Several days later, Ameria walked wearily past a sign which read, "Wellcome to Nakuchoni, home of the worlde's largest historicale shoppe." Despite her fatigue, she managed a bright smile. That meant she was getting closer to the Chorioni capital. Once she had arrived in Chorion, she decided that it would be her first stop on her mission of diplomacy. Of course, first she had to gather a little information about the country itself, to determine if it was a worthy country for Saillune to ally itself with.

Ameria was young, but she was an experienced traveler. She had learned, after years of adventures with Lina and company, how to find out almost anything she needed to learn. All she had to do was visit enough towns, eat at enough inns, and talk to enough people to gather all the information she needed. And she was thorough. Often, she talked to every innkeeper and shopkeeper in a town before leaving it. She was on a quest, and once she embarked on a quest, she never gave up until it was finished.

The path ahead of her became the main street of Nakuchoni. She looked around as she crossed an intersection. The village was tiny in comparison to many she had seen back home, yet it wasn't the smallest village she had seen. The style of architecture, however, was unique by her standards. The little buildings which lined the dirt road had been whitewashed, but the walls were criss-crossed with thick, chocolate-brown beams in an X-shaped pattern. It was an unusual look, she thought. The people she passed on the streets were dressed strangely, as well. Most wore dark-colored robes with brightly-colored scarves of material hanging down from their necks, and nearly all of them wore glasses. A few wore more typical clothing like pants, tunics, and dresses, but, in all, Ameria had never seen so many people wearing such long, loose-fitting clothing before in her life.

The sun was now beginning to set, and she could see villagers scurrying home, intent on staying off the streets once daylight was finally gone. She turned down a side street and immediately noticed a large building not far down the road. It was brightly lit, and people were coming in and out of its large, wooden door. She hurried forward and saw by the door a sign with a bed and a plate, which clearly marked the place as an inn. Relieved, she pushed open the door and went inside. "Thank goodness," she remarked tiredly as she found her way to a small table and sat down.

Lina opened the door to her room, cast a small, concentrated fire spell directed toward the lamp on the nightstand, and ran toward the bed with a squeal of delight. She plopped down on the mattress and sighed happily. Princess Erika followed her in, and closed and locked the door behind them. "We were certainly lucky to find a room, weren't we, Inverse-san?" she said to the gleeful redhead.

"Um-hmmm," Lina muttered back. She sighed contentedly, then sat up quickly and started to pull off her boots. "We made pretty good time to Nakuchoni, all things considered," she said.

"I think I am getting a little more used to traveling," admitted the princess. She sat down on the other bed and bent over to untie her brown leather boots.

They had arrived at the smaller of the two inns of Nakuchoni a few hours before, just in time for a hearty dinner. After dessert, Gourry, Lina, and Princess Erika headed up to bed. Lina and Gourry had agreed earlier that, even though they had each stayed in separate rooms for their first night on the road without a problem, it would probably be safer if Lina and the princess shared a room from then on.

Princess Erika stood up and walked over to the closet. She opened the door and found several pairs of pajamas hanging inside, each a different size. She pulled out a set and held it up to herself. "I think this will fit," she muttered.

"Hmm?" Lina asked. She was still sitting on the bed, studying the little paintings that decorated the walls.

"Nothing. I was just talking to myself."

"Oh. There's a set in there for me, right?" Lina asked. She stood up and walked over to the closet.

"I think so. Here," the princess handed her a hangar, upon which hung a smaller set of nightclothes. "Will these fit you?"

Lina pulled the pants off the hangar and held them up to herself. "I think so. Usually things are a little too big for me, but that's all right. I'm used to it."

Princess Erika nodded. "I will need some assistance with the buttons in the back, if you would not mind, Inverse-san," she said, gathering her hair in one hand and sweeping it over one shoulder to reveal several buttons down the back of her pastel pink dress.

"Um, okay," Lina agreed. She tossed her pajamas onto her bed and went over to the taller girl. She wasn't really used to unbuttoning anyone, but then again, she had never traveled with anyone who acted like a real princess before. She helped the princess out of her dress, commenting resentfully to herself that there must be a royal gene that dictated that a princess's figure had to be perfect. While Princess Erika was not quite as well-endowed as Ameria, she thought, she certainly had a few inches on her.

Lina got undressed herself while the princess changed into her pajamas and brushed her hair. Finally, Lina extinguished the lamp, and the two young women climbed into their beds.

"I hope you're a heavy sleeper," Lina said, "because I tend to toss around in my sleep."

The princess replied with a dainty giggle, "My handmaids have told me that I snore!"

Lina sat up, looking across the darkened room to the barely illuminated form on the other bed, astonished by that statement. "You? I didn't think royalty could snore! Then again," Lina said reconsidered, "I think I did catch Ameria snoring once or twice."

"Ameria?" Princess Erika asked.

"Ameria, the princess of Saillune. We've had a few adventures together."

"Saillune is the city you were describing earlier, correct?"

Lina nodded.

"You never mentioned you had met other royalty," she observed.

"I don't think of Ameria as royalty, to be honest. She isn't very much like you," Lina said factually.

Princess Erika arched an eyebrow at that statement. "Oh? How so?"

"She's, well, she's more..." Lina struggled for the right words. "She doesn't wear dresses all the time, she studies magic, and she's a lot louder than you...basically her goal in life is to bring justice to the world, whether or not the world is ready for it," she finished wryly. She glanced over at the other girl, who was on her side, leaning on her elbow, facing her. "She's a good kid, and a good friend; she's just a little idealistic," she concluded.

"Ah. I wish I could meet her someday," the princess said softly.

"It would be interesting, to say the least. I don't think you'd get along--you're too different," Lina said truthfully.

"You never know. We might have more in common than you would think," she replied, smiling politely. She lay back down and stared at the ceiling. "Good night, Inverse-san."

"Good night, Princess." Lina turned over on her side and lay her head down on her pillow. She had met so far three princesses in her life, and they were all completely different from each other. She reflected on when she had first seen Princess Erika. Royalty get all the luck, she thought. Lina had never cared that much about her looks, but now she felt a twinge of envy. She had seen the way Gourry had stared at the princess when they first met her; he had never stared at Lina that way. No, when she and Gourry first met, Gourry had looked her up and down and concluded that she was a skinny little kid in need of protection. Lina wasn't the "babe" Gourry had expected her to be.

Gourry. Why did she even care what he thought of her looks? He was a man, after all, and men weren't worth looking good for. If she was going to look pretty, she would do it for herself. Besides, Lina reprimanded herself, Gourry was still a friend, regardless of anything that had happened between them in the past. A friend. Nothing more, nothing less. You shouldn't have to look beautiful for your friends to like you, she thought. And Gourry liked her, not because she had to be beautiful, but because she was a friend. Very simple. She could be friends with a man.

Lina sat up in bed, fluffed her pillow, and lay back down. She just wanted to go to sleep. The sooner she fell asleep, the sooner morning would come, and the sooner she would eat breakfast. She smiled at that thought, and drifted off to dreamland, thinking about Gourry and Princess Erika and scrambled eggs.

Zelgadiss ran a hand through his wiry hair and rubbed his bleary eyes as he walked down the dark path toward what he assumed was a town. The moon was rising into the starry sky, casting just enough silvery light upon a sign which had been placed along the side of the road. "Wellcome to Nakuchoni, home of the worlde's largest historicale shoppe," it read. Zel allowed himself a rare smile as he adjusted his scarf over his face, pulled his hood over his head, and quickened his pace.

He walked quietly along the side of the empty road, searching for an inn. Nakuchoni was relatively small, but since it was supposedly somewhat of a tourist attraction, he expected to find a hotel or two somewhere close by. He rounded a corner and, just as he expected, he saw a small building to his right that displayed a sign with a fork and a bed in its window. The soft glow of candlelight radiated from the tiny window in front. Zel checked his cloak pocket to make sure he had money, then quickly pulled open the heavy wooden door and stepped inside.

He took a quick look around. The floor was covered with a giant woven rug, and tapestries hung on the walls. To his right was a wooden door marked "Dining Room", and to his left was a staircase that presumably led to the rooms upstairs. Directly in front of him was a huge, ornately-carved desk, which lined the back wall of the foyer, and behind it sat a young man who had fallen asleep in his chair. Zelgadiss stepped up to the desk and cleared his throat.

The man woke up with a start. "Excuse me!" he exclaimed. "I'm sorry, I didn't even hear you come in."

Zel nodded and asked, "Are there any rooms available tonight?"

The clerk nodded. "We have two rooms. One has two beds and the other has one. Which would you like?"

"Just one bed will do."

"All right, then, would you sign here?" the man requested, pulling out the guest registry and a quill from underneath a stack of books and sliding them across the desktop to Zel.

He pulled the book toward him and flipped open to the most recent entry. Dipping the quill into the inkwell on the desk, he asked, "When do the stores open around here?"

The clerk yawned, then replied, "Most open at nine. A few, though, like the main bookstore in the center of town, don't open till after noon." He shook his head. "It's stupid. The people who run the so-called largest historical bookstore in the world are too arrogant to open it any earlier for the tourists."

Zel lifted an eyebrow as he scratched out his signature in his perfect script. "Not a very consumer-friendly policy, ne?"

"You said it," he replied, taking the book back from Zel. He pointed to the door off to his left. "There's the dining room. I don't think you'll be able to get anything at this hour, though. The cook was in a bad mood all night because of some customers who came in and ordered too much food, so he went home. But, if nothing else, you could let yourself in to the kitchen and make yourself some coffee." He pulled out a key ring from his pocket and fumbled with it until he pulled off a key with some numbers on it. "Here's your key. Your room is up the stairs--the second door to your right."

"Thanks," Zel said, taking the key from the man.

"You're welcome. Have a restful night," the clerk replied.

Zel cast a lightening spell to light the way as he climbed up the stairs to the darkened second floor, all the while planning the next day. He would go to the smaller stores first, and see what they held in stock. Then, he'd hit the big store in the middle of town. He just hoped that among those stores, he'd find at least one lead.

He found his room and let himself inside. After a cursory examination of the place, Zel undressed and put on the hotel pajamas that he found in the small closet. He then flopped down on the bed and threw an arm over his eyes. He was more tired than he had thought. In fact, he thought, he could fall asleep right then and there.

A few minutes later, Zelgadiss was sleeping soundly, an almost blissful expression on his stony face.

Several hours later, Princess Erika awoke and looked around. The moon was setting, so the room was almost completely dark. She reached for the candle on the nightstand between her bed and Lina's, then fumbled around for a match. Finally, she managed to light the little wax stick.

Lina turned in her sleep, muttering something about penguins, and flopped over onto her stomach. The princess smiled, amused, then slowly and silently pushed back the sheets that covered her and sat up in bed. She turned and dangled her feet off the side, searching for her slippers with her toes. She found them and slid her feet into them, then quietly stood up and crept to the closet. Lina turned again and muttered something as the princess opened the squeaky closet door and pulled out a robe. She quickly put it on, and crept back to her nightstand. Picking up her candle by its brass holder, she held a hand over it to keep the air from blowing it out, and slowly made her way to the door. Once in the hallway, Princess Erika looked around. No one seemed to be awake at this early hour, as she would expect. She tip-toed all the way down the hallway and down the stairs, and slowly pushed open the door across the bottom of the staircase marked "Dining Room."

Zelgadiss looked up from where he was seated in front of the dimly-glowing fireplace to see someone peek into the room. He swore under his breath and started to stand up. Scaring someone senseless at this early hour was not exactly what he had in mind when he had decided to come downstairs for a cup of tea.

Princess Erika was not expecting someone to actually be in the dining room, but it was too late for her to turn back by the time she saw the backlit stranger seated by the fire in his hotel-supplied robe. She pushed the door open all the way and stepped inside. The man stood up, as if he was about to leave quickly, so she held out a hand and whispered, "Excuse me! I did not mean to disturb you."

Zel wished he had his hood and scarf. "It's all right, I was just leaving," he said quietly.

The girl stepped forward and lifted an eyebrow at his excuse. "Without finishing your tea?" she asked dubiously.

He glanced down at the still-steaming teapot sitting on the stone hearth and sweatdropped. "Umm..."

She smiled and turned toward the kitchen. "Please do not leave on my account. I just came down here for some warm milk, if they have it." She pushed open the door marked "Kitchen" and said, "I will be right back."

Against his better judgment, Zel nodded and sat down again. He wasn't exactly sure why he didn't just leave right then, but he stayed nonetheless. After all, it was dark in the room, and she hadn't run away in fear yet, had she? Besides, she was right; he had barely touched his tea. What did it matter if he talked to some strange girl for a few minutes before he went back up to bed? It wasn't like he would ever see her again.

Princess Erika returned a few minutes later with a mug filled with warm milk. She walked across the room slowly, the candle in one hand, and the mug in her other hand. Zel instinctively reached out and took the candle from her so she could use both hands to steady her mug as she sat down on the hearth a few feet away from him. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Don't mention it," he muttered, setting the candle down on the stone surface. He studied her while she sipped her milk. Now that she was close by, he could see that she was very pretty. Her long, wavy hair was either blond or brown; he couldn't tell for sure in the dim lighting of the room. Her eyes were large and bright, and seemed to sparkle with intelligence. She had a cute little button nose, and her oval-shaped face was perfectly formed.

She caught him looking at her, and quickly took another long sip of her milk, not wanting to embarrass the stranger. Finally, she brought the mug down, set it on the stones, and looked around. She smoothed out her robe and shifted a little so she could see the area behind her as well. After a minute or so, having taken in the atmosphere, she asked, "What is your name, sir?"

"Zelgadiss Greywords," he replied, and took a sip from his teacup.

"How do you do?" she said politely, then sipped her mug.

"What's your name?" he asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

She paused almost imperceptibly, then simply said, "Erika."

Zel nodded, and poured himself some more tea from the pot sitting on the hearth.

Princess Erika studied the man sitting across from her. She couldn't quite tell in the very dim lighting, but it seemed as if he had very rough skin in places on his face. Despite this, he looked handsome, in an almost exotic way; he seemed much different than most of the young princes and servants she had seen before. His eyes were slanted and bright with intelligence, and he seemed to exude an air of reserved confidence. She sized him up and figured him to be a few years older than her. He probably wasn't a mercenary, she guessed; perhaps he was a scholar of some kind. "And what has kept you up so late tonight, if I may be so bold?" she asked, breaking the silence.

Zelgadiss shifted uncomfortably, then replied, "I woke up, and couldn't get back to sleep, so I came down here for some coffee. I couldn't find any, though, so I had tea instead."

The princess nodded and took another sip of her milk and again looked around the darkened room. She turned back to Zel and said, "You are not from anywhere around here, are you?"

He blinked. "Why do you say that?"

She smiled and said, "Your speaking accent is much different than any Chorioni accent."

"Oh." He didn't say anything for a minute, wondering if she had noticed his appearance. He glanced at her and realized that she was now squinting at the paintings on the wall behind her, not looking at him. "Where are you from?" he asked.

"I believe I asked you first," she countered politely, turning to him with a slight smile playing across her lips.

Zel lifted an eyebrow. "Not exactly. You simply asked if I was from the area." She shrugged, to which he responded simply, "I'm from within the Barrier."

She sat up with interest. "You mean the New World?"

He shook his head. "That's what we call this place--the country outside the old Barrier."

"Well, that is what we call your area," the princess said quickly. "I suppose it is a fair title for both parties involved."

Zel just nodded.

"I am from this country, Chorion, but I live closer to the ocean, in the capital city, Chorion City," she explained.

"What are you doing here?"

"I am just traveling with a few friends," she said ambiguously. She hoped he wouldn't press the issue--it would not do to divulge extra information. She decided to distract him with another question. "And why are you here?"

Zel couldn't figure out exactly why, but he felt like he was almost playing a mind game with her. Each seemed to be asking questions, and subtly dodging the questions asked of them. He couldn't completely nail it down, but he had the vague impression she was the type of person to hide a lot about herself. He shifted uncomfortably again, and picked up his teacup. He downed its contents, then looked away and said simply, "I'm looking for something."

"Are you a sorcerer?" she asked. He nodded. "I reasoned that you were probably not a mercenary or a merchant, but could not decide whether you were a scholar or a sorcerer."

"And how did you come to that conclusion?"

Princess Erika smiled and ticked off her reasoning on her fingers. "You have no sword with you right now, yet it is my understanding that mercenaries are armed at all times. If you were a merchant, I would expect you to have your till with you, since no merchant would leave his money unguarded in his room. You are from the New World, and therefore it is possible that you would be a sorcerer. Lastly, you have come to a town famous for its historical shops, which would be of interest to you if you were a scholar, especially a scholar from within the Barrier. However, you are not dressed in the typical fashion of a scholar, which could perhaps be explained by the fact that you are not from this country, but still..." her voice trailed off, and she gave a small shrug. "It was a lucky guess between the two."

Zel nodded as he listened to her state her reasoning in her soft, lilting accent. "Your assumptions are correct; I'm a sorcerer," he admitted when she was finished.

She shook her head, causing some disheveled locks of wavy hair to cascade down her shoulders. "Unfortunately, I know next to nothing about sorcery. We have been sealed away from the magic-using part of the world for a very long time."

"I'm sure people around here will come to know magic better. People from my part of the world are now starting to venture over here, and the exchange of information should be interesting to watch," he said thoughtfully.

Princess Erika nodded and finished off the last of her milk. "Yes, it should be interesting, indeed."

They sat in silence for a moment or two, until she rose from her seat. She bent down to pick up her candleholder in her slender hand, and said, "I think I will be going back to bed, now." She stopped, looked down at the mug in her other hand, and got an idea. "Would you be so kind as to leave this in the kitchen when you are finished?"

Zel nodded and took the mug. Their fingers brushed for just a second, and Zel looked up at her sharply, to see if she would recoil in disgust, the way most people did. To his surprise, she simply smiled at him and steadied her candle.

"Thank you," she whispered. "It was very nice to meet you, Greywords-san," she said politely.

"Nice to meet you too," he replied, out of habit more than anything else.

"Good night," she said quietly, and turned and slipped out the door. She closed it behind her and proceeded to climb the stairs, considering the results of her little test. His hand had felt hard, as if it were made of stone. "That is impossible," she whispered to herself as she let herself back into her room. Then again, she had never imagined people like Lina Inverse or Gourry Gabriev existed, either. She would just have to keep an open mind, she decided, until she learned more about the people from within the Barrier.

Zel sat in the dining room, pondering the girl he had just met. Finally, he finished his tea and piled the dishes into his arms. He cast a small lightening spell, and extinguished the dying embers in the fireplace. He dropped off the dirty earthenware in the kitchen and headed up to bed. Hopefully he would have a clue to a cure for himself tomorrow, like Willard, the mage he had met a few days before, had suggested he might find. Until then, Zelgadiss could only sleep and dream of the possibilities.

It was several minutes before Lina realized she was walking on, no, floating above a dirt path that seemed to cut through an endless wheat field.

She smiled broadly, stretching her arms out as she looped and soared over the path, feeling carefree and relaxed. She took a deep, satisfying breath and gazed at the gorgeous scenery around her. The sun was shining brightly above her, casting its life-giving glow upon the golden wheat plants growing below. She could see twin mountain ranges on either side of her, but far, far away. Ahead of her stretched an endless sea of yellow that waved slightly in the wind.

Spying a clump of flowers growing alongside the road, Lina swooped low until she was only a few inches from the dirt. She reached out and grabbed several of them. Pink, red, purple, and blue, the daisies would make a great addition to her hair, she decided, and stuck them in her headband as she ascended to her previous altitude.

After a few minutes, she realized she was flying faster and faster; she couldn't see individual wheat stalks, only a yellow blur to each side of her. She was about to slow down when an explosion literally knocked her out of the sky.

Lina didn't even have time to scream. The next thing she knew, she was tumbling head over heels down the dirt road, making a violent landing. It seemed as if she would never stop, but eventually she lost enough momentum so that she stopped bouncing and rolling and just landed on her face.

"Who did that?" the little sorceress demanded, jumping to her feet. Her magenta tunic and pants were covered in dirt, and her face and arms were scraped and bleeding. She cast a healing spell on herself and looked around, her hands on her hips, ready to Dragon Slave whoever had tried to blow her out of the sky; but to her dismay and confusion, there was no one to be found.

She looked up, squinting her eyes in the sunlight, trying to see if the bombshell had been dropped on her from above. Nothing. There was nothing in the sky except the sun and a few perfectly white, fluffy clouds. There weren't even any birds. Lina went to either side of the road and waded a few feet into the wheat stalks growing there, looking for whoever or whatever had had the nerve to sneak attack her.

She was so busy looking for her attacker that she almost didn't see the restaurant that had appeared about a quarter-mile ahead of her. Once she realized what it was from the large sign in front of it, she instantly forgot about her mishap and took off, sprinting down the path in the direction of the little building.

"Lucky!" she exclaimed gleefully as she came upon the sign in front of the place that identified it as a restaurant. Quickly, she pushed open the little door and stepped inside.

To her surprise, there was no one in the retaurantt. "Hello?" she called loudly as she sat down at one of the little tables. She looked around. The style of the building was not entirely to her liking, with its white walls and dark beams criss-crossing them, but she could live with strange decor as long as the food was good. The furniture seemed small, too, as if ithad been made for someone with short legs. Even the doorway she had just stepped through was lower to the ground than she was used to. It was a welcome change, to have buildings and furniture fit more to her smaller-than-average size.

Suddenly, there was a "pop", and, right in front of her eyes, the table filled completely with food. Plates upon plates of delicious-looking meats, breads, and vegetables took up every available inch of space. A glass of Zephillian wine appeared by her right hand. "Wow! Now that's what I call service!" Lina exclaimed, then proceeded to dig in unquestioningly.

While she ate, she noticed a little door in the back of the restaurant, opposite the door through which she had come in. Must be where the kitchen is, she thought to herself. Hopefully whoever was responsible for this would just keep the food coming, however they were doing it, because it was delicious. She slathered some butter on some country crust bread while chewing on a huge mouthful of roasted chicken, making noises of approval in the back of her throat.

A few minutes later, Lina heard a rustling noise behind her and turned to see what it was, a turkey leg in hand. Seeing nothing, she turned back to her food. As she ate, the empty plates disappeared and were replaced with fresh ones with more food on them. She chortled with glee.

Another noise caught her attention, this time from behind the small bar in the far corner of the room, near the back door. Strange, she thought. It almost sounded like a chirp. Curiosity got the better of her, so she grabbed a roll to munch on, stood up, and walked across the room.

As soon as she was three feet from the bar, something popped up from behind it. "Gahhh!" Lina exclaimed, startled. She instantly relaxed, however, when she saw what it was. "Geez, it's only a penguin. I'm getting too jumpy." She turned back toward her table. "I've gotta stop--"

"Lina Inverse!" the penguin interrupted her with its tinny squawk.

She whirled around, almost dropping the half-eaten roll. "What did you say? How do you know my name?" she demanded.

"It's her!" the penguin exclaimed, and with that, dozens of tiny penguin heads suddenly peeped out from behind the bar and studied her with curious black eyes. Choruses of "It's her!" and "It's Lina Inverse!" could be heard as more and more penguins appeared, until they started spilling out onto the top of the bar.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. What are you doing back there? You can't all possibly have come from behind that little bar!" Lina exclaimed. A creepy sense of dread was building up within her.

Simultaneously, each little penguin's eyes narrowed into a mean stare as they all whipped out miniature pop guns. "Ready...Aim...Fire!" the lead penguin shouted, and the little penguins took careful aim of their target and pulled their tiny triggers.

"Gaaahh!!" Lina shouted, diving to the floor to take cover from the little cork bullets that were pelting her. "Hey, cut that out! Ow! Stoppit!" she cried uselessly, covering her head with her hands. The penguins only screamed unintelligible war cries in response.

Lina lifted her arm and snuck a look at the bar where the penguins were shooting from, and noticed that once the pests ran out of cork bullets they began to climb down from the bar toward her. "What do you want? Ow! Whatever you're mad about, I didn't do it!" she cried as she crawled back to her table, intending to use her chair as a shield.

"Storm her!" the lead penguin cried, pointing his black and white wing forward. Hundreds of penguins rushed past him, and climbed down or simply jumped off of the bar and waddled as fast as they could toward Lina. Before she knew it, they were on top of her.

"Stop it! Get away!" she hollered as the penguins pecked at her, jumped on top of her, and pulled her hair and clothes. She swatted at them, but for the most part her arms were occupied with keeping the pesky birds out of her face. She was afraid one of them would peck her nose off. "If you don't stop it, I'm gonna Dragon Slave this whole place!"

For a split second, the penguins continued to attack her. Then, as quickly as their attack had come, they jumped off her and gathered in a circle around her, simply staring at her.

Lina sat up, holding her head with one hand and producing a glowing ball of energy over the other, just to make her point clear. "What do you want with me?" she demanded. "Why did you just go and attack me like that?! All I was trying to do was eat!" The penguins said nothing in response. In fact, it didn't even seem as if they understood her. "Are you listening to me?!" she shouted in frustration.

The lead penguin glanced around at his comrades-at-arms. Giving a nod, he put his wings to his ears and proceeded to pull his head off.

Or at least that was what Lina thought he had done. Instead of seeing penguin blood everywhere as the hundreds of penguins removed their heads, she saw little, human-like heads underneath, covered with blond hair.

"Gourry! Little Gourrys everywhere! Is that what you really are?!" she cried out, suddenly very confused. The chibi Gourrys made no response, and instead simply removed the rest of their penguin costumes.

Then the leader spoke. "Get the food!" he shouted, while pointing his itty-bitty arm toward the table Lina had just been sitting at.

The little blond-haired, blue-clothed monsters swarmed the table, eating everything in sight. "Nooooooooooo! Gourry! Get back here! All of you!! Ooooh, Gourrys, you're gonna die!" she shouted as she tried to keep them away from the table. "Keep your hands off that! No, no, leave me alone!" Lina swatted them away, only to see more of them rush to the same spot. She threw herself over the food and started to gobble things up before the little Gourrys ate everything.

"Lina! Lina! It's food! Um, Lina, what were you trying to say again? I don't get it. Food, Lina! Food! No, you can't have my Hikari no Ken!" the chibi Gourrys shouted in between bites. "Lina Lina Lina Lina Lina Lina! Food, food, food! Lina, why are you so short?" the Gourrys babbled.

"Aarrggh!" she growled in reply as she held aloft the last piece of food--a platter of chicken. They were not going to eat all her food. Not while she was alive.

"Get the chicken!" some of them shouted, and about a third of the little pests proceeded to either jump onto her or try to climb up her clothes. They shouted to the other Gourrys to help.

"No, get off me! Hey, stop that, it tickles!" She held the platter aloft with one hand while swatting Gourrys away with her other hand. She was so busy doing that she didn't even notice the rest of the little ones gathering at the edge of the table. With a collective yell, the remaining Gourrys simultaneously leapt off the table at her.

Lina couldn't keep her balance any longer. The added force of the tiny creatures to the rest of those who were already swinging from her hair and tickling her arms and stomach made her collapse to the floor with a shriek.

"GET AWAY FROM THIS CHICKEN AND I MEAN NOW!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. It had no effect. The Gourrys were now devouring the chicken where it had fallen to the floor. Lina glanced up at the table. It was completely bare except for the plates. "Figures," she grumbled as she readied herself to cast the Dragon Slave. She was not about let someone steal food from her and get away from it. Besides, whoever the practical jokester behind this is, he deserves a little property damage, she thought.

But before she could begin the chant, the little Gourrys disappeared. Lina paused and glanced around, again sensing something ominously creepy as she looked all over for the pests. She had every right to feel nervous, for at that very moment the room she was in began to shrink to about half its original size. The ceiling was about three feet from the floor, and it was closing down on her fast. "Aaaaaaaa!! LEMME OUTTA HERE!" she yelled as she scrambled toward the front door.

Suddenly a little Gourry appeared, floating in the air between her and the door. "Inverse-san, Inverse-san, Inverse-san..." he repeated over and over again. Lina couldn't figure out why in the world Gourry was calling her by her last name, but she didn't have time to ponder it, since the room was rapidly shrinking and she didn't want to be stuck inside.

"Inverse-san!" the Gourry persisted.

"Not now, Gourry, can't you see I'm trying to get out of here?!" Lina shouted back as she tripped over her hands while she crawled across the floor as fast as she could.

"Inverse-san!"

The princess of Chorion shook her bodyguard gently, trying to awaken her before her dream got any worse. "Please, Inverse-san, you have to wake up. You are having a bad dream!"

"Gourry! Gou--" Lina shouted out as her eyes flew open and she sat up with a start. Princess Erika moved backward in one graceful step to avoid being hit by Lina's flailing hands. "Huh?" She looked down and noticed that she was tangled in her sheets, panting and sweaty.

Princess Erika sighed in relief. "You were having a bad dream," she explained. "I think you were trying to run away from something," she said.

"Run...run away?" Lina shook her head. Run away. Who would she run away from, Gourry? No, she would never have any reason to run away from him.

"You were shouting Gabriev-san's name," the princess said calmly. Noting the sour expression that came over Lina's face when she said that, she decided to change the subject. "Well, are you all right now? Or should we go downstairs to see if we can find something to help you sleep?"

"No, thank you," Lina said, shook her head a few times to clear it. "I'm fine. Sorry to wake you up, Princess. You should get some sleep."

"I am fine. I want to make sure you are all right also," the princess replied softly.

"I'll be OK. Please, just go back to sleep. I'm sorry to wake you up." Lina waved her away as she rearranged her blanket and lay back down. The princess nodded and climbed into bed.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"I'm all right."

"Good. Sleep well, Inverse-san," the princess said as she lay down herself.

"Good night, your highness," Lina murmured, then turned on her side. Her hair was plastered to her face with sweat, and she lifted her head to pull it away. Laying her head back down, she resolved not to think about the dream, or the question it posed: what was she running away from?