Almost as soon as Sylphiel had whispered the words, Eris gasped. “No! There’s a thread… an Astral Thread…” Lina looked to the chimera Zelgadis, seeing how unnaturally pale he was, and winced internally.
        Sylphiel turned to Eris, adding her talents to the spell that Eris was weaving, and a scintillating silver line appeared in the air. Lina’s eyes traced it as quickly as did everyone else’s.
        The thread began in the human form and ended in the startled chimera, who was looking at himself in dumb shock. His gaze followed the thread back to the human, and he slowly shook his head. “I… don’t understand.”
        “It’s simple, boy.” Came Vrumugun’s voice from the shadows. “One is your real body, and one is simply a vessel that Rezo created in order to test a theory. But which is which, I wonder?”
        Lina spun, glaring out at the darkness. “Okay, Vrumugun. Start talking, or I start blasting.” Never one for idle threats, Lina began to build her trademark fireball.
        “No, Lina Inverse…” Vrumugun suddenly appeared beside Sylphiel and Eris, and caught up the human figure. “I don’t think that you will. Now, if you’ll excuse me… I have some studies of my own to do.” With that, he vanished, taking the human with him.

        Xellos was the one to break the silence. “Oh my… how inconvenient.”
        Lina glared up at the Mazoku. “Okay, fruitcake. You walked into this, so you’re going to help us. Where did he go?”
        Xellos shook his head. “I can’t do that, Lina. You see, I can’t interfere with another Mazoku.”
        Lina put her hands on her hips and rose into the air to come face-to-face with Xellos. “Can it, Xellos. You and I both know better.”
        Xellos shrugged. “Not this time, Lina. It’s a different case. Vrumugun has made the Pact with another Mazoku, and I can’t interfere.”
        Lina drifted back some, smirking. “Oh, you’ll have to, Xellos. You see, you won’t have a choice in the matter. You see… you told Vrumugun that Her orders were that I not be harmed. And I’m guessing that Her that you were talking about is the Greater Beast. And since you’re directly under Her command, you won’t have any choice but to get involved.”
        Xellos looked at Lina curiously. “Mmm, and why is that?”
        Lina folded her arms and smiled. “Because. I intend to be the bait.”

        On the ground, Lina’s words rippled through everyone and they all froze. Lina. Bait. A trap for a Mazoku? Xellos would never participate!
        The logic of it smacked Xellos across the face far more effectively than Lina’s slippers ever had. Opening his eyes, Xellos inclined his head towards Lina. “Well played, Lina. An excellent manipulation, if I do say so myself.” He closed his eyes again and grinned at her. “You’d make an excellent Mazoku, should you wish to make the Pact with me…”
        Lina rolled her eyes and tossed a slipper at Xellos. As it bounced off of his head, she smirked. “Get a clue, fruitcake.” She turned and landed beside the little group. “So then…” Her gaze swept across to Zelgadis, who was silent, his eyes closed. “Where do you think he’s gone, Zel?”
        When no answer was forthcoming, Lina walked up to the chimera and put her hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly. “Zelgadis?”

        He opened his eyes with a wave of disorientation. He’d heard Lina’s voice, but where was she? In fact, no-one was here. He looked around, moving away from the wall slowly. He frowned at his own sluggishness. That Elmekia Flame followed by the Astral Locate had drained him more than he’d thought. Refocusing his thoughts, he forced himself to get mobile, reminding himself that if he were to fall over from magical exertion and Lina found him, he’d never hear the end of it from her. It would become a topic of teasing from here to Sairaag and back.
        Never mind that Eris would witness it too. He paused. Eris. He’d seen the orange eyes before and suspected that she was a copy. But when Rezo was alive, he never could get a straight answer. He walked along the dark room, looking for the exit as he thought. He’d thought that he might find her in this lab… but the sheer reality of it was that he hadn’t had enough faith in those thoughts. He shook his head. Oh, chimera of little faith.
        He reached the door and opened it up, emerging in the lit hallways, looking around with a frown. Was there a spell in here that blocked his enhanced sight? He couldn’t sense one… he turned in the hallway, looking for a spell-mark.
        But something entirely different caught his attention.
        The reflection in the glass.
        His reflection.
        He hadn’t simply found the human.
        He’d become it.