Zelgadis launched himself at the intruder, grabbing him by the throat and dragging him into the light cast through the window. “What the Hell happened, fruitcake?” The chimera growled at the Mazoku.
        Xellos sighed happily. “Ah… Zelgadis. It’s so good to be back, don’t you think? And you and Lina do look so cute together…”
        The Trickster Priest was suddenly ripped out of Zelgadis’ hands by a strong and sudden force that the chimera couldn’t identify until he turned away from the flying form of Xellos to look at Amy… who was standing with one foot off the ground and her skirt caught up in her hands. She’d obviously just kicked Xellos into orbit.
        He raised both stone eyebrows and Amy put her foot down and let her skirt fall into place. “What? I just had to kick him,” she said as she fluffed her skirt back into place.
        Zelgadis took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he exhaled. This was rapidly becoming too much for him to handle tonight. Xellos phased into the air beside him, and without paying it much attention, Zelgadis punched him in the face, grabbed his collar, and pulled Xellos’ face up to meet his. “Xellos, I’ve been here for three days and I’m out of patience. I want to know what happened a year ago, and I want to know now.”
        Xellos grinned maddeningly. “That… is…”
        Zelgadis’ eyes caught a dangerous red glint as he glared at the violet-eyed troublemaker. In a low voice, he issued a warning. “If you say that’s a secret, I’m going to hand you over to her, and then we’ll see what happens.”
        Amy blinked, and then realized that she was supposed to be a threat. Quick! What would that Lina girl do? Her eyes grew wide and round and she clasped her hands in front of her. She pitched her voice well into the ‘cute’ range and looked at Xellos pleadingly. “Oh, please, Mister Mazoku, you have to tell him, or I’ll be forced to do something that I really don’t want to do!”
        Zelgadis turned his head very slowly to stare wide-eyed at Amy, who looked like Lina with a tangible aura of… cute. He simply blinked at her in astonishment for a moment before realizing that it had had the desired effect on Xellos. The Mazoku was cringing. Turning back to Xellos with a devilish smirk, he said, as if to clarify: “See?”
        Xellos was busy turning blue. “Fine, you win, Zelgadis. I’ll tell you.”

        “Those woods over there weren’t always called the Balck Forest. A long time ago, this place was the home of a mysterious group of elves. The ground below the forest is rich in natural orihalcon, which the elves guarded,” Xellos began. At the mention of orihalcon, Zelgadis started. Xellos nodded. “Which is to say, that no magic can be cast in the forest. Even I have a hard time doing anything in the forest… which is why the creature defeated me.”
        Zelgadis frowned. “What is that thing, then?”
        “It’s an elf. Back then, the humans around here wanted the orihalcon and slaughtered hundreds of elves in order to get to the forest. But the elves learned to adapt and fight back, taking the orihalcon and working it into an armor that would be practically invincible. And since magic can’t be used in the forest, the elves that remain are nearly impossible to defeat,” Xellos answered. He was being unusually talkative… but that could have been largely due to the shining red eyes that kept looking at him cutely.
        “And what about the stories of Old Man Balck?” Zelgadis asked.
        “Oh,” Xellos waved his hand airily. “I’d imagine that the elves killed him too.”
        Zelgadis frowned. But that doesn’t explain… “So what happened to Lina, then…?”
        “Hmm?” Xellos looked over to the girl who was doing a damnably good impression of Amelia. “Whatever do you mean, Zelgadis?”
        Zelgadis took a deep breath. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. “Ok, you can drop the cute act now.” He looked to the confused Mazoku. “Xellos, meet Amy Sellmore.” He turned to the girl who looked like Lina. “Amy… meet Xellos Metallium, Trickster Priest, fruitcake, namagomi, and generally irritating Mazoku.”
        “There’s no need to be insulting, Zelgadis…” Xellos retorted before the implications of what Zelgadis had just said sunk in. “…Amy?” Violet eyes opened to peer at the girl who was looking at him rather nervously. “This isn’t Lina?”
        “No,” Zelgadis said with exasperation. “And yes.”
        Violet eyes shifted to Zelgadis. “It seems that it is your turn to explain.”

        After Zelgadis had explained to Xellos, the Mazoku mused. “Perhaps the elves have been taken by the Mazoku. This bears some investigating.” Looking up, he considered the night. “Now let’s see… Hmm… I’ll be right back…” The Trickster Priest was gone as soon as he finished the words.
        Zelgadis sighed. Was he a fool for thinking that Xellos would be of any use? Maybe. There seemed to be a lot of maybes around. He turned to Amy to ask her what she thought, but stopped. She was asleep, resting her head on the railing of the porch. It occurred to him that he still hadn’t sent word to Amelia or Sylphiel. He’d have to do that in the morning. He’d draft the letters tonight and send them by the fastest method they had in this village.
        But right now… he stood and gently nudged Amy. “Amy… let’s get you inside. Sleeping on the porch isn’t a good idea.”
        She opened an eye and looked at him. “I’ve slept in worse places, Zel.”
        Lina…? He frowned. “Amy…?”
        She smirked as she stood. “Only when I remember, Zel.” It passed across her eyes and she paled, wavering. “Oh gods… Gourry…” He caught her as she fell.
        Only when she remembers… It started to make sense. When she remembers what happened, she retreats into herself. He picked her up easily, turning to carry her into the house. She runs away from the memories, hiding behind the Amy persona so she doesn’t have to face them.
        He walked through the house, contemplating the situation. He was starting to understand at least part of what Lina had said before. But why she said it was her fault…? If she couldn’t cast any magic in the forest, then she couldn’t have stopped the attack. But the paleness of the woods…
        He stepped into her room and laid her gently on the bed. He was doing this every night, it seemed. Was it part of the reason why he had started to be softer? He stood there, watching her. Am I falling in love with her? If so… who am I falling in love with? Amy, or Lina? He shook his head as he left the room quietly. Get a grip on yourself, Zelgadis. Amy is just a… a way of Lina hiding from the fact that she saw Gourry die at the hands of a demonic elf. If Lina was that attached to Gourry… what makes you possibly think that she’d love you?
        He walked into his room and closed the door. He walked to the table by the bed and picked up his journal. Time to write those letters to Amelia and Sylphiel. He needed them here. If for nothing else, to keep him from being stupid.
        He lit the candle with half a thought, pulled out a pencil, and started to draft the letters. But how long would it take for them to get the letters and come here? A week? Maybe more.
        “I was right, Zelgadis. Dynast’s minions have taken over the elves. And because of that, they’re practically invincible. That would explain why it had the power to nearly destroy me. We’ll have to be careful if we go to fight them.”
        Pausing in the letter, the chimera looked up and saw Xellos standing there. A thought crossed his mind, and before Xellos could open his mouth again, Zelgadis stood and strode across the room to him. “I want you to go bring Sylphiel and Amelia here. Now.”
        The Trickster Priest actually blinked his eyes open in surprise. “What?”
        Zelgadis snarled, one hand going for the Mazoku’s throat. “Do it.”
        A knowing smile crossed the faintly purple lips. “Hm. I see. Very well, Zelgadis. I’ll play. For now.”
        And Zelgadis was left holding empty air and wondering if that had been such a wise idea after all.