It's a funny thing about amnesia.  You know you remember everything, 
but your head is full of cotton.  I never noticed how much amnesia 
really sucks.  Of course, I don't really recall if I've ever HAD 
amnesia.  I probably wouldn't remember even I had.
	I sat up slowly and looked around.  Where the heck was I?  Then I heard 
something odd.  I paused.  I turned and looked nearby as was the 
standard for...um, I guess people like me.  I was in some kind of weird 
temple ruins.  Nearby there was a orange-haired girl with a maroon 
outfit with a yellow cloth covering her bust picking up cheap-looking 
gems stones, breaking them with a puff of light and dropping the dust 
down on a much more valuable looking gem.  She poured a strange looking 
liquid on the gem dust and gem.  It looked like a pink oval of cement.  
Then, it began taking form in a HUGE gem that had a pentacle with a 
circle around it in the middle.
	She began packing up her stuff as I groaned to my feet, putting on 
bejeweled shoulder guards and a cape.  She walked over to me and looked 
at me.  She yelped a bit as she hadn't really noticed me before. (I 
found out just a half a minute later that she walked over to me because 
the exit was behind me.)
	"Uh, hi." I said.
	She looked at me for a bit.
	"You aren't trying to steal my treasure, are you?" the girl inquired.
	"No." I answered.
	"And you aren't going to try and kill me?" she asked.
	"No." I answered.
	"And you're not mad about me using this shrine, are you?" she asked.
	"No." I answered, feeling like a broken record, whatever that was.
	"Great.  See ya." the girl said, walking past me.
	"Uh, hey wait!" I said.
	"What?" she asked.
	"Um, do you know who I am?" I asked.
	She blinked.
	"You don't know who you are?" she asked.
	I shook my head.
	"Hmmm." she said, looking at my clothes as though she were adding up 
the cost of the items.
	I looked down at my still good leather jacket, wolf-puppy shirt, blue 
jeans and sneakers, then up at my grey cap.  Wait, how did I know it was 
grey?
	"What?" I inquired.
	"Oh nothing.  So, you don't know who you are?  Sounds like a mystery.  
Come on, we're going to meet my friend, Gourry.  Oh, that's right, I'm 
Lina Inverse." she said, introducing herself.
	"And do you know my name?" I asked hopeful.
	"Nope.  Though I guess we could just call you.... um, let's see.  An 
adventurer's name.... Mel Brooks?  Naw, sounds like someone who would 
write plays and star in them.  Uh, let's see.... Melchior sounds like a 
king, Casper sounds like a wussy ghost, Richie sounds like a know-it-all 
brat, so.... Ren.  Yeah, Ren's a respectable name!" Lina said.
	"It sounds kinda familiar." I said.
	"So, come on, Ren, let's go!" Lina said.
	She dragged me out of the temple-ruins and into a nearby shop.  It was 
filled with all sorts of antiques and maps.  There was a tall 
blond-haired guy with a sword that was longer than his legs from hilt to 
tip.  He was wearing blue metal shoulder guards, hip guards, gloves and 
boots.  His chest plate was black, but that was standard for 
adverturers.
	"Hey Gourry, this is Ren.  He's kinda got amnesia, so we're going to be 
taking care of him for a while." Lina said.
	We shook hands.  Gourry has some good hand muscles.  Probably from all 
the times he had to pull his sword out of some unlucky schmuck's body.
	"Um, Lina, why are we doing that?" Gourry whispered as I tried to 
pretend I didn't hear them by examining some antiques.
	"Look at the clothes he's wearing.  He's probably rich.  We find out 
who his family is, drop him off and voila, we're so rich we can quit 
adventuring.  Besides, he looks kinda pitiful." Lina whispered back.
	"Hey guys, I can hear you two perfectly." I whispered to them.
	Gourry seemed a bit embarrassed, but Lina blushed deeply.
	"Look, I'm sorry if I'm a burden." I said.
	"No, I'm the one who should be apologizing." Lina replied.
	"Ah, it's okay.  After all, I'm not sure what I have on me." I said, 
checking my pockets.
	A few certifications for First Aid training, a REALLY decked out swiss 
army knife, some change, a few bobby pins in a weird plushie, three 
paper clips, and a few scraps of paper with incoherent writings like: 
"http://www.anipike.com/".  What kind of word is 
"http://www.anipike.com/"?!
	"Whoa, you've got more junk in your pockets then my Uncle Boris had." 
Gourry noted.
	I sorted my stuff and put the useful stuff on my left inside coat 
pocket, the semi-useful stuff in my inside right inside coat pocket and 
the stuff that looked completely useless in the zipper pockets on the 
outside while Lina and Gourry talked with the store owner.
	"Hmmm, you say you made this yourself?" the shopkeeper asked.
	"That's right." Lina replied.
	I looked up as the shopkeeper gasped.
	"I think I can make you a VERY good offer on this." the shopkeeper 
said.
	Lina and Gourry smiled widely.
	"And now the knife..." the shopkeeper said.
	My ears perked up as I heard an odd humming.  I stood up and tried to 
ignore the humming noise as the shopkeeper said something that I 
couldn't quite make out thanks to the blasted humming.
	"Oh, and what's that?" Lina asked.
	"Your blood spilling on the FLOOR!!" The shopkeeper yelled, slashing at 
Lina, forcing both Lina and Gourry to leap back.
	The shopkeeper began licking the knife in a VERY disgusting manner as 
it became apparent that his pupils were the only things showing in his 
eyes.  The shopkeeper began stalking forward as Lina and Gourry turned 
and ran for me and the door.  Then, furniture flew towards us, causing 
the three of us to dive for cover.  We stood up and noticed that the 
shopkeeper had made sure that we couldn't escape by throwing tons of 
furniture in front of the door.  I don't know how we did it, but we got 
past the shopkeeper and managed to get into the backyard.
	"What do we do, Lina?" Gourry asked.
	"I don't know." Lina replied, sounding frustrated.
	"You're the sorceress!  Use your magic on him!" Gourry said.
	"You're a sorceress?" I asked.
	"I don't wanna blow him up..." Lina said, answering my question by not 
answering it.
	I shouldn't have asked, but there are tricks of alchemy that allow you 
to do weird things.  I lost my train of thought as the psycho-shopkeeper 
leapt at us, his knife slashing wildly.  I backed off as Lina and Gourry 
leapt to the side.  I don't wanna say that we made a nice equalateral 
triangle, but we did.  The shopkeeper was licking the knife and glancing 
at each of us, probably trying to figure out which of us he'd like to 
attack first.
	"Lina, can't you put him to sleep or something?!" Gourry asked.
	"I could.....but it's been a while since I studied those spells." Lina 
answered.
	"So, you COULD put him to sleep, but you just don't want to." I said.
	"Well, you two could just beat him up..." Lina said.
	"Well, I guess I have no choice." Gourry said, drawing his sword.
	"Just take it easy on him, Gourry.  He's under a spell, okay?" Lina 
said.
	"A spell?" I inquired.
	"Yeah, I guess the knife's cursed.  I don't know it was cursed when I 
took it otherwise I would never have tried to sell it." Lina explained.
	While we chatted, Gourry charged the shopkeeper.  Then a sudden bark 
of: "HENRY!" cause us to stop.
	We looked up at the woman in the second story window.  I don't know 
much about fashion, but the colors she was wearing did NOT look good on 
her whatsoever.
	"Henry!  Goofing off I see!  GET INSIDE and take out the garbage!  And 
if I see you messing around again, I'll use that knife on YOU!" she 
barked at him.
	Whatever hold the knife had vanished as the poor man dropped it and ran 
into the house.  Lina sheathed the knife carefully so not to get 
enchanted by it's magic.
	"Amazing, I guess even a curse can't beat an angry housewife." Lina 
commented.
	"I'd rather live with the curse." Gourry and I said in unison.

	A few hours later without having sold anything that Lina wanted to 
sell, we ate at an inn.  I have a healthy appetite, but good LORD!  
Gourry and Lina made absolute pigs of themselves.  I stacked my plates 
up and there was a total of five versus Gourry's eleven and the 
twenty-six that Lina had.  And Lina was still going.  I've heard of 
growing body's needing more food than normal, but this was ridiculous.  
I couldn't eat as much as Lina did if I was given two whole days.
	"Um, so Lina, what's the game plan about the treasure?  Are we going to 
have to go to another city to sell it?" I asked.
	"Well, I'm going to find a good spot to ditch that knife.  Preferably 
in a volcano or a lava flow.  As for the other stuff, I'm sure that 
it'll be embarrassing if we go back to that shop after all that trouble 
the knife caused." Lina commented after swallowing a turkey.
	Lina ate on.  Something was bothering me.
	"Hey, did either of you hear that weird humming when the shopkeeper 
took out that knife?" I asked.
	"No." Gourry answered.
	Lina looked at me.
	"What?" I asked.
	She put her glove on my forehead and said something.  It sounded a bit 
arcane and I couldn't make any of the words out.  I started hearing that 
humming.  Out of habit, I tried to brush my ears, seeing if it was just 
a bug or something.
	"Hmmmm..." Lina commented, smiling a bit.
	"What?" I asked as the humming faded.
	"Well, I just checked you out magically.  If you could hear that 
humming, it must mean you have the potential to be a spell-caster." Lina 
said.
	"Me?  A wizard?" I asked.
	"You mean he can cast stuff like the Dragon Slave?" Gourry asked Lina.
	"Dragon Slave?" I asked.
	"It's a long story," Lina said to me, before turning to Gourry, "And 
not without proper training."
	My mind boggled.  I recalled that wizards can ALWAYS do really neat 
stuff like Fireball or Lightning Bolt.  If _I_ could.... it boggles the 
mind.
	"Don't get your hopes up.  You've only got the potential for some 
moderately powerful spells right now.  With about three years of 
training, you might be able to cast something really strong.  And you'll 
need to learn some basics fir-" Lina began just before a bunch of REALLY 
ugly monsters with varying colors like blue, green and brown charged in, 
lead by a guy covered in bandages (save one eye).
	"There she is!" the mummy guy said.
	"Is there a problem?" the inn-keeper asked.
	"Yes, but it's not with you.  It's with her!" The mummy guy said, 
pointing at Lina.
	"Oh, I know what this is about," Lina began, "There's a sorceress going 
around, about my height, same hair color, about my age..."
	"How dare you try to trick me?!  I could never forget your face in a 
hundred years!" the mummy dude said.
	Lina looked like she was trying to decide whether or that was a 
compliment.  I guess she decided it was a compliment by what she said 
next.
	"I'm flattered, but mummy men just aren't my type." Lina told him.
	"You aren't getting away THIS time, you witch!!!" the mummy man said, 
ordering his trolls to attack.
	"HOLD IT!" Lina said.
	The mummy man and the trolls stopped.
	"What is it?" the mummy man asked.
	"Let's take this..... outside!" Lina said.
	"AAAAAHHHH!!! <pause> No.  GET HER!!" The mummy man replied.
	Lina sighed and leapt into the trolls.  She made her way across the 
room, then her fingers started glowing and she tapped all the trolls.
	"Honey, I'm home..." Lina said, returning next to me and Gourry.
	She paused, then shook her head and said, "Okay, Gourry, Ren."
	"What?" We asked in unison.
	"Scratch them up." Lina said.
	"But I heard that Trolls heal the instant you hurt them." Gourry said.
	Trolls?  Oh yeah, real big, muscles like someone who works out in a gym 
for most of a week, ugly as sin....  Yep, they're trolls. 
	"Just scratch 'em up.  Any scratch'll do." Lina said.
	Gourry picked up three acorns and I grabbed three as well.  Gourry had 
spent a good portion of the time we spent waiting for the food teaching 
me this trick.  I glanced at the beams that he and I had shot at 
earlier.  Heh.  They'd NEVER get THOSE out.  We each shot the acorns 
like bullets at the trolls.  Suddenly, a black hole appeared where we 
had hit them and sucked them in.  They vanished with a poof of smoke.
	"Cool effects." I commented.
	"Wow.  What'dja do, Lina?" Gourry asked.
	"Well, when I touched all the trolls earlier, I was really casting a 
spell.  It makes all their regenerating abilities turn back on them." 
Lina answered, smiling smugly.
	The mummy dude managed to get the trolls back into a fighting spirit 
and they charged up.  One advantage of trolls is that they are REALLY 
big.  No, REEEEAAAAALLLYYY big.  On instinct, I reached into my pants 
pocket and pulled out an pen-knife that I had found before.  I threw the 
knife at the troll and the knife struck it square in the face.  It 
screamed, then vanished in that poof of smoke from before, taking the 
pen-knife with it.
	Gourry cut two more down and Lina finished off the remaining three with 
the grace of a trained fighter.  The mummy man looked at his 'no' 
assistants and ran.
	"Huh.  I wonder how they found us." Lina commented.
	"You know them?" I asked.
	"No, but from the way that guy talked about me, I'd say he knew me.  I 
must've blasted him a while ago, 'cause I don't recall meeting any guys 
wearing bandages." Lina answered.
	Then, the inn-keeper came up to us, angry at the trouble we'd caused, 
the mess the trolls left behind (eeeewww!) and the smoldering spot where 
Lina had blasted a troll with a lightning bolt.  After watching Lina use 
her natural charms on the owner of the inn, which was impressive to see 
since the inn-keeper seemed to forgive us instantly, we went to our 
rooms.  As we sat down, Lina began explaining that some of the loot that 
she had 'rescued' from some bandits recently might have been magical, 
thus why that schmuck from earlier found us.
	"But what do you have that's so magical that he could find you so 
easily?" I asked.
	"You're right.  There has to be some high-level magic for him to detect 
it so easily.  I mean, finding us in a small town requires either 
scrying magic or a 'detect magic' spell, which gets defused the farther 
away the caster is from the magical item.   Well, there's either the 
knife from earlier, it's obviously magical so we might not know all of 
it's powers, then there's the statue.  It's kinda rare, but otherwise, 
it doesn't really look all that special." Lina explained.
	"Sounds complicated." Gourry commented.
	The three of us paused as we heard a knock at the door.  Gourry put his 
hand on his sword and Lina looked ready to cast a spell.  I searched my 
pockets for something useful, but the pen-knife was the only weapon I 
had on me and the troll took that with it.  There wasn't anything else 
in my pockets that I could fight effectively with unless I wanted to 
throw pins and paperclips.
	"Who is it?" Lina asked.
	"Excuse me for the interuption, but I wish to make a purchase of an 
item that came into your possession recently." came the voice in a 
hushed "I'm being sneaky and spy-like right now, so let's make a deal 
before I blow a hole through the door AND you." kind of voice.
	"And how do I know that you won't attack me if I let you in?" Lina 
asked.
	"Well, I'd say 'don't worry' if I thought that would help.  How about I 
promise that if we cannot reach an agreement, I shall leave peacefully.  
As it is, I know that someone like you would have two resourceful 
guards." replied the voice.
	"Who's he talking about?" Gourry asked.
	"You and me, Gourry." I told him.
	"Oh." Gourry responded.
	"Okay, we'll let you in.  Ren, if you'll do the honors?" Lina asked.
	"You sure?" I asked.
	"Trust me." Lina said.
	I looked at Gourry.
	"She blew up a dragon." Gourry replied.
	"Can't argue with that." I said, walking over to the door and opening 
it.
	A man(?) in a light tan robe walked in.  He had a mask covering a 
majority of his face, but his light purple hair, bluish-green skin mixed 
with occasional pieces of rock and unusually sharp eyes were more than 
visible.  The mummy guy from before followed him.  I glared at the mummy 
guy, but shut the door and stood in front of it like a sentinel.
	"I don't like mummy men." Lina commented, glancing at the questionable 
partner.
	"Why you-" the mummy began before the man in the robes silenced him.
	"Forgive him for his actions.  He can be quite rude at times.  He's my 
servant, Zolf.  My name is Zelgadis." the man in the robes said.
	"I'm Lina, this is Gourry <she motions to Gourry> and Ren <she motions 
to me>.  Now, mind telling me a little more about why your mummy man 
atttacked us?" Lina asked.
	"I suppose it wouldn't hurt.  You see, I sent my servants out to 
retrieve an item for me.  Zolf infiltrated the Dragon Fangs by gaining 
their trust.  He found the item that I was looking for and was about to 
get it when-" Zelgadis began.
	"When I came in, blew up the Dragon Fangs and took it, right?!" Lina 
asked, smiling.
	Zelgadis' sweatdrop was visible, which worried me.
	"Yes, that's what happened.  Please forgive his actions.  He's a loyal 
servant, but he can take my orders to the extreme at times." Zelgadis 
said.
	"So, what is this item?" Lina asked.
	"I can't tell you." Zelgadis said.
	"Well, if you can't tell me what it is, I can't sell it." Lina 
answered.
	"Wait, hear me out.  If I told you what it was, you might charge me a 
ridiculous price.  And if I agreed to pay it, you might decided not to 
sell it to me at all out of curiousity." Zelgadis said.
	"Oh, I can understand that.  How about if I guess it?  I'll show you 
what I got and tell you what I want for it." Lina said.
	"Very well." Zelgadis said.
	Lina took out the knife, that Orihalcon (or whatever it was) statue, 
and the coin collection.
	"Okay, there's the knife, the statue and the coin collection.  Hmm, I 
think I can remove the gems from the list, right?" Lina inquired.
	Zelgadis nodded.  Lina looked at the items intently, finally picking up 
the knife.
	"For the knife.... 11,000,000 gold!!!" Lina said.
	11,000,000?!!?  I fell over, as did Gourry and Zolf.  I could tell 
Zelgadis was face-faulting and sweatdropping.
	"You said I could set any price I wanted!" Lina said.
	We all recovered.
	"And for the statue.... 30,000,000 gold!!!" Lina said.
	We all fell over this time, even Zelgadis.  We recovered and Zel's 
sweatdrop was visible again.
	"For THAT price, you could buy a castle from a prince... on prime real 
estate.... with all the servants and furnishings!" Zelgadis growled.
	"I know...." Lina said, dozing off into a daydream.
	She snapped out of it.
	"How about this..." Zelgadis began, "Why don't you come work for me?  
In three months, I could give you double, possibly even TRIPLE your 
asking price for it." Zelgadis said.
	I blacked out for a few seconds there.  Luckily, when I came to, I 
hadn't missed much.  Lina had apparently told the guy off.  I stood up 
as they walked back to the door.
	"Then we can not cooperate.  That is too bad.  As promised I will 
leave.  However, know this.  I do not intend to give up on getting what 
I want.  The instant you leave this inn tomorrow morning, we will be 
deadly enemies." Zelgadis said as I opened the door for them.
	Zelgadis and Zolf left.  I closed the door after them.
	"Think we can trust him, Lina?" Gourry asked.
	"Oh, I know his type, Gourry.  If he says he won't attack until 
morning, he won't attack until morning.  Good night boys." Lina said, 
pushing us out of her room.
	With nothing left to do, Gourry and I both headed back to our own 
rooms.  Maybe tomorrow I could ask Lina or Gourry to buy me a real 
weapon.  When I finally got to sleep, I dreamt of nothing.

	I awoke when Gourry poked me the third time with a stick.  I snatched 
the stick and threw it outside.  But, he had gotten me up.  That ticked 
me off.
	After a little fanagling (during breakfast), I managed to prove to Lina 
and Gourry that I needed a sword.  A good one.  One that looks nice.  
But not too expensive.  And a sheath for it.  And a belt to hold it.  
It's amazing how silver-tongued I can get when I want something.  I'd 
best not use this talent too often.  Of course, maybe the fact that I 
was holding all the donuts had something to do with it.  Hmmmmm, naaah.
	Soon, we were leaving the city on well on our way to another.  We 
managed to get a ride on a hay cart.  While we rode it, Gourry asked 
Lina a good question.
	"So what's so important about those things anyway?" Gourry asked.
	"Hmmm, good question... he obviously wanted them for something that we 
don't know about." Lina said, placing  both items in her lap and 
chanting a small spell.
	That damn humming again.  I wonder if Lina hears it when other magic is 
being cast.
	"The knife has a cheap enchantment to keep it sharp and whoever uses it 
goes nuts.  Good for bandits, bad for shopkeepers.  The statue, on the 
other hand, is holding something in..." Lina commented.
	"So, I guess it's the statue they're after." I said.
	"Unless the knife is specifically made for a ceremony that they need 
done, I think you're right." Lina said, tucking both items away in her 
cape (I gotta get Lina to teach me how to make one of those.  They're 
just so neat.)
	"Hmmm, say Lina.  How about showing me how to cast some magic?" I 
asked.
	"Okay.  It'll help pass the time.  First, you have to clear your mind 
of all thought." Lina said.
	"Done." I answered.
	"Remove any doubt that you have." Lina said.
	"Uh-huh." I said.
	"Clear your mind of any restrictions." Lina said.
	"Yep." I answered.
	"That's really annoying." Lina told me.
	"I'll bet." I responded.

	I didn't get very far in my magic training.  I learned and managed to 
cast two spells, which surprised and pissed off Lina, who had taken 
three whole hours to learn the Light spell that I had.  Of course, I 
kept messing up the words when I'd get distracted by Gourry's snoring.
	"Try it again." Lina told me.
	"*My pants are tight,
	The sun is bright,
	Magic-haters bite,
	Char them all night!*" I chanted.  Feeling nature's energy coursing 
through my veins was still somewhat sickening.  I felt as though I had 
been using magic for quite some time, but in a different manner.
	Flame shot out of my hands and lightly singed a daisy.
	"Well, it's bigger than a blade of grass." Lina complimented me.
	"I know I can control it better this time, Lina." I whined.
	"Oh, and who had to cast three Freeze Arrow spells to put out that 
would-be forest fire last time?" Lina asked sarcastically.
	"Oh, come on.  I burn down eighteen oak trees and you want me to work 
on control." I whined.
	"And who blinded seventeen sea gulls, sending them plummeting into the 
side of that bridge?" Lina inquired.
	"Come ON!  They're SEA GULLS!" I complained.
	"True.  But the Small Fire spell is meant to light torches and candles, 
maybe even lightly toast a goblin, not burning down three hundred year 
old oak trees.  And the Light spell is for lighting up rooms, not 
outshining the sun." Lina responded, scolding me.
	"And why does the Small Fire spell have such silly words?" I asked.
	"I don't know.  It's a spell, it's not like it's SUPPOSED to have words 
that make sense." Lina responded.
	"Well, they should have SOMETHING to do with the actual spell." I 
responded.
	She poked Gourry awake.
	"Come on, we gotta get off here if we're going to get to Atlass City." 
Lina told the still sleepy warrior.
	As we entered the somewhat darkened forest, Gourry just HAD to make the 
comment, "You know, I'm surprised we haven't been attacked yet."
	"Yeah, you're right.  This would be the place to do it." Lina said, 
adding to the danger we were sure to be in for.
	"Hey, Lina, Ren." Gourry said.
	I finally noticed some of our 'guests'.  They were green-skinned, had 
black eyes with red dots for pupils, basic armor and weapons.  That was 
about it for distinguishing features.
	"Berserkers.  He didn't even bother coming himself." Lina commented.
	The berserkers, being devoid of most intelligence, waited until we had 
made it directly to the white "X" that 'someone' had drawn on the ground 
as a marker of when they should attack.
	I drew my new sword as Lina and Gourry drew theirs.  We looked at each 
other and smirked.  Berserkers, as I found out, are incredibly stupid as 
a whole.  They charge and try to cut you in half.  Fortunately, their 
swords were far shorter than mine, thus I could slash them up before 
they even touched me.
	Of course, don't let that fact make you think that I was doing well.  I 
wasn't completely stupid about swords for some reason, but I wasn't 
exactly vicious.  It wasn't until I accidentally hacked off a 
berserker's arm and I noticed there wasn't any blood that I realized 
that I was fighting some weak magic creation.  Now knowing that I wasn't 
'killing' real people who were just under some mind-control 
enchantments, I grinned evilly and began hacking wildly.

	I leaned heavily on my sword.  I had a lot of nicks and scratchs (ooh, 
those are going hurt come winter) and a nasty gash on my forearm.  Oddly 
enough, I found some medical gauze in my pocket.
	I was kinda pissed that Gourry didn't have any injuries at all, but I 
guess he was a lot better than me.  Plus he was wearing armor and all I 
had was a leather jacket (which, annoyingly, had erased any signs of 
damage).
	After bandaging myself up a bit, I took my jacket off and wrapped it 
around my waist.  Then, I noticed Lina was laying in the daisies.  
Gourry and I looked at each other, realizing that we were both annoyed 
with Lina's little nap.
	"Ah, what a great day." Lina said.
	"Do you always let other people fight your battles for you?" I asked 
sardonically.
	"But you guys didn't have too much trouble handling it." Lina commented 
as Gourry and I walked down to her.
	"We better get going if we're going to get to the next town." Gourry 
commented.
	"Yeah, time to go, Lina.  No more playing with the daisies." I said.
	"Just a bit longer." Lina replied.
	"No, Lina.  Now!" Gourry said, annoyed as he reached to pull her up to 
her feet.
	She yelped and clutched her side.  We both noticed the injury on her 
side too.
	"Lina!" I exclaimed, worried.
	"Aw man, I'm sorry Lina.  I didn't even realize you were hurt." Gourry 
said.
	"It'll be okay in a few minutes." Lina said, clutching the injury.
	"That's it.  I'm CARRYING you to the next town." Gourry said, scooping 
Lina up.
	Lina protested for a good long while, but Gourry didn't put her down.  
I kept out of it, deciding that it was for the best.

	I looked at the ceiling.  Gourry and I had managed to take some stuff 
from the berserkers and sold it for some money, and I finally had some 
REAL armor.  Unlike Gourry's, mine didn't have the ridiculously large 
shoulder guards and I didn't wear hip guards.
	I was learning more and more about my pockets, too.  As long as it 
could fit into the pocket's opening, it could 'vanish' as well.  Oddly 
enough, I had a few more items.  A superball, a pocket umbrella and a 
toy light stick.  Not much more, but some of it could useful.
	I'd also learned a few more things about Berserkers.  Apparently, I was 
right about them not be living.  They're cheap golems.
	I'd also learned a few more spells.  Because of my numerous injuries, 
Lina had plenty of oppurtunity to teach me a few healing spells.  Plus, 
she taught me a cool levitation spell.  Actually, it's for flying, but 
levitation is cooler because it's a longer word.  Besides, I learned 
that one too.
	I also learned that there are three variants on levitation.  Simple 
Levitation, which doesn't take very much, but can allow only you to fly 
up and down mostly.  You can use it to go forward or back, but you'd 
need either inertia or something to push off of.  Normal Levitation, 
which allows you to fly, but you have no protection.  Then, there's 
Raywing, which allows you and group of people to fly.  It can also be 
used a weak shield against slings, arrows and minor spells, if you're 
strong enough.  The drawback is that the instant you land, both of the 
earlier spells cut out.
	She also got to explain to me a few more things.  Like what the major 
weakness of Trolls is.  Apparently, they recover from most injuries, 
save magical ones, easily.  Magical injuries are still recoverable, but 
not if it's too extensive.  Say you charred a troll to a crisp.  The 
outer skin might recover, but the injury is always going to show.
	Another weakness of trolls is that if you kill them, they stay dead 
unless they're a certain breed, but that breed isn't very common.
	An explosion forced me out of my recollection.  I raced out of my room 
and found Gourry and Lina standing outside of her room.
	"What's going on?" Gourry asked.
	Good, I hadn't missed much.
	"I had some... unwanted guests." Lina said.
	"Did you get 'em?" I asked.
	"Well, I think I got the old guy and the kid, but they had some trolls 
with them..." Lina began.
	The door was smashed down by the 'old guy' that Lina mentioned.  He had 
an axe with a LONG metal handle.  He had a bald head, save for grey hair 
around the edges, a beard, a mustache and wasn't looking very happy.  
Gourry blocked his axe easily.
	The kid had dark hair and the same expression that the 'old guy' had.  
He, on the other hand, was wielding a bastard sword.  He tried to use it 
on Lina, but I managed to block it.  I had to admit, the kid had 
strength.  But, not as much as me.  I began forcing the monster sword 
back.
	The trolls surrounded us.  Lina grumbled something about "Those damn 
trolls, they're like weeds."
	Then, I heard an odd ringing noise.  Like a wind chime if someone was 
holding it and shaking it.  Not to mention the hallway was suddenly 
filled with a strange fog.  A man in red robes with purple hair carrying 
an ornate silver staff that had four rings on it walked into view.
	I glanced at our 'friend'.  A guy who walks around with his eyes closed 
is either blind, focusing on something or thinking.  Our 'friend' didn't 
seem to be focusing anymore and that would have to be one heck of a 
blink if he was thinking.
	"I take that you're the one who's keeping most of the people here 
asleep?" Lina asked.
	"How did you figure that out?" the man inquired in a soft tone.
	"Well, first of all, these guys aren't exactly quiet.  Second of all, I 
threw a fireball and no one came to investigate except for these two." 
Lina said.
	"Indeed, I am responsible.  One moment." the man said, directing his 
attetion to the bad guys, "Leave."
	The bad guys mindlessly left.
	"No doubt about it.  They are servants of Zelgadis." the man said, 
watching (listening?) to the bad guys leave.
	"You know him?" I asked.
	"Yes.  He is my enemy." Rezo responded.
	"Who are you?" Lina demanded.
	"I'm called many things.  But, I am mostly known as Rezo." the man 
said.
	"REZO!?!  One of the great five wisemen, Rezo the Red Priest?!" Lina 
asked, astounded.
	"Who is he?" I asked.
	Lina looked at me as though I had just said one of the stupidiest 
things in the universe.
	"You've never heard of him?!" Lina asked, incredulous.
	"Nope.  Never knew we had five great wise guys either." I answered.
	"Rezo, the Red Priest, is known throughout the land.  He travels, 
healing and aiding the people." Lina said.
	"They found you by following that statue that you hold." Rezo pointed 
out in a tone that said "Hey, I'm a sage.  LISTEN TO ME, DAMMIT!".
	"Great wise priest, can you tell us more about Zelgadis?" Lina asked.
	"Yes.  Zelgadis is a creation of Golem, Demon and Human.  A being of 
pure evil.  He is working to resurrect Shaburnigdo." Rezo explained, 
wincing at the last name.
	"Shaburnigdo!?  He's trying to resurrect the dark lord?!" Lina asked, 
incredulous.
	"Uh, who's Shaburnigdo?" Gourry and I asked in unison.
	Lina looked at us as though to ask "What rock were YOU born under?!".
	"I'll explain later." Lina told us.
	"Why not give me the statue and save yourself all this trouble?" Rezo 
asked in a tone that practically OOZED a LESS than good motive.
	"Great priest, I'm honored, but I have a feeling that destiny placed 
this in my hands for a reason.  If you don't mind, I'd like to hold onto 
it." Lina said.
	"Very well.  But, know that Zelgadis is now your enemy as well as mine, 
and a dangerous one he is.  Now, if you'll excuse me..." Rezo said, 
walking over to Lina's open door.
	I heard that humming noise, but it had major reverb.  This guy had 
power to burn in spades.  Not a guy you'd want to cross.  Lina's room 
glowed for about six seconds, then Rezo left.
	"I don't see what the big deal is.  Nothing's different." Gourry said, 
looking into Lina's room.
	Lina and I looked into her room.  It looked the same as it did earlier.
	"Gourry, this is the same room I toasted with a fireball." Lina told 
him.
	"Impressive.  Reversing the effect of the damage." I said.
	"Oh, really?" Gourry asked.
	Lina rolled her eyes, then began brooding.

	The next day, at breakfast, Lina, Gourry and I ate for a bit before 
Lina paused.
	"Are you two SURE you've never heard of Shaburnigdo?" Lina asked.
	"How would I remember?" I asked.
	"Nope.  I'm sure I've never heard of him." Gourry said.
	"Oh-kay!  Well, I'll try to explain.  <she stabbed her egg with her 
fork> Think of this egg as the world.  The fork is part of the staff 
that holds up the world.  On the edges of the world, a long time ago, 
there were two main forces.  The race of gods and the race of demons.  
Now, from the demons, there was Shaburnigdo.  He was the most powerful 
demon.  On the side of the gods, there was Cipheed, the dragon god.  
Shaburnigdo and Cipheed battled for centuries before Cipheed finally 
managed to break Shaburnigdo into seven pieces." Lina began.
	"So, this Cipheed guy won, huh?" Gourry asked.
	"No, not really." Lina answered.
	"But, you just said that Shaburnigdo was broken into seven pieces." I 
said.
	"Yes, but Shaburnigdo was so powerful that that wasn't enough to kill 
him." Lina answered.
	"Oh." Gourry said.
	"Anyway, a thousand years ago, six pieces of Shaburnigdo were unsealed, 
but Cipheed returned and battled Shaburnigdo and managed to reseal him 
with the aid the Water Dragon King.  But, Cipheed didn't come out 
unharmed.  He had to go into hibernation." Lina said, finishing her 
tale.
	"So, basically this Shubababingo is the head bad guy and this Delzadis 
guy is trying to resurrect him." Gourry answered.
	"............ That's about it." Lina answered.
	Suddenly, Gourry snatched one of Lina's sausages.  A food war began 
that I almost managed to stay out of, at the cost of my bacon and a 
sausage.

	The forest that we were traveling through was a bit odd-looking, but 
not spooky.  That was a relief.  We were a good deal through it when 
Lina decided to speak up.
	"Um, guys?" Lina asked.
	Gourry and I stopped.
	"What?" I asked.
	"I'm... uh, not going to be able to cast.... spells for a while.  Well, 
nothing above a 'Light' spell...." Lina said.
	"Ah, that time of the month." Gourry said, nodding his head wisely.
	Lina lunged at him, grabbing his shirt and began shking him.
	"HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW ABOUT Shaburnigdo, BUT YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS?!  
HUH?!  HUH!?" Lina demanded.
	Lina let go and I stepped back as Gourry sat down to tell his story.
	"Well, you see, in my hometown, there was a lady who'd tell fortunes.  
Once every month, she'd have to close up shop.  I asked her one day why 
and she just told me, 'It's that time of the month'.  Hey, Lina, what 
does 'that time of the month' mean?" Gourry asked.
	Lina looked at me.
	"I'm not explaining ANYTHING about 'that time of the month'." I told 
her.
	She sighed.
	"We've got company." Gourry said.
	I looked over to a nearby log where Zelgadis was standing.
	"Zelgadis." Lina said, glaring at him.
	"And I'm Dilgear." came a voice behind us.
	I looked behind us at a green-furred wolf-man as he walked over to 
Zelgadis.
	"Let me guess, you're part were-wolf and troll.  The worst of both 
worlds." Lina said.
	The kid and old man from last night appeared next to Zelgadis as well.
	"I'm Rodumus." the old man said.
	"I'm Reroo." the kid said.
	"And now that we know each other's names, we're going to go have 
chocolate shakes and be friends, right?" I asked.
	"Not likely." Rodumus answered.
	"Damn." I commented.
	"Hmmm, guess I'm going to have to do something serious.... GO GET 'EM, 
GUYS!" Lina said, cheering for us. (Where she got those pom-poms, I'll 
never know and, I think I don't WANT to know)
	Zelgadis, Dilgear, Rodumus and Reroo fell over as Gourry and I looked 
at her.
	"Why us?" Gourry and I asked in unison.
	"Remember?  Nothing bigger than a 'Light' spell." Lina hissed at us as 
she pushed us at the bad guys.
	Reroo, Rodumus and Dilgear lunged at us.  I blocked Reroo while Gourry 
took on Rodumus and Dilgear.  I felt bad about leaving him to the better 
fighters, but I'd be outclassed easily if I took them on. Reroo, on the 
other hand, was younger than me and far more gullible.  Lina and 
Zelgadis ran off, but I was too busy to find out where they were going.
	Reroo swung wildly at me.  I smiled and stepped aside as he went 
careening into a tree.  I turned and took Dilgear by surprise by 
whacking him over the head with my sword hilt, knocking him down.  
That's when Reroo charged me again.
	I locked swords with the young whelp, smiling at how pathetic he 
seemed.  Of course, when you learn tricks (both cheap and clean) from a 
master swordsman and a master sorceress...  I made a small chant and set 
Reroo's foot on fire.  Reroo's eyes got bigger than saucers before he 
finally screamed, dropped his sword and began hopping around trying to 
put his foot out.  Rodumus was doing fairly well against Gourry, while 
Dilgear was still groggy from his thump on the head.
	I watched Gourry and Rodumus for a while before I realized that Dilgear 
and Reroo had recovered and were storming over to me.  With another 
quick chant, I set their feet on fire again.  They ran around again.  
This was fun!
	Well, until we all noticed a light spell in the sky.  I sat up from my 
resting spot (Dilgear and Reroo were just managing to put the fires out) 
and looked at it.
	"Look, it's signal from Zelgadis.  He's got the girl." Dilgear said, 
smiling.
	"You're lucky, kid." Rodumus said before the three stooges ran off.
	"Come on, Gourry.  Let's go." I said as I chased after them.
	"Huh?" Gourry asked, following me.
	"They've got Lina!  We gotta follow them!" I told him.
	"Okay.  Where did they go?" Gourry asked.
	I blinked and stopped.  Gourry stopped too.
	"DAMN!" I cursed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ah, the first installment of my "Slayers...D'oh!" series.  Stay tuned 
for the next installment.
	MSTs and C&C welcome to akun15@hotmail.com

	A-kun, signing off, 'cause I'll fall asleep if I don't.


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