Gourry flinched. "That's harsh."

"I'm kidding. Contrary to appearances, I have a good eye for judging people."

"Thanks, little girl," Gourry joked, patting my head.

"Don't treat me like a child!" I snapped almost automatically...but I'd become so used to that treatment that it wasn't as infuriating as before.

Gourry grinned. "You say that, but how old are you?"

"25.".

Gourry froze, and I laughed. "Just kidding. I'm 15."

"You surprised me there," Gourry replied. "That makes a lot more sense. At 15 you're still just a child."

"Hey! I may not be able to say I'm an adult, but I'm not a kid!"

"That's a hard age."

I blinked and turned toward him. "What are you saying?" I muttered, then blinked again. "I forgot to tell you this," I whispered, lowering my voice. "For the next few days I won't be able to use most of my magic. You'll have to do the majority of the fighting."

"Can't use your magic?" Gourry looked surprised, but didn't seem alarmed. I nodded, then he began to look pensive, thinking, before he apparently reached a conclusion. "It's 'that day'..."

I flushed crimson. "Nee, Gourry!"

"Mmm?" Gourry blinked and looked at me with complete innocence, totally unaware that something was the matter. I can't even look him in the eye.

"What would YOU know...about 'that day'...?" I asked, gritting my teeth. Since females are the ones who bear children, there comes a time once a month when they have to suffer a little bit. During that 2 or 3 day period before and after that day, the magic power of sorceresses and priestesses drops dramatically. The public thinks during this time that women lose their 'purity' and become normal women, but that isn't right. I think it's a matter of not being able to concentrate. For the past few days my magic power had been dropping. I feared that this was the reason and found out I was right. That wasn't the issue, though. What I wanted to know was, how did someone with the strength of an ogre and the intelligence of a slime make the connection that 'no spells' equals 'that day'?!

"It's not such a big deal!" Gourry said defensively. "When I was a kid about 5 years old, there was a lady fortune-teller in my town, and each month around a certain time she'd close up shop for a few days. I once asked her 'Why?' and she laughed and said 'It's just that day'. I thought 'that day' meant 'that day when spells can't be cast', but there seems to be some other meaning. Tell me, Lina-chan...I don't get it!"

"Hey!" I snapped. It was obvious that he was enjoying teasing me.

"Well...enough fooling around," Gourry said, suddenly stopping, and I glanced at him in surprise. "It looks like we're going to have to get serious, little girl." I also stopped, and glanced around. On the right were trees. On the left was open field. However, right in the middle of the road, a man stood block our path. Wearing something like a coat...he looked to be about 20, and kind of handsome. He had blue-black skin, though, that appeared to be made of a stone-like material, and his silver hair appeared to be threads of metal. In his hands he held a broadsword, and I instantly recognized him.

"Ooooh..." Gourry said. "Finally showed yourself, eh? Zegaldis!"

I nudged Gourry. "Oi, oi. It's Zeldigas."

"It's Zelgadis!" the chimera snapped.

Gourry blinked, and the area fell very silent. "Uh, right! That's what I said!"

"Me too!" I added, not liking where the situation was headed.

"...My name doesn't matter," Zelgadis said curtly, fed-up. "I want you to hand over the 'item'. If you refuse, then I shall take it from you myself. now choose, Sophia-san!" I blinked, and Gourry and I stared at each other for a moment.

Suddenly, the light dawned, and Gourry and I clapped our hands in unison. I wasn't sure who he was talking about, but I'd remembered...he must have believed the false name I gave Zolf.

"It's 'Lina,'" I said flatly.

I was somewhat bemused by Zelgadis' confused reaction. "Huh?"

I groaned, and said it again very slowly, like speaking to a child. "Li. Na. The name I gave Zolf was a fake."

Zelgadis was stunned, not sure how to react. My plan to take the fight out of him had apparently worked. Well...some would call that my nature, but it's not really fair to discuss that.

However, while we stood there yet another element entered the scene. "Names aren't important," came a voice from the opposite direction....behind us. I turned and looked, and standing there was a werewolf. More precisely, half troll and half werewolf...I suppose beast man would be a more accurate term. I even allowed myself a little laugh: he was mostly humanoid, with a werewolf's head...but wearing leather armor, for some reason. A large scimitar was slung on his shoulder. "All we have to do is take the statue from her, right, Zel?"

Zelgadis' face twisted in annoyance. "Dilgear!" he rebuked with a hiss.

The werewolf's face went blank for a moment, then he grinned. "Oh right...they didn't know what the 'item' is, did they? Well, no difference. You're going to die here anyway."

I stepped forward with a grin. "You're a.s.suming too much! I don't know how good you are, but I know you're not that big a threat."

"Oh ho?" the werewolf said, narrowing his eyes. "You talk a lot, girl. Now let's see some action!"

I grimaced internally, then ahemed. "Alright! But it'll be over too quick, two on two..." I pushed Gourry forward. "Go, Gourry!"

Gourry blinked and cried out, stumbling. "Whoaaaaaaaah!" He turned back and looked at me in confusion. "Hey, little girl..."

"What?"

"Wait! There's no need to argue..." Yet another mysterious voice, but this one I recognized...just as I expected, the middle-aged man from the night at the inn stepped out of the woods near Zelgadis. Since we were outdoors, he carried a halberd instead of a sword...probably his weapon of choice.

"Hey!" I yelled, defensively. "Three on one is unfair!"

"Hey hey hey hey HEY!" Gourry rants, completely lost.

The middle-aged man advanced a step. "Before I lost because of a strange spell, but things wouldn't be that easy today!" I grimaced again; things were looking pretty bad. I want to just run, but...

Zelgadis stepped forward. "It doesn't matter...here we come!" He held out his palm, and a cl.u.s.ter of Flare Arrows appeared in it, which he hurled at Gourry and I!

"Watch it!" Gourry shouted, as he and I jumped out of the way. The Flare Arrows struck the ground where we were standing, raising a large cloud of smoke.

I cursed. Gourry and I had been seperated. On the other side of the smoke cloud, the sound of clashing metal rose...Gourry must have been fighting one of the enemies.

"Gourry!" I yelled, concerned, but at that very moment a blade flashed near me. "Hey!" I shouted, jumping back and drawing my own sword.

"I will test your skill!" A figure in white emerged from the smoke, immediately recognizable.

"Zelgadis!"

With a yell, Zelgadis swung at me with his blade. I brought my sword up to parry, and grunted in surprise. It was so heavy! I almost dropped my sword, and grimaced. He was good...too good. There was a lot of force and speed in his swing. Had I kept up my parrying, my arm wouldn't have lasted very long. I realized that in that state I couldn't beat him, and I esaped into the forest. I knew it was me they wanted; Zelgadis will follow me. I could lose him in the forest, then return and help Gourry.

That was the plan, anyhow. I had underestimated Zelgadis, though. He followed me into the forest just as I had planned. However, in a mere instant he had caught up with me, planting his knee into my stomach. I swung a counterattack but it sliced thin air as I was thrown back into a tree, breath knocked out of me.

I breathed deeply; it wasn't enough to knock me out, but it hurt. "You should...cough...treat girls more gently..."

Zelgadis stood over me, and said dispa.s.sionately, "I have no intention of harming you as long as you hand over the 'item'."

I scrambled back slowly, and Zelgadis followed me with his eyes. We remained at that standstill for a moment, before I had recovered enough to make a break for it at full speed. As I expected, Zelgadis dashed after me, and I knew that was my one opportunity. "Lighting!" I shouted, throwing the ball of blinding light right in front of him.

"Gaaaaaaah!" Zelgadis shouted, blinded. I knew I couldn't defeat him with that spell, but it would be enough to distract him, even in the condition I was in. Had it been a Fireball, I wouldn't even have been able to make smoke.

While Zelgadis was distracted, I didn't even consider countering; I wasn't sure how effective my sword would be against his stony skin, so I kept running. The problem was, the forest suddenly ended at a lake, which spread out before me...no place to hide! I turned and was about to head back into the forest, when I saw Zelgadis standing right there. With no options left, I ran along the lake sh.o.r.e.

"I won't let you escape!" Zelgadis shouted, before throwing something. I dodged to the left, not even bothering to turn around...but my body wouldn't move? I turned my head to look down and saw a small knife pinning my shadow to the ground. A Shadow Snap! A minor spell that paralyzes the target from the Astral plane, but takes skill to use.

"Heh. No problem!" I said, grinning. The weakness of the Shadow Snap is light...I chanted Lighting and directed the ball toward my shadow, which disappeared, freeing me. However, as soon as I turned around, I knew it was too late. Zelgadis was standing right in front of me...

Chapter 3: Big trouble... I've been caught! How pitiful...

When I awoke, I was in a place I didn't recognize. It appeared to be the main room of an old abandoned church. There was a stained gla.s.s window, but it was broken. Over against one wall leaned the statue of a saint from some forgotten age. There was a dull ache in the left side of my head. Apparently I hadn't been killed... obviously a result of my daily good deeds! Errr...not really the time to say things like that. I was bound and hanging from the ceiling, and before me stood Zelgadis, Zolf the mummy man, the werewolf Dilgear, and a new face...a merman. No, a fish man! Normal mermen look human but have a fish's lower body. The one that stood in front of me, however, was just...a fish with human arms and legs. His body was flat with a large flat face and wide-open fish eyes on both sides, wet, glittering scales, and a slightly open mouth...in other words, the face of a fish. The type of face that shouldn't be shown close up to people with heart problems. I noticed, though, that the middle-aged fighter wasn't present...

"You weren't as good as you said you were, girl," Zelgadis said flatly. I muttered to myself, wishing he'd leave me alone. "You should thank Zolf. I didn't kill you because he asked me to bring you here alive."

I grinned caustically. "Gee...thanks."

"Heh. You seem to be pretty confident." The voice was Zolf's.

A thought crossed my mind. "What did you do with my companion?"

"Him? He ran away and left you all alone. You've been dumped, little girl." This voice was the werewolf's, Dilgear.

"What a pity," I said flatly.

"Indeed," Zelgadis said with a sigh. "I never thought you would hand the item to him instead. It was a good thing you're still alive. He might come to save you."

Dilgear looked confused. "Hey, hey...what's this about?"

"She doesn't have the statue," Zelgadis responded coolly.

Everyone except Zelgadis and I looked shocked. "Whaaaaaaat?"

"Did you look carefully?" the werewolf asked.

Zelgadis seemed slightly angered by that question. "Do you see anywhere she could hide the statue?" Now, don't misread this. I wasn't hanging stark naked, but dressed as usual, minus my cloak and my sword. The statue wasn't that big, but Zel was right: if I were carrying it, it would be pretty obvious. Dilgear circled around me, inspecting.

"That's true..." he mutters, then grins faintly. "Wait a minute, she is female. She could be hiding it inside her." He paused, then grinned wider. "Nah, that's not possible. If she had something like that inside, her 'thing' would rip apart!" Amused by his dirty joke, Dilgear guffawed loudly as I blushed furiously.

"We haven't been able to sense the location of the statue he's got. Why?" Zelgadis asks pointedly, ignoring Dilgear.

"When handing him the items, I cast 'Protect', on all the ones you might be looking for," I replied simply.

"Protect?"

I nodded, as best as I could. "Yes. I made it impossible to search for the statue from the Astral plane."

Zelgadis looked somewhat impressed. "You can do that?"

I grinned, bragging. "Yup."

"When you fought me, though, you only used cheap spells."

"You weren't fighting at full strength, either," I shot back.

Zelgadis raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you could tell?"

"Of course."

"...You don't seem like an idiot," Zelgadis mused. "But the spells you used were cheap, so..." He thought about it for a moment, then clapped his hands solemnly. "It's 'that day'."

I blushed again. "Shut up!"

"Anyhow, until that man comes, we need you alive." He turned to the mummy man. "Zolf, I don't know what you plan to do, but don't kill her." His voice had a very ominous tone.

Zolf chuckled. "I understand." He turned to me. "Now, little girl...I would like to pay you back for what you've done! What would you like to have done to you?"

Oh lord, he was a freak! Whenever I see people like him... grr! "Zolf-san..." I whispered.

"What is it?" he asked, full of confidence.

"There's something...I would like to say..."

"I won't listen to any pleas for mercy."

"That's not it..." I said softly.

Zolf sounded impatient, leaning forward. "What, then? Say it!"

"Third-rate!" I said loudly, to a round of explosive laughter...everyone except Zolf was laughing. Even Zelgadis had his head turned the other way politely, but his shoulders were shaking. I just have that kind of personality. I couldn't laugh, though. I thought Zolf would lose his temper and start screaming, but instead he just STARED at me...it was kinda creepy.

Once the laughter stopped, Zolf opened his mouth. "Dilgear..." he said quietly.

"Eh? What is it?" the werewolf replied.

"Rape her."

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh?" Everyone's attention was centered on the source of the voice. Not me; Dilgear. Before I could say anything, the werewolf cried out.

"...You're kidding, right?" he manages to squeak out.