Chapter 31 :: Chapter 32 :: Chapter 33 :: Chapter 34

CHAPTER 31
In which Lina gets help and Aristos rants.

    All was silent in the castle as Lina marched determinedly through the hallways, searching for Wyna’s and Tannec’s rooms. Zelgadis, thankfully, had given her specific directions to follow, so she didn’t have to search too hard for them. Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the door she thought was Wyna’s room and pounded loudly.

    Moments a later, a groggy tone asked in mild annoyance, “Y-yes?”

    “It’s Lina!” she shouted through the wood. “Let me in!”

    A pause, then, “Just a second…” There were the sounds of hurried scuffling and shuffling as Wyna got out of bed and threw on a robe. Lina waited impatiently, and briefly considered entering without permission. Luckily, Wyna was quick, and soon enough the door was being slowly, tentatively opened. Lina didn’t wait for the long process to finish, and just shoved her way inside.

    “Get Tannec,” Lina commanded in a voice daring Wyna to disagree. She sat down on the nearest chair and crossed her arms warningly in front of her, eyes flashing.

    Wyna stayed where she was and opened her mouth…but ended up simply closing it again when another knock came on her door.

    “Wyna?! I thought I heard Lina’s voice in the hallway…” Tannec called worriedly through the door.

    Wyna sighed and shook her head in exasperation. “Come in!” she called back. The door opened up, and Tannec gaped when he saw that Lina was sitting there.

    He blinked and backed up a step. “Er…wh-what’re you doing here?” he asked, clearly startled.

    Lina closed her eyes as she said simply, “Zel’s been kidnapped.” Opening her eyes again, she stated, “I need help to find him.”

    Zelgadis’s sister and brother gasped simultaneously in shock, and Wyna clutched at her throat. “How…? Why?!”

    Ignoring their questions, she asked a question of her own. “I need to know where the ‘Rat and Parrot’ is located.”

    “Is that where he’s being held?” Tannec asked shrewdly.

    “No; somewhere near there,” Lina answered in a clipped tone.

    Tannec and Wyna glanced at each other, and nodded in unison. Under different circumstances, Lina would have found their actions funny, but she didn’t dare laugh, not when Zelgadis was in trouble, probably being tortured… She cut off that line of thought, and forced the slight trembling in her hands to stop along with it.

    Tannec recalled her attention back to the present by announcing grandly, “We’re coming along.”

    “No matter what,” Wyna finished, smiling.

    Lina sighed and clutched her head. “Fine, fine. I’m in no mood to argue…” …and I don’t have the time…

    “Good!” Tannec smirked as he swept forward to take Lina’s hand and kiss it’s knuckles. “Fear not, Lina; we shall find Zel!”

    Wyna rolled her eyes at her brother’s antics, while Lina’s eyebrow twitched dangerously. Amazingly, Tannec took the hint and retreated back to Wyna’s side.

    “Lead the way,” Lina said, sweeping her arm towards the door…

    Several minutes later, the three of them were hurrying through the streets of Yume. Tannec ran first, with Wyna closely following him, and Lina taking up the tail end, who glanced around her sharply, eyes piercing the shadows, looking for anything out of the ordinary. More eyes watched her from those shadows, staring at her with relentless intensity.

    Not that it mattered. Those eyes weren’t stupid enough to reveal themselves; she wasn’t a possible target, especially when two of the powerful royal family stood before her.

    Lina almost wished someone would attack her for her food, for her money, for her clothes… She was so tense, she could feel sweat trickling down her forehead, and her knuckles were white from the clenching of her fists. It was times like these that she would normally beat up a few bandit gangs, take their treasure, and eat at the nearest restaurant. But she couldn’t, not when Zelgadis’s time was limited… Every second counted, and it all depended on how much Aristos “played” with Zelgadis before killing him, like a cat with a mouse…

    “We’re almost there,” Wyna whispered softly to Lina, who nodded in understanding.

    As predicted, a minute later they arrived at the Rat and Parrot. She saw the sign swinging at the front of the building, it’s grimy, greasy state a testimony to the rest of the neighborhood. Dirt, rotting food, sewage, and sweat made for an interesting, nose-pinching aroma. The only sounds were the scurrying of little, clawed feet and the low, broken wails of cats. A muffled, tearful scream briefly filled the air before a pointed “Thwack!” silenced it.

    The roads were lined with unknown, brown and black objects that might be fruit, sewage, or dead bodies for all she could tell. The buildings were almost as brown as the streets, with little hints of chipped, broken yellows, blues, and reds peaking through the grime. Of people, there was no sign. It was as if they didn’t exist in this pit, but small hints, like the very human scream of earlier, told a different story…

    Across from the Rat and Parrot was a dilapidated, run-down inn. Light filled the parlor room's window, a stark contrast from all the buildings surrounding it. The window itself was one of the few clean ones, a stroke of luck Lina thanked heartily for. If that window had been dirty, Zel wouldn’t have been able to see the sign across the street…

    Lina cleared her throat to call Tannec and Wyna’s attention. They were staring around them with something like horror in their eyes, as if they’d never seen the dark side of humanity. They probably haven’t, Lina realized abruptly. When their attention stayed on their surroundings, she growled and bopped each one on the head. They turned and glared at her, until they noticed the vein throbbing dangerously on her forehead…

    “This is how we’re going to do it,” Lina began…

    Zelgadis stared up in disbelief at his deranged captor. Aristos hadn’t even begun to wrap up his speech , which had gone from Aristos’s childhood…to other people he’d tormented…to what kind of toothbrush he liked…to the cat who’d been shredding his cape just recently…to the strange cloaked figure who Aristos couldn’t quite seem to recall with any detail, not even his name…to his favorite toilet…

    Head spinning, Zelgadis reflected, This is worse than any kind of bodily torture he could device… If Lina doesn’t get here soon, I’ll go insane…

    “…And the toilet’s really just a round hole over the river, but the breeze plays so delightfully over my buttocks as I sit, and there’s always plenty of clean straw to use so I can wipe myself off afterwards. The servants always seem to keep that toilet the cleanest, too…”

    What did I do to deserve this…? Zelgadis mentally groaned.

    Aristos’s men weren’t in much better shape. Several had left the room for long periods of time, and would come back looking just as sick and green as when they’d left, but now they’d stink of bile. It was easy to guess why they’d left, and what they’d done in the interim. Zelgadis himself was restraining an uncomfortable lump in his throat, but he refused to give Aristos the pleasure. What pleasure? He’d just get mad and kill you, one voice inside of him pointed out dryly. Another voice answered just as dryly, That’s an even better reason not to throw up on him…

    “…and the toilet’s made out of black marble – we are rich, after all – but we have padding around the edge to make it more comfortable…”

    To Zelgadis’s eternal relief, Aristos was interrupted by the door slamming open…

    “Mega Brando!” a familiar female voice shouted as all heads turned towards the unexpected noise. A second later, the ground exploded underneath the minions’ feet, sending them exploding up into the air and through the roof of the inn.

    Aristos stared in shock, blinked, and stared some more. Lina smirked and readied another spell. “Fireball!” Fire flickered to life in the palm of one hand and grew till it was roughly the size of her own head. She threw it forward at Aristos, who barely dodged out of the way in time.

    “L-Lina!” Aristos stuttered, pointing with a shaking finger at the girl in question. “How dare you not give me time to retaliate!” he protested huffily, not managing to mask his fear. A ring glowed urgently on his hand, sending a pulsing, blue signal…

    What’s that for? Zelgadis wondered, eyes narrowing as he struggled with his bonds again. Unfortunately, they were as strong as ever…

    Seconds later, something crashed against the side of the building. A bulbous eye looked in from the broken window…

    Uh oh… Zelgadis groaned into his gag. Not that…

    “S-s-s-s…” A deep, panicked breath from Lina. She barely managed to spit out, “Slug!”

    “Help me, Schnookums!” Aristos screamed.

    Schnookums backed up a little, and then rammed full tilt into the side of the building. It moaned, then a sickening crack was heard in the roof supports, followed by the inn caving in around them…

CHAPTER 32
In which craziness occurs, and Zelgadis is rescued.

   Lina couldn’t summon any more terror as the roof caved in on itself and gave a sickening groan, then collapsed down on top of her. All she could see was the large, bulbous eye of the huge, two-story slug in front of her…staring with hateful menace down on her, intending to kill her if he got the chance…

   …or so her mind imagined. Seconds later, she was huddled on the ground, her arms around her waist and her legs in the fetal position as the roof collapsed on top of her.

   Schnookums stayed where he was as he surveyed the damage he had created, and looked for possible signs of life having survived his arrival. Aristos should have had time to create a magic shield around himself, but I wonder if anyone else was able to survive that…?

   The inn was just a ruin now. The wooden support beams had splintered apart under his heavy weight, and the cheap stone walls had crumbled like dust. Random piles of splintered furniture, squished food, and dirty linen were scattered throughout the rubble. No humans were readily apparent.

   A minute passed without incident, or stirrings of life. Finally, a head poked it’s way out, muttering curses all the way. He managed to get out only one coherent question. “Did Zelgadis and Lina survive?!” Aristos demanded as he pushed himself out of the rubble.

   Schnookums couldn’t answer him, of course, but he got his answer a few seconds later when two bodies floated into the air. Lina was curled in a ball, her eyes tightly shut and her teeth clamped together. Zelgadis was staring around himself in complete and utter confusion. The chair he’d been sitting in laid abandoned beneath him, but his bonds remained. Then he caught sight of Lina…and an angry blue flame caught spark in his eyes…

   On the ground, away from the building, two figures concentrated on the bodies of Lina and Zelgadis. Wyna and Tannec gestured to their precious packages, and they floated to the soil at their feet. The shielding disappeared with a last flick of their wrists. Tannec quickly bent down and untied Zelgadis, while Wyna bent anxiously over Lina, wondering what was wrong.

   As soon as Zelgadis was free, he scrambled over to Lina’s side and grabbed her shoulders. “Lina! Lina, calm down!” he pleaded desperately.

   Terror still bright in her eyes, she jerked sharply toward the sound of his voice and grabbed him around the waist. Without hesitation, he wrapped an arm around her. “Slughelphateslugsgottakillitneedsomesaltpleasegetsalt…” Her voice trailed away as she continued to cling desperately him.

   “Damn…” Zelgadis cursed under his breath. He wasn’t sure whether the curse was directed at the impossibly-large slug who had created her terror, or the person who had created the terror of slugs in Lina in the first place…or at Lina herself for not getting over her crippling fear. He squeezed her close, and said in a harsh, worried voice, “Don’t you remember what I told you before, Lina?! We’re partners! I’ll protect you!”

   Just as before, Lina’s grip loosened, and some of her terror drained away. She relaxed in his arms, and let the comforting presence of his body holding hers banish the rest of the fear she felt.

   Once she was feeling more like herself, she pulled away…

   …and bopped him on the head with a nearby rock. He grasped his head comically in pain and glared at her.

   “What was that for?!” he demanded.

   Snorting, she replied dryly, “For dragging me all the way here to rescue you. If you hadn’t gotten kidnapped, I wouldn’t have had to go out and see that damn slug again!”

   Sarcastically, he responded, “Sorry for inconveniencing you.”

   Wyna and Tannec stared at them in disbelief. Tentatively, Tannec ventured to say, “Um…shouldn’t you be worrying about the guy who kidnapped Zel?”

   Aristos, meanwhile, had been staring at them in white-hot fury. Despite that last attack, Lina and Zelgadis had survived… It…isn’t…FAIR… They should have DIED! I won’t let them escape this time! In his palms, energy collected and concentrated. “Icicle…” The energy lengthened till it was nearly the size of Lina herself. “…Lance!” The energy hardened and became ice in his hands. He wound his arm up and threw it with deadly force at Lina and Zelgadis.

   They saw it coming, and quickly dodged to the side. The soil they’d been crouching on just moments before froze over and spread. Wyna and Tannec managed to get out of the way just in time.

   As they halted, Lina focused on her anger instead of the terror still clinging somewhat to her…anger at being frightened so badly; anger at Aristos for bringing in his pet slug… and chanted words under her breath. “Vlave Howl!” She smacked her hand down hard on the ground, and smirked as a trembling started, roaring upwards till it shot from the soil in the form of hot, molten lava. It spread across the remains of the inn, covering Schnookums, Aristos, and any minions left alive. The lava hardened, and all was still…

   Lina stretched and declared, “Much better!”

   His lips twitching in suppressed amusement, Zelgadis commented, “I didn’t know you could cast that spell.”

   She stuck her tongue out at him and made a face. “Don’t underestimate me.”

   “Never,” he smirked, crossing his arms.

   Tannec and Wyna shook their heads and tentatively approached the two. “Can we go back to the castle now?” Wyna asked, rubbing her hands together nervously.

   Tannec nodded and added, “There isn’t any reason to hang around her now that Zel’s been rescued.”

   “Sure, sure,” Lina agreed, yawning.

   They decided to take the short way back, and rose into the night sky, flying back towards the castle without looking back…

   …If they had looked behind, they might have seen a cloaked figure coming out of a nearby, dark alley and putting limp hands on the cooled lava…

   As they entered the castle, Tannec and Wyna faced Lina and Zelgadis with serious expressions. Lina simply yawned impatiently while Zelgadis raised a stony eyebrow questioningly.

   Tannec cleared his throat, and looked down at the ground. Despite the dim moonlight pouring through the open gate, the three saw the blush on his cheeks. “Er…I just want to…um…erm…ah…say…ahm…” Wyna’s eyes lit up as she realized what he was trying to say, and grinning, nudged him sharply in the ribs. Involuntarily, he spluttered out, “…I’m sorry!”

   “For what?” Zelgadis asked coldly.

   Blushing even worse than before, obviously embarrassed, he elaborated, “I wronged you a long time ago, when I attacked you without thinking. If it wasn’t for me, that day, you might have gotten your cure a lot sooner.” He shut his mouth, obviously intending to stop there, but again Wyna nudged him in the ribs. He glared at her before continuing. “…And I apologize for almost attacking you when you arrived today. It was wrong.”

   Zelgadis turned over his brother’s apology in his mind, and finally pronounced, “Yes, you were wrong.” The cold expression vanished, replaced with something softer. “Still, you’ve also saved my life. That makes up for some of it.”

   “…Eh? You noticed?” Tannec laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

   Eyes sparkling, Zelgadis asked dryly, “How could I not notice the person who protected me from the collapsing inn? It was hard to miss the fact that I was floating.”

   Lina spoke up, and put in, “This is all fascinating, but I need my sleep! Come on, Zel.”

   Zelgadis rolled his eyes, but followed her lead as she walked back down one of the many hallways. Soon enough, they were both safely ensconced in Lina’s bedroom…just in case someone else got a notion to attack Zelgadis again…

   As he faced the wall, Lina got changed back into her pajamas and slipped underneath the covers of her bed. He turned back around, and spread out on the make-shift bed they’d made on the floor of extra cushions, blankets, and pillows.

   “Zel…” Lina asked as he closed his eyes.

   “Hmm?”

   “…How did Tannec and Wyna know of the Rat and Parrot, and how did they find it?” It was a question which had been bugging her ever since she’d realized that his two siblings had never been to that area of town before.

   Sleepily, he answered, “Every year, a new map of the kingdom is drawn up, and all members of the royal family are made to memorize it, down to the very last detail. They have to be able to remember everything…including such places like the Rat and Parrot. So, despite the fact that they’ve never been there, they would have known how to get there.”

   “…Ah…”

   “Now I have a question,” Zelgadis said, just as sleepily. “Why didn’t Tannec and Wyna attack at the same time as you?”

   “Oh, you mean when I first entered? I had a feeling I’d need back-up. Aristos had obviously gotten help from someone, and I was afraid that person might be lurking around, ready to help them again,” Lina mumbled. “It seemed like a good idea to have two powerful people ready in the background.”

   “Makes sense,” he murmured.

   “Mmm.” Lina yawned again, and let her eyes fall closed. “Goodnight.”

   “Goodnight…Lina…” Zelgadis said.

   A few minutes later, both had gone quietly to sleep…

CHAPTER 33
In which Zelgadis meets with his parents...

    Lina blinked, grumbled, and closed her eyes again as the morning light fell across her eyelids, forcing her mind into consciousness before her body was willing to follow. With a loud yawn, she swung her legs over the side of the bed, and stood up on something hard…

    …which gave a loud “Oomph” when she stepped down, and moved under her feet.

    She stumbled back on the bed, giving a loud “plop” in the process, wondering why the floor had just made a very human sound.

    “What the…?!” she stuttered, staring down at her feet with wide eyes.

    Laying on the floor, looking extremely cross, was a glaring, blue-skinned Zelgadis. He was rubbing his stomach with one hand, while the other rapped agitatedly on the ground. Obviously, he didn’t like being stepped on.

    “What’re you doing on my floor?!” Lina demanded embarrassedly.

    He sighed, and pointedly tapped the side of his head. “I was kidnapped, remember?” he reminded her sarcastically.

    Memory returned in a flash, and she blushed slightly as everything came back to her. An image of him holding her when she was terrified of the slug, and his accompanying soothing words, popped into her mind. “…Oh yeah…”

    Another sigh from Zelgadis. “Anyway, I’ve got to find my esteemed parents and ask them a few questions…” He trailed off, still absently rubbing his stomach. His eyes unfocused, not quite looking at anything in particular.

    That’s right; we were going to tell the king and queen who he really is. Softly, Lina asked, “Scared?”

    To her eternal surprise, he nodded. “A little, yes.” He rest back on his elbows, and stared up at the ceiling. “I’m not sure how they’re going to react.”

    What am I supposed to say to that? Lina thought dryly, and kept from replying.

    He shook his head, as if to clear it of thoughts, and pushed himself up off the floor. “I’ll be in my room, getting dressed,” he murmured, and slipped out of her bedroom.

    Lina gave one last yawn, and hurried about her business. She wasn’t sure when Zelgadis would appear again, but she didn’t particularly want to keep him waiting today. Besides, she was curious to see if his parents could answer a few questions… Not the least of which is, why can’t Zelgadis and I remember the first time we actually met, when we were just kids?

    In record time, she was dressed and ready to go for the day…

    …or she thought she was, until her stomach gave a loud rumble, reminding her that it was hungry, and it wanted food now.

    Zelgadis appeared a few seconds later at her door, knocking quietly. She told him to enter, and as soon as the door opened, he asked with dry amusement, “Hungry? I thought I heard your stomach rumble from the next room…” He was about to continue by asking if she’d seen his linking jewel, when she interrupted him.

    “You did,” Lina answered cheerfully, right before grabbing his arm as she passed him, and shutting the door behind her on her way out. “Come on!”

    His lips twitched in repressed laughter as he let her drag him behind her. Zelgadis didn’t bother telling her they were headed more in the direction of the great hall than the kitchen, figuring she wouldn’t appreciate it.

    Halfway down their fifth hallway, she stopped and snapped her fingers. “Oh, I forgot!” As Zelgadis raised an eyebrow in question, she rummaged around her clothes, obviously looking for something. Her face was screwed up in concentration, and her tongue poked out of her lips cutely. After a few minutes, she pulled out something red and shiny…

    “So that’s what happened to it,” he murmured, eyes glinting mischievously.

    She snorted and tossed his cloak clasp to him. He caught it without trying, and waited with a raised eyebrow for her response as he clasped it back on his cloak. “I didn’t think you’d just want it lying around while you were kidnapped, so…” she explained, shrugging unconcernedly.

    “Ah…”

    A female voice called out to them frantically from down the hallway, desperately trying to get their attention. Both of them turned to see Wyna running towards them, waving her arms around madly. Her normally pale face was flushed from exertion, and her dress was rumpled.

    “Lina, Zel!” she called. They waited while she caught up. Breathlessly, she explained, “You’ve got to see the King and Queen as soon as possible!”

    Zelgadis frowned and crossed his arms defensively. “Why?”

    Still gasping for air, Wyna said, “They heard about your kidnapping from Tannec early this morning, and got really angry… Then they demanded to see Lina and you. That was ten minutes ago.”

    Lina groaned and mentally thought to Zelgadis, ~Your parents have bad timing, Zel. If they’d only waited another half an hour or so, I could have gotten breakfast first.~

    He thought back wryly, ~I’m surprised you don’t want to make them wait and have breakfast first anyway.~

    ~If I wasn’t so curious, I would,~ Lina stated emphatically. ~I want to find out if they know why we can’t remember each other.~ Her thoughts darkened as she added, ~I don’t like the idea of someone tampering with our memories…~

    ~Neither do I,~ he replied just as grimly.

    Wyna tapped him on the shoulder with a deliberately blank expression, eyes slightly narrowed. “What are you two doing?” she asked dryly. “You’re just staring at each other.”

    Two hot, rosy blushes sprang up on Lina and Zelgadis’s cheeks. “Erm… nothing! Heh heh… Lead on, Wyna!” Lina encouraged hastily, waving her hands hurriedly down the hallway as Zelgadis’s sister continued to look at them weirdly…

    The King waved them forward as soon as the three entered the throne room. Per usual, Zelgadis was cool and calm, his expression revealing nothing of what he was feeling inside. Lina had a carefree look on her face, and she walked easily, as if nothing bothered her. No one noticed the fire and determination burning brightly in both sets of eyes.

    On the throne, the King and Queen were as impassive as always. But, a new addition stood near them – Tannec was standing next to his father, looking worried. He was glancing between the King and Zelgadis.

    In a booming, threatening voice, the King called out to the arriving pair, “I heard from my son that you were kidnapped last night. Is this true?” Wyna slipped away from them, head bowed, and shuffled over to her mother’s side. No one except the pair facing the King noticed the Queen gently take Wyna’s hand within her own and give it a gentle, reassuring squeeze.

    “Yes.” Zelgadis’s response was simplicity itself, and told nothing of what happened. Lina could almost see a vein throbbing dangerously in his father’s head…

    “Why would anyone want to kidnap you?” he demanded imperiously.

    Just as calmly, Zelgadis explained, “He wasn’t supposed to kidnap me; he was ordered to murder me.”

    Gasps emerged from Tannec, Wyna, and the Queen, who all looked at him with fresh, horrified eyes. Lina didn’t blink; she’d worked that out the night before. Obviously Zelgadis had as well.

    “Explain!” the King barked.

    Zelgadis looked to Lina, who nodded in understanding and started to give a short, edited account of what happened between them and Aristos, both for that night and past actions. She shrugged casually at the King and began. “Well, Zel and I were in Seyruun at Amelia’s birthday party…”  The loud rumble of her stomach interrupted what she was about to say.

    The Queen sweatdropped and said tentatively, “Perhaps we should have breakfast, and continue our discussion there.”

    This was met by hearty agreement on Lina's part.“Great! Let’s go!”

    Quickly, everyone got up and prepared to adjourn to the banquet hall. A shadow followed them, silent and overlooked…

CHAPTER 34
In which explanations are delayed...

    Some time later, after Lina had sated her rumbling stomach, the King again asked for an explanation of what happened. He got it, and sat there in amazement as Lina told him everything that had happened with Aristos – including the forgotten memory that Lina and Zelgadis had been shown by Aristos.

    “…and we came back here,” Lina wrapped up as she finished describing the kidnapping from last night, waving a hand at the palace in general. Her stomach bulged just a little bit from the amount of food she’d eaten, much to her delight, and Zelgadis’s amusement.

    The King frowned and sat back in his chair, his expression revealing nothing as he considered what he’d just heard. “So all this began in the past…” he murmured to himself.

    Zelgadis nodded solemnly at his family. “Lina and I are puzzled by the memory that started all this. Neither of us remember it, despite being shown it in detail…and neither of us are the type to forget something like that.”

    “Perhaps it’s a false memory,” Tannec suggested, tapping his head.

    Lina shook her head fiercely. “Then there’d be no reason for Aristos to chase us.”

    “Someone could have implanted the memory in Aristos alone,” Wyna suggested after a moment.

    Again, Lina shook her head. “That wouldn’t make any sense. Why not get someone else who’d be much more likely to kill us? Despite the successful kidnapping of last night, Aristos is a fool, a coward, and a third-rate sorcerer.” She sighed, and pushed her plate away. “They could just as easily get a real assassin to go after us – without going to the trouble of implanting a memory.”

    The Queen frowned this time, and asked pointedly, “If Aristos is such a fool, how did he manage to kidnap you, Zel?”

    Zelgadis smirked bitterly. “He had help. The Aristos we’ve come to know wouldn’t think to cast Sleep on me before trying anything, or of binding me with something extra strong, or of covering his tracks. I think someone else gave him advice.” He added dryly, “And he kept rambling on about ‘someone else.’ Apparently, that other person was giving Aristos specific instructions. One of those instructions was to kidnap me, and kill me as soon as possible. Aristos didn’t do that; he wanted to gloat first.” Shrugging, he said, “It’s the only reason I was alive when Lina rescued me.”

    Wyna asked hesitantly, “But what about that memory? If it isn’t false, how come you can’t remember it?”

    Zelgadis and Lina gave each other long looks, fraught with hidden meaning as they silently asked each other whether it was time… Finally, Lina nodded encouragement, and Zelgadis stood up.

    Quietly, he said, “Lina and I have no idea why we can’t remember the day we first met. But…we were told that the King and Queen might be able to answer us…”

    The King and Queen gasped in outrage, and the Queen demanded shrilly, obviously offended, “Who gave you that idea?!”

    Zelgadis’s reply was even quieter than before. “Trecix.”

    Silence filled the room to the bursting point as bulging, unbelieving eyes turned to him and asked without words for an explanation.

    Lina sighed and waved a hand at him. “Just show them, already!”

    “I don’t suggest that…” a voice chuckled.

    Zelgadis whirled towards the sound, and everyone else swiveled in their seats. Lina jumped up and automatically began to summon a fireball. But they couldn’t see anything. What was going on?

    “It would ruin all my perfect plans, if…Zel…did so,” the voice continued from the same spot. Zelgadis squinted and tried to pinpoint the general area where the sound was coming from.

    A maniacal laugh from the door caught their attention. “I won’t let you escape this time, Zel!” Aristos stated, grinning insanely, his minions standing behind him.

    The minions looked decidedly uncomfortable, especially when they saw the King and Queen standing in the room. They shifted uneasily from foot to foot, alternately casting their eyes down and back up.

    Lina grimaced. ~Zel, Aristos wasn’t the person who was speaking just a few seconds ago…~

    ~I’m guessing that was the mysterious benefactor of Aristos…and possibly the person who attacked us in the hallways yesterday,~ he replied grimly.

    Aristos chuckled under his breath, and pointed dramatically at Zelgadis, who sweatdropped from the bad theatrics. “I, Aristos, shall defeat you, monster! I won’t let your evil spread!” Taking a deep breath, he continued, “Vice…” A small ball of ice formed above Aristos’s hands, and quickly gathered more ice around itself as the seconds went by. The only reason the spell hadn’t been completed yet was testimony to Aristos’s skills; he wasn’t powerful enough to cast it quickly and cause a major blast.

    Zelgadis mentally cursed and hastily formed a shield around himself, praying it would be enough. Simultaneously, he cast “Levitation!” Perhaps if he wasn’t on the ground, the cold couldn’t reach him… Others apparently had come to the same conclusion. Everyone present had a shield surrounding them, and was floating somewhere in the middle, between the floor and the ceiling.

    “…Freeze!” Aristos finished, grinning and laughing. The ball of ice had become fairly huge by now, and as he said the last word, it exploded. Millions of ice shards showered the room, and where they touched, they spread ice sheets. The shields took the barrage for them, and mercifully didn’t collapse under the pressure.

    Several long minutes later, the shards stopped coming, and everyone hesitantly floated to the ground.

    The floor, furniture, and rugs were all covered by at least three feet of heavy, dense ice. At the other end, they saw through the doorway that ice had covered the next room as well. …And just before it stood Aristos, his face caught mid-laugh as the ice had covered him, too.

    Lina snorted and crossed her arms. “Amateurs shouldn’t play with magic like that. He didn’t have enough power left to keep himself from being iced over. Idiot.” She looked around her and then at the royal family. “Let’s talk in a less slippery…and warmer…room.” As she said it, she rubbed the goosebumps on her arms. The King nodded in agreement, and everyone carefully made their way out the door. Everyone except Zelgadis managed to slip on the ice at least once, and land with a sickening thud.

    The figure grimaced to itself as it watched Aristos’s idiotic display of power. He didn’t have the control, the intelligence, or the magical abilities to pull it off successfully. As Aristos did indeed lose control of it, and got caught in his own spell, the figure shook its head in disbelief. He won’t be any good to me from now on. At least he managed to delay them for one crucial moment. Zelgadis was much too close to revealing who he was… No matter what, I can’t let that happen.

    It smiled grimly as it recalled, Aristos was able to heal my hands before this happened, thankfully. Now I can go after Zelgadis myself…