Zelgadis paced back and forth. This was rapidly getting out of hand. He didn’t know what Sylphiel was planning, or why Amelia had decided to go along with Sylphiel and Xellos, but he knew that the girls were planning something that was probably dangerous and that he had no intention of allowing.
        He’d absolutely have to do something… but what could he do? That monster from earlier showed that there were still creatures after Lina… but it hadn’t been an elf. He reasoned that if the elves lived in the Orihalcon Forest, they’d be fairly resistant to magic, even out of the forest. Therefore, he’d have to go on brute force. Except… brute force hadn’t gotten anywhere with Gourry… and if the elves in orihalcon armor were strong enough to rip apart even Xellos…?
        He paused in his pacing. Wait… Xellos said that Dynast’s minions had taken over the elves. That would make sense… elves weren’t usually the warrior type… which is why so many of them are dead now. So how to defeat the demons and free the elves?
        It was, Zelgadis decided, time for some investigating.

        The path that the three were walking was long and fairly boring. Amelia and Xellos were watching Sylphiel as she walked; following the cleric into what she had told them was the underground ruins of ancient Sairaag.
        As they wound around tree roots, Sylphiel explained that they were under the root network of the great Flagoon, and that they were not too far from the destination.
        A great chamber opened before them, and the air turned from old and dusty to sweet and mild, the soft scent of water carried within. At Amelia’s startled gasp, Sylphiel explained. “Behold, the great Lake of Flagoon; that which grants the Holy Tree physical nourishment.”
        As Amelia and Xellos watched, Sylphiel slipped off her boots and stepped out over the lake, walking on the surface of the water out towards the center. Wherever Sylphiel put her feet, brilliant light pooled around them, fading to shine anew when she stepped forward. She came to a stop, brilliance pooling around her feet, and extended her hand.
        “Holy Flagoon, your assistance is once more requested. Will you grant me this assistance again?”
        Amelia blinked. Was Sylphiel talking to the tree? Was everyone losing their minds, one by one? First Lina and now Sylphiel?
        A brilliant light formed under the water before Sylphiel, and then, from under the water came a shape that Amelia recognized: The Blessed Blade.
        It surfaced, hilt first, rising to meet Sylphiel’s hand. Amelia glanced over to Xellos and saw the expression on the Mazoku’s face. She wondered why he looked so disturbed, and then decided that it was probably due to the fact that Flagoon was holy and of Cepheid… precisely opposed to the nature of Mazoku.
        Sylphiel’s hand closed around the hilt of the sword and she turned to walk back across the water and join Amelia and Xellos. “Shall we?”

        Amy opened her eyes and saw the ceiling of her room. She lay there for a few moments, checking herself. Yes, she was still Amy. But who did she want to be? Lina Inverse had seen so much death… so much destruction… And yet, Amy was boring. Amy’s life was the same every day, chores, store, sleep. It was the very life that Lina Inverse had run away from.
        She sat up and looked around the room. She’d go talk to Zelgadis. He’d been helping her all along.
        She knocked on the door to his room, and the door fell open. No Zelgadis. Well, maybe he was down the hall…
        The kitchen and the living room were empty.
        As she stood in the living room, trying to decide what to do, Xellos, Amelia, and Sylphiel appeared out of nowhere. Amy turned to them and was obviously disappointed that Zelgadis wasn’t with them.
        “Where’s Zelgadis?” Amy asked the surprised group.
        “He’s not here?” Amelia replied, looking to Sylphiel in alarm. The cleric’s grip tightened on the hilt of the sword.

        Zelgadis was just within the forest, holding aloft a light spell and watching it. His goal was to discover precisely how strong the orihalcon was. If his memory served, orihalcon was found in veins, very much like gold and other metals. That meant that there would be areas within the forest where magic might be used, but at a lesser strength. The flickering and faltering of the sphere of light would tell him where the orihalcon was stronger.
        By his figuring, the vein was off to the left… so if he lured the elves off to the right side of the forest… he might not have to rely entirely on brute force. In fact… if he could lure enough of the elves off to that area that he had found earlier… he could cast the Ra-Tilt there and remove Dynast’s influence on the elves.
        But he had to be able to lure them there. Now how was he going to do that…?
        He watched the sphere of light, unaware that he himself was being watched.

        Amy sat in her room, listening to the others talk about where Zelgadis could have gone. Shaking her head, she moved away from her desk, standing and walking out of her room into Zelgadis’. She’d seen the box with Lina’s things in his room earlier, and as she opened the box, the memories chased at her, the horrible sound of Xellos screaming… the smell of blood in the air… Gourry’s grip on her as they ran.
        Slowly, resolutely, she accepted each memory as she recalled it. She wasn’t some little wimpy pathetic merchant’s daughter. She picked up the costume, looking at the bloodstains on the fabric. Her blood, mixed with Gourry’s. The bedroom door shut as she sent a thought of levitation towards it, and she slipped out of the green skirt and white blouse.
        The hem of her cloak was ratty, and she looked as if she had seen better days, but it was all the clothing. She was putting herself back together. One by one, she fastened the talismans, each action a promise to Gourry, and an apology. She’d run for a year. She’d betrayed everything that Gourry had done to keep her alive.
        She reached down, pulling out the sword and looking at it quietly for a moment before fastening it at her hip. One thing left in the box. One memory.
        She reached into the box and picked up the black ribbon.

        Xellos shook his head. “No, I would hope that he hadn’t just blindly entered the forest.”
        “But if he did, he needs the Blessed Blade! I have to take it to him!” Sylphiel replied.
        “You can’t go into the forest, Sylphiel! You wouldn’t stand a chance in there.” Xellos replied.
        Amelia was thinking. Neither she nor Sylphiel could take the sword to Zelgadis. And Xellos couldn’t touch the Blessed Blade. The only option was to wait until Zelgadis emerged from the forest… and that could either be by his own choice, or they could stand out there and holler for him.
        Sylphiel sighed.

        She undid her hair, strand by strand until it was loose down her back, wild and free. She closed her eyes, reaching up to tie the ribbon around her head, calling forth her magic from its slumber within. As the magemarks formed on her forehead, she remembered.