Catsai's interview was slightly more ... interesting than the others, with questions such as "What do you mean, Zel's yours? He's already taken!" and "How can you possibly think that Zel would even look at you?"
"So, how did your interview go?" Anna asked pleasantly as Catsai and Atreana emerged from the room. She frowned for a moment when she realized that Catsai's cloak was giving off smoke and Atreana's arms were wrapped in bandages. "Oh."
"Now I remember why I don't like cities," Catsai muttered, glaring at the scribe. "I always run into weirdoes."
"Your turn, Anna," Atreana announced, grabbing Anna's arm and dragging her into the room. "I need to know all about this business that Catsai runs."
"What?!" Catsai shouted, whirling around as the door closed and locked. "Anna, you open this door!" she yelled, pounding on the thick door. Finally, she gave up and headed down to the main room, where Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia were having breakfast.
"I hate cities, I hate kids, I hate mages, I hate scribes," Catsai chanted under her breath.
"How'd your interview go, Miss Catsai?" Amelia asked, glancing up from her food. Catsai glared at her until she started eating again.
"I told you I don't like inns," Catsai reminded Lina as she sat down next to Zel and ordered a drink. "Things like this always happen."
"Things like what?" Gourry asked between bites.
"Never mind, you wouldn't understand," Catsai muttered.
"Catsai?" a waitress asked as she arrived with the drink. "Excuse me, are you Catsai?"
"Yes," Catsai answered slowly. "Why?"
"There's a message for you," the girl told her. "Some guy called Jason. Says he wants you to meet him outside the town gates immediately, and to bring...Zeldigas? Zegildas?"
"Zelgadis," Catsai corrected her, eyes narrowed.
"Yeah, Zelgadis. To bring Zelgadis, and no one else. Oh, and he says to tell you Marcia says hello."
Catsai swore as the waitress left.
"What?" Gourry asked.
"Jason," Catsai told him. "He wants me to meet him outside the town gates."
"So?" Gourry asked. "You don't have to go, do you?"
"Yes, I do," Catsai sighed. "He's got Marcia. Even if he's lying, he'll blow up half the town looking for me. Of course," she added as an afterthought, "we'll probably blow up half the town anyway, but at least we can blow him up in the process. You coming, Zel?" she asked, taking off her gloves and extending her claws.
Zelgadis stood up, grabbed his sword, and nodded. "I'm ready."
"All right. Let's go."
Atreana glanced out the window to see two cloaked figures race out of the inn and down the road. "Now where are they going?" she wondered out loud.
"Probably to fight Jason," Anna suggested. "He challenges us about once a month."
"Really?" Atreana watched the two quickly dissappearing blurs turn a corner and head toward the town gates. "I've got to see this. Levitation!"
Catsai and Zelgadis raced across the rooftops, heading for the town gates. "Didn't we already do this?" Zelgadis asked her.
"Yeah, we should really get a better writer," Catsai agreed.
Neither of them noticed the dark form hovering above them.
After a few minutes, they reached the gates. Catsai glanced around and, seeing no sign of Jason, turned to Zelgadis. "Now what?" she asked, extending her claws.
Behind them, Atreana landed gracefully on the town wall - and then fell ungracefully ten feet. "Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!" she cried as she scraped her back along the stone wall.
"Atreana!" Catsai cried, whirling around angrily. "What are you - never mind. I don't want to know."
Atreana frowned. "Just thought you might need some help," she said angrily. Well, it wasn't a complete lie. They might need help. Jason sounded pretty tough.
"Get back to the inn! Jason said that only Zel and me could come. You're putting Marcia's life in danger!" Catsai snapped.
Atreana sighed. "Oh, all right," she said quietly, and turned around, starting back into the town.
At that instant, a beam of energy appeared from no where. "Zel, look out!" Catsai cried, pushing him out of the way. The thief and the priestess were enveloped by the beam, and dissappeared.
Jason frowned at his crystal ball. "Hmm. That man turned into a woman," he murmured.
"That's not Zelgadis. You got the wrong guy. Or girl. Whatever."
Jason whirled around, startled. "Who said that? Fire..."
"Jason, if you cast a Fireball in here, you'll blow up the tower," a female voice said tiredly. "It's me, remember? Marcia? Your hostage?"
Jason lowered his hands. "Oh. Yeah."
The were-wolf-like woman glared at him. "Look. I'm hungry. I'm no good to you if I die of starvation. Can I have a little food?"
Jason looked at the woman who was chained into the wall. "You don't look starving," he said, examining her extremely well-built body covered only by her fur and her black cloak.
"That's because of the Transformation. My body never looks different, not even if I'm starving. Remember? That was part of your spell, too," Marcia reminded him.
Jason shrugged. "Whatever. Well, I don't have time to feed you right now. I need to go make sure my hostage is still tied up."
"But I'm your - " Marcia started to say as Jason teleported away. " - hostage," she finished, annoyed.
Catsai glared at the priestess. "You! This is all your fault. If you hadn't distracted me - "
"What do you mean, my fault?" Atreana shouted back. "You should have been watching what you were doing."
Catsai started to snarl something at her, when an illusion of Jason appeared. "Welcome, my dear friends. Zelgadis, that's a new look for you, isn't it?"
"I'm not - "
"You're probably wondering why I brought you here."
"No, not really," Catsai replied, sharpening her claws with a whetstone.
"Huh?" Jason wasn't prepared for an answer like that.
"I said, I'm not wondering why you brought me here," Catsai repeated. "It won't make any sense, anyway. None of your plans do."
"Well, since you insist on knowing, I'll tell you."
Catsai sighed. "Look, Jason, I just want to know where Marcia is. Give her to us, send us back, and we'll leave you alone. Deal?"
"I brought you here ... " Jason continued, ignoring her, " ... to - " he paused. "To ... hmm. I forgot. Well, I brought you here for something. What did I bring you here for, Catsai?"
"To give me Marcia back," Catsai suggested.
"Or to convince her to give you her piece of the Philophesor's Stone," Atreana put in.
"Atreana!"
"Oh, you have a piece of the Philophoser's stone?" Jason asked, delighted. "I didn't know that. How fascinating. How about a trade? Your friend for your piece of the Stone? Sounds fair, don't you think? Just come to ... to ... where am I, anyway?"
"The top of the tower?" Catsai suggested. "That's where villains usually are."
"Oh. Thanks. Yes, I'm at the top of the tower. Come up here, and we'll trade. Bye!" The illusion disappeared.
"Why did you have to tell him I had a piece of the Stone?" Catsai muttered, burying her face in her hands. "How did you find out about it?"
"Well, Anna told me," Atreana said, embarresed. "I figured he already knew."
"He did. He forgot it. He forgets everything." Catsai sighed and stood up. "Look, I know how Jason works. He'll have set a trap for us on every floor. Unless he forgot. We'll have to work together to get out of here."
"Uh-uh." Atreana shook her head. "Work with you? You've got to be kidding!"
Catsai glared at the priestess. "You don't have a choice," she explained. "The only exit is a window at the top of the tower.
"I'll levitate," Atreana said shortly, starting to cast the spell.
Catsai shook her head. "You planning on levitating through the twenty or so stone floors?" she asked.
Atreana glared at the thief. "I'll blow the wall apart, then. Fire ... Ball!"
Catsai started to stop her, then ducked as the Fireball bounced off the wall, then the floor, the ceiling, and so on until it hit a small table in a corner. "Magic-proof," she explained as she got to her feet. "Now, are you gonna cooperate?"
Atreana glared at the thief, then sighed. "No choice, I guess," she admitted. "Truce?"
"Truce," Catsai agreed.
"But only until we get out of here," Atreana added. "Then it's back to fighting over Zelgadis. Right?"
"He's not - " Catsai sighed, realizing that this wasn't the time. "Fine. Right. Whatever. Now let's get going!"