Zelgadiss pulled the sheets over his head to block out the warm rays of sunlight. Oh gods, was it morning already? He felt like he had just fallen into bed. Probably just did too.
"Why did I ever let Lina talk me into going to that party?" he groaned rolling over.
Trying to get some more sleep, he breathed in deeply, that fresh scent that reminded him of spring...
Zel always thought it was odd that Lina would use that kind of scented wash for her hair. For all of her wild tomboyish antics, there was still some spark of femininity in her. He nestled deeper into the soft tousled hair.
Wait a minute...
Zel's eyes popped open. He was greeted with a head of glossy red hair spilling over the white sheets. Swallowing, he slowly looked down. Laying there curled up in the bed sheets was Lina sleeping like child.
When, Why, How, What is going on?!?! his mind screamed as Zel scrambled backwards right over the edge of the bed, crashing upside down onto the wooden floor.
Zel bit down on his lip to keep himself from crying aloud. He froze in his awkward position. The only sounds were his loudly beating heart and Lina's soft even breathing. Zel thanked whoever was listening that Lina was sleeping rather deeply. Cautiously, he righted himself and while doing so, noticed that he was still fully clothed in a pair of pajamas.
At least I haven't done anything yet...I think...
Zel kneeled next to the bed, looking at the sleeping girl. Amelia had said once that Lina didn't sleep still, that she was as bad asleep as when she was awake. The peacefully sleeping person before him certainly didn't seem that way. Even her normal waking self didn't seem this way. This seemed like a totally different person.
That surely would be replaced by the Lina he knew very well if she woke up and found him watching her sleep. Absently, he pulled the sheets higher around her before tiptoeing over to where his clothes were draped on the back of chair. Lina's clothes were likewise hanging from another chair but the eerie thing was the way they were folded. It was the same way he always folded his.
Zel shook his head, pulling off the pajamas and slipping into his ivory pants. He had just picked up his shirt when Lina suddenly sat up and looked at him. There was no time for him to hide. He prepared for the inevitable Fireball.
Lina blinked. Zel in her room only in his pants. She must be dreaming. Plopping back into bed, she willed herself to sleep. Even if it was only a dream, it certainly was a very nice dream.
Zel let himself breath again. He threw on his shirt, grabbed his cloak, belt, and sword and made all haste out of the door before Lina really did wake up. Outside in the hall, he fastened his belt and sword and clasped the cloak in place. Zel needed to know exactly what was going on and how he and Lina had ended up in the same room, not to mention bed.
But for the life of him, he couldn't remember which room the others should be in. Heck, he didn't even recognize where they were. That was saying a lot since inns tended to all look alike. Maybe the innkeeper could shed some light.
Downstairs in the dining room, the morning crowd was only just arriving. Pulling on his hood, Zel chose a secluded corner table with a view of both the front door and the stairs to the rooms. When a waitress came to take his order, he absently ordered some eggs and toast. With a silver coin tip, he also asked her to bring the innkeeper to his table.
While waiting and watching the other customers, Zel fiddled nervously with his ring. Wait a minute, since when did he wear a ring? He looked in confusion at the ring on his hand. Perhaps it was because of something he drank at the party last night that his usually quick mind was reduced to a crawl.
Ring on finger.
Fourth finger on hand.
On left hand.
Zel swore.
"Not the kind of things I usually hear first thing in the morning," the Innkeeper smiled, setting Zel's order on the table. "Have an argument with the missus?"
"With who?"
"The missus. Your wife. Pretty young thing she is too. But probably not as young as she looks eh?" the Innkeeper winked.
Zel looked blankly at him. Of course he had realized that the ring he wore was a wedding band. But his calm collected logical side told him that there was no way anyone could get married in the span of one night. Especially since most of said night he could clearly remember as being spent in the company of many people not all of which he would call friend.
Then there was "his wife" that the Innkeeper was talking about...
"My...wife..." Zel repeated slowly. "Humor me. What exactly does my wife look like?"
The Innkeeper shrugged. "Short, slim, not very developed if you get my meaning but I think it suits her, perfect complexion and coloring, bright red hair and eyes like fire, able to out eat twelve men, a meaner temper than a red dragon, outstanding sorceress and not a bad hand at the sword either."
Zel just stared as the Innkeeper went on to perfectly describe the sleeping girl he had left in the inn room. "How...how do you know her so well?"
The Innkeeper smiled. "Oh I've known both of you for quite awhile though I think this is the first time you've ever come to one of my properties as a married couple! I'll remember to keep the larder stocked for your wife when she comes down to eat. Don't want her leveling the place with a Dragu Slabu again." Chuckling to himself, the Innkeeper left a very bewildered Zelgadiss sitting at his table with a cooling breakfast.
Lina nuzzled into her soft pillow but her mind just wasn't letting her sleep. There was something out of place that was niggling at the back at her mind. What was it? It could have been that really realistic dream of Zel without his shirt...
Feeling herself blush, she buried her face into the pillow.
Let's not think about *that* now.
That was it. She could think clearly. Lina opened her eyes. Why didn't she have a hangover? At the party last night, she had put away enough alcohol to give Naga a run for her money. Not to mention how much of the spiked punch she also had.
Ohhhh, I hope I didn't make an utter fool of myself last night.
As Mr. Sun insisted on shining directly onto the bed, Lina finally rolled over and got up. Yawning, she quickly looked over the room. Just how did she get here? Lina's stomach voiced a complaint.
"Hai, hai. It's time to scare up some food."
Lina changed quickly, never noticing how her clothes were neatly folded instead of being thrown carelessly on a chair. She didn't notice the ring on her finger either but hey, she was hungry. Very hungry. So hungry that she would start tearing up the floor and walls and be eating wood if she didn't get downstairs for something else. Minor things like a ring on her finger could wait.
Only a stirring of dust marked her descent as she came to a skidding halt in the dining room. Looking around, she spotted Zel in a corner just looking at a plate of food. Grabbing a chair and inviting herself to the table, Lina yelled to the waitress to get her whatever was cooking in the kitchen before eyeing Zel's plate.
"Are you going to eat that?"
Zel looked at her in surprise. He had been so caught up in trying to figure out what was going on that he hadn't heard Hurricane Lina touch down.
"No-"
"SoIcanhaveitrightokaythanks," Lina rambled before digging into the cold breakfast.
Zel watched her. Lina didn't seem to be acting any different. Maybe she knew what was going on.
"Ano, Lina-"
"Aaaah," Lina sighed, finishing the cold food. "Hey over there! Where's my breakfast? And whatever that guy in blue is eating, I'll have three servings of that! I need something to drink, do you have any fruit juice or something?"
Zel shook his head and pulled his hood down even further. "Lina."
"What?" Lina asked, sitting back down after yelling out her order loud enough to be heard across the street.
"Have...Does anything seem different to you?"
"Different?" Lina sat back to think. Well, there was that dream....Ah, don't think about it. "No, I don't think so."
Zel fiddled with the ring again before realizing it. Wonder if I should take the chance and ask her about this?
"Ah! Foodfoodfoodfoodfood!" Plate after plate of food began to appear to Lina's delight.
Zel just sighed and resigned himself to waiting until Lina was done with her meal. Maybe she'll be a bit more sedate and less likely to Dragu Slabu him when she had a full stomach.
Zel had counted thirty plates before Lina put down her fork and knife. Actually, she ate much more calmly without Gourry, probably because she didn't need to fight for the food.
"Hmmm," Lina smiled happily. "Where is everyone else? Don't tell me I was the last one up."
Zel cleared his throat. His thoughts had been running along the same lines. "Well..."
"What's taking you two so long?"
Zel's jaw dropped as he looked at the speaker. Lina turned around in her chair to watch a tall man with violet hair and fair skin and was probably the image someone had in mind when the phrase 'drop-dead handsome' was coined. Though dressed in forest browns, he had the air of nobility and he sat down at their table as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Who are you?" Lina asked the stranger, noticing Zel pushing himself even further into the corner he was sitting in.
The man, whose face was that kind that was neither old or young, smiled kindly at Lina. "Of course we haven't been introduced properly yet." He picked up Lina's hand and brought it up to his lips. Lina turned red to the roots of her hair. "My name is Terim Graywords, your father-in-law." And then he kissed her hand.
"DAD!!" Zel exploded. "Stop charming ladies already!!"
Terim shrugged. "I'm not doing it on purpose, it's just natural for me to do this. You know that only your mother has my heart. In a jar on her desk if I'm not mistaken."
"And it isn't just the charming-"
Terim clapped a hand on his eldest son's shoulder. "Yes, yes. I understand completely. Newlyweds are still shaky on their relationship. In fact, I remember when your mother and I were in our third month-"
"Dill Brando!!"
The inn and all of its people burst into the air in a column of earth.
Lina took a deep breath to clear her mind. Okay, now I'm feeling better.
"Refreshed?"
"What?!" Lina screamed and tripped over a broken chair. She barely noticed falling onto the ground, as she pointed and stammered incoherently at Terim sitting calmly on his chair. "How...how...you weren't....you should've..."
The piece of wall next to her was pushed away revealing Zelgadiss underneath. A quite irritated Zelgadiss.
"Lina, don't you think that was a little extreme?" he growled.
"What do you mean extreme? It's not like I cast a Dragu Slabu or something," Lina retorted. "Besides which, what is that guy made of? He didn't get caught in the spell at all!"
"You blew up the inn! And for what reason?"
"Well, I was just in shock!" Lina said, flushed. "Some stranger out of nowhere comes in and calls himself my father-in-law and I'm not even *married* or anything."
Zel cleared his throat. "About that being married part..."
Terim watched the exchange with a smile.
"The building got blown up again," the Innkeeper said with a resigned sigh. "I just go out to buy some cheese and...can't take my eye off the place for a second."
"I'm very sorry about this," Terim apologized and produced a filled coin purse. "This purse of platinum coins should cover the damages."
The Innkeeper accepted the bag ruefully. "I've been thinking of getting out of the inn business. Seems like every single one I own gets blown up some way or other. But I'm afraid it's in the blood. I'll send you notice when I open a new place."
"Bye," Terim waved and turned back to the couple.
"Zel, just what are you trying to say?" Lina glared at the unusually nervous chimera. He had been stuttering and stammering for the last several minutes.
Zel rolled his eyes upward and hoped that whoever was responsible for this was enjoying themselves. He certainly wasn't.
"Lina," Zel said taking a deep breath. "You wouldn't happen to be wearing a ring now are you?"
"Don't be silly why would I-, oh."
Lina pulled off her left glove to find a gold band on her left hand. "Now just how did that get there. It isn't magical at all so why am I wearing it?"
"Then perhaps it has another purpose," Terim mentioned helpfully. Zel and Lina gave him dark looks.
"Ahem, Lina. What finger is the ring on?" Zel figured that if he let Lina figure out what was going on by herself, it would give him several more moments of life.
"You can see it yourself. Just what are you up to?"
"Humor me and answer the question. Please."
Lina shrugged. "Alright, it's on the ring finger."
Zel started to count the seconds. One. Two. Three.
"Oh sh-"
"It is certainly a lovely day isn't it?" Terim shaded his eyes as he looked up at the large blue expanse.
"I'M MARRIED?!?"
"What was that?"
Lina grabbed Terim by the neck and shook him. "And just to WHOM am I married to?!"
"I would think you knew that already but since you're asking so nicely, you're married to my eldest son. Zelgadiss."
"Traitor," Zel muttered, immediately summoning a magic shield to protect him from whatever Lina was going to throw at him. Well, protect himself from anything but a Dragu Slabu or Laguna Blade. He supposed he should be grateful that Lina didn't dare cast the Giga Slabu except in extreme emergencies but he didn't see how.
"Oh *I* get it," Lina laughed. "This is a dream. I'm still suffering from a hangover from last night's party. That's all."
Terim and Zelgadiss sweatdropped.
"So all I need to do is pinch myself."
Lina pinched herself. She was still standing in the remains of an inn she had blown up with a spell. There was still that man called Terim sitting there. The *ring* was still on her finger.
She slapped herself.
Nothing changed.
"Flow Break!"
A bit of wind blew some dust away.
"Ferrous Bleed!" Lina cast the summoning spell to see if this was actually reality and not some strange warped pocket dimension.
A small white dove flew up to her before she shooed it away.
"Okay! Enough already! Whoever you are this is real funny but you can end it now." Lina ran her hands through her hair. "This CANNOT be happening!"
Terim tipped his head to a side. "It seems that she isn't taking it very well."
"Why should she?" Zel replied bitterly. "Who would want to be married to a chimera?"
"I thought she already knew. My mother told me that you've been a chimera for quite some time now."
"That isn't the point," Lina snapped before catching herself.
"What isn't? Zel being a chimera or you're not knowing?"
"Of course I know he's a chimera. A little hard to miss the hair like wire or skin like stone."
"So you're saying that him being a chimera and you being married to him isn't the problem?"
"Yes! I mean no, that is I'm trying to say that just being *married* to someone is the problem!"
"You know, my wife would have said the very same thing after we were married. So what is the problem about marriage anyway?"
"That's just it!" Lina yelled waving her arms and pointing to the ring. "Just when did we get married?! Last night we were at a little reunion party and the next morning I wake up to find I'm married to Zel?!"
Terim pulled out a thick book from somewhere and flipped through it. "Let's see...from the message your grandmother passed on to me, you two were married in a quiet ceremony about nine to ten weeks ago."
"Nine to ten weeks?!?" Lina and Zel exclaimed.
"Father...just what is the date?"
"Why it's the..."
"THREE MONTHS?!" Lina shrieked. Zel just stared mutely in shock.
"So you really don't know?"
Lina and Zel shook their heads firmly.
"Oh dear. I hope you haven't...done anything yet."
"Just what things are you referring to?" Lina growled.
"You don't remember anything over the last several months?"
"As far as I know, there is no 'last several months'" Zel frowned. "How can three months be completely erased from someone's memory?"
Terim studied Lina and then looked at Zelgadiss. "Since I'm not very familiar with your wife, could you tell me if she looks different?"
Lina turned scarlet.
"Different? How so?" Zel asked.
"Oh you know. Altered eating habits, odd cravings, morning sickness, gaining additional weight..."
Zel gave his father the Look. "I only saw her again yesterday, or that is what I believe is yesterday. Just what are you hinting about?"
"I'm just wondering if she's pregnant."
"How can she be pregnant? That would mean..." Zel blushed crimson as thoughts figured it out faster than words.
Lina pulled back her left arm and nailed Zel with a straight punch. Ignoring the tingling pain in her hand, she turned on Terim. "Are you saying that Zel and I...we..."
"You *are* married and it's been over two months. Things do happen between people in love," Terim shrugged. "Of course if you want a legal separation, a child could complicate things. Child support, custody rights, and other stuff."
"I'm certain that we didn't do *anything*!" Zel sputtered.
Terim raised an eyebrow. "And how are you so certain?"
Pause.
"I just am."
"That was really smooth," Lina muttered. "Even if nothing did happen, there's still the matter of the marriage being on record. If we wanted a divorce, how do we get it?"
Zel nodded reluctantly. "I see no reason in keeping Lina in something she doesn't want to be in."
"Absolutely not," Terim said putting his fist on the table. "Getting divorced is absolutely out of the question."
"What?" asked two flat voices.
"You can't simply opt for divorce the minute you run into a problem. Why if that was the case, your mother and I would have separated during the honeymoon. No, you need to work things out between yourselves. That's what marriage is about, a lasting partnership. Plus, if you divorce once, you're more likely to do it again. And what kind of family structure does that create? Think of the children!"
"What children?!"
"Oh, that's right. You two are certain that you didn't engage in...certain activities."
Two brilliantly red faces.
"However, if you want to dissolve the marriage, you also need to get the witnesses to the ceremony to agree as well."
"Who made up that stupid rule?" Lina demanded.
"It's to keep couples from breaking up at the first disagreement."
"Oh."
"And so, according to my thick book, the witnesses to your marriage were Luna Inverse and Sealius."
"Sealius?! What was he doing there? He returned to Dark Star's world!" Zel exclaimed.
"Oh he drops in periodically. I never knew he attended your wedding. I'm hurt."
Lina crumpled to the ground. "Ne...Nee-chan was at the wedding...I'm doomed..."
"Well, she'll probably be easier to find than Sealius. Where is she?" Zel asked.
"IYAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" Lina wailed. "If she was there, then that means Daddy knows too! I am soooo dead!!"
Terim and Zelgadiss exchanged glances. Zel placed a hand on Lina's shoulder and shook her gently.
"Ano, Lina. What's so bad about your father and older sister knowing about this? Just go and ask them to sign the annulment papers."
"I am not going within half a continent of either of them!!"
"Hmmm. Seems like she doesn't want a divorce."
Zel turned on his father. "What are you talking about? Why would Lina, or anyone, want to be married to a chimera?"
"But didn't she say earlier that she didn't mind being married..."
"Don't get my hopes up!!" Zel hissed in a low voice directed to his father.
Terim's eyes lit up and he leaned over to his son. "So you do like her."
Zel sputtered unintelligibly.
Terim nodded. "Yes, the ranting of a man in love." He turned to Lina. "So he likes, no actually probably loves you very much. But the boy is so shy. Nothing like me, I proposed to his mother on our first date."
Lina blinked, still shell-shocked from the possible confrontation with her family.
"But I think before we continue any more talk of divorces, we should consult some third party members. And I know just the person!" Terim announced, standing up from his chair.
"And who would that be?" Zel asked tiredly.
"Your mother of course."
"You found her?"
"I know where to find her."
"You consider a blood relative a third party?" Lina looked up at Terim. He clapped his hands.
"Come now, we need to get going to catch the ship. Unless you want to sit in the destroyed remains of the inn for the rest of the day."
"Ship? You mean mom is back home?"
Lina noticed the worried looks Zel kept throwing at her. What was wrong with him anyway? He seemed very unbalanced today. But then, suddenly learning that you've been married to an unruly child for the last two months and a half should unbalance anyone.
Terim gestured for Lina and Zel to follow him. "No, she hasn't returned home but she's on another island if my sources are correct. It's as good a place to start as any."
Zel calculated the ship's position again. For the third time. He double checked the coordinates that Terim had given him of their destination. This couldn't be right.
"Hey, Dad!"
Terim put down his telescope. "Yes?"
"Could you come down here for a minute? I have something to ask you."
"Sure thing."
Terim put a hand on the bird nest's railing and leaped easily over the side. He landed nimbly on the deck as several other sailors ceased in their duties to simply gape at him. With the ease of a man borne on the sea, Terim walked over to his son who was studying a nautical map.
Zel tapped the piece of parchment. "Dad, there is no island, or land formation of any kind, at the coordinates you gave me."
"Oh don't worry. There is an island there."
Zel gave his father a disbelieving look. "I don't think the captain or the crew of this ship would accept our passage with only *that* as reassurance."
"Oh two bag of gold for each, one beforehand and another after we've arrived, did quite well. Plus they all are the adventurous type. Wait until we get in a huge sea storm or run up against a giant sea monster."
"I certainly hope we don't run into any sea serpents," Lina muttered, stretched out on a lawn chair. "Especially not gay ones."
Terim raised an eyebrow.
"Just don't ask," Zel said firmly, dragging his eyes away from the bikini-clad sorceress.
"How about looking?"
"What?"
"You said no asking her, but what about looking at her?"
"I thought you only had eyes for mom."
"Of course. Any married man should only have eyes for his wife. But you, I've noticed, are always trying *not* to look at her. It isn't as if she's hard on the eyes."
"Probably because you don't know her like I do," Zel snorted. "If she even thinks I'm looking, she'll roast me."
"Hmmmm. Well, the other sailors seem to be doing all of your staring for you, what with their eyes glued to her."
"What?!"
All activity on deck stopped to look at the outburst from the usually very quiet ivory cloaked man. Even Lina sat up and tipped her shades to look at Zel who had decided to be Mr. Sulk ever since the ship left port.
Terim smiled blandly. "Was that a hint of jealousy I heard? But if you didn't care for her, why would you need to be jealous?"
Zel glared at his father for several minutes before whirling around and disappearing below deck. Lina lay back on the chair with a disappointed sigh. After having him sulking below deck for nearly a week, she had finally coaxed him to come up and his father goes and drives him back down.
Closing her eyes, she could feel the warm sun rays over her skin. Idly, Lina wondered exactly how much Zel could feel through his skin. Being stone it could resist damage and the magical properties of a rock golem made Zel invulnerable to all normal weapons. When Filia hit him with her mace and when he blocked that cannon ball, he had certainly felt them or at least was in pain afterwards. But that took a lot of force. What about normal things? Like the wind, the sun, a person's touch...
"So what do you think?"
Jolted out of her reverie, Lina peered through her shades at Terim. "Think? About what?"
"About my son."
"What do you mean?" Lina asked sharply.
"Oh anything in general. I'm afraid I haven't been a very good father, always gone looking for his mother. Perhaps if I had stayed with him more, he wouldn't have met that person."
"Rezo?" Lina noticed a dark undercurrent when Terim mentioned 'that person'.
"Yes."
Looks like Zel's hatred of Rezo runs in the family, Lina thought.
"Well, you could say it's because of Rezo that we ever met."
"Is that so? Could you tell me about it? I really don't know much about what Zelgadiss has been up to these past several years."
"Okay." Lina didn't see the harm in that. She could just stick to the facts. "I first met Zel when he tried to buy something from me that I'd...acquired from the Dragon Fang Bandits. After I refused to sell it to him, he sent berserkers and trolls after me. Soon after, he separated me from Gourry and captured me. But that didn't do him any good because I didn't have what he wanted, I had hidden it on Gourry. So he broke me out later that night and we escaped but ran into Rezo. We got away from him and spent several days being chased by his goons before we found Gourry and Zel's men again. Then we were forced to meet Rezo and hand over the item he wanted but would you believe it? It was the Philosopher's Stone and he used it to open his eyes which in turn released the Ruby Eye Lord. So we beat the crap out of him and went our separate ways."
"Was that it?"
"Oh no. I met Zel again when Rezo's Copy put up wanted posters for all of us. He saved us from a surprise attack by Eris and her Vrumugun clones. We worked together to break into Rezo's lab beneath Sairaag only to run into a Mazoku Chicken and Rezo's legacy, Zanaffar. So then the copy Rezo killed Eris and absorbed Zanaffar. He wanted to defeat us because we defeated Rezo. At the end, I was once again victorious but the peace didn't last since Prince Phil pulled us off on another Saillune rescue mission. After that, I didn't see Zel again until Zoana where we were both after the Book of Zoana. Then since both of us wanted the Claire Bible, we followed various rumors and ended up as pawns of the Hellmaster Fibrizo. Because of that, Chaos Dragon Gaav wanted to kill us but Fibrizo killed him instead. Fibrizo lured us back to Sairaag where he planned to use...a spell I can cast to destroy the world. But something went wrong, I'm not sure what, but from what everyone else told me, the Hellmaster was destroyed. With him destroyed, the Mazoku Barrier fell and for the first time in 1000 years we could travel beyond it. Our paths crossed again in a port town that was about to launch ships on exploratory trips to the outside world. However, we all got dragged into this prophecy where we had to defeat Dark Star of all things! And to complicate things, one of Gaav's old minions, a Ancient Dragon-turned-Mazoku, wanted to kill me for killing Gaav!"
"But didn't you say that it was Fibrizo who killed Gaav?"
"Yes, but it's rather hard to tell someone that when the first thing he does when he meets you is try to kill you."
Terim nodded in agreement. "You certainly talk a lot."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lina snapped.
"It seems like you and Zel have been through much."
"I guess so."
"So why did you two separate?"
Lina looked up into the sky. "Oh he was always obsessed with finding a way to return himself back to normal. I mean, at first after Rezo, he just seemed to want to be alone. But when we met in Zoana again, he was so... distant. And all he could think about was finding a Claire Bible manuscript. Hmph, now that I think about it, I'm surprised he didn't strike off on his own earlier. We were always sidetracking him."
"Yes, why did he stay? Zel can be quite obsessed and focused on something. It tends to run in the family."
"Well, he should learn to lighten up a bit. Always acting dark and gloomy. That'll kill him sooner than anything else."
"Which is why you've been trying to get him to come out of the cabin."
"I succeeded until you had to tease him enough to drive him back there."
Terim smiled and shrugged. "As you said, the boy needs to take things less seriously. By the way, you didn't sunbathe before now."
Lina quickly looked away. "I just felt like it today."
"Oh really. Well then don't stay out too long or you'll get burned. But I don't think you'll feel like laying out here much longer."
"What are you implying?"
"I think you can answer your own question."
Terim left an unusually contemplative Lina on the deck.
"Are you sure mom is here?" Zel cast a dubious look at the thick forest around him.
As Terim had said, there was an island. True to his word, Terim had paid each member of the ship a bag of gold before taking the three of them to shore on a lifeboat. Lina briefly caught a case of gold fever at the sight of all of the money, enough to distract her mind from the fact that the ship left.
"Of course I'm sure," Terim replied, pushing branches out of his way. "And as proof..."
"Halt!"
Three grotesque creature suddenly appeared before the three adventurers.
"Mazoku?!"
Lina and Zel immediately summoned spells to mind. Terim held them back with an arm.
"Let me handle this."
"Handle what foolish human? What can you do against us? We are going to rend your flesh, devour your soul, and crush your mind!!"
One of the Mazoku scratched its head with a curved green talon. "Wait. I thought it was rend the mind, devour the flesh, and crush the soul?"
The third one shook its head. "No no. Why would you want to rend a mind? I do agree that the devour flesh sounds better though."
"Really? So would it be rend the soul and..."
"What fun is crushing a mind?"
"Shoot. Now I don't remember the correct order."
"Ahem," Terim coughed. "If you don't mind, we'll let you sort it out and just go on our merry way."
"Oh, of course. Thanks. Go right ahead."
"Bye," Terim waved.
Lina watched the exchange blankly. Zel seemed slightly less surprised.
"Come on, Lina," Zel said, guiding the sorceress forward.
It was only after they lost sight of the Mazoku trio that Lina found her voice again.
"What just happened?"
"What would you be referring to?"
"Forget it Lina," Zel cut off the girl. "You'll get used to it. He has that kind of effect on things."
Lina scowled, knowing that Zel wasn't telling her something. "If you're not going to explain how we just went by a group of Mazoku without a scratch then explain to me what Mazoku are doing on this island. Isn't your mother supposed to be here?"
"I don't know why Mazoku are here but I suppose I should have expected that."
Question marks popped around Lina's head. Zel waved them away.
"You'll understand soon," he said cryptically.
"Ah, I knew there was a building somewhere in this place," Terim said with an air of satisfaction.
The building that seemed to have appeared just before them was a large sprawling castle. And as was required of all castles was a guardian, an embodiment of pure muscle. With an eyeball and a mouth.
"Eww," Lina winced. Zel silently agreed.
"Greetings," Terim smiled.
The guardian Mazoku growled, towering over Terim and flexing.
"None shall pass," it rumbled.
"But my wife works here."
"She does?"
"Yes."
"Oh well family is different. Why are you visiting?"
"Our son just got married and I wanted her to meet her daughter-in-law."
Zel clamped a hand over Lina's protest.
The guardian Mazoku smiled. Sort of. "Congratulations. Go right in."
"Thank you. Come along children."
Zel half-led, half-dragged a gagged Lina through the door. Terim followed them into a wide corridor that lead to several smaller ones. There were also some doors scattered along the walls.
"Where to now?" Zel asked looking around.
"Perhaps you should let go of your wife first," Terim replied, pointing to the very blue Lina.
"Ah, sorry," Zel apologized, finally letting her go. Lina elbowed him hard in the gut. "I said I was sorry," he gasped.
"Guess we'll just have to find someone and ask," Terim mused, opening the closest door. "Excuse me?"
"Whazzup?"
Terim, Zel, and Lina looked into a room filled with such a variety creatures of hideous forms and tangible evil auras that they could only be Mazoku. There were also assorted equipments of torture and creatures in varying amounts of pain. Lina and Zel paled.
"So sorry for interrupting your meal but I was wondering if you could direct me to whoever is the head of this fine establishment? I'm looking for someone."
"The Master is down the western corridor. You can find the room from the screaming. If you need anymore help, just look for signs on the walls."
"Thank you very much. Please go on with your meal."
The Mazoku waved good-bye. Back in the hall, Terim looked over the very pale and shaken Lina and Zel.
"You've never seen a Mazoku feed before?"
They shook their heads.
"Well, now you know to avoid such situations in the future. Come along. The sooner we find the master of this place, the sooner we find your mom."
"Is this entire place filled with Mazoku?" Lina asked, keeping her fear hidden behind a mask of curiosity. "Is Zel's mother a prisoner here?"
Terim and Zel weren't sure how to answer that. Luckily, something else distracted them.
"Here's one of those signs that Mazoku must have been talking about," Zel pointed out, grateful for the change in topic. "It says 'This way to the Greater Beast. Proceed at your own risk.'"
"How helpful." Terim followed the direction the arrow pointed.
"Wait just a moment," Lina cried grabbing the man by the shirt. "Are you crazy?! Don't tell me you've brought us to Wolf Pack Island?!"
"Why else did you think it wasn't on a map?"
"What, for the love of Ceiphied, is Zel's mother doing on Wolf Pack?!?"
"Remind me to ask her when we find her."
Lina looked at Terim's departing back. "Zel. Is he serious?"
"Completely. Coming?"
Lina threw her arms in the air. "Sure. Why not? Didn't I ever tell you it was my life ambition to personally meet all of the Mazoku Lords?"
Zel smiled as Lina stormed after his father. Yes, she was definitely scared and she sure as hell wasn't going to show it. Still...how would she react when she learned his mother was a Mazoku?
A scream of pain ripped down the hall.
"Yes, I think we're going the right way," Terim nodded.
Lina frowned. "Zel. Did that scream seem...familiar?"
He shrugged. "Whoever it's from, they're not too far down."
Terim beckoned them to one door. "I think it's this one," he whispered. "Listen."
"Please Master. Please stop. I've learned my lesson."
Lina raised an eyebrow. Now this voice sounded very familiar. She glanced at Zel and he nodded. Silently, he mouthed a name. Xelloss.
"Oh really? You think I'll let you off this easily? After you stole my secret vintage to give to humans?! Just a shot of that will give a Mazoku a hangover for a week! There's no telling what kind of effects it'll have on human physiology!!"
Lina mimed pouring something into a an invisible cup in her hand and drinking from that cup. Zel understood. Looks like Xelloss spiked the punch at that party with his Master's special vintage. Zel supposed that only losing three months of your life was a small price to pay to see Xelloss in trouble and in pain.
"Let's go in, shall we?" Terim opened the door before Lina or Zel could stop him.
Inside was Xelloss stretched out on the old torture device known as the Rack. Besides him was a tall tanned woman with long yellow hair and wearing a white sundress. Both of them snapped their eyes on the intruders and both of them dropped their jaws in surprise.
"Lina? And that stone thing."
"Zel, just ignore him," Lina pleaded, holding the chimera back.
"Zela? What are you doing to that person?" Terim asked.
Lina and Xelloss blinked. Lina looked up at Zel.
"Is that your mom?"
Xelloss sputtered in mirth. "His mother?! That's the Greater Beast Zelas Metallium! My master!"
"Xelloss. Sleep." Zelas knocked out her servant.
"Mom...you're actually *Zelas*?"
"Er...that is to say..." Zelas fumbled for words.
"I should of known," Terim shook his head.
"You didn't know your mother was a Mazoku?" Lina asked stunned.
"No, we knew she was a Mazoku," Terim corrected. "We just didn't know she was a Mazoku *Lord*."
v"So if your mother was a Mazoku, that would have made you a Half-Mazoku..." Lina muttered to herself and then turned on Zelgadiss. "You were already a Half-Mazoku and you *still* wanted to be stronger?!?"
"I already told you about the why behind that," Zel said uncomfortably.
"And you just 'neglected' to mention that you were Half-Mazoku. What is it? It never came up in the conversation?" Lina glared at Zelgadiss.
"What difference would it have made?" Zel growled. After all, it would only have driven away the only friends he had.
"Who is she?" Zelas asked.
"Oh, that's Lina Inverse," Terim introduced. "Zel's wife."
"WHAT?!?!"
Part of the West Wing of the Greater Beast's Castle blew up. Zelas stood fuming in the newly ventilated chamber. Terim simply dusted off some dirt on his shoulder as Lina peeked out from behind Zelgadiss.
"That immature, destructive, conceited, ill-mannered runt is married to my mature, serene, modest, polite little baby?!"
Both Lina and Zel sprouted sweatdrops. Well, Zel did. Lina's sweatdrops quickly evaporated with her rising temper.
"Who are you calling an immature, destructive, conceited, ill-mannered runt?!?"
"I think that would be obvious. A little girl who is always demanding things done her way or no way at all, who destroys things at a drop of a hat, and who wouldn't know fine manners if it was a roast chicken that she just devoured."
"So you're saying I'm not good enough for your son?!"
"Exactly!!"
Zel, caught in the middle between Lina and Zelas, gave his father a pleading look.
"And the age difference!" Zelas moaned. "That alone should be grounds for refusing this marriage!"
Zel looked confused. "But mom, we're only a few years-"
"She looks like a little girl! An immature, small-chested fifteen year old girl!!"
"Oh fifteen year old is not good enough? Well I'll have you know that I'm seven years shy from 500!"
"Even worse! My darling isn't getting married to some old maid!"
"Me an old maid? And how old were you when you married? About 5000?!"
"I'm a Mazoku. Time means nothing to me. But since you're human that's no excuse. I want this marriage dissolved immediately!"
"Unfortunately dear," Terim interrupted. "In order to do that, we need to get one of the witnesses from the original ceremony to sign the papers. And as Sealius is currently offworld, that only leaves Lina's older sister Luna."
Zelas' stormcloud face vanished. "Oh that's all? Why didn't you say so earlier? I'm sure she'll see it my way. Let's go."
"I wouldn't be so sure if I was you," Lina muttered.
"But Dad sent the ship away. How are we going to get back to the mainland?"
"Oh that's no problem. I have a permanent Dimensional Door between here and Zefilia. We'll have this all wrapped up before sundown."
A Dimensional Door isn't a teleportation spell per se. Teleportation implies travel between dimensions, where the distance traveled is done in another dimension. The concept behind Dimensional Door is like a string. Imagine the string is a path connecting two places. If you bring the two ends of the string together, you still get to the same destination but without crossing the distance. That is what a Dimensional Door does.
The impromptu magic lecture ended with four people suddenly appearing in a town square.
"Is this...Zefilia?" Zel asked cautiously.
Lina looked around and behind her at the town square's statue of Ruby Eye and Ceiphied sharing wine. She stifled a groan.
"Unfortunately," she replied sourly.
"WINE! ZEFILIA WINE!!!" Zelas shrieked, super-deforming in a puff of smoke and dashing toward the lined up barrels of wine. "WINE! WINE! WINE! WINE!"
"That always was her favorite vintage," Terim sighed.
"That doesn't explain why she has a permanent portal to here," Lina grumbled. "I don't know why 'she' even lets it exist."
Zel wondered who Lina was talking about.
"Ahhhh! Zelas! How many times have I told you that these are for the customers!! You can come to the manor to have some when you're visiting with Luna and you can have your designated share from each harvest but you CANNOT have any of the rest!!"
The person scolding the Chibi-Zelas in hand gave the chibi a good shake and dropped the full sized Zelas. Flicking back her braid of long silver hair, she turned to look at the other newcomers. Her eyes were immediately drawn toward the petite sorceress.
"Why Lina! I haven't seen you for so long. How are you?" cried the woman only slightly taller than Lina as she hugged the red head.
"I've missed you too, Narina," Lina said hugging her back. "But truth to tell, I wouldn't be here if I had a choice."
"I quite understand. But who are the other two?"
"Ummm..."
"TE-RIMMMMMMMM!!!"
The ground beneath everyone's feet rumbled ominously.
"It can't be..." Lina murmured.
Narina sighed. "Yes it is."
The ground directly before Terim suddenly erupted and a dark figure leaped high into the air.
"Prepare for your doom, spawn of Rezo, son of Vandamar!!"
The black blur bounded around the square. Zel figured he could beat it at his top speed but its agility outclassed his.
"My 250 year charged super burning electrifying ultra ki blast!!" roared the attacker as it headed straight for Terim.
Lina buried her face in her hands as Narina patted her shoulder sympathetically.
Terim held out one hand before him. "Block."
Ki struck an invisible barrier and the two crackled loudly in a whirl of blinding light, knocking everyone to the ground. When the fireworks cleared, Terim stood blocking the punch of a fit middle-aged man with a trim mustache. His hair was gray and he wore a belted robe in a fashion Zelgadiss had never seen.
"Not bad Terim. The years haven't seemed too harsh on you," smirked the man.
"They've been gentler to me than to you, old friend. I still remember some more colored strands in your hair before."
"One doesn't stay young forever. We're still evenly matched. So what brings you here?"
"Oh some family business. What about you? What can interest a devout student of the arts as yourself in a wine country?"
The man laughed. "Why, this is my home!"
"Really? You should have told me that, Katsuhito. I would have paid a visit."
"I don't really tell anyone where I come from, same as you. So you have a family now? Introduce me."
"Of course. Katsuhito, this is my wife Zelas and my eldest son Zelgadiss. I have two younger ones but they aren't here now. Zelas, Zel, this is one of my old friends from before meeting Zelas."
"Umm, nice to meet you." Zel wasn't quite sure what else to say to someone who professed to wanting to kill his father only moments before. Zelas was less restrained.
"What was the big idea of trying to kill my husband?" she demanded, glaring daggers at Katsuhito.
Katsuhito laughed it off. "That's just a little greeting ritual we have. Nothing fatal at all. But I was sure there was someone else with you."
"You mean Lina?" Zel pointed to the sorceress trying to quietly sneak away.
"Lina?"
Lina froze in her tracks. And then broke into an all out sprint. Which did her absolutely no good as she found herself crushed in a bear hug.
"Oh my dear little baby!! It's been so long since I've last seen you. How could you have stayed away without letting daddy know where you were!!"
"Daddy?!" cried three incredulous voices.
Theria