"Let us in!" Lina banged on the restaurant's locked door with great enthusiasm.
"Hey, Lina, let me help!" said Gourry, standing behind her in the moonlit street. Amelia had elected to stay behind with Zelgadis and the old Guildmaster; Lina had approved wholeheartedly, as the girl was too distraught to be of much use otherwise.
"Lemme do it!" growled the sorceress, pounding away with all her might. After a good minute or so of this, which accomplished nothing more than venting her considerable frustration, she stepped back a pace or two and let fly with a "Fireball!"
Lina and Gourry stepped over the door's charred remains and entered the dark restaurant. Casting a light spell to get a better look at their surroundings, Lina glanced towards the table where they'd been sitting. Our dishes still haven't been cleared away, she noticed in surprise. That'll make my job easier. She strode towards the table, mouth set in determination.
"What do you think you're doing?" suddenly yelled a voice from the other side of the room. Lina turned, and saw a portly man in sleeping robes coming rapidly down a flight of stairs.
He was followed by the waitress who'd earlier been serving them, and who was now rubbing the sleep from her dark eyes. "We're closed!" added the bleary-eyed waitress. She was still wearing her uniform from earlier that evening; it was now slightly rumpled. "Oh, it's you! The big eaters! What are you..."
"My door!" exclaimed the man, as soon as he noticed the charred mess it had become. "You...!"
"One of our friends is sick and it's because of this restaurant!" announced Lina, cutting them off.
"I can assure you, we use only the freshest ingredients..." the large man proclaimed in indignation.
"No, it was a spell!" snapped Lina, once again heading towards the table piled with stacks of dirty dishes.
"Or poison!" added Gourry helpfully.
"Poison?" The man looked horrified, and the waitress gasped in shock.
"We would never...," she began. "Not even to the worst customers...."
Lina ignored them easily, and stopped in front of the table where she and her friends had eaten their dinner. How would I detect some kind of poison? she wondered, as she looked over the dirty dishes. There must be a spell or two for that kind of thing; maybe that Guildmaster guy knows them. But for now, I'll just search for any magic spells that might still be on these dishes.
As she cast the spell, she noted with worry that she had been the one who'd eaten from most of the dishes. I'm not sick... yet. But that doesn't mean I'm immune to... to whatever happened to Zel. Maybe this... curse, or poison, or whatever, is slowly working on all of us right now, she thought in horror, feeling a terrible coldness in the pit of her stomach. But it's better to find out about it now, so that we can deal with it, instead of just sitting around and waiting for each one of us to drop like flies....
As soon as she'd finished casting the 'Detect magic' spell, Lina was drawn to the half-full pot of coffee. "There is a spell!" she declared, picking up the pot and gazing into it. "I can't quite make out what it is, but there definitely is a spell on the coffee." A slow, deep magic permeated the dark brown liquid; for a moment, Lina was almost hypnotized by the sheer power contained in the incredibly complex spell. Whoa! What is it? she thought in wonder. How on Earth could we have missed this? But of course, no one had expected the coffee to be ensorcelled, so no one had scanned it with magical sight....
"The coffee?" asked the portly man, confused. "That's just the usual blend we serve to everyone. We've been using the same sack's worth for over a week now. Surely there'd have been complaints before now...."
"That man!" suddenly exclaimed the waitress, her eyes opening wide. "The stranger standing in the middle of the kitchen! Remember him, Da?" she asked the older man. Turning back to Lina, she said, "I found him standing near that coffeepot just before I brought it to your table; he must've put a spell on it before I showed up. I knew he was up to no good!"
"What did he look like? Could you identify him?" Lina, knowing a lead when she saw one, immediately began pelting the waitress with questions.
"Yeah, I'm sure I could recognize him," answered the dark-eyed waitress. "He was a customer here, too. He left not long before you folks did. He was sitting right there," she pointed at a table in one shadowy corner, "and he ordered the cheapest meal on the menu."
"He had brown hair, and an old, falling-apart cloak?" asked Lina, vaguely remembering the figure who'd sat in the shadows throughout their meal.
"The creepy guy, who was watching us?" asked Gourry, looking almost angry.
"Yeah, that's the one," replied the waitress.
He spent half the night staring at us, Lina realized grimly. I didn't think much of it then, but now....
"Okay," the sorceress said with determination. "In the morning, we'll go hunting for that creep. He's probably crawled back into whatever hole he came from for the night; but in the daytime..." She smirked. "He can't hide forever."
"Shouldn't we go after him right now?" inquired Gourry, no doubt spoiling for some action. "So the trail doesn't get cold?"
"Probably," agreed Lina, "but I'm tired. I want to get back to bed."
"But - "
"I need my beauty rest!" she snapped.
"O-kay," agreed Gourry reluctantly.
"So, that'll be all. Thanks for your help," Lina said to the waitress and the older man, and then hefted the partially full coffeepot. "I'll be taking this with me, if you don't mind." Nothing else in this restaurant seemed to be cursed or ensorcelled, so she judged it a safe bet that the coffee alone had bespelled Zelgadis.
Just as Lina and Gourry were leaving, the still vaguely stunned man - no doubt the restaurant's owner - spoke up. "But what about our door?" he said, indicating with a petulant frown the charcoal that once had been a sturdy wooden door. Sighing, Lina fished a small pile of golden coins from her purse and handed them, albeit with a good deal of reluctance to the now-speechless man.
At the sight of the gold, the waitress's eyes lit up. "That'll do just fine! Thank you, miss!" She waved happily as the sorceress and her swordsman sidekick left her family's restaurant. The portly restaurant owner stood, still speechless, staring at the coins in his hands.
I overpaid; I know I did.... mentally grumbled Lina as she headed back towards the inn, Gourry at her side. I know I have the money to spare, but still...
She turned her attention towards the potful of cold brown liquid in her hands. It sloshed as she walked. Better be careful not to tip it. She knew that if this coffee was spilled, the chances of saving Zelgadis from whatever was assailing him were slim. And she did not like that idea. I only hope that Guildmaster guy'll be able to figure out something once he gets a sight of this stuff, she thought grimly. If I had the time, I might be able to figure out this weird spell that's on it, but it's good to have someone competent on our side.
As she walked, Lina realized something which gave her hope. "Hey, Gourry," she asked. "Did you have any coffee last night?"
"Uh...." Gourry spent a few seconds in thought before answering, "Nope."
"And neither did I!" the sorceress declared joyfully. "And I don't think Amelia did, either. That's great!" It was better than great, in fact. That means Zel was the only one of us who got caught in this spell. It's not so good for him, but at least we know the rest of us won't be affected at all!
"Um...," said Gourry, looking lost, as he walked beside Lina. "I don't get it. Why is it so great?" he asked plaintively.
Lina just barely stifled the urge to bonk him over the head with the coffeepot.