The sign above the city gates read: Welcome to Zephillia .
"I can help," a female voice said from behind Amelia.
Amelia looked up to see a tall, busty woman in a waitress' outfit. She nodded jerkily, not knowing why she felt that Lina would be safe with this woman. "Please help her," she whimpered.
The waitress bent down and scooped Lina up into her arms. "If you're her friend, follow me," she threw over her shoulder as she walked down the street. 'You've changed since the last time I saw you,' the woman thought as she looked down at Lina. She walked up the front steps of a modest manor and kicked open the door. She carried Lina up the stairs and down a few hallways until she reached the room she'd been looking for. She nudged open the door with her elbow and laid Lina down on the bed. She turned to Amelia. "Cast a Lighting spell if you know how to," she ordered.
Amelia did as she was told. "Who are you?" she asked.
"I used to be called Big Sis by Lina, but most people know me as Luna Inverse," the woman replied.
Luna grinned. "She doesn't take after any of the people in our family. You'll notice that when you meet the rest of us," she said, not looking at Amelia as she peeled the torn clothes off her younger sister. She couldn't see any external wounds that would cause Lina to constantly have blood in her mouth. So she cast Recovery over every part of Lina's body.
"Will Miss Lina be all right?" Amelia asked anxiously. She looked at Lina with concern after Luna had pulled the covers up around Lina's shoulders.
"She'll be fine. But she needs to sleep for a while. You can pay for your room at the inn and move in here if you're worried about Lina," Luna said and shut the door of Lina's room. She walked back down to the front foyer and opened the door. "I've got to go back to the resauraunt and finish my shift. I'll be back in a few hours. I'll take care of your things for you if you want."
"If you could, I'd be really grateful," Amelia said breathlessly."And could you give the innkeeper a message for me, I'd really appreciate it."
"Sure. What's your message?" Luna asked. She pulled a pencil and a pad of paper from her apron pocket and waited for Amelia to speak.
"Get him to tell a Mister Zelgadis Greywords to come to your home when he comes to the inn to collect me," Amelia said.
"And who are you?" Luna asked.
Amelia blushed. "Oops. I knew I forgot something. My name is Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune," she said, still blushing a bit.
"Lina knows your older sister," Luna said before she left.
Amelia stared at the closed wooden door for a long moment before going back up the stairs to Lina's room. "How do you know Gracia and why didn't you ever mention that you knew her?" Amelia asked the silent Lina, tears falling down her cheeks.
"Why Miss Lina, what are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?" Xellos asked as he appeared in front of Lina.
"I'm having a tea party. What does it look like you Mazoku fruitcake?" Lina demanded. She stumbled and he caught her. 'Xellos is being nice. This must be a figment of my imagination,' she thought as she started walking again.
Xellos watched in concern as Lina walked right past him. He had come to rescue her from Dynast when his master had told him of her capture. He hadn't thought to find her wandering out in the frozen wilderness. He scooped her up in his arms and disappeared.
Amelia looked out the window and saw Zelgadis standing outside the gate. She flung open the window and leaned out. "I'll be down in a second to open te door Mister Zelgadis!" she called.
Zelgadis looked up and saw Amelia leaning out a window fromt he third floor. "That girl is trying to get herself killed," he muttered darkly and walked through the gate. He had noticed the worried look on Amelia's face and wondered at it, but then he dismissed it as nothing.He waited patiently for Amelia to come and open the door and frowned when she did. "Why on earth are you here instead of at the inn like you were supposed to be?" he demanded.
"Lina is here," Amelia whispered. "She was so badly injured Mister Zelgadis. Blood never stopped running from her mouth."
"What are you talking about?" Zelgadis demanded harshly, not quite believing what he was hearing. He grabbed Amelia's shoulders in his powerful grip and pulled her closer to him.
"I was at the inn and I was looking out my window when I saw someone collapse in the street. I thought it looked familiar so I ran out into the street and found that Miss Lina was the person who had collapsed. Miss Lina's older sister carried her here and healed her, but Miss Lina is still unconscious. Or sleeping. I'm not sure," Amelia whispered, pressing her face into Zelgadis' shirt as she began to cry.
Zelgadis held Amelia while she cried, his expression worried.
"Miss Filia isn't here. She and little Valteria went out of town for a few days," Jiras said as he opened the door, glaring at Xellos. He then saw Lina in the general-priest's arms. "What happened to her?" he asked.
"I found her wandering near a Mazoku Lord's santuary and brought her here so Filia could heal her," Xellos replied. "Can you tell me where Filia is? I don't think Lina can hold out much longer."
"She's in Zephellia. Wanted to talk to some gal named Luna," Jiras said. Then he blinked cause Xellos was gone.
Xellos reappeared above the city gates and set Lina down. "Stay here Lina. I'm going to go find Filia so she can heal you," he said, pushing Lina into a sitting position before disappearing into the darkness.
Lina stared out over the city from her position atop the city gates. "Is this really worth it?"
Filia tapped her foot impatiently. "I think you made it all up Namagomi. Lina isn't here," she said.
Baby Val spotted something blowing in the wind and made a grab for it. He fell of the top of the gates but Xellos caught him, his eyes on what Val had found.
Filia had panicked when Val fell and she was relieved when Xellos caught him. "Val! You naughty baby!" Filia scolded her foster son when Xellos absentmindedly handed him back.
"Part of Lina's cloak got caught on the gates," Xellos said, holding up a piece of cloth for Filia's inspection.
"You really were telling the truth!" Filia gasped, recognising the piece of fabric. "And thank you for saving Val."
Xellos just nodded anad looked out over the city. "I'm going to look at her sister's house and see if she's there," he told Filia.
"I'm coming too. I'm worried about Lina," Filia said and grabbed Xellos' hand as they disappeared.
"That's cause it is," a voice said from the doorway.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Lina screamed and dove under her bed. She winced at the pain this action caused, but remained covering under the bed.
"What's wrong with Miss Lina?" Amelia asked as she ran up the stairs to Lina's room. She was followed by Xellos, Filia and Zelgadis, each of them alarmed by the scream. "And for that matter, where is Miss Lina?"
"Under the bed," Luna replied calmly.She moved out of the way so the other coould enter the room.
Amelia walked over to the bed and peered under it. "Miss Lina? Are you all right?" she asked.
"I'm naked and I'm in pain and my big sister is going to kill me. Does that sound like I'm all right to you?" Lina muttered, glaring at Amelia.
"Nooooo. That doesn't sound like you're all right. hang on a sec Miss Lina while I get you a robe or something," Amelia said and stood up. She turned to Luna. "Do you know where Miss Lina keeps her robes? She naked under there," she said, blushing.
Luna threw Amelia a robe from behind the door. "You can tell her that I'm not planning on killing her," she said.
Lina grabbed the robe from Amelia and tied it around her before emerging from under the bed. She avoided looking directly at the others as she sat down on the bed.
Filia and Zelgadis gasped when they saw the condition Lina was in.
"What happened to you Lina?" Zelgadis asked hoarsely.
"Dynast kidnaped me," Lina replied softly. She pushed her long hair over her shoulder and stared at the floor.
"But why?" Filia asked.
"He wanted me to work for him. When I refused, he had his underlings beat me," Lina replied, still not looking at them.Suddenly she started to cry. "I want my husband," she sobbed.
The news that Lina was married stunned everyone.
"Who are you married to?" Filia asked. "If we know, we can try to find him for you."
"I want Gourry!" Lina sobbed, her slim shoulders shaking with each in-drawn breath. Her face was buried in her hands, her fiery hair spilling over her shoulders.
"You married Mister Gourry?" Amelia asked. She tried to comfort Lina, but she was shrugged off.
Lina nodded. When Zelgadis put an arm around her shoulders awkwardly, she buried her face in his shirt. She then placed one hand protectively over her stomach.
"You're also pregnant, aren't you?" Luna asked.
That startled the others. They were even more shocked when Lina nodded her head.
"You really are?!" Amelia yelped as she glomped onto Xellos. She blushed when she realized what she'd done. "Sorry," she whispered.
Xellos shrugged and picked his jaw up off the floor. "You and Gourry are going to have a baby?" he asked.
Lina nodded and continued to sob.
"I'll go and find him for you," Xellos offered.
"Would you really?" Lina asked, raising shimmering ruby eyes to meet Xellos' amethyst gaze.
Xellos nodded, smiling again.
"Thank you!" Lina cried and flung her arms around Xellos in a grateful hug. 'I just hope they don't find out that I'm going to be a mother to more than one baby,' she thought. She was still hugging Xellos when she fell asleep.
Xellos picked Lina up and carried her to the bed where he put her down and covered her with the blankets. "I'd better leave now if I want to find Gourry before she wakes up again," he said. He started for the door when Filia stopped him.
"I'm going with you. Gourry will probably need someone to calm him down when he finds out what's happened to Lina and you aren't it," she said.
"Don't tell Mister Gourry about Lina's baby," Amelia said.
"Why not?" Xellos asked.
"Because that's something she'll want to tell him herself," Filia replied. "Let's go."
Xellos nodded and he and Filia disappeared.
"Good luck," Zelgadis said.
