Chapter Ten: Into the Darkness Below

Kytares was a bustling city located on a plateau within the Kataart Mountains. Even from a distance, it was obvious that its inhabitants were settling in for a long winter. By the time the party reached the great walls of the city, a layer of snow had already dusted the ground and left everything that remained still coated in a powdery white layer. It was cold outside, and if the bleak noonday sun was any indication, it was going to get a whole lot colder before it got any warmer.

At the gates, long lines of people seeking shelter for the winter had formed. The group had been waiting patiently in one such line for almost two hours. It had been a slightly irritating wait, surrounded by cold, rude people. Fortunately, the party looked either odd or mean enough that the rubes gave them a wide berth. Arcius had managed to produce a fur cloak, dyed in a horrendously loud color that absolutely did not fit in with the rest of his outfit. He seemed to be having a merry time, snowball-fighting with children, walking up to random people and spontaneously serenading them, and telling all sorts of outlandish tales.

Their turn at the gates finally came. The guards eyed everyone suspiciously. No matter how hard they tried, the guards could not justify the party moving in for the winter. Maybe it was Zelgadis with his inhuman appearance. Maybe it was Constance, who had spent a part of the morning carrying on an argument with herself. Or perhaps it was Arcius, with his inhuman taste in clothes. At any rate, the guards were on the verge of not admitting the group, when Arcius tossed them a rather hefty bag that jingled loudly. After carefully examination of the bag, the guards decided that the party did, in fact, fit the description of normal winter inhabitants after all.

A young girl walked with determination through the streets of Kytares. The wind began to pick up, its chill a reminder of the lengthy winter that would soon descend on the mountain city. The girl drew her thick cloak tighter around herself, glad that she'd had the foresight to trade in her cape for it.

If anyone -- a fool, perhaps, with a potent death-wish -- had tried to lift the cloak from her shoulders, they'd have been astonished at its sheer weight. It was solidly laden, as only she could manage, with gold coins and various treasures in all kinds of hidden pockets. But it was never quite laden enough for her tastes. There hadn't even been many groups of bandits near the city to help her top up her supplies of cash. A few, yes, but not many, which had put her in somewhat of a bad mood right from the start.

The past couple of hours which she'd spent sightseeing had almost managed to convince her that Kytares, while certainly a grand and bustling city, wasn't quite the arcanely dangerous place that the recent rumors had proclaimed it to be. She'd barely even been allowed through the city gates; only the threat of a fireball had finally convinced the guards that she firmly belonged inside the gates rather than out. Though with the wintry chill in the air, she'd been almost surprised that they'd turned down her offer.... In any case, while she wasn't quite angry about her experiences so far in the mountain city, she certainly wasn't pleased.

She'd stay here a day or two, the girl decided, and no longer, stocking up on supplies and filling her belly with as much fine food as the inns here could provide her. Meanwhile, she'd give the city one last chance to live up to its reputation, perhaps taking a jaunt through the underground series of catacombs she'd noted earlier on during her sightseeing tour.

She absently swept back her blaze of red hair as she thought of where she'd go from here. Into the mountains proper, perhaps; there, she might find a few old treasure hoards or the like, but more importantly, she'd be almost guaranteed of finding a true challenge. She grinned. Dragons were said to live among the Kataart Mountains, and it was always fun to try out her spells on dragons. She needed practice; after all, she'd only begun using magic a couple of months ago....

Her mood instantly soured. She was angry at herself; she had promised herself that she wouldn't think about her rather unique situation. It always put her in a seriously bad mood. She kicked viciously at the drifts of snow slowly accumulating on the ground, and continued on her way through the streets of Kytares.

Once within, Arcius pivoted to face the party and stretched. "Lords and Ladies, if you will hear me for a moment." He drew his cloak around him as a chilly breeze blew past them. "Down in the traveler's quarters, there is a fine inn, the Roasted Ork. Their wine is good, their wenches buxom, and their rooms are cheap and clean." He smiled and added, "And I've a deal with the owner. I shall go ahead and procure rooms for ourselves. If you like, take some time and explore the city. You might find something interesting." He turned and began to walk away. Over his shoulder, he called, "Be there tonight and we shall discuss our next step."

Tim entered the inn, got his room, and then began to search the town with very little to say to his party of traveling companions. It felt good to take his mind off his troubles. There was definitely a lot of weirdness going around here. Kytares acted more like a city preparing for a war then preparing for a winter. That's the only thing reason that Tim could think of those long lines were for. Could the Sleepless Ones have rummaged through the city looking for the bard or for him if they thought Tim saw the map. Tim smirked. It was definitely time to make things more interesting for his foes. Tim proceeded to visit every hotel and inn. There he would pay for rooms for the entire party for a week. If they were leaving sooner than that, he could always find some homeless people who'd be more than happy to sleep in a warm hotel room. Have fun looking for me, boys.

It wasn't a cheap a thing to do and he was sure he'd draw up some bandits for his efforts, not that he was concerned about bandits. Better them than the Sleepless Ones. Tim thought he was going to turn into a "Sleepless One" at the rate his mind was attacking his problems. Fortunately, he knew something about Kytares that made him very happy. Kytares was THE place to get hot chocolate. He'd have to make sure and stock up on it before he left. Kytares might also have some other items he'd be interested as well. He continued walking, this time with a grin. It was time to explore!!

Having worked up an appetite, Tim had stopped at restaurant and was ordering some Teriyaki when all of a sudden, he got this buzzing sound in his head that just wouldn't stop. Looking around, he noticed that he was the only one affected by this. Putting his hand absentmindedly on his book, he noticed the sensation was stronger. Quickly pulling out the book, he thumbed through it until he noticed one entry that made absolutely no sense to him.

"Briar Rose is a fun girl to be around, not to mention a good illusionist. Her illusion is almost as warm as the real thing."

Great...., Tim thought, that's all I need. Bad enough the Sleepless Ones are still out there, now somebody is writing thoughts in a book that's supposed to be in tune with only me....

"Okay, then..." Constance said as she checked her money pouch to see if it still had money, then hid it back in her over robe, "I'm going to buy a warmer cloak, then I'm getting something to eat. Anyone care to sample some of the local cuisine with me?"

"What do you need a new cloak for, anyway? The one you have on is perfect for this type of weather," Allen pointed out, matter-of-factly. "This is the type of climate you used to live in, you know..."

"Yes, in fact I do," Constance grumbled under her breath.

"You just want a reason to go shopping, don't you?"

Constance shook her head in confirmation as she headed over to a nearby dealer's stall in the packed marketplace. There in front of her were some very fine coats, cloaks, bags, and other miscellaneous items at very good prices. She picked a white one lined with soft gray fur, then paid for the cloak, as well as a larger bag to place her over robe in (or anything else she might acquire during their stay up here). Then she saw a nice little eatery right at the end of the marketplace...it looked pleasant enough, so she decided to give it a try.

She ordered the special of the house, which was a plate of chicken with salad and soup. As she was waiting for her food, she started thinking about her current situation... her companions, the Sleepless Ones, the Power of Command.

'Hmm,' she pondered as her drink was brought to her, 'At first I doubted the bard, but I guess he's okay...he hasn't done anything to endanger the group on purpose or anything like that...' Constance took a sip out of the frosty mug in front of her. 'Then there's Jin, who has been kind of quiet lately. Then there's that mysterious Zelgadis. I don't think he trusts me much...in fact, I don't think he trusts anyone in the group. He's always going on his own, as if he doesn't want to stay with us...'

A steaming bowl of soup was set in front of her, which she immediately drank down greedily. 'Then there's the guy who likes to collect stuff. He's all right, too. And I mustn't forget about Celise and Mor'Dia...it's too bad they had to leave us. Oh well...I guess I don't have anything to worry about, yet...'

Just as she was about to finish the rest of her meal, a familiar man sat on the opposite side of the table. He looked to be in his forties, his well groomed beard streaked with strands of gray, as was his hair. He was in very good physical shape, and he looked like he had been wandering around for quite awhile now.

"Constance...thank goodness I found you..."

"Mirin?" she said as she squinted at the man, "...is that you?!"

"Oh, it's so good to see you again!" the expression on the man's face turned from relief to a look of anguish. "Constance, you need to come home."

"What?! Who wants me home after all this time?"

"...your father. As you know, he hasn't been the same after your mother passed away--"

"M-my mother's dead?! Oh no..." Constance looked about ready to cry.

"You didn't know? That's old news! Oh yeah, that's right...you left before that happened."

"...you mean I was forced to leave," Constance added. "So, my dad's lost it, has he? Let him live in his misery and guilt. He served as an instigator when the villagers wanted me put in that temple so that he could have a reason to throw me out. My brother left and for all I know is dead, and my mother, the only other who cared about me, is gone. What do I have to go back for? For all I know, he may have caused my mother's death just to spite me."

"O-of course not," Mirin stammered. "He would never do such a thing!" He cleared his throat nervously, then continued, "He realizes he did wrong, and now he wants you to come home. He truly is sorry--"

"...is he fit enough for travel?"

"W-why yes, but--"

"Then why didn't he come on his own? Mirin, you know as well as I do that he didn't like me. He knew that Jared wasn't going to be easy to handle, so he wanted another son to manipulate and control. First of all, I'm a girl. Then there's the fact that I'm too much like my older brother, too independent, headstrong. And third of all--" she was about to speak of her being able to see Allen, but decided against it. Mirin was just as superstitious as the rest of the people back home, and this might scare him, or worse...

Constance shifted uncomfortably in her seat, thinking about what she should do. 'This is the same thing dad always does...he sends someone in his place because he knows I won't give him a chance...and with good reason. He hasn't changed; Mirin is a bad liar. I can see it in his eyes.'

"I'm sorry Mirin. I truly am. I would like to go back, but I'm in the middle of an important quest. Just tell dad that I love him and maybe I'll visit him next fall, if I can."

Mirin looked a bit disappointed, but no too much so...he thought Constance had really intended to do what she said. Boy, was her father going to be pissed next fall...

Just as Mirin took off, Jin entered the restaurant.

Zelgadis was not a happy golem. While not unusual in and of itself, in particular considering the treatment he'd received at the gates, he barely gave that a thought at this point. No, no, what truly was playing on his nerves was - of course - Arcius. And while people getting on Zel's bad side was not, in and of itself, unusual, he was in this case denied his usual response - pounding them, through one of the several means he had at his disposal, into a battered pulp. Unless one counted Arcius's evil choice of wardrobe, he actually hadn't done anything to incur the (*drumroll please*) fiery wrath of Zel. The gray skinned chimera had known from the start that Arcius was not on the level. He had expected the bard's disguise to fail rapidly, as usually was the case with such people, then amuse himself with a liberal application of the Elemekia Lance to Arcius's backside before continuing on his journey to find a way to reverse Rezo's work.

None of this had happened. Arcius had not been revealed as a fraud, though Zel still believed he would be in time. He'd had no excuse to beat the man senseless, and --most of all - for some reason, one that he did not really understand, Zelgadis was still actually traveling with the bard. Yes, if it existed, the Power of Command would certainly be a cure for his condition. But, it was such a small chance, and anyway, a heartless magic-using swordsman like Zel should be able to go it alone. Right?

So, gloomily he wandered the city streets, barely bothering to keep his cloak up and drawing numerous odd looks from the passers-by. He did his best to avoid running into other members of the party, though he wouldn't have gone out of his way to avoid them, either. He simply avoided places where he thought they might be - that meant, of course, mostly restaurants and taverns. More than once he found himself on the way to the gates, ready to strike out on his own. The weather was not, really, a major concern to the chimera. Part of it was simply another way that having stone for skin proved to be beneficial. His Shamanist powers, in any event, could have kept him quite comfortable and certainly eased his movement, if he were to run off.

He did not feel the kind of loyalty to this group as he did to Lina and company, and indeed had spent most of the journey grumping along behind them, or off to one side, and trying to keep himself from splattering Arcius with a Burst Rondo to be rid of his chatter. He certainly did not trust any of them - the bard, and that girl who kept talking to herself, most of all. That other girl, with the animals she couldn't control, worried him; and that 'collector' obviously had his own agenda as well.

But every time he turned to leave, the fact that he just knew Arcius was holding out on him, drew his feet back towards the town square. Aching for something, or someone, to punish with his foul mood, Zel tightened his swordbelt and made a b-line for the catacombs rumored to be beneath the city.

Once Arcius had acquired the party's rooms, he headed out to the city, to do what he did best. Being visible. He wandered the town, pausing on this and that corner for an impromptu performance. He played well, as always, but in the winters in Kytares, that anyone would play out in the cold was an oddity in and of itself. He chanced to cross the paths of his fellow members. Jin and Constance were dining in a tavern while he played outside, Timothy went into and out of at least three inns, for reasons Arcius was mildly curious about. He even saw Zelgadis do an about-face when the golem realized who was singing on the corner. On his breaks, the bard would slip into seedy taverns and inconspicuous shops and discuss something with people therein. Runners were dispatched and whispers were exchanged among the various subclasses in the underside of the city.

That having been done, Arcius sat back and smiled to himself. All because someone had dropped a piece of paper. He chuckled to himself as he predicted the current place where his party was. Jin and Constance would be shopping or eating. Mor'Dia... the elf-girl had vanished in the woods. He wished her well, but dismissed her. Celise had gone as well. Which irked him, but it was no setback. Timothy would be in the shopping district, haggling some poor merchant out of stock. Zelgadis would be down in the catacombs, cursing. Arcius giggled. He had omitted the fact that there was a spell needed to get into the lower catacombs where the seal was. Well, not omitted, since no one had asked. The golem would wander around, get mad and come grumpily back, pretending nothing had happened.

And Lina. That would be her sitting over at the bar, scowling at her drink. He blinked twice. Lina? He threw back his head and laughed. "Luck be my friend!" He inconspicuously (well, as much as one in his outfit could) walked up and took a seat next to the sorceress. "Miss," he said in a low whisper. "Might a clever fool interest you in fortune?"

Ignoring the loudly dressed man as best she could, the petite girl tossed back the contents of her glass with one practiced motion. She ordered another, throwing a few coins to the bartender, and drained that one as well. And still the stranger watched her with interest, clearly expecting an answer of some sort.

Realizing that he didn't seem likely to leave any time soon, she prepared to get rid of his annoying presence with a well-placed fireball. That is, until she caught sight of the instrument strapped to his back. A bard... better not waste 'im, then. Fry one too many bards, she'd discovered, and you get all kinds of nasty songs written about you -- songs that get you chased out of cities with pitchforks the moment you set foot on their streets.

So she settled with a verbal reply. Just as stinging, but much less deadly. "I just can't believe that a fool would know anything about fortune. Especially a fool with your taste in clothes." She ordered another drink, again tossing some coins onto the counter to pay for it. The worn metal discs landed on the hard wooden surface, pitted and polished from years of use, with a satisfying clatter. One coin spun as it fell and rolled to a stop, balanced perfectly on edge.

A remote part of the city suddenly jumped.

Then it jumped again, higher. A few cobblestones came loose, a window broke, and anyone who was there simply assumed - not without some justification (they had heard Lina Inverse was in town) - that there was some sort of sorcery afoot, probably the messy demise of a poor fool who had happened to say "Dragon Spooker" too loudly while whispering in a corner. That was what they expected when the natural enemy of all who live was in town. A few of the more intelligent ones also hoped that she would go away soon. Before their town was reduced to smoldering rubble.

At one of the secondary entrances to the underground tunnels and catacombs, the smoke and shock-pressure of a small explosion poured out into the air, throwing debris. Then, another. And another. Then... silence. Stillness, lasting for many minutes.

A figure appeared outlined against the entryway, emerging from out of the underground. Coming into the light, anyone who saw him would have fled - partly because he was a chimera with a stone, golem-like body, but mostly because his fists were clenched angrily and he was muttering a steady stream of invectives against a certain bard. He was right - not that it was a consolation to him - that Arcius was holding back. Taking a long breath, he pulled up his hood and mask and started towards the main part of town, determined to beat the bard at his own game. Or, failing that, to simply beat the bard.

A small stir followed behind him as people turned to watch the chimera march with all the determination of an army towards the kinds of inns he felt Arcius would frequent, throw open the door, then stalk away to the next seedy tavern. He saw a fit, but old man with a worried look come out of a restaurant right as Jin entered it, and stuck his head in.

There was Constance, and of course Jin, but no Arcius. Zel turned to leave again, but face-faulted when he heard his stomach rumble.

Huffing out a breath he turned back in and stood behind a seat at Constance's table.

"Mind if I join you for a bite?"

Tim continued walking the streets of Kytares with a slight headache, although nowhere near the ringing it once had. Unfortunately, the more Tim looked in the book, the more concerned he became. Memories were being added at a quickening pace, memories that did not belong to him.

As fate would have it, Tim wandered into the same inn with Jin and Constance, and now Zelgadis. Normally, Tim would have walked up and joined them, but not now. Tim, instead, sat at a nearby table. He needed to catch his breath and try to absorb all the new information. Just to see what he could use and just what he couldn't.

"Why thank you," Arcius said, simply assuming the compliment. He smiled slightly. "Fools know about everything. After all, there are an awful lot of fools out there, eh?" The glare he got in return told him she included him in that group. He paid it no attention; after all, one does not become a great bard by breaking down at what other people think of oneself. "The difference between a fool and a clever fool is that a clever fool thinks he can do something about what he knows, Lady Inverse." He stood and draped his cloak around him. "But since power and magic doesn't seem to interest you in the least," he shrugged. "Then I guess that makes me just a fool." He turned to leave. "Perhaps I shall see around, Lady Inverse. Maybe I shall inform Lord Zelgadis that you are here. That might cheer up the droll man."

"Wait," she said hastily, grabbing the end of his cloak before he could stride off. "Didja say 'power and magic'?" She still didn't think that this odd personage could tell her anything useful, but you never know. And she most certainly wasn't one to pass up a chance to learn new magic, however remote the chance might be. She wasn't bothered at all about being so quickly identified as Lina Inverse. In fact, she'd been banking on it. It always brought the most interesting challengers her way; though she had to be careful around dragons, lest they run away before she could slay them. Idly she wondered who this 'Lord Zelgadis' was. The name was vaguely familiar for some reason, but she just couldn't place it; one too many glasses of the local brew will do that to a person. He'll cheer up when he knows I'm around...? Prolly another one of those Lina-admirers, then. Weird folk. Hope he don't end up begging me for lessons like that guy in Atlas City did. Or asking for my hand in marriage....

Arcius paused. "I suppose I did."

There was silence. And more silence. A tiny sweatdrop appeared on Lina's head.

"Well?" Lina finally broke the silence.

"Oh? I thought I told you already, Lady Inverse. Does my quest interest you now?" He smiled, teeth winking in the light. "Playing coy is a different, though no less attractive side of you, my Lady."

'Playing coy'? she wondered. 'I told you already'? Oh L-sama, does this guy know the REAL Lina Inverse? She was struck by a brief twinge of panic, her heart fluttering wildly in her admittedly small chest.

Panic won't get you anywhere, she told herself forcefully, and with effort was able to get herself back under control. So. This guy must've met the real Lina. But... it sounds like she's not traveling with him right now or anything like that. That's good. That's very good. But... whatever this 'quest' is, she obviously refused to go along with it. So why should I? She resolved to at least hear him out, though. The idea of new power and new magic was far too attractive to turn down flat.

With an affected smirk plastered firmly on her face, she said as boldly as she could, "Maybe you should refresh my memory. I go on tons of quests, y'know, and I can't remember all of 'em."

"In the space of a month?" Arcius quirked a brow. "Lady Inverse, I am sorely disappointed in you." He shook his head sadly.

Lina looked at him, feeling a sinking fear in her stomach. She tensed, uncertain as to what she would have to do.

He looked back up to her and smiled a flashing smile. "If you miss the melodious sound of my voice, you could have just said so."

She facefaulted. Recovering, she scowled at the bard.

He chuckled merrily. "Come. I shall tell you as we rejoin our companions. If you still wish not to accompany us, that's fine. Instead, I shall give you this," he twirled a small, bulging moneypouch by one finger, "just to do something about Zelgadis' attitude, for at least a little while."

"Tell you what. I'll come along if you'll gimme that sack anyway!" She could tell the bard wasn't too pleased with her suggestion, but heck, it was an instinctive response upon seeing that much money. "Er, never mind."

Hey, if he's got this much cash ready to toss around like that, maybe he DOES have the inside scoop on something important, she thought. Well, it can't hurt to tag along with him, and if his story sounds fishy, I can always ditch him on the way. No matter how many of these 'companions' he's got, I can probably take 'em all if they try something funny, anyway.

She jumped down off her bar stool and clasped both hands behind her back. "Looks like I'm with you; for now, anyways. So what are we waiting for? Let's get moving!"

The two figures walked along the chilly streets of Kytares. One was flame-haired and small; the other was dressed as brightly as a peacock, and was proclaiming something as he walked in the cadences of epic poetry, complete with florid gestures at every opportune moment. The petite girl listened intently, up until the bard halted in mid-sentence.

"And that is all I have written so far," he said, ending with a flourish.

The girl was impressed. "Wow, you really are a bard!"

"You doubted me, Lady Inverse?"

"Uh... it's just that I've never actually been around before when one of my quests was turned into a ballad or whatever. It's really neat!"

The bard had just finished telling her, in rhyming couplets no less, about the beginning of this quest of his; about the gathering of heroes in some place called Purey, about the legendary power they were after, and about a magical attack involving nightmares. From what she'd heard so far, apparently the real Lina had ditched the group right after that nightmare incident, for reasons unknown. Wonder why she just up and left. Oh well; her loss, my gain. This Power of Command thing sounds really awesome!

The bard -- she still didn't know his name -- came to a stop suddenly in front of a sizable building, from which was wafting all kinds of mouth-watering smells. "Hey, a restaurant!" said the girl with delight. "You gonna treat me to a meal or what?"

Constance was quite surprised to hear Zelgadis ask this question, but she shrugged this feeling off and motioned for the disgruntled Chimera to sit down. "By all means, have a seat," she replied as he did so, then she motioned for a waiter to come over to the table. "Could you bring us two menus, please?" one menu being for Zelgadis and another for Jin, who had just come in a few seconds before Zelgadis did.

"Well, now that that's all settled," Constance started in hopes of beginning a conversation with the two, "What do you think of this city so far?"

Zel took the offered seat, opening the menu and deciding quickly to order at least half of it. He shrugged, "I haven't really been looking around. A city this size is dangerous for someone like me." This was said while he coolly ignored some of the stares his unhooded, unmasked appearance provoked. He took his sword and leaned it against the table. "I did get a chance to look at the tunnels under the city..." he trailed off, then asked, "By the way, you haven't seen Arcius, have you?"

"Nope...not since we entered the city, as a matter of fact," Constance answered after finishing off the rest of her drink, "I was hoping that at least you or Jin had seen him, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Oh well...we'll find him eventually. It's not as if he's easy to miss in a crowd, you know..."

The waiter came back to the table to take Jin and Zelgadis' orders. What followed after that was an uncomfortable amount of silence.

After a few minutes, Jin rubbed his chin and then finally broke the silence. "I wonder where he is though...."

Arcius had stopped because of the small crowd gathered outside of the restaurant. The people were busy gawking about something or someone within the building, and his gut instinct said it was his companions. A quick glance confirmed it. He spun on his heel to face the red-haired sorceress, eyes a-twinkle. "Certainly, Lady Inverse. Please allow me a moment to check something." With that he entered the building.

Seated as they were, Jin, Constance, and Zelgadis did not notice Arcius enter. However, the sudden shift in attention from the strange looking chimera to the ridiculously clad bard tipped them to his presence a second after he passed through the doorway. "My companions!" he cried in a carrying voice, waving to them. He got no further; Zelgadis grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off of his feet.

"Bard!" Zelgadis hissed, scowling.

Arcius had the gall to smile. "Oh good. I was half afraid that you had run out on us."

"Why you...." Zelgadis drew back a fist.

"Otherwise, you would have missed Lady Lina Inverse," the bard finished blandly.

A startled look appeared on Zelgadis' face as the bard pointed to the figure standing in the doorway.

The flame-haired sorceress strode in right after the bard, giving a cursory glance to those who he had called his companions. "Hi! 'S good ta be back," she said brightly, keeping in mind that the real Lina had already met all these people. They seemed to be a perfectly ordinary bunch of adventurers, outwardly at least. Except, of course, for the strange person who was currently manhandling the loudly-dressed bard. Stone skin? She'd never seen the like before. Though for some reason, she had the nagging feeling that she was forgetting something....

She allowed herself to stare at the rock-skinned man for a good few seconds before dashing to the seat he had vacated and taking up his discarded menu. After all, he looks like he's busy with the bard right now; I might as well get a bite to eat. Flagging down a waiter in record time, she ordered half the menu in one fell swoop. "I'll have the beef stew. Five portions. Plus seven plates of spaghetti and six of your Ploughman's Specials, and a jug of your best wine. Oh, and three orders of the nerf medallions." She'd sort out who'd be paying for it later. With a flare arrow, if necessary.

Tim looked up to the commotion. Arcius had obviously returned and Zelgadis was obviously ironing out some differences with the bard. Tim wasn't quite sure just what transpired, but guessed that the bard probably deserved it. What really caught Tim's attention though was the return of Lina Inverse. Especially after reading about Lina's encounters with Celise and Ashrid. Two thoughts entered his head, either the book was full of lies or this wasn't the real Lina. Tim scowled to himself. He had a bad feeling about this. Something unpleasant was about to happen that would make the Sleepless Ones look small. He just wasn't sure what it would be.

"Oh well, no need to be unsociable" Tim said to himself as he walked over to the table where the others were at. Avoiding Zelgadis and Arcius, he grabbed a chair and tipped his hat to Constance and Jin in a salutary fashion. Tim then looked right at Lina and said the following: "Oh. You've come back. Did you run into Celise? She left our company earlier looking for you."

"Nope, I guess she missed me," the girl replied. Which was entirely true; she'd never met anyone named Celise in her life. "I've been all over for the past month; I guess she just couldn't keep up with me," she said, topping it all off with a cute grin.

Remembering the bard's unfinished epic, she pegged this "Celise" as the mystic, ancient half-dragon with all kinds of arcane knowledge. Depending on how much of that had been real and how much typical bardic hyperbole, she sounded like someone the young sorceress would really like to meet. Too bad she'd left the group shortly after the real Lina had.

According to the epic, there was a Tim and a Mor'Dia and a Jin and a Constance floating around here somewhere. Oh, and a Zelgadis too. Now all she had to do was figure out who was who. Hopefully her food would come soon; then she'd have a legitimate excuse to just listen to the others' conversation while shoveling food into her mouth. She slumped forward, somewhat annoyed. "When's the food coming? Jeez, the service around here's really slow, isn't it?"

Tim pulled out a packet of hot chocolate and asked for a boiling cup of water. He listened to Lina and Zelgadis' conversation with some interest. Upon hearing "Lina's" response, Tim muttered to himself, "Gourry... why is that name familiar?" Then it dawned on him. "Gourry. I know of that name." He turned to Zelgadis and looked at him strangely, then broke into a cheshire cat smile. "Of course. Now I know why you looked familiar too. You're one of the Heroes of Seryuun."

He rushed into his backpack and began looking for some items. Finally, he pulled out a Gourry and a Zelgadis beanie baby. "I have almost all the collection. I'm just missing one." Continuing he pulled out an Amelia, a Prince Philonel, and a Xellos beanie baby. He looked ruefully at Lina. "Sorry. I misspoke. I'm missing two. I gave Celise my Lina Inverse doll. Celise was looking for you and she didn't know what you looked like."

Zelgadis frowned to himself, then spoke out loud, "You were at Sairaag?" He face-faulted again when Tim brought out the beanie babies. Holding his head, he groaned, "Don't tell me they're calling Xellos a 'hero of Seyruun!'"

Tim looked at Zelgadis. "No, Xellos isn't considered a hero, per se. He did, however, help Miss Inverse during that time so they made a figure of him. Actually, they pretty much made a plush toy out of everyone during the crisis with the royal family. Even the Mazoku, in both human and Mazoku forms."

A sweat drop beaded on Zelgadis� forehead at Tim's comment, but brushed it off as he thought, Of course... with Phil as their ruler... and the way Amelia can be... making plush toys out of Mazoku actually makes sense. He sighed, "I see..."

He turned back to Lina, "So how is Sylphiel? I thought about going back... but since I don't think there's anything there for me now..." He glanced over his shoulder at the pile of bard he'd left on the ground, as Arcius's eyes began to uncross. "So I ended up here."

The girl stared intently at the strange, yet somehow incredibly cute little dolls that the man in gray had pulled out of his pack. Heroes of Seyruun, along with Lina herself... L-sama, that means I should know all of these people! By sight! She immediately tried to memorize what features she could, just in case she ever ran into any of them on the street. Though how well she'd be able to identify them from looking at a doll was another question entirely.

Zelgadis� question brought her forcibly back to reality. Sylphiel? Who the heck is that? Is he or she represented as one of these beanie thingies? Or is it someone else entirely? And just how am I supposed to find out? This was turning out to be an incredibly stressful day. She wished that she'd never taken the bard up on his offer. Then she'd never have had to worry about being discovered as an impostor, by one of Lina Inverse's legendary companions no less.

Well, it was too late now. "Um. Sylphiel," she said, her voice sounding strained. "Looked happy, looked fine...." The chimera gazed at her, looking mildly startled. Was that the wrong thing to say? She knew she should simply shut up, but panic made her mouth keep running. "Er... Gourry thought so too...." She grinned weakly, awaiting Zelgadis� reaction.

Looking at Lina, he said, "Is something wrong?" A silver-gray eyebrow raised as the chimera thought, Gourry would never stay behind if Lina was going someplace dangerous... unless...

He frowned after a moment, "Don't tell me..." he continued tactlessly, "Gourry finally got sick of you beating him, blowing him up, and insulting him, and stayed for some of Sylphiel's chicken dinners?"

Aaaggh! What am I supposed to say to something like that? the girl thought, sweatdropping and maintaining a sickly grin. Luckily an overladen waitress staggered over to the table at that point, covering it three dishes deep in food before going back to fetch the rest of the order. "FOOD!" she crowed. Let the golem guy think what he wants. I've got eating to do! Within moments, two of the plates of beef stew had been inhaled along with one of the Ploughman's Specials, and spaghetti was flying everywhere.

A figure wrapped in a black cloak, sitting at the far end of the restaurant, watched everything that was going on in the restaurant....but, more specifically, he was watching Lina very very carefully. How can something THAT small fit all THAT food inside of her body all at once!? he thought to himself. He continued watching....waiting her to be alone...so that he could speak with her.

Zel watched in amazement as Lina stuffed herself with her usual hearty appetite. He continued watching in amazement for several long minutes, amazed not at her eating - he was used to that - but that Lina took his heartless comment so lightly and wasn't even showing any sign of trying to kill him whatsoever. He thought, Perhaps she got the message and has settled down a bi- then he realized in the time it took for him to think that, she'd eaten four plates of a Ploughman's Special. He sighed, She must really be taking it hard. Well... Lina usually is cheered up by food, and by money, and by gratuitous violence... He looked over his shoulder with something of an evil grin on his face, I wonder if Arcius is conscious yet...

The bard was, in fact, not only conscious, but had pulled up a chair and was sipping dark liquid from a goblet. "It's too bad about Lord Gourry, then. His sword would have been quite useful," Arcius said. He sat his goblet down and slid his lute around. A peaceful melody issued forth as he pitched his voice loud enough to be heard clearly by anyone in the bar, yet he was not shouting. "Fortunately, I believe I have found another who should serve admirably in his stead. If our black-cloaked friend over there is interested in adventure and would perhaps be kind enough to join us, I will get down to business."

The figure started, and seemed to push his chair back a bit, attempting to blend in with the shadows more so than he already was. "No...I do not think I'm interested...thank you." the figure said, it's voice quiet. The figure then reached out with a black gauntleted hand and grabbed its cup of ale, pulling it up towards it's head and taking a sip. With that done, it resumed watching Lina... waiting....

Arcius shrugged. "No matter," he said, still using the voice that carried. "I had just figured that since you have been stalking Lady Inverse for the last hour, I would give you an excuse to join us." He gave a wry grin. "But, I suppose that is between yourself and Lady Inverse."

Tim looked at the stranger and then the bard with a raised eyebrow. The collector then rubbed his temples, massaging slightly as if he had or was getting a headache. Truth was that he was. That old bad feeling had returned. Tim just knew that something bad was about to happen to him and that he was going to find himself in a great deal of pain.

"And just what business are you proposing, Arcius?" Tim asked. Once again, the outside was masking the inside. Tim was trying to come up with a plan that would stop as much trouble as possible. That plan now definitely involved Zelgadis. As the sharp pain, continued off and on, he knew that time was fleeting and he had to act soon....

"Now," the bard said, voice dropping low, low enough that the people at the table had to pay attention to hear him. "We need to move tonight. When the moon is at its zenith, the barrier that seals the lower catacombs will become visible. At that point, we will be able to temporarily negate it."

Glancing up to Zelgadis' perpetual scowl, the bard turned the corner of his lip up in something that might have been a smile. "The seal has the most ridiculous means of passing through. In fact, it is so silly that it has actually worked for the last few thousand years." He stood. Voice returning to normal, he said, "There are ears here that do not need to hear. Meet me in an hour at the catacomb entrance by the fountain of Ajora, in the market square." He smiled. "You can not miss it. It is the one with the big flashy sign saying 'Explore Kytares' Infamous Catacombs!'"

Zel shook his head, sighing. Maybe the bard was starting to grow on him, after all. He still reminded the chimera far too much of Xelloss - that smirking, secretive half-smile was part of it, but it mostly was the fact that he knew far too much ahead of time. We're being set up. Or at the best, used for something. He looked over at Lina, And Lina is in no condition for any high level fighting. Something REALLY bad must have happened. - she was busy packing away yet MORE food - and then started out of the inn. "I'll be there. Just make sure you are."

Arcius stood after the golem left. "I, too, have some business to attend to before we meet, so I shall take my leave of you for now. Adieu." With that, he strode out the door, leaving someone else to pick up the tab.

Tim pulled out quite a bit of gold and put it on the table. He tipped his hat. "I too, have things I need to accomplish. Jin, Constance, excuse me. Lina, it has been a pleasure. I shall see you all later."

The figure watched the gaudy one leave, as well as the odd looking guy with the stone skin. Two down, and more to go, he thought, resuming his silent vigil of Lina.

As the redheaded sorceress shoved the last few forkfuls of spaghetti into her mouth, inside she was chanting like a litany: Thank you thank you thank you thank you! Because of the young man in gray, she finally knew the bard's name. Arcius. Huh. First name or last name...? Doesn't really matter, does it? Now all she had to do was figure out the identities of the rest of the group. Forget the guy in black over in the corner; he's obviously not part of this quest.

She had an hour; plenty of time to finish her snack while listening to a little light conversation. Or causing it. Realizing that she'd finished all the food in front of her, she called out, "Hey, waitress!" flagging down yet another hapless restaurant worker. "For my second course I'll have four of yer roast chicken dinners. And a half dozen orders of ribs. Throw in some salad, too. I'll catch ya for dessert in a few minutes so stick around!"

She grinned at the two other people seated at the same table as she. Arcius took off, and that Zelgadis guy, and the one in gray... but I can prolly still get one of these folks to pay for the food. After all, we're companions, aren't we?

Now then. There had been four other companions named in Arcius's epic poem about this very quest. She was guessing that the guy in gray was Timothy Gray, for rather obvious reasons. Could be wrong, though. It's dangerous to just blindly assume things. Assuming she was right just for the moment, that left a Jin, a Constance, and a Mor'Dia. Mor'Dia? Sounds exotic. And the two remaining companions, a young lady and a young man, didn't really look all that exotic. Except for the girl's brilliant green eyes, and the slash on the guy's cheek.

Jin sounded like a guy's name, though, so she made an educated guess. With elbows resting on the table amid stacks of emptied plates, and chin resting on her hands, she gazed sideways at the young man. "So, Jin! How's the quest been going ever since I took off?"

The figure continued watching Lina, before summoning over a waitress. "I'd like to buy that redheaded sorceress over there an ale." it said, handing over the proper sum of money, "Oh, and could you possibly give this note to her?"

The waitress looked a bit edgy, but nodded all the same, �Of course." she said, taking both the money and the note.

After a minute or two, the waitress went to the table at which Lina and Co. were eating, and handed her both the note and the ale, �That person in the corner bought you the ale and asked me to give you this..." she explained, before leaving.

Written on the note, in a smooth, flowing script, was a message: 'I must speak with you... alone... I require some information you may have...and I am willing to pay you for your trouble. If you agree to this, please come over to my table. I promise you that you will not come to any harm from me.'

"Well, we --" began Jin, but by this time the girl was too preoccupied to notice him.

Downing the ale in one gulp, she shot a glance at the black-clad figure, greed all too apparent in her expression. Willing to pay me, eh? Ignoring both the rather flustered Jin and the fact that her second course hadn't arrived yet, she sprung up from her seat and made a beeline towards the stranger.

She was in much better spirits now than she'd been when Arcius had come across her in that bar. Amazing what a little food can do for a person's state of mind.... "So what's the deal?" she asked confidently, leaning against the table where the figure was sitting.

The figure leaned forward into the light and pulled down the hood on its cloak...revealing the face of a young man, with shoulder length silver hair and sea gray eyes. With an odd smile, he seems to assess Lina.

"Excellent...you agreed." he said, his voice somewhat quiet, almost menacing...but yet not. �My name is Eric...I desire information on the whereabouts of a man you know, I believe. His name is Gourry...I am willing to pay for this information...any price you want to set, so long as it's reasonable."

Again with this Gourry guy! The redhead turned away from the silvery man, no longer able to meet his gaze. She crossed her arms in front of her out of sheer annoyance. "The price I set will be... nothing." The man was visibly surprised. He's heard of the legendary Inverse money-grubbing, I see. Well, if he'd asked me anything else, I'd have cleaned out his wallet. But this.... I'd not only be lying to him, I'd be stealing his money. And I draw the line at stealing. Well, except from bandits. But they don't count.

"Me 'n Gourry split up a while ago," she said. "I haven't seen him in a long time." Ever, in fact. "He could be anywhere by now." That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. "Anyway, sorry to disappoint you and all, but I've got food waiting for me." Turning her back on the silvery stranger, she strode back to her table, by now covered in piles of roast chicken and ribs with a few pitiful leaves of lettuce thrown in here and there as garnish. She spent the next five minutes stuffing her face, resolutely ignoring the two others seated at the table, chatting quietly. When all the plates had been cleared, she tossed a handful of coins onto the table and practically flew out of the restaurant.

It was only when she was halfway down the street that she realized she'd actually paid for her meal. As well as for those of everyone else in her party... the only drawback of having too many gold coins on hand. Oh well. There's bound to be more treasure where we're going. Her spirits brightened somewhat at the thought of the quest she'd soon be embarking on. Treasure, and monsters to practice on, and a legendary Power to find.... She chuckled, thinking of the young couple still sitting in the restaurant amid her dirty dishes. They probably think I'm the rudest person they've ever met! I wonder if the real Lina acts anything like I do... if so, that pretty much explains half the stories I hear about her....

The redheaded sorceress stopped in the middle of the street, arms akimbo; the crowds parted around her. Well! I've got almost an hour to kill before I have to be at the market square. Picking a direction at random, she headed off, disappearing into the crowds.

Constance looked at the pile of dirty dishes that Lina left behind and shrugged. "Oh well, that's Lina for you..."

Jin turned to Constance. "Well, should we follow the others?"

She shrugged in reply. "Okay...it's better than just staying here...I want to see what the rest are being so secretive about. Let's go!" And with that, Constance grabbed Jin's wrist and pulled him along with her out of the restaurant and out into the street.

Eric frowned, very very deeply. Something wasn't sitting right with the way Lina acted, from what he heard, and he was more than a little upset that he had come all this way for nothing...or had he...

"She must be holding out on me...after all, they're friends...and if a stranger dressed like I am came out of nowhere and asked for the location of one of her friends, then I doubt she'd say anything...I'll just have to convince her otherwise..." he muttered to himself, darkly.

Standing, he put down the necessary amount to pay for his drink plus a hefty tip, and slipped outside onto the street. Looking around, his eyes caught Lina just entering a large crowd of people down the road. Quickly, yet stealthily, he made his was after her, his cloak wrapped around him and hood up.

Once outside, Tim ran down the street, looking for Zelgadis. Tim's luck was going for the better. It didn't take long to find him. He ran up to the chimera and said "Mister Zelgadis, if I may have a word with you before we meet up with the others."

Zel hadn't gone very far from the restaurant, partly because moving too fast drew attention and partly because he didn't really have anything important to be doing. With his more usual calm, the chimera turned slowly to face Tim, and said simply, "What is it?"

Tim responded in a nonchalant tone that suggested that things were turning grim. "Not much. Felt like a walk and a chat, preferably away from Miss Inverse and our happy-go-lucky "friend". " Then Tim's tone turned more serious. "I wanted to apologize for not trusting you earlier. If Prince Philonel, the justice nut from Seryuun can trust you with his troubles, than I can do the same.

"Right now, as I speak, I'm fending off a psychic attack. Someone or something is attacking me through this." Tim pulled out his Book of Memory. "This is my Book of Memory. All it normally does is record my thoughts, what I see, what I say, etc. Trouble is someone has found a way to attack me through it. The attacks are getting more and more powerful and soon I fear, it may incapacitate me...or worse. I need you to hold on to this for me. Don't worry, it won't harm you. The book is only tuned to me."

Tim rubbed his temples once again, then continued as they walked. "Now you can see why I don't want the bard to know this. He knows way too much already. A man is the sum of the memories. A Collector even more so. I know the name sounds sinister, but I'm more interested in knowledge than in power. I don't collect dangerous artifacts of power. I have no need for the Power of Command and would rather not offend the Gods. We Collectors live to acquire facts and record history as it unfolds. We become immortal when our Books of Memory are returned to the Library of Talerod in Cerem City. If I should die, or become unable to perform this job, please take the book back to Cerem. There they will make a copy for you which you can keep. In the meantime, feel free to peruse the book. I don't think I've found anything which can help you remove your curse, but who knows, I've been wrong before."

Zel turned the book over in his hands, with his usual stony and expressionless expression. After a long moment he said, "A psychic attack..." He looked the book over again, "Would my taking the Book keep you safe from it? Or, perhaps the Book could be contained somehow by a box built to block out mental energies..." The golem frowned, "I know you probably don't like the idea, but..." he sighed, "Arcius reminds me far too much of, well, Xelloss. You yourself sense that he's not being straightforward. I've been trying to get myself ready for whatever it is he may do - if it seems like I am hanging back, I am. If he's on the level, then I'll apologize to him later." He turned the book over in his hands again, "So if we can find a way to neutralize the attack, for the time being, it won't be distracting to us if Arcius turns out to be Xelloss� twin brother. Or for that matter if more of Arcius's old "friends" decide to pay us a visit." Then he added with a wry little grin, "I know this is more Lina's style than mine... but maybe we should poke through a magic shoppe and see if we can't find something that could come in handy.�

"Taking the book may just be the thing that gives me the edge over whatever's attacking me. There are times where I can totally block it when I hold the book so you holding couldn't do anything but help. The odd thing is it's not a normal psychic attack. It's more like when you take too much information all in at once. As I said before, it's tuned into me so you looking through the book shouldn't hurt you, Zelgadis. Either way, it's more insulting, because now there are "facts" in that book I can't verify or trust. Especially when it comes to Lina Inverse. Most of the information seems to be about her.

"I don't think anything magical is gonna to help me here. Maybe in Seryuun, or Atlas City, or someplace not off the beaten path, but not here. I've purchased some headache powders. They'll have to do for now."

Kytares really wasn't any different from any other big cosmopolitan city, the sorceress mused as she traveled through its wide streets, dodging other pedestrians and looking at the displays of goods for sale in shop windows. It was just slightly snowier. She didn't know what exactly she'd been expecting of a city located by the forbidding Kataart mountain range, but this one was good enough for her purposes, if rather more boring than she'd hoped.

A glance behind her caught a glimpse of a figure wrapped in a black cape, keeping a careful distance between itself and her. That cape... just like the one that guy back in the restaurant was wearing. But heck, lots of people wear black cloaks. However, relatively few black-cloak-wearing people had the temerity to be following her around. They usually knew better. Guess he wasn't satisfied with my little story about that Gourry guy. What a shady-looking character. I wonder what he'd have done if I HAD been able to tell him where Gourry was... probably gone off to try to kill him or something.

Curious to find out what her black-cloaked follower would do, she ducked into the nearest shop; as it turned out to be, a weapons shop. Spiky maces and gleaming halberds were displayed prominently on the walls, bundles of spears were leaning haphazardly in a corner, and racks of every kind of sword imaginable took up half the floor space. There was even a "Bargain Bin!" full of cheap knives and throwing stars.

The shopkeeper, seated cautiously behind the solid wooden counter, was a scruffy one-eyed man with hair that looked like a muskrat had taken up residence on his head. He eyed the redheaded girl cautiously as she started picking through the swords. Picking up one of the smaller models, she hefted it with all the style and grace of someone who's obviously not used to handling one. Hmmm... I wonder, does the real Lina Inverse use a sword much? I'm pretty pathetic with a weapon... but it's a kind of skill that can come in handy. Especially when....

Putting down the brand-new sword, she drew the one buckled around her waist. It was too heavy for her, and heavily battered, dented, and scratched. She'd kept it as a memento of the first bandit she'd ever put out of business, and had even swung it around on a couple of occasions when she'd wanted to look more dangerous than usual. "Hey," she said to the shopkeeper, pointing the old blade at him. "Can you trade in your old weapons for a discount?"

To her surprise, he yelped and ducked down below the counter. "Careful wi' dat thing! Someone c'd get hurt!"

"Jeez, what's your problem?" she muttered, but put the sword down anyway.

The shopkeeper peered nervously over the top of the counter, making sure it was safe before once again rising to his feet. "Workin' in a store like this'n... ya develop a healthy respec' fer the bloody things. Lemme see dat blade." She thrust it at him. "HILT FIRS'!" Once he'd calmed down and had the battered weapon in hand, he peered at it closely for a few seconds before proclaiming, "'S worth a few coppers, nuffin' more."

"C'mon, that's good steel!"

He looked suitably apologetic. "'S worth more as scrap th'n as a sword, m'lady."

Grumbling, the girl turned back to the piles of swords for sale. With the amount of gold and jewels secreted around her person, she could probably have bought the most expensive sword this store had to offer, but she wanted value for her money, and she figured that the ones like the rapier with delicate gold lacework on the hilt were probably better suited to being ornaments than weapons. Caught up completely in her resolve to finally buy a good sword for herself, she started picking through the racks again, wondering, Which one...?

Eric saw Lina enter the weapons shop and scowled. Stopping outside the door, he leaned against the wall next to it and waited for her to emerge. "She wouldn't do this the easy way...so it's time to do it the hard way." he muttered, grimly. He hated doing things the hard way, it was against his nature...still...to get the info he needed, he was willing.

Arcius walked along the street, a merry spring in his step. Someone was going to get a grand surprise. He was not sure who, but it would be very amusing. He paused as spotted the black-cloaked man lurking outside a weapon shop. Through the window, he saw the reason why. He looked around for a moment, then spotted who he wanted. He approached two shadowed figures. "Greetings! Could I entice you to perform a favor for me?" There was a jingle of coins....

"Which sword would be the best for me?" wondered the girl aloud. "One of these really, really sharp ones," she said, testing the edge of a razor-sharp blade, "or maybe one of these big hefty ones that I've heard are really excellent for getting rid of annoying people who spy on you and follow you around?"

"Er," said the shopkeeper. "For th' miss, a smaller blade'd be--"

"I wasn't talking to you," she hissed under her breath.

"Why, Lady Inverse!?" The smooth tenor of Arcius' voice startled her. The bard was standing in the door with a cheerful smile. "Fancy meeting you here." He glanced back to the dealer. "Is my weapon ready, good sir?"

The merchant looked distinctly unhappy. As if one nutcase in the store at one time was not bad enough, now there were two. He pointed at a slim rapier on the counter, hoping to get rid of at least one idiot quickly.

"Very well done, good sir!" Arcius strapped the sword to his side and tossed the man a moneypouch. "Keep the change! My friend was exceptionally generous today!" He then turned back Lina and regarded her with a wry gaze.

"What is it?" she snapped, irritated.

Arcius smiled. "It would seem our help is having a difficult time of accepting his fate. You know," he said as Lina looked puzzled. "Mr. Cliche`d-Sit-In-Shadowed-Corner-Wearing-All-Black?" He laughed. "There are too many people who think they look cool, when they all they really are is lame." He waggled a finger at the look he got for that. "I never said I was cool. If nothing else, I am unique."

He picked up a sword and hefted it. It was longer than a shortsword, yet not quite a longsword. "This one is nice."

She took the sword from Arcius and began waving it around contemplatively, somehow managing not to decapitate anyone in the process. Though she came close. The shopkeeper whimpered and ducked once more under his counter, and the bard dodged quickly out of the way with a flap of his brightly-colored coat.

"I dunno. Maybe something with a little more heft to it?"

Eric felt uneasy...he didn't know why, yet, but he had an odd feeling that something... interesting, was going to happen soon. Stretching a bit, he continued to wait for the red-headed sorceress to come out of the shop...if anything, he had learned patience.

Arcius smiled. Unmindful of the danger in the naked steel Lina was holding, he picked up another sword. It was an ornate longsword, with an intricate filigree worked around several large gems. He swung it twice, almost decapitating the dealer, who had chosen the wrong time to stick his head back up. "Mmm. It is gaudy, but serviceable." He extended the blade to Lina. "What think you?"

"Oooh, pretty!" she murmured, eyes open wide. Snatching it out of Arcius's hands, she scanned it with a practiced eye. "Gems're real... just look at the workmanship.... oooh, a minor spell for increased sharpness...." Dumping the other mid-length sword back on the racks, she swung the ornate sword around, nearly clipping Arcius's tricorner hat. "Wow, I like the reach! And it's not too heavy for me." Excited, she turned towards the shopkeeper, thwacking the blade onto the counter. "So how much is this one?"

There was no reply. In fact, the scruffy shopkeeper was nowhere to be seen.

"Uh... where'd he go...?"

Slowly, a trembling thatch of tangled hair rose from beneath the counter, followed in short order by the rest of the shopkeeper. "F... f... fifty gol' pieces, miss, but I'll cut it ta twenny-five if'n ya put the sword down nice 'n slow...."

"Throw in the scabbard and you've got a deal!"

The transaction complete, she buckled her new sword-belt around her waist, looking proudly at the brand-new longsword hanging at her side (and nearly scraping the ground, but we won't speak of that, now will we?). Now all I need to do is learn how to use it! Turning to Arcius, she said, "Well, now that that's over with, we'd better start heading towards the market square. It's that way, right? So we'd probably get there quicker if we used the back door, wouldn't we?" She grinned evilly.

"Indeed we could, Lady Inverse." He bowed and motioned. "After you, my Lady."

Eric sighed; his patience finally running out. As he turned and reached for the door, a hand on his shoulder stopped him. A sultry, female voice whispered into his ear. "Hey sexy. You look like you need some fun."

He spun around. Somehow, though, he ended up pulling the woman behind him off balance. She bumped into his side, causing him to stumble. He did not go far. Two soft, warm objects in his face stopped him quite nicely. "Ahhhn!" a different voice exclaimed. "He's so forward!"

He pulled his face out of the woman's chest and looked at them. One had short blond hair and was wearing a lowcut black dress. The other, the one he had stumbled into, had long black hair done up in a braid. She was wearing a purple halter that left most of her breasts exposed, and a matching miniskirt. Both were very pretty.

"He's so lively!" the blond said, glomping onto one of his arms.

"Relax, darling." the black hair one said, glomping onto his free arm. "We're gonna take care of you tonight."

Both leaned in and whispered into his ear. "And the best part of it is," the blond started. "Your friend covered it, so you don't owe anything."

Eric looked at the two ladies oddly. "Friend? Hmmmm...I'm sorry ladies, but I'm not interested." he said quietly, "AND you have disrupted my attempts to gather information vital to me. I'm afraid I can't allow that." He waved a hand in front of their faces, saying, "Sleep."

The sleep spell took hold of the two, causing them to, well, fall asleep.

"That won't last too long, but long enough for me to get away." he then quickly moved into the weapon shop, deducing the purpose of the little...encounter...not even bothering to use the front door...no, he crashed through the front window, crossbow ready...just in time to catch Lina moving through the back door of the shop.

"HEY! Who's gonna pay for my window!?" shouted the now angry shop keeper.

As Eric charged after Lina, unaware of her companion at this point, he tossed 10 gold pieces onto the counter...his last little bit of sizable money, all he had left now were coppers, but they would do.

The alley behind the weapons shop was narrow, plus it was full of trash, and cluttered with stacks of crates and boxes and the occasional drunk still sleeping off their indiscretions of the night before. Not wanting to deal with this obstacle course, the sorceress cast a quick spell: "Levitation!" She rose to rooftop level without a hitch; aside from getting slightly tangled in a clothesline and putting an elbow through someone's window, that is. I'll figure out that spell one of these days....

The sound of glass breaking had convinced her that the black-robed man meant business. If he's willing to bust up a store just to get at me, what's he planning to do if he actually gets hold of me? She didn't plan to find out. "Hey, Arcius! That stalker guy's gonna be out here in a moment. Wanna lift?"

He looked at the flying sorceress, then nimbly bounded up a wobbly-looking stack of crates near the door. "Sure thing, my Lady!" he called as he scrambled. He leapt off the top of the boxes and caught her hand.

Eric came charging through the back door into the alley. Looking around, he spotted Lina and her companion lifting off of the ground. He hesitated for a moment, then put his crossbow away...he wasn't ready to kill for this information...not yet. Picking up a nearby brick, he took careful aim and threw it directly at the red-headed sorceress.

The stack of crates next to the back door of the shop had almost collapsed when Arcius had scampered over them. They had not even stopped when Eric burst through the doorway, slamming the back door into the stack. The stack of crates, perilously close to falling, failed to overcome the new stress on its equilibrium and bowed to the laws of gravity.

Eric's brick was clipped the very top crate as it fell into the arc of the throw; the brick crashed into a window instead. The crates fell into another stack which also toppled. In the space of six seconds, there were six large stacks of crates falling. They fell in such a manner and so suddenly Eric had only one option to avoid being buried -the doorway behind him.

With a shrug, Zel put the book into what must be a sub-dimensional hidden pocket such as grace all the clothing and accessories of the Slayers cast, wherein they carry immense amounts and of heavy and bulky treasure, magical apparatus, and strange nic-nacs while still appearing as if they were, in fact, traveling around without such mundane things as sleeping bags or shoe polish. I'll have to look at the passages about Lina later. Maybe I can find out what went on with her and Gourry. Nodding at Tim, he said, "Well... try to keep your guard up, anyway. It's about time for us to be meeting up with the others."

Jin rubbed his arm after Constance stopped dragging him around for a moment. Jin looked around. "Do you see any of them Constance?"

Constance quickly skimmed through the crowd, but didn't see anyone that they knew. Then her eyes fell on Zelgadis and Tim....

"Okay, this way!" she yelled triumphantly as she dragged poor Jin off again towards the two.

Eric, acting quickly, pointed his arm at the pile of crates blocking his way. "DARK... CLAW!" he shouted, unleashing the spell. The balls of black energy quickly disintegrated the crates in his path, but only barely managed to do so... his aim with magic was terrible.

He was now beyond furious. She was getting away. Drawing his crossbow, again, he took VERY careful aim... this was something he WAS good at... and fired. The black-feathered quarrel, oddly enough, didn't make a sound as it split through their air, until it finally impacted against its target... the arm whose hand held the red-headed sorceress's strange companion.

With a sharp cry of pain, Lina let go of Arcius. The bard tumbled though the air. Fortunately for him, his fall was broken by landing on somebody. However, when that somebody was Zelgadis, it was probably better to just go ahead and hit the ground. As it was, the bard managed to leap up before Zelgadis had a chance to recover. Arcius pointed up to the sky. "Lina!" Then he collapsed.

Constance and Jin got there just in time to see the unfortunate bard fall from the sky onto the unsuspecting chimera. Constance looked toward Arcius' had pointed before collapsing and saw Lina in the air still. "Ouch...she must've been carrying him. I wonder why she dropped him like that, though...."

Jin helped Zelgadis to his feet while Constance tended to the unconscious Arcius.

Eric cursed under his breath. There were too many people around to pursue Lina any further. Quickly, he faded into the shadows in the alleyway, blending in with then completely. Things were getting too messy right now, he would have to wait for another opportunity, as this one had just slipped by him.

Clutching her arm with shaking fingers, the sorceress managed to maintain her Levitation spell just long enough to make it to the nearest rooftop. She stood there, her entire body clenched and curled around her injured arm, as if to prevent it from further harm.

Blood dripped from between her fingers and splashed onto the roof tiles. She embraced the pain, made it into a white-hot focus through which she channeled her rage. Then she straightened up, her face a rictus of pure anger, directing the full force of her hatred in the direction from which the crossbow bolt had come.

"Darkness beyond twilight," she began, in a voice still trembling from rage. �Crimson beyond blood that flows." Beneath her she could faintly hear the sounds of people running around and panicking. "Buried in the flow of time; in Thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness!" Her voice rose to a savage shout. "Those who oppose us shall be destroyed by the power you and I possess! DRAGON SLAVE!"

When the smoke cleared, many city blocks lived on only in memory. Rubble lay strewn everywhere; stone shards and wooden splinters were all that was left of prosperous shops and busy streets. There was even a sizable crater, created when the spell had blasted its way through to bedrock.

The crater was located a good hundred feet away from where the weapons shop once had stood. The sorceress's aim still left something to be desired. But, as the saying goes, "close" only counts in horseshoes and Dragon Slaves.

Slowly she climbed down from the roof where she'd been standing and walked over to rejoin her companions. She was once again clutching her bleeding arm, casting a feeble Recovery spell to heal the wound. It would take her a long time to heal it completely; she was pretty much drained after casting the most powerful spell she knew.

"I hope he survived that," she remarked to no one in particular. "Then I'd get to kill him again." The expression on her face made everyone nearby take a step back.

Eric, for his own part, was far enough away from the Dragon Slave to only be caught in its shockwave, thus propelling him even further away, landing in a heap on the ground. Standing, he thanked his lucky stars that he was as fast as he was, and didn't get nailed by the overkill spell.

"This is going to make my quest that much harder." he muttered with a sigh, �Now she'll definitely be out to kill me.... I hope, once I get the info I need, that I can make it up to her...."

This situation was spiraling out of control, and now he had to act fast, if he wanted to save his hide AND get the information, he realized. Dusting himself off, he walked quickly down the deserted street (deserted now because of the Dragon Slave... the poor townsfolk thought that their town was under attack by some evil force), and disappeared into the shadows of another alleyway.

Both Tim and Zelgadis had felt the shocks and heard the noise, but were otherwise uninjured. Tim muttered under his breath to Zelgadis. "Either Kytares is on a faultline and this was a freak earthquake, which I think unlikely. Or... someone has just angered Lina. Either way, I'd recommend going elsewhere. Things have gotten a lot more dangerous."

Zelgadis took Jin's arm and used it to lever himself up, and looked mutely back at the crater where Lina's spell had burst. He nodded his thanks for the help, then dusted off his shoulders and said quietly, "She must have been distracted. There's usually less than this left over when Lina gets upset." He looked around and surveyed the impressive but not-quite-mad-Lina-destruction and shook his head. If it's over Gourry... she might not be able to come through when we really need her to, the chimera thought. Arcius had turned also to survey the still-smoking hole in the ground, while Constance stood half helping him get up, and half looking like she was going to bonk him over the head for ignoring her aid. Zel ignored the bard, and focused on Lina as she landed with an unreadable expression. He said after a pause, "It might be a good idea if we cleared off this street.�

Arcius was delighted. It did not show on his face, but inside, he was ecstatic. He had assumed that Eric would serve him in the same capacity that the others were. He had not realized that Eric was meant to serve him in this other manner. This was good. The man was still alive, that he was sure of. Now, it was just a matter of keeping the catalyst around. He was not sure exactly how it would work out, but it would fall in his favor. It always did, in the end.

Admiring the beautiful crater a few seconds longer, he turned and faced the rooftop where Lina had landed. "Lady Inverse!" he called. "We should quit this place! If you come, I can lead us away!"

Someone standing behind him tapped him on the shoulder. He turned quickly, only to discover that it was Lina herself. "I'm already down here," she said mischievously.

"Ah! Good!" Arcius turned to the others. "Ready? Good." Arcius pointed at the catacomb entrance. Other than the sign hanging askew, it looked much as it had prior to Lina's spell. "The spell that wards the lowest depths will take more than that to cause it to collapse. Plus, everyone else will be afraid that it might collapse and will assume that we think the same way. Therefore no one will look for us down there." He adjusted his lute and rapier, then began walking towards the entrance.

From the shadows of the alley, another figure emerged. It was dressed similarly to the other black-cloaked person in the alley, Eric; but whereas Eric's cloak had the darkness of midnight, the other's cloak had a different darkness, more of a dark, rust-like tinge. The hood was drawn up, leaving most of the figure's face in shadow. It took a step forward, and without turning, spoke. "You seek that girl. The sorceress." Its voice was gravel.

Eric said nothing, watching.

"We seek her companion and care little about her." It continued, facing forward. "Perhaps we could assist each other."

Eric frowned a bit. He definitely didn't like the looks of this guy...then again, he knew he probably looked just as suspicious, if not worse. Finally, after a minute of internal debate, he slowly nodded.

"Alright, I'll help," he said simply.

Zel nodded again, without a word to Arcius. He kept looking sideways between Lina and Tim for several long moments, then made a small hand-motion to Constance and Jin to hang back a bit with him and let the other three go ahead, out of hearing of quietly spoken words. He said to the bard by way of explanation, "Constance, Jin, and I will stay back a little to watch for... guests. Try not to lose us."

Tim looked over his shoulder and saw Zelgadis motioning to Jin and Constance. Smiling, Tim just knew what to do. Putting one arm behind Lina and the other behind Arcius, he slapped both hands on to the sides of their respective bodies. Then, pulling them into a bearhug, he enthusiastically shouted out, "Let's go get that treasure!"

He then doubled over in pain, from the elbow the red-headed sorceress planted in his midsection. "Watch yer hands, buster," she grumbled.

Normally she'd have dissuaded Tim with something a little more pyrokinetic, but she was a little distracted right now. The arrow wound on her arm was taking longer to heal than she'd expected; plus, what she really wanted to do was lie down somewhere and nap for a couple of hours. But the one thing she could never ignore was the call of treasure. So she concentrated fiercely on healing herself, and plunged forward boldly into the catacombs' entrance

Constance, Jin and Zelgadis watched as the others went below into the catacombs. She kind of felt sorry for poor Tim (that elbow shot had to have hurt...), but then again, from what she had heard about Lina, he had gotten off easy....

Once the others were out of sight, Constance turned to Zelgadis with a questioning look. "So, what's going on?"

Zel also watched the others descend into the catacombs, making sure they weren't in earshot when he said, "I have to warn you about some things." The chimera took on a very serious expression, which made him look about the same as he normally did but still managed to convey the point that he was fairly worried. "To start, Lina doesn't seem to be very much like herself. Gourry staying behind in Sairaag probably hurt her a lot." He paused; "She doesn't seem ready for any high-level fighting." He looked into both the others' faces to impress them with the gravity of the situation before continuing. "We also cannot completely count on Tim. He's having a problem of his own, with the result that while he might be fine -- he also might not."

The chimera tightened the bindings on his sword and stated flatly, "We three are going to have to carry the others through any combat. I trust that I don't need to tell you that Arcius does not need to hear this. Hopefully it won't come up, but if it does..." Zelgadis shrugged. "You'd better not count on Lina's blasting any and all problems into a smoking ruin for you." He gave them an appraising look. "Do you think you're up for it?"

Jin made a fist and smiled brightly. "Yeah! I'm up for anything right now!" Jin then cleared his throat, thinking he sounded a little too perky. "I mean, sure. I'm up for it." Zelgadis raised an eyebrow and nodded as he resumed his decent into the catacombs. Jin sighed and followed him in, Constance close behind.

"Jin?" she asked. He turned around and waited for her to continue. She resumed, "You... sounded as if you're enjoying this." Jin looked for an escape to answering that question. "Uhm... I... well...."

Constance giggled and shook her head. "You don't have to say anything." She sighed. "But this place sorta gives me the creeps... how 'bout you?"

Jin smiled at a chance to change the subject. "It doesn't bother me much. I do sorta like this kinda stuff, ya know? And Lina's slump will give me a chance to use MY magic more."

Having gotten that off his chest, Jin turned around and proceeded to run after Zelgadis, who was quite a ways ahead of them. Constance shivered uncomfortably and followed.

Zelgadis, in fact, was walking quickly to catch up with the others - not really caring if anyone had followed them into the catacombs. He'd deal with that when and if it happened. He didn't even stop to wait for Jin and Constance when he started getting ahead of them. They could catch up. With all the oddities cropping up in the group, the chimera had a very, very dim estimate for their chance of success.

As if on cue, Zelgadis heard a scream coming from farther ahead. He rushed forward to see what was happening and to his surprise, a tall man in a black outfit had a large hand over Lina's mouth and a steel boot pinning Tim's head to the floor. Looking up and seeing Zelgadis, the man began to speak in a strange tongue. "*Nk^K@@$ W@#$$@$K?" he asked quietly.

Not knowing what to do, Zelgadis drew his sword. "Let them go!" He moved forward cautiously as their assailant released the two and drew his own sword, and a big one it was too.

The man pulled back his hood and revealed a head of red hair and bright green eyes. He asked again, this time in another language. "QWght Di Yha Khow dof Dhe Fhlar?"

Zelgadis thought he heard something there. "What do you know of..." He whispered to himself.

The other man perked up, nodding. "Ye speaketh en a tongue mine ears art familiar to!"

Zelgadis blinked several times. "What do you want? Why were you holding those two?" he demanded.

Just then, Jin and Constance arrived. Jin quickly assessed the situation and prepared for a fight. Constance, who didn't really have enough room in the crowded passage to fight, stayed behind Jin and trained her eyes on the stranger. "Who is he?" Jin asked the chimera.

Zelgadis, who hadn't thought of asking that question, did so now. "Who are you?"

The one in question resheathed his sword and bowed to the group. "Mine name be Renzzoku. What knowest ye of the Flare Dragon?"

Apparently, Renzzoku had dismissed the bard, not thinking he was a threat. Which, when compared to the directness of eveyone else in the party, was entirely true and then some. However, blowing Arcius off was a rather silly thing to do, if for no other reason than it irritated Arcius. Things happened to people then; all kinds of generally unpleasant things.

Arcius did not particularly mind that the stranger had jumped out of nowhere and violently subdued his companions. He could join the crowd as far as Arcius was concerned, plus, it was always nice when stupid help announced itself as stupid help. More importantly, Arcius was interested in the pouch at the man's side. Something was very neat about it, and Arcius was never one to ignore his instincts. And since the man was convienently ignoring Arcius and presenting this opportunity, then he could not insult the man by refusing him.

He reached out and tugged. Surprisingly, the cord tying it snapped and Arcius was able to tug it away. However, the cord that bound the pouch also served as a belt and it was rather noticeable when Arcius pulled it through the beltloops.

Renzzoku, who had his hand full with Lina, looked back at Arcius, a look of almost anger on his face. Arcius smiled, the light dancing off of his teeth. He pointed at Renzzoku's waist, still smiling. Renzzoku's gaze followed the bard's finger... and saw that his pants had fallen down around his ankles Renzzoku had wondered why it had gotten drafty all of a sudden and now, unfortunately, he knew. With a startled yelp, he let go of Lina and hopped back, turning bright red as he tried to cover himself while simultaneously trying to get his pants up.

"Don't bother," Lina said, a look of pure rage on her face. She was standing next to Zelgadis and the rest. "You won't be needing them anymore." She pointed. "FIREBALL!!"

Zelgadis put his sword away and shrugged as whoever that was got left behind on the wrong end of one of Lina's fireballs. It wasn't one of her extra-crispy fireballs, though, and that worried the chimera further. Maybe I should try and talk to Lina next time we stop.

Arcius quirked a brow. It was a pretty lame fireball, even more so considering who was casting it. The others would have to take care of the poor fool if that was all Lina had. As the man stood there, blackened, save for his eyes, more misfortune befell him. Quite literally, in fact, as a rather large slab from the ceiling of the cave, already weakened by the previous Dragon Slave, gave out under the sudden temperature spike from Lina's fireball. It struck the man square on the head. His eyes rolled up in his head and he fell to the floor, eyes a-spiral.

Eric and the other figure watched the catacomb entrance from the shadows. The streets were empty and rather quiet, although the sound of chaos came from other districts as the city struggled to regain a semblance of order after Lina's little mishap. "What are we waiting for," Eric asked in a whisper.

The other replied back in a low voice. "Encountering them in the tunnels would result in a stalemate. There is a cavern below this city, one that is warded strongly. We will wait. They will do the dirty work for us. Such a task will drain them as well. Also, there is another who is to join us."

Eric nodded at this, and removed his crossbow, armed it, and held it at his side. He hoped he wouldn't have to use it again, but...with the way things had been going, he had an awful feeling he would.

A very quiet voice spoke from the shadows behind Eric. "Hmph. Clumsy weapon." When he turned, all Eric saw was a slightly less dark patch in the night. With a more careful look, the patch resolved itself into the shape of a small human, or perhaps a normal sized elf. It was frowning at Eric. Startled, Eric brought the bow to bear on this intruder.

"Put that thing down. This is the help I mentioned. It has been decided a more... subtle approach might be useful."

The boy ignored Eric, and spoke to the shadowy figure. "The job?"

"There are some people in the catacombs beneath this place, led by a most obnoxious bard. Your normal routine, plus attempt to gain possesion of anything they remove from the catacombs, if you would. You report to Eric." The figure pointed at this worthy.

"Pay?" The boy's voice was barely louder than the breeze.

"As normal. Any reasonable bonus for the theft. Special favours for causing the bard misfortune." The figure waved dismissively.

The shadowy boy smiled mirthlessly, and nodded.

The group continued their chat, unaware that in the shadows, two blood-red eyes watched them. "Fools," came a deep dark whisper. "They think that they are the only ones." The eyes shifted to the the entrance. "I must be swift," the eyes turned back to the group, "so as not to draw attention." Then, in an instant, the eyes were gone.

Metcliff was irritated. The little bitch was on her way to Kytares after the Astral Sabre, forcing him to change his well-laid plans. He had been in Kytares since the fight, hoping to snatch the treasure before she and her companions arrived. Kytares, on the other hand, wasn't cooperating.

First, it was cold and he had yet to find a room that did not have a draft in it. That was annoying enough. The barrier that sealed the lowest parts of the catacombs, that was aggravating. It blocked his teleportive powers and was impervious to his sword and every spell he knew. He had exhausted himself the night before trying to get through it.

And now, there was this. This letter! Apparently, someone knew of his plans, knew he was trying to get to the Sabre. And that someone had the gall to make fun of him!

"Sir,
You will not be able to get into the lower city without my help. However, that is rather inconvenient for me, so I am afraid that you shall just have to work around my schedule. The barrier shall be undone temporarily two hours after the signal. Rest assured, the signal will be most spectacular.
Signed,
XXX

He wadded up the parchment and looked outside the window. Someone, several minutes ago, had thrown a Dragon Slave, by the looks of it. That must be the signal. Someone, in two hours, was going to get flayed alive for insulting him....

After everyone taking shots at the idiot who had decided that jumping Lina was a great idea had become boring, Arcius stood up. "We have delayed long enough, Lords and Ladies. He does not appear to want to get up at the moment, and since no one here cares to slit his throat to make sure he stays down, we have more important things to do." With that, he marched off, rather unconcerned as to whether or not the others were following him.

It took a few minutes, but the footsteps eventally caught up with him, along with the rest of the light. They travelled through room after room and layer after layer of beautiful underground scenery. It was remarkably quiet in the caves; save for the dripping of water, the only sounds to be heard were those the party made. Arcius was mostly quiet during the trip, an odd change from his normal nature.

After a little under an hour had passed, they entered into a large underground antechamber. The room was split down the middle by a huge crack in the floor. The only way to reach the other side was by a humongous stone slab that had fallen so that it made a bridge. "Wait," Arcius said, motioning the others not to climb on to the bridge. "In a few minutes, it will become visible."

As he spoke, a shimmery yellow field faded hazily into view. It bisected the bridge and blocked off the other side of the room more completely than the chasm had. "That seals the undercity of Kytares and has stood since its fall." He chuckled. "Only those willing to speak of the glory of that city are allowed to open the gates."

His voice slipped into the measured story-telling state. "Of a higher magic it was forged, the likes of which have been lost for a longer span of time than it would take a mountain to grind to dust. Naught is there in today's world that can penetrate it without damning the world itself. Mighty was the magic of the ancients, and less is the world in the wake of their passing."

"Now," he said, clambering up onto the rock. "I shall open the gates of this city, and you shall see why this fabulous city has been preserved through the ages of man." He walked up to the barrier, hands outstretched.