xellos asked as Changer flung open the doors. " Wow! Pretty!," she gasped. There was a huge clear crystal pedestal, and sitting on it was the Book of Healing. The title was written with blood red rubies, and the leather cover was lined with emeralds, diamonds and pearls. There was a beautiful white light surrounding the book and pedestal. " No wonder the book was kept hidden," Lina gasped as Zelgadis stepped toward the book. Suddenly, a cheery female voice came drifting from no where, " I am sorry. You are not the purist of heart in your group! Only the member of your party with the purist heart may pick up or touch the Book of Healing. Thank you! Please back up at least ten feet or be incinerated! Have a nice day!" " What!?," Zel yelled as he backed up. " Oh my! The stories were true!," Xellos cringed. " Explain now!," Lina fumed. " When a group enters this chamber, the ‘spirit’ guarding the book selects one person who is the ‘purist of heart’ only that person may handle the book, but anyone can cast spells from it." " So, each one of us just tries for it, and eventually one will get it?," Amelia said. " Right," Xellos said. Everyone tried one by one till only Xellos and the Pokemon were left. " You’re up, Xellos," Lina grinned. " The thing rejected Syphil and Kosha and you want me to try? I don’t think so! It wont even give me a warning, it’ll just fry me!," Xellos snickered, " Pika-baby can go next." " Alright!," Pika-baby said, but she too was rejected, " You’re the last one, Raichu." Raichu nodded and stepped forward, as he neared the light, the voice spoke again. " You, Raichu, have the purist heart within your party. Only you may handle the Book of Healing!" Raichu smiled and pulled the book off the pedestal and waddled back to his friends. The book was almost as big as he was. " Yes! The cure spells are in it!," Zel yelled after he had Raichu check the pages, " I’m first!" " No, I am," Rezo argued, " I’m your elder, plus I’ve been searching for a cure far longer then you have!" " Before this gets too serious, why don’t we just flip a coin!," Changer said and pulled one out. Rezo won the coin toss, " I’ll cast the spell," Changer sighed. Changer cast the spell and everyone held their breath. Could Rezo finally see? Before he could open his eyes, the voice rang out. " Thank you for using the Book of Healing! This book can only be used once per party per every five hundred years! Please refrain from trying to use the book again or you will be incinerated!," as the voice said this, the book flew from Raichu’s paws and returned to the pedestal. " I don’t believe this!," Zel moaned. " Forget it!," Kosha yelled, " Daddy! Can you see!?" Rezo took a deep breath and opened his eyes. His eyes were a beautiful bluish lavender color, " I can see," Rezo whispered, his eyes meeting his wife’s. Changer was standing in front of him, " I can finally see!" " Thank L-Sama!," Changer gasped. Rezo was looking over her face, as if he was trying to memorize it. " You must be the most beautiful creature in the world," he whispered to her. She smiled as tears of joy began to roll down her cheeks, " No, no. Do not cry my love," Rezo smiled as he wiped away the tears. Then they kissed. " It’s so romantic!," Syphil sighed. " You said it, Miss Syphil," Amelia said in a dreamy voice. When Changer and Rezo released each other, Rezo looked out over the group. Kosha was crying too. " Come here, my daughter, so I can finally see you with my real eyes," Rezo said and Kosha ran into his arms. He kissed her forehead, just like he always did. " I’m so happy you can finally see, Daddy," she told him as she kissed his cheek. " Alright, unless you all say something, I’m not going to know who you are," Rezo said as he surveyed the rest of the group, " I can guess, I suppose." Zel was standing by the door, his arms crossed. " You are most definitely Zelgadis," Rezo said, Zel nodded. " You should be nicer to your grandpa!," Amelia yelled. " Amelia," Rezo said with a smile as he looked over to her. " Leave Zel alone, Amelia. He can’t use the book for another five hundred years, and he’s not going to be around then," Lina said. " Lina," Rezo said as he connected her voice with her face. " But he gets cured when Zela is three," Syphil said. " Syphil," Rezo grinned. " Um, can we go get some food?," Gourry asked. " Gourry," Rezo laughed, " That means you are Xellos," Rezo said as he turned to the Trickster Priest. " Yes." " Rai!," Raichu said as he pulled on Rezo’s robe. " Yes, Raichu, I see you down there," Rezo ginned. " I’m glad you can see, Rezo!," Pika-baby giggled as she jumped up on his shoulder. " Now what are we going to do? The Book of Healing is useless to us now," Kosha said. " I’m kind of hungry too," Lina said, " How does pizza sound?" " Sounds good to me!," Changer grinned as she took Rezo’s hand. " Let’s go then," Amelia said as they all ran out of the Book of Healing’s Chamber and to the nearest Pizza Parlor. THE END XELLOS: Wait! Wait! It just can’t end with us going out for pizza! LINA: What do you suggest then? KOSHA: What about a barbecue? AMELIA: Yeah! With a pool party! We could invite the others! LINA: Others? I’m not so sure about that! XELLOS: Oh come on! It could be fun! CHANGER: Rezo and I have a pool. We could hold this party at out house. REZO: I could actually see everyone! ZEL: I’m not cooking! KOSHA: Come on! Let’s go make out invitations! Later that afternoon. . . " Who should we invite?," Changer asked. They were all back at the tower. (They did go out for pizza, by the way!) Changer was making out the invitations. " Filia and Vlagarv!," Gourry said. " My Daddy!," Amelia said with a grin. " Eris and Kopii Rezo," Rezo said with an evil smirk. " As long as we’re inviting entertainment, put Naga on that list!," Lina said. " Naga? The White Serpent?," Amelia giggled, " You know, she’s really my sister Gracia! Daddy will be happy to see her!" " Shouldn’t we invite Zangalus and Martina too?," Syphil asked. " May I have an invitation? I want to invite someone as well," Xellos said. Changer handed him and invitation. " Who are you inviting?," Zelgadis asked. " Ah, that, my friend, is a secret!," Xellos winked as he walked off. " I only saw that one coming a mile away," Changer rolled her eyes, " Is that everyone? Filia, Vlagarv, Eris, Kopii Rezo, Naga, Zangalus and Martina?" " Sounds good to me!," Lina said, " In a week, we party!" A week later. . . Rezo was barbecuing in a pair of red swim trunks and an apron that said ‘kiss the cook’. Changer and Syphil were inside making lemonade. The rest of the group was lounging around the pool, looking very relaxed. " Everyone had better bring food like it said on the invitation!," Lina snapped, she was in a fuchsia one piece. " Zel! Come out! You look fine!," Kosha was whining to Zelgadis, who refused to come outside in his bathing suit. Kosha looked funny throwing a temper tantrum in a purple bikini. " No! I look like a freak!," Zel complained from inside. Amelia struck a justice pose and yelled, " Mr. Zelgadis, you are not a freak!," she looked beyond ridiculous in her blue one piece, doing one of her famous justice poses. " If he stays inside, it will be more food for us!," Gourry said, he was sitting by the pool, his feet dangling in the water. He looked very cute in his blue swim trunks. Changer and Syphil came out of the house; each of them was carrying a giant pitcher of lemonade. Syphil was in a white one piece and Changer was in a red string bikini. " Please!," Kosha begged Zel. " Alright. But don’t expect me to get in the pool or anything!," Zel finally gave in and came outside. He was in a pair of black swimming trunks. He surveyed the pool. Everyone was outside, even the Pokemon were sitting on rafts in the pool. Pika-baby had on sunglasses. " Where’s Xellos?," Changer asked. " He went inside earlier. Since Kosha and Zel were taking up the sliding doors and he knew you and Syphil would get mad if he went through the kitchen, he went around front," Lina said. Just then, Xellos came around the corner in a purple Speedo. Everyone stared. " What? So I decided to be unique! Is that so wrong?," he asked with a grin. " Raichu chu Rai Rai," Raichu muttered to Pika-baby. " You said it! He is a fruitcake!," Pika-baby giggled. " People should be getting here soon," Rezo said, " I can’t wait to actually see everyone!" " If Eris hits on you, I’m going to drown her!," Changer muttered. " Hello!," a cheery voice said from the gate. Everyone turned to see Filia standing there in a bright pink one piece with a frilly skirt attached to it at the waist. The skirt cut off just above her thighs. A boy that looked to be about three was standing next to her in turquoise swim trunks. He had spiky turquoise hair, and his eyes were golden. " Hi Filia! Hi Valgarv!," Amelia smiled. " Hi," Valgarv muttered. " Did you bring food?," Lina asked. " Deviled eggs and some graham crackers. Put them on the table?," Filia asked. Kosha nodded. Rezo introduced Changer and Kosha to everyone as they came in. " Ohohohohohohoh! Lina Inverse! Your worst rival is here!," a woman in a very skimpy black bikini laughed as she came in. The Pokemon had run screaming into the house the minute they had heard the woman’s laugh. " Hi, Naga," Lina said. " I brought nachos and a salad. Where do I put them?," Naga asked. " Table," Zel said. " Hello! The great Martina is here!," Martina yelled as she came into the backyard. She was in a yellow bikini. " What abut Zangalus, your loving husband?," Zangalus asked as he came in behind her. He was in green trunks, " We come bearing chips." " Table," Gourry said with a smile. " Hi everyone. I was surprised I was even invited," a woman in a white bikini giggled as she walked in. " Hey, Eris," Zel said. " Hi ya!," she smiled, " I brought ice cream." " You had better put it in the ice chest them. We wouldn’t want it to melt," Changer said. She had practically glued herself to Rezo’s side the instant Eris had walked in. " Daddy!!!," Amelia yelled at an ear splitting octave as her father walked in. He had on white trunks. " Hello! I have fruit punch!," Phil smiled, " Gracia! What a surprise!," he said when he saw Naga, who had been trying to hide behind a beach umbrella. " Hi, daddy," she said. " Hello," Kopii Rezo said as he walked in, " I suppose you shall have to call me Kopii. I-," Kopii Rezo stopped talking the second he saw Eris. " You invited him!," Eris screamed. " Good Gods! Why in L-Sama’s name did you invite her?," Kopii rolled his eyes. " Both of you quit it! We’re here to have fun!," Changer said. Then she thought, " Rezo is in red trunks, Kopii is in navy blue. I can remember that!" Kopii sighed as he set a bowl of potato salad on the table, " You are right, my dear," he smiled at Changer. " Now, Xellos, who did you invite? Once they get here, we can eat," Changer said. " He invited me," a tall woman with long white blonde hair said as she literal appeared next to the pool. She was in a blue, red, and white bikini with Tommy Hilfiger written in white letters on the top. She had on white high-heeled sandals, gold and silver bracelets dangled from her wrists and ankles. Her eyes were deep blue. " No way," Lina gasped, " It can’t be. . . ..even Xellos wouldn’t go that far!" " I am who you think I am," the woman smiled at Lina, " I brought coleslaw. Where shall I put it?" " The table, my mistress," Xellos said with a little bow. " Who is she, Lina?," Kosha asked. " She’s Xellas Metallium! She is better known as the Beastmaster, you know, one of the Five Mazoku Lords!," Lina said. " You invited your mistress!?," Changer hissed as Xellos. " Yes," Xellos grinned. Rezo seamed to be the only person who didn’t care that a Mazoku Lord stood before them. " So, is everyone hungry?," Rezo asked. Everyone turned to stare at him, " What? Do you want to eat or swim first?" " First, I want to know why this party was thrown!," Filia said, " I’m glad we’re all here and we have an excuse to see each other, but why?" " Because I can see," Rezo said nonchalantly. Everyone stared at him again, " We will explain over lunch, since I am sure Lina will want to eat first." " You got that right!," Lina yelled, " Let’s eat!" Soon. . . " That was quite an adventure!," Filia said with a smile. " I wasn’t invited! How come! You are my sidekick, after all!," Naga said. " Uh, whatever," Lina said. " You can come next time, Sis!," Amelia yelled happily. " Who say’s there will be a next time?," Beastmaster asked from her lounge chair. She was sunbathing by the pool, " I don’t recall saying that Xellos could ever see any of you again! Much less accompany you anywhere." " Mistress!?," Xellos said as his eyes flew open in surprise. " Xellos, your performance on this mission was not what I had expected, and you deserve something for it." " I am so dead!," Xellos thought. Figuring he would be reduced to ashes in five seconds, he leaned over, grabbed Kosha, kissed her square on the lips and set her back down in her chair. The he turned to Xellas, " I deserve whatever punishment you see fit." Xellas laughed, " You think I’m going to kill you, don’t you! You’re performance was better then what I had expected! I’m giving you three months to goof off as a reward, unless something big comes up, of course," Xellas giggled at the looks everyone had on their faces, " You’re so pessimistic, sometimes Xel!" " Thank you my mistress," Xellos stammered. " Plus you’re cute in a Speedo," Beastmaster added with a grin. Filia wrinkled her nose. " Kosha? Hello? Anyone home?," Martina said as she waved her hand in front of Kosha’s face, " I think you blew a fuse, Xellos." " Maybe if I kiss her again?," Xellos suggested. " I don’t think so!," Zel yelled. " I’m not to fond of that idea myself," Rezo said as he stood up, picked his daughter up, and threw her in the pool. " What’s going on!?," Kosha sputtered as she surfaced. Amelia dived gracefully into the pool. " Ohohohohohoho! You can not outdo me, Naga, the white serpent, little sister," Naga proclaimed as she tried to dive into the pool but only managed a belly flop. " Graceful, Naga," Lina rolled her eyes and jumped into the pool. Soon everyone but Beastmaster was in the pool. " Don’t splash me!," she warned. Soon she had fallen asleep in the warm sunshine. Everyone was having a great time, that is, until all hell broke lose. Later on, Xellos said it would have made Hellmaster Phibrizio himself proud. It all started when Valgarv got out of the pool to get a drink, then he decided he wanted a snack and wandered over to the picnic table. He saw a piece of chicken on the grill, so he climbed up onto the picnic table to get it. That’s when Amelia saw him. " Oh my God!," she screamed, " He’s gonna hurt himself!" " Valgarv!," Filia screamed in terror, her tail popped out and the dragoness charged out of the pool. " What?," Val asked reaching for the chicken. He didn’t see what all the commotion was about. He slipped on the tablecloth, and his had hit the lid of the grill, causing in to fall over onto the grass. Hot coals spilled out onto the grass, and a fire started, " Oops," Valgarv muttered. " My yard!," Changer yelled. She wasn’t worried about Valgarv because the three-year-old ancient dragon had run off into the house, knowing full well that he was in major trouble. Filia was running after him, yelling that he better stop or he was going to be in even more trouble. Everyone else, (but Beastmaster who was still snoozing in her chair) jumped out of the pool to put the fire out. " I hope the boy is okay," Eris said. " He was in good enough shape to run form Filia," Xellos pointed out with a smirk. " I have a feeling anything Filia will do to him is worse then any damage the grill could have caused," Zel said. " That would be a good assumption." Kopii said, " They knocked over the grill and the table." " Come on. There are fifteen of us. Cleaning up this mess wont take long," Amelia said with a sigh as the fifteen friends began to clean up. Just then, Valgarv ran out of the house, screaming ‘help me! Mommy’s gonna kill me!’ at the top of his lungs. Filia was hot on the boy’s heels. Kosha was standing by Beastmaster’s chair sweeping and Val ran by the chair, knocking it, and the Mazoku Lord that occupied it, into the pool. Then Val jumped up into Kosha’s arms, sending the seventeen-year-old onto her butt. Filia had stopped running and was laughing at Xellas who was screaming a cursing like a sailor. Xellos had run over to help his mistress out of the pool, and everyone else was just staring, besides Rezo who found the whole situation utterly hilarious and was laughing so hard his sides hurt. Valgarv was still trembling in Kosha’s arms, who was still sitting on the ground. Filia giggled as she pulled her Big Black Mace ™ out of nowhere and heaved it at Xellos. It hit the Trickster Priest head on, and he lost his balance and fell into the pool, pulling Beastmaster in with him. As a last ditch effort to steady himself, Xellos had grabbed Kosha’s arm, but all that accomplished was dragging Kosha into the pool as well. " Valgarv!," Filia yelled, but he was fine. He wasn’t even wet. Kosha had managed to keep him above water. " Mommy!," he smiled as Filia scooped him up. " Are you okay?," she asked, holding her adopted son close. Kosha had pulled herself out of the pool and stood shivering. Xellos, who was now on his knees before Xellas, had helped Beastmaster out of the pool. Xellas was not a happy camper, " I was humiliated in front of mortals! I’m dripping wet, my cigarettes are ruined, my hair is a mess, I’m pissed, and Rezo the Red Priest is laughing at me so hard he’s about to pass out!" " Please spare them! Kill me if you must!," Xellos begged, he was still on his knees, dripping wet, and basically looked really, really ridiculous. " You expect me to spare them!?," Xellas roared. " If you must kill them, I’m begging you, spare Kosha!," Xellos wailed, " Please, my mistress!" Xellas blinked, then she laughed, " Oh Xellos get up! I’ll spare all of them and you! This is one of the best things I’ve ever seen!" " What?," Zelgadis blinked. " Well, for one thing, I actually enjoyed myself to an extent until I was knocked into the pool. Plus it isn’t everyday I get to see my top minion begging for me to spare his friends while he’s kneeling before me soaking wet in a Speedo!," Xellas giggled, " Well, I’ve had enough ‘fun’ for one day! Bye!," she waved as she vanished. " Am I in trouble?," Val asked Filia. Everyone rolled their eyes. " Gods what a day," Zel muttered. Later. . . All the guests had left, and Kosha, Changer, Lina, Rezo, Amelia, Gourry, Zel, Xellos, and Syphil sat in lounge chairs watching the sunset. " Well, we’re never doing that again," Rezo said, " Although it was quite entertaining. Do things like that always happen?" " I had fun," Amelia chirped. " I thought I was dead!," Xellos sighed, " Thank L-Sama my mistress was in a humorous mood." " You’re telling me," Zel sighed. " Now what?," Gourry asked. " We wait for Kosha to get kidnapped by a dragon," Lina shrugged. " Oh, but I mean what do we do until that happens?," Gourry asked. " I don’t know." " Kosha and I could go for a cruise!," Xellos said with a huge smile, and Zel hit him, " What!?" " I want to travel around. See some things," Rezo smiled. " Well, Rezo, Kosha and I know what we’re doing," Changer said, " Anyone want to tag along?" " I’ve got nothing better to do. After all I have three months free time!," Xellos giggled. " Might as well," Lina smiled. " Where Lina goes, I go," Gourry said. " I’m game," Amelia laughed. " I suppose I could come along," Syphil said. Everyone waited for Zel to say something, but he stayed quite. " Zel?," Kosha asked. " Nutcases. I’m stuck with nutcases and a fruitcake," Zel smiled. " But you know you wouldn’t want it any other way," Rezo smiled. " Xellos, how come you always answer questions by saying ‘that is a secret’?," Syphil asked. " That is a secret," Xellos giggled. Lina pounded him. THE END!