"I have to do what?!" Lina demanded of her friends.
"You and Gourry have to pretend to be lovers so you can get into the resort and steal that book," Zelgadis repeated, blushing brightly.
Lina was also blushing. But she was also furious.
Gourry just stared at a raindrop trickling down the window pane. Once he knew that he was working with Lina, he was happy and tuned everything else out.
Lina glared out the window. "Why do I have to do this?" she asked.
"You and Gourry are the only ones who can do this. Amelia is too easily recognized, I'd stand out too much, Filia is a little out of place and way too proper and we thought we'd spare you Xellos' company," Zelgadis replied.
"If Gourry and I have to do this, two other people will as well," Lina said. "Or I won't do it at all."
The rest of the group looked woreied.
"But there's no one else who can go Miss Lina!" Amelia protested.
"Tough. Choose between the four of you while I talk to Gourry," Lina said. She turned her back on her friends and dragged Gourry out into the hall.
"Who else can we send?" Zelgadis asked.
"I'll do it," Filia said reluctantly. She avoided the eyes of the others while she blushed.
"That means Mister Xellos goes with you," Amelia said.
Filia gasped and her head shot up, her blue eyes wide with shock and horror.
"Me!?!" xellos choked out.
"You!?!" Filia gasped.
Amelia and Zelgadis nodded.
"All right," Filia grumbled after a few minutes of shocked silence and got to her feet. She stalked over to Xellos and waved her mace in front of his face. "You try anything funny and I'll plant this in your face," she growled.
Xellos gulped and nodded. "I'll behave," he said.
Filia smirked and walked out into the hall where she found Lina scolding Gourry. "I am going to be joining you," she told the tiny sorceress. "Xellos is going to be my partner."
"You poor girl," Lina said, her eyes filled with pity and sympathy. "How did that catastrophy happen?"
"He was the only one left," filia gritted out. "At least you get to be with someone you have feelings for."
Gourry's ears perked up with that news. 'So Lina has feelings for me. Maybe now I can tell her how I feel about her,' he thought. He stole a quick glance at the object of his affections and his breath caught in his throat at the sight of her.
Lina heard Gourry's quick indrawn breath and gave him a curious look before turning back to Filia. "How long will we have to keep the pretense up?" she asked.
"Two months," Zelgadis replied as he stepped out into the hall. "We need you three back inside so we can tell you about your mission."
