The travelers are now out on the road once again. That is minus one, Kieran had left in the middle of the night. Kalis was being very quiet about the whole thing, but the others weren't going to try to get anything out of her. They didn't know if Kieran was going to come back and they had no clue how long it would be before Xellos showed his face again. For the first time, Lina was actually hoping to see the trickster, she knew if anyone could cheer Kalis up, it would be him.
As they were silently walking down the road they see a silhouette in the distance. When they got closer, the silhouette started to take on a more familiar form. It was Kieran. He was waiting up ahead for the others to catch up. The moment she recognized him, Kalis ran up to give her best friend a huge hug. Not long after, the others followed suit and soon they were all joined into one big group hug. "You came back," Kalis exclaimed. She started wiping the tears from her eyes. She was overjoyed to have her friend back. He was also glad to be back; after he left he realized how much he depended on his companionship with Kalis. He wasn't used to traveling alone anymore, and decided he didn't want to. After telling everybody all of that, they continued traveling with spirits much higher than before.
A few minutes later Xellos returned. Kieran noticed the attention that Xellos and Kalis were paying eachother. He always knew how they both felt, but now he was having trouble keeping his jealousy at bay. Not wanting to hurt his friend, he decided to ignore them and pay attention to the rest of the group.
A storm started to form in the sky. They all noticed the dark clouds rolling in and the winds picked up with a striking chill. The land grew dark as the clouds blocked out the sun and lightning was seen and heard off in the distance. Along with the rest of the band, Kalis stood and watched the incoming storm. Due to the distraction, nobody noticed the magic building up around Kieran. Kalis finally looked over to Kieran and noticed him mumbling something under his breath. It wasn't until he raised his voice that she realized what he was doing. "...thunder to my hand! DIGU VOLT!" Standing directly behind Lina, Kieran shot the electricity straight into her leaving no time for her to defend.
The sky started to clear as Lina fell to the ground. Zelgadis was the first to get to her and upon inspection, realized she was dead. The others could only stand by and watch as Kieran now turned his attention upon Xellos.
"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!" Kalis shot up in bed covered in a thin layer of sweat. Her bed clothes were tangled around her from trashing in her dreams. Her loud scream had awakened and attracted the rest of the group into her room. The first thing she noticed was that Lina was alive and without a scratch on her. It was at this point that Kalis realized the entire thing had been a dream. She assured the others that she was okay and that it had only been a nightmare; she didn't want any of them around right now.
The next day the tired group of travelers: (Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis, Amelia, and Kalis) finally reached their destination of Seyruun. Although group moral was generally low, Amelia couldn't help but be a little excited about being home after her long trip away. And, as usual, her sugary sweet bubblyness infected the rest of the group and emotions lightened up.
They all reached the palace and Kalis was introduced to Prince Philionel, and his crushing bear hugs. She along with everybody else was shown to the guest rooms. While they were getting settled in, Philionel was making arrangements for the princess' welcome back party.
Kalis couldn't get the dream from the night before out of her head. After thinking about everything she came to the conclusion that all the problems in her life stemmed from one person, Lina Inverse. Xira's death started the chain of events that lead to Kieran leaving her. Now she was alone -- within the company of the bane of her existance. What must she do to solve the problems in her life?
Kill Lina.
Searching the desk in her borrowed room, she found a pencil and some paper to write her letter with. Upon finishing the note, she delivered it under Lina's door.
Lina had just finished getting dressed into her pale green and black gown. She was just about to leave for the party when she noticed a piece of paper on the floor near the door. She reached down and upon noticing that it was addressed to her, she read it.
Lina Inverse.
Meet me in the clearing near the south gate when the moon is at it's zenith. Please come alone and do not tell your friends.
There was no signature or any other marking to let her know who it was from. She wasn't sure of what to do, but she was sure she could handle herself if anything went wrong. She decided to do what the letter said. Putting the note away where it wouldn't be found, she went down to the party.
The party was a grand one as always. Everyone was dressed in their best and the ballroom was lavishly decorated. However the most important feature to this party was the 10-foot long buffet. Said buffet was currently being ravished by a tall blond and a short redhead. Amelia was mingling throughout the room performing her duties as hostess and Zelgadis was hiding in the shadows in the back of the room. Of course the moment Amelia noticed that, she went to rectify the situation.
"Zelgadis-san, why are you hiding again? You always do this at my parties."
"Have you seen Kalis? I haven't seen her at all since I came down here."
"I don't know where she is. Come to think of it, I haven't seen her tonight either." The two of them continued to ponder where their wayward friend had gone off to. They were so busy pondering that they didn't notice when Lina left the buffet table and went outside. However, one person did notice her leaving.
"Hey Lina, where are you going?"
"Oh, Gourry, I'm just going to get some fresh air. I'll be back in a little while."
"Okay, I'll come with you."
"No. Go ahead and go back inside. I'll be fine."
"Well alright. See ya Lina."
I wonder who sent that note. Come to think of it, I didn't see Kalis anywhere at the party. No, she wouldn't have written that. It almost sounded threatening. Well, if it was, I can handle whoever it is. I really hope it wasn't Kalis.
Lina exited the city through the southern gate and proceeded to the closest clearing that she knew of. The letter wasn't too specific on the location of the meeting place, so she was hoping that the one she was going to was the right clearing. Checking the sky, she saw that the moon had nearly reached it's zenith; with that, she entered the clearing.
It was time to get her revenge on Lina. It was all Lina's fault that Kieran was gone. If she hadn't killed Xira, he wouldn't have been upset and they would never have kissed. Lina has to pay for ruining her life. Kalis sees her off in the clearing where she was told to meet at. She quietly casts Wind Brid and the invisable arrows of wind shoot off towards Lina. Being caught off her guard, Lina is hit but not hurt too badly. Kalis didn't want that, yet, she wanted it to last a little longer than that. Death too quickly wouldn't be enough, and one of them was going to die that day.
Lina finally spots Kalis and starts yelling about 'what are you doing?' Kalis' only answer was a Dimilar Wind shot straight at Lina. From a short distance away, Xellos appeared and saw what was going on. He was conflicted about the whole thing. He thought that maybe he should just stay out of it, but he knew Kalis was more than capable of killing Lina. He had orders to protect Lina, but he loved Kalis. Putting his own feelings aside, he had to obey his orders.
Meanwhile, Kalis continued attacking Lina over and over again. Lina was defending and dodging, but she would not retaliate. She didn't understand what was wrong with Kalis but she was sure it was a misunderstanding. She soon became too busy to worry any longer, it took all her concentration to dodge the little lights of Kalis' Raza Klouva. Just when Lina felt that she was too exhausted to dodge any more, Xellos jumped in front of her and deflected the rest of the attack away.
"How can you protect her Xellos?! She was the one who killed Xira! It's her fault that Kieran's gone!!" Kalis powers up her final attack, "Wind which blows across eternity, gather in my hands and become my strength! BRAM GUSH!" The lethal arrow of wind flies straight and true, directly to where Lina is standing. Xellos who is still in the way, reflects the blast back to Kalis. The wind shoots straight through her and her tattered and bloody body slumps to her knees and starts to sway and fall over.
Xellos ran over to Kalis and caught her before falling completely over. Leaning her back he looks into her eyes and sees that she is in a lot of pain; he also sees a slight contentment. "Kali-chan, I'm sorry. I had to protect Lina. You know that I can't go against my orders. Just hold on, you'll be okay."
"It's okay Xellos. I cough I'm sorry. .. I shouldn't have reacted that way. cough." Then barely above a whisper, "I love you .. Xello..." Xellos felt Kalis go limp in his arms. He started calling out to her and trying to wake her up as Lina stood next to him and offered a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Xellos, come. She's gone now." When he looks up at Lina, she sees a blank, emotionless face. Then very slowly, a smile starts to appear.
"Kali-chan's not gone. She's just sleeping now." In obvious denial, he continues smiling and trying to wake Kalis. "Wake up now. It's time for us to go Kali-chan. Kali-chan? We have to get going now, you need to wake up. You're not dead. Wake up! You can't be dead! Kali-chan!!" Xellos then does something that Lina never thought she would see him do. He cried. And he cried, not letting go of Kalis' quickly cooling body.
Lina moves back to give him some space. She watched as Xellos clung to the lifeless body and cried. As she watched this a single tear rolled down her cheek as well. Even though the girl had tried to kill her, it was all a misunderstanding. Kalis wasn't acting rational because of Kieran leaving. Lina hadn't known her long, but in that short time they had become friends.
Lina looks back up to see Xellos still clinging to Kalis as though his life depended on it. Then her body starts to glow. The golden glow radiating from Kalis became so bright that Xellos had to let go to shield his eyes. Then as quickly as it begun, the light faded away. After regaining their sight, Lina and Xellos look to where once the body of Kalis layed, to see an empty spot. There was no body, there was no blood. The grass wasn't even crushed. The ground was completely clean as though she were never there. Both confused as to what had happened; they stood there, watching for something, anything, to happen. It wasn't until after ten minutes had passed that Lina collected Xellos and started to lead him away. The two of them walked on in silence, neither looking back.