The next day, after a typical Lina Inverse-style breakfast, the trio decided to stop at the big store in the middle of town so Lina could sell some of the stolen jewelry she had pilfered from some bandits she and Gourry had beaten up a few weeks before. It was just a little after noon when they checked out of the inn and made their way toward Nakuchoni’s town square.

As they walked, Gourry noticed some of the people on the streets. He looked down at Lina, who was also staring at the passers-by, a puzzled expression on her face. "Hey, Lina, they dress funny, don’t they?" he asked.

Lina took in the atmosphere of the town. The streets were well-kept, and the merchants on the street sold their wares quietly and unobtrusively. But Gourry was right: the citizens of Nakuchoni dressed very strangely, with their loose, black, featureless robes. The only color about them came from the bright scarves they wore draped around the backs of their necks so that the front ends dangled down to their knees. "You’ve got that right," she replied softly.

"I believe they are scholars," Princess Erika observed quietly. "Chorioni scholars tend to wear outfits such as these to denote their standing as learned people."

"Guess that explains it," Lina nodded. She looked down the street and saw a huge, ugly fountain in the middle of the town square. About forty feet to the right was a building with a sign on it that proclaimed it to be the "Worlde’s Largest Historicale Shoppe." "There it is!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Come on, you guys! We’re gonna make some money!" She ran ahead and pulled open the ornate door that led into the store.

Once inside, everyone looked around. "This place is huge!" Lina exclaimed. The right half of the store was crammed with bookshelves, which were themselves crammed with old-looking books. The left half was filled with tables and shelves, holding all kinds of items. Most of these looked old as well.

Immediately, Gourry’s attention went to the wall to his left, upon which all kinds of weapons were hung. Some were coated with rust and had obviously been dug up from somewhere, but some of the swords looked well-polished and in good condition, despite their age. "Lina, I’m going to look around over here, all right?"

"Sure, sure," Lina replied while digging around in her pockets for the little bag of jewelry she intended to sell. "Just take Princess Erika with you, OK? I may have to get tough with these guys if they don’t give me a good price for this stuff," she said with a dangerous grin on her face.

Princess Erika lifted an eyebrow, and Gourry sweatdropped, but smirked in amusement. "Sure," he replied. With that, he turned toward the swords, motioning for the princess to follow. Lina skipped away toward the middle of the store, where three men were discussing something by a huge desk with a sign on it that read "Customer Service".

"Lina drives a hard bargain," Gourry said by way of explanation as he and the princess weaved through tables full of ancient artifacts. He shook his head, a certain amount of pride creeping into his tone as he spoke. "Whoever owns this place doesn’t know what he’s in for."

"I see," the princess replied. "Has she always been like that?" she asked.

Gourry shrugged and smiled. "As long as I can remember, she has. Lina’s a tough one, that’s for sure." By this point, they had reached the wall of weaponry. Gourry walked past the spears, axes, and various other esoteric weapons that were hung there, and immediately began perusing the swords. A card tacked on the wall indicated that some had protection spells on them; apparently Nakuchoni had had some contact with magic-users from the New World, Princess Erika surmised.

"Are you looking for any particular kind of sword?" she asked politely.

"Nah," Gourry replied, as he took one down off the wall and unsheathed it, testing its weight. "I just need something better than the sword I have now." He gestured to the weapon that hung at his belt, which he had obtained when Ameria "convinced" him to join the Peacemen while they were looking for Lina, just after Valgarv and DarkStar merged. "Although I don’t think anything’s going to come close to the Sword of Light."

"I am sorry to hear that," Princess Erika said sympathetically. "Inverse-san told me a little bit about how important that sword was to you."

"Yeah," Gourry replied casually, "but that’s OK. It went where it belonged. I don’t mind looking for another." He scrutinized the sword in his hand, examining its battered hilt and steel blade. "This one’s no good; its weight is all wrong." He resheathed it and hung it back up on the wall, then reached for another. Pulling that one out of its sheath, he hefted it in his hand and motioned the princess to take a few steps back. Once she did so, he took a few practice swings with it, then shrugged. "This one’s better than the one I have, at any rate, even if it’s not all that good. I think I’m going to tell Lina I want to buy this one until we find something better."

"All right," Princess Erika replied. They walked down the aisle and threaded their way in between the tables and shelves toward the front of the store, but just before they turned down another aisle, the princess stopped. She spied a bookshelf labeled "Imported Magicke Bookes" and lifted an eyebrow curiously. "Gabriev-san, while you find Inverse-san, I would like to peruse the books over there," she said.

"Hmmm?" Gourry glanced over his shoulder at her, then nodded. "That’s fine. I’ll come back after I find Lina. It should be safe," he replied.

She nodded and stepped toward the bookshelf crammed with magic books. They weren't nearly as well kept as the books in the library at Castle Ori, but they were still quite readable. Putting a well-manicured fingernail to her lip, the princess studied the bindings, trying to find one on a topic that interested her. She knew next to nothing about magic, so she wasn't particularly interested in reading dissertations on the use of magical potions, or tomes discussing the artistic merit of the Flare Arrow spell. Finally, she found a book about the history of magic and flipped through its pages, scanning for something interesting.

Meanwhile, Gourry finally found Lina at the customer service desk, conversing with three men about magical stuff he didn't understand. He held up the sword to Lina, who simply nodded and held a finger to her lips--apparently she wanted to hear what they had to say. He nodded back and stood nearby, idly looking around and softly humming a tuneless collection of notes.

Lina turned back to the three men and continued to listen to what they were saying. They were middle-aged men who didn’t know who she was; they probably just assumed she was a curious kid, or maybe a budding sorceress. She played that part well, hoping that eventually they would get around to gossiping about things she didn't already know. People would say more interesting things to a simple beginning magician than they would to an infamous sorceress.

"Magic is the wave of the future. I’m here to tell you…I’ve traveled this area for two months now, and already I’ve seen it picking up speed," the man to Lina's right, who was apparently a sorcerer, said.

"I already know the merits of magic. I’ve slain a dragon with it," said the man to her left proudly.

"Right, sure. I’ll bet you just threw so many Flare Arrows at it that it got bored and went away," the right sorcerer countered skeptically.

"I don't know, I think it's plausible that he was able to defeat it after studying magic for only a month," the man in the middle said, trying to keep the egos on both sides of him from crowding him out of the conversation. "I heard Lina Inverse came here, to the New World, just before I did. I’ll bet she could take out a dragon using one of her spells! I heard that she's the toughest sorceress the world has ever seen!"

"You bet," Lina murmured under her breath at hearing her name mentioned in the conversation. She was interested in hearing the latest rumors about herself and she always liked hearing others respect her for her abilities. After all, I am definitely more powerful than these guys, she thought.

"Lina Inverse?!?" the other two sorcerers exclaimed. One made a holy symbol in the air in front of him, while the other looked at the middle mage sternly.

"Don't mention that name, man, or you'll call the vixen here!" the right one said.

"She was the first person from your part of the world we heard about once the Barrier fell!" the left sorcerer exclaimed to the one in the middle. He shuddered. "That...that demon...I've heard she isn't even human! That she's a Mazoku in disguise who's trying to destroy the world! I certainly don't want her in MY store!"

Lina narrowed her eyes and growled low in her throat. Gourry's ears perked up at the mention of Lina's name, and he was about to say something to her when he noticed the look on her face. Usually his sense of chivalry would require him to defend Lina’s reputation, but once he saw her expression, he reasoned that Lina would probably punish these guys worse than he ever could, and would take ten times the satisfaction out of doing so. So he stayed quiet, shaking his head slightly. They really don’t know what they’re in for, he thought.

The man in the middle sweatdropped. "Um, well, I don't know about being a Mazoku, but she is really powerful! I once passed through some country back home that she had blazed her way through six months before, and they still hadn't recovered!" He looked up, remembering that journey. "I mean, they had been without bandits since she left, but there were still big smoking craters where she had cast the Dragon Slave!"

"That's just what I mean," said the right mage. "She's too dangerous. The world would be better off without that flat-chested, red-headed, hot-tempered, dragon-spooking terror!" he spat out.

The other mage nodded in agreement, all three completely ignoring the short girl next to them whose face was starting to turn an angry shade of red.

"And besides, it's just not right for a woman to get into magic like that. I mean, how are you going to find a husband if you're more powerful than he is? It just isn't right," continued the left mage. "She must've been brought up wrong, or something like that."

Lina was now clenching her fists and grinding her teeth, getting angrier by the minute.

"Well, I've heard that she's so ugly that she couldn't curse a man into marrying her!" the man on her right laughed.

Gourry glanced from sorcerer to sorcerer and back to Lina's face. His eyes widened. Lina was past the point of no return--she was going to erupt! Good thing the princess was...wait. Gourry turned over the consequences of Lina's anger in his mind. When Lina got angry, normally she cast big, destructive spells. Not good. Definitely not good for anyone in the near vicinity. Which meant...he had to get the princess out of there!

Lina didn't even notice Gourry toss the sword he was holding aside with a clatter and dash off in the direction of the book section of the store. She was too busy screaming. "You...you...how DARE you say such things about me! I am NOT a Mazoku, and I AM NOT FLAT-CHESTED!! I don't care about men; all I care about right now is MAKING SURE YOU NEVER TRASH ME AGAIN!!"

"Who...who are you?" the left sorcerer asked in surprise. One minute the girl was standing there politely, and the next she was yelling like she was...wait.

The right sorcerer jumped about three feet back when the little redhead started yelling. What right did she have to yell...hold on...he checked her appearance with his mental picture of the infamous sorceress...

Flat chest, red hair, short, wearing a sorceress's costume, explosive temper...she had to be none other than Lina Inverse, the middle mage concluded, panic-stricken. "Ex-excuse us, I-Inverse-sama, excuse us! We--we meant n-no h-ha-harm, none at all..." he babbled as Lina readied up a large fireball. He trembled as he heard her chanting under her breath.

Princess Erika gently turned a page in the book she was perusing, a small frown crossing her delicate face. This book got too technical in its description of the history of the development of magic for her tastes. She put it back and was about to pull out another when she caught fast movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned, her dress swishing against the wooden floor, and gasped. Gourry was sprinting down the aisle right toward her!

Gourry scooped up the princess in his arms as he ran, not even stopping to explain. He heard her gasp in shock but could only manage a "Sorry, Princess, but we’ve got to go!" as he burst out the door to the store and raced out, not even bothering to slam it behind him.

"Gabriev-san!" she exclaimed. "What about Inverse-san?" she exclaimed.

"No time! She'll be all right!" he shouted as he raced past the people who were milling around the town square. They merely watched him curiously, and then returned to their business. "She told me to keep you safe!"

"What is it? Is someone threatening her?" she asked, alarmed.

They finally reached an alley between two buildings across the wide town square, about eighty feet from the front of the store. He sighed in relief as he set Princess Erika down gently on the cobblestone street. "No, it’s just that whenever someone calls Lina flat-chested, she gets really mad," he replied as he turned a worried eye toward the store. "Stay behind me, Princess, and get down if you hear anything."

"Yes, yes of course," the princess sweatdropped and agreed nervously, stepping behind the swordsman as he peeked out the alley, waiting for the inevitable explosion.

Gourry and Princess Erika held their breaths and braced themselves. After a few seconds had passed and nothing had happened, Gourry exhaled and scratched his head. "Maybe I was wrong," he said.

Then the shop exploded.

Gourry and the princess were momentarily blinded by the blazing red light of Lina’s calling card, but they heard the roar of the resulting explosion. When they could see again, they saw flaming pieces of rubble raining down on the town square, and a gaping whole in the roof and walls of the shop. The square was littered with pieces of the building and the books and artifacts it until recently held. As they cautiously ventured out from the shelter of the alley, they saw other people emerge from similar hiding spots, where they had taken cover. "What... what happened?" the princess asked, as the small fires all around them slowly burnt themselves out.

Lina Inverse, self-proclaimed sorcery genius, stood on top of the flaming wreckage of the "Worlde’s Largest Historicale Shoppe", grinning triumphantly. It looked like a giant had scooped up half the building, so that only the back half remained somewhat intact.

"Hah! That'll teach them to talk about me like that!" she said, her hands on her slim hips. "Flat-chested. How dare they call me that! They always go for the things you're most insecure about," she muttered to herself, shaking her head and dusting her hands off on her magenta tunic.

Meanwhile, upon seeing that Lina was all right, Gourry and Princess Erika started across the town square, stepping around or over the debris that littered the street. The princess followed behind Gourry, ready to dash back to the relative safety of the alley if she had to. They passed the gurgling marble fountain in the middle of the road, cautiously crossing the square, all the while trying to avoid people who were now frantically running from the scene in fear of whatever caused such a powerful explosion.

Lina was surveying the destruction around her with glee when she felt a tap on her shoulder and heard someone behind her chuckle. "Only you would blow up a building because of some bad gossip," came a familiar masculine voice. Lina whirled around to see Zelgadiss standing behind her on the rubble, arms crossed, an amused smirk on his stony face.

"Zel!" Lina shouted. She took a step back, looking him over. "I haven't seen you in months! How are you? What are you doing here anyway?"

"Shopping, actually," he replied quickly, adjusting his white hood so that it wouldn't slip off and reveal his spiky purple hair. "I heard you yelling at those guys as I passed by the building and figured I should take cover," he explained wryly.

Zelgadiss never got to say anything further, however, for at that precise moment, the flames left over from Lina's spell had reached the still intact back half of the store and a bookcase labeled "Imported Combustible Magicke Potiones. Not to be used in conjunctione with fire spelles."

Gourry and Princess Erika stopped dead in their tracks and let out a simulations gasp as the rest of the store exploded spectacularly right before their eyes. Fire engulfed the remainder of the building and shrapnel and wood splinters were sent flying in all directions. Black smoke swallowed up the scene, causing them to cough and rub soot out of their eyes.

The blast happened so fast and so violently that Lina and Zel had no chance to catch themselves in midair with levitation spells. The two sorcerers were sent flying toward the town square. They landed unceremoniously in the middle of the street with a loud thud.

"Lina!!" Gourry shouted, and stepped over to where she had landed.

"Owwww..." Lina murmured, holding her head. "What the--?" she said as Gourry knelt down and helped her sit up.

"Well, there was a big boom coming from the back of the store," he said helpfully, scanning her over to check for broken bones.

"I could figure that much out!" she snapped back. She looked back at the pile of rubble that was the store, rubbing her head. "Must've set something explosive on fire," she muttered, then gave a nervous giggle. "Oops!"

Meanwhile, Ameria had just exited a smaller magic shop on the other side of town when she heard the explosion. Almost immediately she saw people running down the streets, taking cover inside buildings and behind stands. She could faintly hear shouting. As she stepped out onto the street, she was almost knocked over by a small boy. He tumbled to the ground. "Oh! Are you all right? What happened?" she asked quickly, picking him up and setting him back on his feet.

The towheaded, five-year-old child looked up at Ameria with wide, fearful eyes. "Something went ‘boom’!" he exclaimed.

Ameria saw a few more people dive into buildings, yelling something about "an evil sorceress". She looked down at the boy again and asked, "Where? Where was the boom?"

He turned and pointed in the general direction of the town square, and then scooted away from Ameria. "I have to go!"

Ameria blinked as he ran off down the street, but turned quickly when she heard two men shouting something about the Dragon Spooker attacking their village. Dragon Spooker--they could only be referring to one person, Ameria concluded worriedly. "What kind of destruction has she caused now?" she moaned. She took off down the street, dodging frightened pedestrians and looking frantically for the center of town.

At the same time, Princess Erika knelt down next to the white-clad stranger who had landed face-down in front of her. His hood had slipped off his head, revealing his spiky purple hair and blue neck. She arched an eyebrow skeptically, but otherwise ignored his unorthodox appearance. She gently touched his shoulder. "Are you all right?"

Zel grunted, not realizing who was kneeling next to him. He pushed himself up off the ground, swept his white cape out of the way with one hand, and sat down on the cobblestones , rubbing his neck with one hand, his head down and his hair completely covering his vision. "Yeah, I'm fine," he mumbled . Then he looked up at her.

She simply blinked back at him.

"E-Erika-san?" he said.

"Greywords-san?" she confirmed, then smiled. "We meet again."

It was Zel’s turn to blink in surprise. She didn’t seem taken aback by his stony features. In fact, she was acting as if nothing was at all different about him at all. He nodded slowly, noting a dull pain at the base of his neck. "It appears so."

"Are you sure you are all right? I am sure we could locate a doctor and--"

"No need," he interrupted quietly. He cast a recovery spell and held his glowing palm over his neck. "Nothing a healing spell can't fix."

"I see," she said, slightly embarrassed. "That must be something sorcerers do all the time. "

"Especially when they hang around Lina," Zel added under his breath. He glanced quickly over at Lina, who jumped to her feet and walked over to them. Gourry followed behind her.

"Zel, are you OK? That was an awesome explosion, wasn't it?" Lina said exuberantly. "Too bad we were right in the middle of it."

He rolled his eyes, finished his spell, and stood up, while Gourry helped Princess Erika to her feet. "Awesome isn't the word I'd use," he said dryly.

Gourry grinned. "Good to see you again, Zel."

"You too," he replied with a smile.

Princess Erika looked from Lina and Gourry to Zel and back. "You know each other from somewhere?" she asked.

Lina grinned and gave Zel a friendly whack across the back, knocking him forward slightly. "We go back a while, probably three or four years or so, yeah." Suddenly, she thought of something. "Oh, and by the way, Zel, this is Princess Erika, heir to the Chorioni throne. Princess, this is my long-time friend--"

"Zelgadiss Greywords," the princess finished with a smile, catching Lina off-guard. She noted Zelgadiss’s openly surprised expression upon hearing about her title, amusement sparkling in her eyes. "We met in the dining hall last night. I awoke during the night, and went downstairs for some milk. He was already there for a cup of tea."

Lina lifted an eyebrow, then shrugged. "Well, that's a coincidence," she said brightly. She turned to Zel. "Where are y--"

"Lina Inverse!" someone interrupted.

Everyone whirled around, Gourry drawing his sword instinctively. A man not much taller than Lina stood in front of them, an angry expression on his pudgy face. He wore a black robe with a green silk scarf across the back of his neck, ending in tassels hanging down the front past his knees. He was so bald his head was shiny in the afternoon sun. He pointed an accusing finger at Lina and glared at her. "You are responsible for this travesty! You have destroyed the largest historical store in the world, and with it our livelihood! I demand that you compensate the village of Nakuchoni for your crimes!"

Lina and her friends sweatdropped and rolled their eyes at the man. Princess Erika leaned closer to Lina and whispered, "He must be the mayor of Nakuchoni. I have never met him before, but I have heard at the palace that he is...shall we say, a difficult man to deal with."

"Then lets not deal with him," Zelgadiss suggested succinctly.

"Are you even listening to me?!" the mayor exclaimed, taking a step closer to Lina. His face was red with anger and exasperation. "Honestly, youth today! In all of history, never have I heard of such rabble-rousers and--"

"Lina-san!" Everyone spun around as they heard Ameria’s reproachful voice behind them.

"A-Ameria?" Lina exclaimed in surprise as Ameria ran up to the group, a suspicious look on her face.

"Lina-san, what did you do this time?" Ameria asked, exasperated. She glanced to the side, and her jaw dropped when she saw the ruins of the shop Lina had destroyed. "Lina-san!" she scolded. "There’s no excuse for that! Now why did you blow that place up?"

Lina sweatdropped and laughed nervously. "Eh-heh...Ameria, would you believe that there were some very, um, unjust people in there?" she hedged, thinking quickly. "Yeah! That’s it! They were badmouthing me, calling me all kinds of horrible names, and so I just had to teach them that it’s not right to call people names like that! Isn’t that right, Gourry?" she said, and swiftly elbowed him in the side.

"R-right!" he agreed quickly.

Ameria looked from Lina to Gourry and back to Lina suspiciously. "Well, if you say so..." she trailed off. Suddenly, her reproachful expression melted into a bright smile, and she lunged forward and grabbed Lina in a hug. "Lina-san, Gourry-san, Zelgadiss-san, I’ve missed you all so much!" she exclaimed.

"Oof!" Lina huffed at the sudden impact. She smiled, however, and hugged Ameria back.

"We’ve missed you too, Ameria!" Gourry said amiably, and reached out and squeezed her shoulder.

"Yeah," Lina admitted. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

Even Zel smiled warmly. "That’s a good question; why did you come back from Saillune so soon?"

Ameria let go of Lina and took a step back. "I’m traveling for my father!" she said with her usual exuberance.

"How come?" Gourry asked.

While Ameria briefly explained her mission to her friends, Princess Erika, noting that the mayor was ranting, raving, and jumping up and down in a vain attempt to regain his audience’s attention, sidled up to him quietly. She tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned to her so fast he almost knocked her over. "WHAT?" he roared.

She and stepped backward gracefully, holding one hand out in a placating gesture. "Please do not cause such a scene," she said quietly, but with a hint of scorn. "You have made your point."

"And what would you have me do, Miss High-and-Mighty? Just let them go after destroying our main tourist trap?" he sneering.

The princess leveled an uncharacteristically stern glare at him, her eyes narrowed and her lips tightened. The man blinked, momentarily caught off guard by this, and actually stopped talking. "It is not polite to speak to people in such a manner," she said sharply. She reached into her small, brown leather drawstring purse and pulled out a palm-sized metal badge engraved with her family’s coat of arms. She held it out to him and said calmly, "You may send your repair bill to my home, Castle Ori, in the capital."

The mayor’s chubby face drained of color and he almost stopped breathing. "Y-y-you’re--"

"The princess of Chorion," she finished regally. "Now, you will go to your office and total up the damage my protectors have caused, and send a letter to the palace requesting compensation. State in the letter that I ordered you to do so. Now go," she commanded calmly.

"Y-yes, Pr-Princess Erika..." the mayor stuttered. Humbled completely, he turned and rushed off, calling apologies as he ran down the street. "I’m sorry, your highness! It’ll never happen again! Never!"

"You sure took care of him," Gourry commented, walking up to the princess’s side. She nodded and looked behind her. Apparently the happy reunion was finished, since everyone had quieted down to watch her get rid of the pesky mayor.

"Well, now that that’s over with," Lina said quickly, "Princess, let me introduce you to my good friend Ameria, the princess of Saillune, whom I told you a little about last night." She gestured to Ameria, who bowed and flashed the other princess a winning smile.

Princess Erika curtseyed and stepped forward to shake hands with Ameria. "I am pleased to meet you, your highness," she said politely.

"Pleased to meet you too! It looks like my mission has been pretty successful in only a few short days," Ameria said smoothly. "My father, Crown Prince Philionel el de Saillune, has sent me to the New World on a mission of diplomacy. I was going to Castle Ori to meet you and your uncle, His Majesty King Rolard, to show interest in an alliance between our countries."

Princess Erika lifted an eyebrow and said, "An alliance...well, we should definitely discuss this further, Ameria-hime." She smiled warmly. "I am sure Chorion would be very interested in establishing diplomatic relations with a country beyond the Barrier."

Ameria nodded and returned the smile, trying to act as dignified as possible. She cleared her throat a little and made sure to hold her back straight and her head high--she had to look as grown-up and stately as possible, to impress the other girl that Saillune would make a good ally.

Lina cleared her throat, looking from princess to princess. "Well, this is great and all, but we do have someplace to go, Princess."

"We have to find that tower whatchamacallit," Gourry supplied helpfully.

"Tower?" Zelgadiss asked.

Princess Erika glanced from him to Ameria and back. "My uncle, his majesty King Rolard, has sent Inverse-san, Gabriev-san, and myself to investigate a legendary site south of here. The legend holds that there is some kind of ancient artifact that may contain some kind of power located in a tall, narrow mountain called Achek’s Tower."

Zel lifted an eyebrow. "What kind of power?"

"We don't know," Lina answered. "That's one reason why we're going."

Ameria tilted her head. "There are other reasons?"

"Well, you see, somehow someone placed a magical curse around the Tower, making it quite impossible for our soldiers to reach the entrance at its base," Princess Erika explained. "My uncle heard of Inverse-san and Gabriev-san," she continued, gesturing to each in turn, "and their knowledge of magic and the legends of this world. He decided to request their assistance in retrieving this artifact."

"And the princess came with so she could see more of her country," Gourry added.

"Yes, that is correct," she agreed.

Ameria looked at Zel, then back at Princess Erika. She smiled broadly and clapped her hands together once, as if she had decided something. "Well, if that's where you're going, then, in the name of friendship between our two countries, I would like to offer my assistance in your quest, Erika-hime!" She struck a pose, one fist in the air and the other on her hip. "Chorion will see just how valuable an ally Saillune can be!"

Princess Erika gave giggled at her enthusiasm and nodded her head. "That would be much appreciated, Ameria-hime. When our journey is finished, you should come back to Chorion City and present your offer of a diplomatic relationship before the legislature. I will give personal testimony to your sincerity, if you like."

Ameria smiled widely. "I’m sure my father would be very pleased with that."

Gourry turned to Zel and looked at him expectantly. "Are you coming, too?"

Zelgadiss rubbed his chin thoughtfully, still pondering what he had heard about Achek’s Tower. "If there was a magical curse," he reasoned, "wouldn’t that mean that the curse had to have been placed before the Kouma Sensou?" He looked at Lina for confirmation.

Lina lifted an eyebrow at that. "Hmmm, now that I think of it, you’re right, since, as far as we know so far, no one was around after the war who would have known self-perpetuating magic like that." Her eyes widened at the implications of that. "That would mean that whatever’s in there has to be more than a thousand years old, and pretty important if someone wanted to protect it for that long!"

The chimera nodded. "Exactly. Which is why I think I think I’ll join you, too. I need a good lead, and this just may be the best lead I’ve had since the Claire Bible."

Princess Erika nodded her approval. "Very well, then, shall we depart? The sooner we leave, the sooner we will reach the Tower."

"Yeah! Onward, for the glory of Saillune and Chorion!" Ameria cheered. She turned and marched down the street, everyone following along behind her.

"Say, Zel, aren’t you upset that the store blew up?" Gourry asked quietly as they walked down the now-deserted streets.

Lina paused in her step and glanced back at him. "Yeah, I would’ve thought you’d be really mad since that store had all kinds of books."

Zelgadiss shrugged. "I got there when it opened and took a quick look around. There wasn’t anything there I haven’t seen in our part of the world," he explained. "It looks like some merchants got here as soon as the Barrier weakened and immediately set up an shop to dump whatever they didn’t sell back where we’re from."

"Oh," Gourry responded simply, shrugging his shoulders.

"Come to think of it, I didn’t even notice that," Lina said.

Zel said dryly, "That’s because you were busy blowing up the place."

"Yeah, that must be it," she agreed flippantly, her eyes twinkling with mischievousness. She started to ask him about his travels, and what he had been doing for the past few months. He told her of a few of the leads he had followed, with Gourry listening in on their "catching-up" session quietly.

Ameria fell into step next to Princess Erika and asked politely, "How much farther is it to Achek’s Tower?"

The princess looked up, thinking. Finally, she answered, "I believe it should be another two days. We will be traveling south along a merchant route for awhile, so there should be a town and an inn in which we can stay tonight."

"And as soon as we’ve found what we’re looking for, we’re going back to the capital?" Her voice trailed off.

"Correct," Princess Erika confirmed.

"It sounds great! I can’t wait to see it!" Ameria exclaimed enthusiastically.

The princess nodded and smiled. "I certainly share your sentiment," she agreed. "Traveling has been quite an experience, and it has opened my eyes to what life is like outside the palace, but Castle Ori will always be home."

Meanwhile, King Rolard watched as the five young people made their way out of Nakuchoni without a backward glance. A beaten dirt road stretched ahead of them, cutting through farmland that was covered with green, ground-hugging plants. The bright sun shone down on them from between a few sparse clouds. It was a perfect day to be traveling, the king thought to himself. "Too bad it will be one of your last," he murmured under his breath. He waved his hand and cancelled his observance spell. The three-dimensional image faded and disappeared. He turned from the small, wooden table to the long window that faced the raging Miranda Sea. Clasping his bony hands behind his back, his eyes crinkled with amusement. His plan was coming together beautifully. Admittedly, he had not foreseen the addition of two more members to Lina Inverse’s traveling party, but this made little difference to him. "They will be powerless, regardless."

The sound of the king’s hooting, crazed laughter reverberated throughout the stone hallways of Castle Ori, sending shivers down the spines of anyone who heard it. He leaned against the walls, placing his hands on the stones on either side of the window, as his demented laughter subsided into a low, malicious chuckle. "Yes, little Erika, you will be powerless too, as you have always been," he murmured, grinning evilly. The king turned and walked back to his little table, fingering its surface, thinking. "Another two days, hmm? Well," he said with mock kindness, "I’ll just have to get a little welcome party ready for you, won’t I? It wouldn’t do to be impolite." He chuckled again, which quickly turned into more insane laughter. He made his way out the door to his observatory and walked down the dimly lit stairs, full of anticipation for what was to come.

The stars twinkled in the clear, night sky while a pleasant breeze whispered through a small town miles from Nakuchoni. The near-full moon peeked over the horizon, its hazy, orange glow a spooky addition against the black backdrop of the sky. It was warm outside, so Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadiss decided to have coffee on one of the patio tables outside the village inn. Ameria and Princess Erika had already gone up to bed, tired from a long day of walking.

Lina idly took in the scenery around them. Two brightly-burning torches were suspended on long poles stuck into the ground to illuminate the smattering of small tables and chairs just outside the back door to the inn’s kitchen. The flames flickered and danced in the cool breeze, their light casting strangely-shaped shadows across the faces of Lina’s companions. She sat back in her chair, holding her warm mug in both hands, and propped her feet up on a spare chair between her and Gourry.

Gourry sipped from his mug and set it down on the table. "Say, Ameria and Princess Erika seem to be getting along pretty well," he observed.

"Yeah, I didn't think they would, but I guess I was wrong," Lina replied, then shrugged. "Zel, what do you think of her?"

Zelgadiss lifted an eyebrow at her question. "I'm assuming you mean Princess Erika, and why do you ask?"

Lina shifted in her seat and took a sip from her mug. "I just want to know your thoughts in general," she said.

Zel put his coffee cup down on the table and adjusted one of his fingerless gloves. "To be honest, she seems naïve. And I have a hard time swallowing the fact that she’s so learned about the history of the world in general, yet she doesn’t know the first thing about magic."

"She asked a lot of questions about magic during dinner, didn't she, Lina?" Gourry added.

"Well, don't forget that this part of the world knows next to nothing about magic," Lina reminded them. "And even though she may know many centuries' worth of history, the New World wasn't as magically affected by the Kouma Sensou as our area was. It wouldn't surprise me if there was little recorded about magic that she could read, in the first place."

"I suppose you're right." Zelgadiss nodded, then picked up his mug and downed the rest of his coffee. "She seemed to understand the basic principles when we explained them during dinner, though."

Lina nodded. "She's very smart, I'll give her that. It's too bad she's so meek and fragile."

"Yeah, otherwise she would've turned out more like you," Gourry mused.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lina asked in a half-menacing tone of voice.

"Well, I'm just saying--"

"What do you know of her, exactly, Lina? I don’t know if I trust her--I just can’t put my finger on why, but I don’t," Zelgadiss said seriously, interrupting Gourry and potentially saving him from putting his foot in his mouth. He leaned his elbow against the table and absently traced the rim of his mug with his fingertips.

Lina nodded and finished off her coffee. She plunked the mug down on the table and said matter-of-factly, "Well, it’s not like you’re the most trusting person in the world, Zel. But I think I know what you mean. I don't trust her entirely, either." She looked around to make sure that no one was around them, listening. "To be honest, I don't trust this entire mission."

Gourry leaned forward and said in a hushed tone, "She doesn't trust the king who sent us on this trip."

"That's right," Lina agreed. "He was creepy, wasn't he, Gourry?"

He took a large sip of coffee and wiped his mouth off with his hand. "You know how you can sometimes tell when someone isn't telling you the whole truth, Zel?"

"Yes..."

"And my instincts are usually right, ne, Lina?"

"Really good swordsmen usually have good instincts," Lina reasoned, thinking back to the time when Gourry knew Xelloss was a Mazoku long before anyone else figured that out.

He nodded. "My instincts tell me that King Roland wasn’t telling the whole truth about this job, and that we should be on our guard."

"It’s Rolard," Lina murmured.

Zel folded his arms and sat back in his chair, pondering. "All right, so you don’t trust the king. What about the princess?"

Gourry shrugged. "I don’t know. Lina?"

Lina paused, then shrugged as well. "I don’t know if I do, either. But Gourry’s right; there’s something else to this mission besides what King Rolard told us, and she may know about it."

"Hmmm...what, exactly, do you think he--or they--could be lying about? You met the king, and you've been around the princess more than I have," he said, frowning.

Lina sat back in her chair, one hand over her stomach, which was still distended from dinner. "I really don't know, Zel," she said. "All I know is that sometimes, when I’ve talked about the Tower while we’ve been traveling, she gets very nervous. Not when I mention it in passing, but when I’ve really quizzed her on it. It's good that you also suspect Princess Erika--I was beginning to think Gourry and I were crazy, being so suspicious of such a weak girl."

Zel nodded. "How much do we know of this place we're going to, and Princess Erika?"

Lina sighed and ran a hand through her hair absently, pulling loose a few tangles. "As for the Tower, we know next to nothing--the princess never told me much. It's a legendary place, with some kind of treasure inside it, but no one knew about the treasure until the king found an old book with a map."

"Hold it," Zel interrupted. "The king just recently found this book? That's a little suspicious."

She nodded. "I thought so too, and it didn't help that we never even got to see the book. The king just gave us a copy of the map that was in it. He said most of the book was unreadable, but still..." She trailed off, then shrugged. "He also said the Tower appeared to be cursed, and none of his soldiers could get inside it to get to the treasure."

Zelgadiss rubbed his chin, ignoring the faint sound of rocks scraping against each other. "Again, it sounds suspicious. Maybe the curse is much worse than he's made it out to be?"

"I kind of wondered about that," Gourry said. "If this place is so old, how could someone have put a curse on it that's stuck around all these years?"

Lina put a few fingers to her forehead and closed her eyes, thinking. "It's possible, but it would have required a lot of power. And skill. I wonder who supposedly cast this curse in the first place."

"We may never know," Zelgadiss pointed out. "If this Tower is so old, anything that could tell us who did it is probably gone by now."

Lina sighed in frustration and smacked her hand against the table. "Well, this isn't getting us anywhere! There are just too many unknowns!"

"What about Princess Erika?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you have any insights into her? All I saw tonight was a polite, meek, but all the same very bright girl," Zel observed.

Gourry and Lina exchanged glances. "That's about all we've seen, too," Gourry said, shrugging. "She's pretty quiet."

"She's not very talkative about her past, Zel. But I do have a little information," Lina offered.

"Information, such as...?"

"Her family, her schooling, et cetera," Lina replied. She smoothed out the hem of her tunic absently and then looked up, thinking. "She’s sixteen years old, and the heir to the throne. Her parents were killed in a landslide somewhere in Chorion when she was nine, placing her uncle in the throne. Apparently, she was relatively healthy, although still somewhat weak, before her parents died, but she’s been prone to sickness ever since."

"And if she was sick, she must have had a lot of time to read, which would explain her high level of knowledge about the New World," Zel extrapolated. He looked to Lina for confirmation.

"That’s right." She paused. "Let's see...what else? Oh, she didn’t really even want to come on this trip, she said. She told me that there is a tradition, though, that the heir to the throne must travel all around Chorion before ascending to the throne, to get to know the country they’re going to rule. All of the previous heirs have been male, and they apparently traveled alone, adventuring for a few years before returning home. Since the princess is not exactly a world-class warrior," Lina said wryly, "she said her uncle's making her fulfill that part of the tradition, but with protection from us."

"Interesting," Zel said.

"Her uncle really wanted her to come with," Gourry said. "And we couldn’t really argue because of how much he was paying."

Zel asked, "How much is he paying you?"

"Seventeen thousand, five hundred gold pieces."

"Plus food and inns, and stuff," Gourry added.

Zel whistled. "That's exorbitant! He must want this treasure badly!"

"Which is exactly why I want to know what this treasure is before I give it to him. If it's a kind of world-destroying device or some crazy thing like that, he's not getting it, and I don't care what he tries to do to me," Lina said resolutely.

"Us," Gourry corrected.

Lina nodded toward Gourry. "Us."

"So, basically, we have a king who wants what he sent you to find very badly, a physically weak but intelligent princess, and a legendary place with a treasure of an unknown nature inside that's possibly magically guarded, and not a whole lot of trust to go around," Zel summarized, ticking off items on his blue fingers. He shook his head. "We're going to have to be on our guard tomorrow, and watch each other's backs. Princess Erika said that, based on the map, we should reach our destination soon, and that would be the perfect time for an enemy to strike."

"Not to mention this curse, too, if it exists," Lina finished.

"Exactly."

Gourry pushed back his chair and stood up, yawning. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm always looking out for trouble," he said.

"Yeah, you'd have to--trouble follows Lina wherever she goes," Zel added wryly.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Lina exclaimed.

"We should get some sleep," Gourry said, ignoring Lina's protest. "I'm tired."

Zel nodded. "I'll be heading up too. We should leave immediately after breakfast--no stopping at any historical stores, Lina," he said, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Lina put her hands on her small hips and stomped her foot. "That was NOT my fault! I told you that! The three losers in there who were trash talking me got what was coming to them!"

Gourry nodded, grinning. "Sure, Lina, we understand."

"Ooh...I'm gonna Fireball you two if you don't stop it!"

Zel almost laughed as he turned to leave. "Good night."

"C'mon, Lina, I'll walk you to your room," Gourry offered.

"If I don't blow you up first," Lina muttered under her breath.

"Hmm? What'd you say?"

"Ummm...if I got attacked, that would be the worst," Lina replied, thinking quickly.

"Oh."

With that, Gourry and Lina threaded their way between tables and in the direction Zel had just taken. Lina rubbed her arms--she got goosebumps when she thought of what would happen tomorrow. For some reason, she was uncharacteristically apprehensive of reaching the Tower. Come on, Lina Inverse, she mentally reprimanded herself, it won't be anything you can't handle. She took a deep breath and started walking up the stairs, not even paying attention to the clunking sounds Gourry's boots made as he climbed up behind her. She shook her head and rubbed her arms, trying to rub the goosebumps away. Whatever happened tomorrow, she would deal with it then. Right now, she just wanted a good night's sleep, so she could forget all about this suspicious mission.