Facades

Author's Note

Slayers is (C) 2000 Hajime Kanzaka. This story is based on the Slayers Movies and OAVs, but also borrows from several novels and interviews with the creator.

"FIREBALL!"

"FREEZE ARROW!"

The woman easily dodged the magic Lina and Naga threw at her, coming to rest further down the end of the street. "Do you two really think so little of me that you try to kill me with those spells? I'll have to try harder!"

Lina growled. Normally she would have loved this sort of thing. Beating up bad guys was what she did, after all. But the corpse of the young woman lying in the doorway, with her husband and children gathered around her, made Lina's blood boil. There was no way this was going to end with a simple beating.

The woman was bad enough. She was dressed in a green pseudo-bikini, with an arsenal of thorns, knives, and poisons strapped to various parts of her body. She was a Robin Hood seen through a very distorted mirror. She also apparently freaked Naga out - the sorceress had been attacking non-stop since they'd first seen her kill Kairen's mother.

"Naga, are you sure you haven't met this woman before?" Lina asked for the hundredth time.

"Lina, shut up!" Naga snapped. She's been wondering the same thing herself. The woman looked familiar - too familiar. Something about her made Naga feel very cold and small. Which was something Naga hated more than anything else in the world.

Naga was also feeling a certain guilty relief that the wife had been killed with a thorn. From here, Naga couldn't see the wound in her arm. Which meant no blood, which was fine with her.

"Try harder, eh? Fine. LY BRIEM!" Naga cried.

The woman leaped again, noting the house behind her get frozen in ice, and watched Naga to anticipate her next move.

Lina grumbled. Either she was recognised by her reputation, in which case she got the WRONG kind of attention, or they assumed Naga was the leader by her age and size, in which case she got NO attention. She circled round, trying to find an opening where she could do a quick spell to reduce this woman to dust.

There!

"GAAV FLARE!" Lina screamed... then noted the woman smiling in her direction.

"Fooled you," she yelled, ducking.

The ball of flame continued unabated, heading straight towards the grieving family.

"No!" Naga screamed, trying to run towards them.

The father managed to move quickly, grasping the hands of his children and leaping out of the way of the blaze. His youngest was under him as he hit the ground.

But Kairen wasn't so lucky. Before she could be dragged away by her father, her hand slipped out of his, and the Gaav Flare hit her dead centre, reducing her to ashes before continuing through the small restaurant, setting it alight.

Lina stared at the space where the young girl had been, her hands moving to her mouth.

She'd killed her.

My God, Lina had killed her.

"Lina, look out!" she faintly heard from some distance away, then she was flying through the air, landing some ten feet away. She continued to stare, her hands gradually moving from her mouth to her ears. She didn't want to hear it. It wasn't true.

But it is true. You killed Kairen. That young, innocent girl who let you eat the rest of her dessert. Dead. Your fault.

Then Naga grabbed her hands, appearing before her face like a demon. "Lina! Snap out of it!"

How could she face the family? They'd just had their mother taken away from them, and now Lina had killed the eldest child.

Naga ducked and rolled, taking Lina with her. Lina had a fleeting image of some knives... were they being thrown at her?

"Lina!" Naga screamed. "If we don't stop her, she'll kill the others too!"

The words echoed through Lina's head. Kill the others. Stop her. She'll kill the others too.

Lina flipped Naga over and moved like lightning, catching the assassin in the solar plexus. She slammed backwards into a brick wall, losing her breath for a moment. She was quick enough to avoid Lina's next feint... but not to see the sword that hacked at her Achilles tendon, half cutting her foot off her ankle.

Naga felt the world turn grey... blood...

But Lina didn't stop there. As the other woman screamed, Lina hacked upwards, chopping the woman in the stomach, then to the neck. Her blade cut deep, and the assassin ceased to scream. Lina barely noticed. She hit the woman again and again... arm, head, chest, legs, thighs... cutting her into a bloody stump. Her eyes were like pinpoints.

Naga wasn't fainting. She just stared, seeing Lina hack away at their opponent. But it wasn't really Lina. It was a man, dressed in black. And that wasn't some assassin, it was...

"...mother..."

At last, consciousness fled Naga, and she crashed to the ground.

Lina sat against the wall of the house, her arms crossed over her legs in a semi-foetal position. She wasn't really thinking, she was just moving in circles of ever-increasing guilt and loathing.

They had been very nice to her, assuring her that they didn't think it was her fault and thanking her for saving their family from that evil woman. Naga had been unconscious, of course, so they took her to a local doctor. Now the father was walking around the ruins of their restaurant, seeing if there was anything he could salvage.

Not that he could ever get back the life of his eldest daughter. They didn't even have a body to bury.

"Nee-chan?"

Lina froze, and looked up. The younger daughter, Stacia, was staring at her from the doorway. She seemed to be clutching a teddy bear to her chest.

Lina tried to stop herself from whimpering. How could the child even stand to be in the same room as her? Lina was... a monster.

"Y-yes..." Lina quavered.

The girl walked up to Lina and dropped the bear. She then did something so stunning Lina forgot to breathe for a few seconds.

She hugged Lina.

"Thank you for saving me and daddy from the bad woman," she said, and smiled up at Lina.

An hour's worth of grief rose up in Lina like a volcano, and there was no way she could stop it. She reached out and clutched the girl to her, her breath coming out in choking sobs. This must be what the rest of her life was going to be like, because she didn't think she was ever going to be able to stop crying.

Slowly, the little girl began to cry too, overcome by the raw grief pouring from Lina. The two held each other for what seemed like forever, sobbing for a life that would never come back.

Later in the day, Lina was feeling a little better. Well, better was perhaps not the best term. She was no longer thinking over the possibility of slitting her wrists, and was merely preparing to spend the rest of her life living in an unhappy morass of guilt and shame. Instead of going over the Gaav Flare over and over in her head, she was now listening to her sister, who had dropped by one day while Lina was learning the spell. Her sister, who Lina had managed to anger so much she was now on the run in fear of her eternal wrath.

Lina, Luna had said after stopping Lina from fleeing in terror, this is a spell you have to be careful with. Like its master, Gaav the Dragon King, it lacks subtlety. Make sure there's nothing behind it when you set it off. It's like hitting a fly with a sledgehammer.

Lina, of course, hadn't listened. She didn't really care about the consequences, she just wanted to learn it so she could blow away bad guys. So she could be powerful. So she didn't have to look to her sister for everything anymore.

What would her sister think if she saw her now? Lina was a killer. Because of her unthinking temper, an innocent child had died. That was a lot worse than simply showing people a projection of Luna in the nude.

It was getting dark outside, and Lina automatically raised her hand to summon up a light ball, then shuddered. It was second nature to her now, she didn't even have to think of it. Got a problem? Use magic. Need to make your life easier? Use magic. Need to kill someone?

Lina dropped her hand, letting the darkness settle over her once more. She didn't dare risk it, not even the smallest white magic spells. She had to find out whether she could be trusted with magic anymore, whether she could allow others to be around her. Until then... well, she's better get in some practice with her sword. And look to Naga to take out the bandits. There was a galling thought.

"Miss Inverse?"

Lina looked up, but didn't recognise the face. For a moment she thought it might be the local law enforcement, come to cart her off to some dungeon. Then she noticed the caduceus on the woman's coat and realised she was a doctor. "Yes," she murmured, this feeling wary of dealing with people.

"Your travelling companion has woken up... but there are some complications. We think it might help if you were to see her."

Lina blinked. Complications? What the hell did that mean? The doctor's face wasn't giving anything away, so Lina mutely got up and followed her to the building that served as the town's hospital.

"How did Miss... um, Miss Naga come to fall unconscious in any case?"

Lina ran her hand through her hair. "She's terrified of seeing blood... any blood. Even a hangnail makes her faint. You don't even want to know about her time of the month. She's never said why, I think it's some anaemia thing. Anyway, when I... um, when I took care of that psycho, I got a little carried away. It might have bothered Naga more than usual."

The doctor muttered something that Lina couldn't quite catch.

Lina was getting worried as they arrived at the hospital. Why wasn't the doctor telling her anything? Naga hadn't suffered much physical damage beyond a few scrapes and bruises... was there something else?

Walking into the main room, Lina breathed a sigh of relief. Naga was sitting up, looking off into the middle distance. Well, she's not in some coma, at least, Lina mused. She did look a bit shell-shocked, though. Lina knew how she felt. Every few minutes or so, she had to fight the urge to run off into the woods and sob.

Her confidence faded when Naga looked over at the two of them. There was puzzled curiosity in those eyes, along with a sort of haunted sadness. The curiosity wasn't unusual, but the sadness was. Lina had never seen Naga sad, or even seen her cry. Naga was the epitome of the proud, self-confident sorceress. It was one of the few qualities Lina admired in her.

The disturbing thing was what was lacking in her eyes. Recognition.

"N-naga?" Lina blurted out.

Naga cocked her head. "What?"

Oh God, Lina thought bitterly, brain damage. I've killed a girl and driven Naga insane. I might as well Dragon Slave the town, I'm on a roll today.

Naga continued to stare at them. "You still haven't told me when I can leave. I have to get back to the palace, my family is in danger."

Lina was brought up shirt. "Palace?"

Naga nodded. "I can't stay. There are assassins around. I k-killed one of them, but there are others, I know it..." Tears were filling Naga's eyes. Filling Naga's eyes. And as Lina continued to stare in amazement, Naga broke down into tears.

Lina looked around momentarily, wondering if this was some set-up to throw her off her guard. Maybe this was the town's revenge, it would drive both of them mad.

Naga stopped after a few moments, though. "I'm sorry, I'm not at my best. My mother was killed last night."

Suddenly Lina knew exactly what had happened. Naga's reaction to that psycho woman, Naga's mother being killed... it all fit together. Memory loss. Lina bet that if you looked at pictures, Naga's mother probably looked like the other woman. Adding to that the violent way Lina had dispatched her...

The doctor spoke up. "Perhaps if I introduced you. This is Lina Inverse, a young sorceress. Lina... this is Gracia Un Naga Saillune, Crown Princess to the Saillune throne."

Lina stared at the doctor, then at Naga, then suddenly felt very light-headed. The floor then came up to meet her quite quickly.

Lina woke up staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. Not that that was unusual for her lately. Still, the damp cloth on her forehead wasn't a daily requirement. She sat up, and noticed the doctor staring back at her seriously.

Oh God... memory came back in a rush. Naga.

Lina rubbed her temples. "Sorry about that."

The doctor nodded. "It's alright. Common reaction to major shocks."

"Definitely major shocks. OK, so Naga thinks she's the princess of Saillune. Right, I can deal with this. I'll regard it as a vacation. What can we do next?"

The doctor blinked. "Well, before helping her, let's look into helping you. We've looked into this some. There are some portraits of the Saillune royal family in our library, from five or six years ago. As far as we can tell, the eldest daughter in them is the woman in the other room. Yes, she could be disguising herself, but for what purpose? From what you've told me, she's not the sort to think up major schemes."

Lina's head was spinning again. "What are you telling me?"

"From what I can see, there must have been some major trauma in her past. Something so horrifying that she buried it deep within herself. This fight, with what might be similar characteristics, has brought her memories back. Unfortunately, we seem to have lost everything in between."

"Oh God, she is a princess. She's Princess of Saillune. Naga the White Serpent. Ahehehe...AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Lina was holding her stomach, laughing in a sort of crazed disbelief.

The doctor walked up to Lina and shook her. "Miss Inverse! Are you going to help me or not?"

Lina eventually calmed down, rolling onto her side for a moment. "I'm sorry. Like you said, it's a shock. And I've had a really shitty day to boot. OK, so we need to get Naga's memories back. I can handle that."

"It's not quite as easy as that," the doctor said, shaking her head. "If she is the princess, then she's been missing for three years. We'll have to tell her family. Plus she mentioned something about assassins. Obviously there's no great danger, as we haven't heard of any other tragedies in Saillune, but it's still something to keep in mind."

Lina had heard of the tragedy, but obviously never connected it to Naga - she'd never seen pictures of the Saillune Royal family, only knowing that Prince Phil ruled it as the White Magic Capital of the world - and therefore it was a place Lina had never gotten around to visiting. She put this out of her mind, however. To her, the situation was simple. Naga had forgotten who she was. Once Lina got Naga her memories back, everything would be back to normal.

Murderer.

All right, then they could get on with their lives. Lina fought down another wash of guilt. "What do you recommend, then?"

"At the moment, Gracia - and please make an effort to call her Gracia, not Naga - Gracia is dead set on getting back to Saillune to warn her family. I don't think she fully realises how much of her life is missing. So we probably aren't going to be able to keep her here for long. If you went with her, helped her try to recall the past three years - "

"Three YEARS?!" Lina gaped.

"That's when Princess Gracia went missing, according to reports. When did you first meet her as Naga the White Serpent?"

"She is Naga. I first met her about a year and a half ago... she burned my hotel down as a greeting."

This seemed to throw the doctor momentarily. "Burned down your hotel?"

"Yeah. To get me to notice her," Lina responded.

"...and you want this woman to regain her memories?"

"Look, let's just drop it! Right, I go with her to Saillune. Fine. What do we do there?"

The doctor sighed. "Well, presumably she'll realise that it's been three years since the incident occurred... that would certainly be enough of a shock to regain her memories."

"Has she looked at herself?" Lina asked desperately. "I really, REALLY don't want to think she looked the same way at sixteen as she does now! Surely that'd tell her things are different!"

"The mind can be incredibly deceptive when it wants to be. I imagine she's inventing reasons in her head to explain the differences. Now, Miss Inverse, will you help her? REALLY help her? Because if you go into this half-heartedly, you could do more damage than good."

Lina got to her feet, by now thoroughly annoyed. "Of course I'm going to help her! Look, it's my fault she's in this mess, right? And I don't want her to forget the last three years! I want her to - "

"To remember who you are?" the doctor said, tilting her head.

Lina flushed, but nodded.

"Good enough," said the doctor, standing up. "We can't expect everyone to be a humanitarian, I suppose. Let's get you back to Miss Saillune, and we can get started."

Lina shuddered at the name. This wasn't going to be easy.

Lina and Gracia stood by the gates of the town, ready to go. Lina was rather relieved to see that Gracia - not Naga, Gracia, right - was still wearing her standard bikini minimal under her cloak. Lina had been half afraid she'd show up dressed in white as some shrine maiden. She had a contingency plan all ready if that happened. Shriek, and run away as fast as possible.

Now came the difficult part. She'd thought about what to do all of last night - whether it would be seen as an insult, or as the apology she meant it to be. It also took a lot of guilt for her to do this - she was giving up her greatest love here, something she'd spent months attaining.

Then she remembered the little girl hugging her, and thanking her for killing the evil woman.

She turned back to the doctor. "Look, um... I want you to give this to Kairen's family." She held out a purse, filled to bulging. "I know there's no possible way I can repay them for what I did, but... this will help them rebuild their restaurant, and maybe get a head start on... on stuff." She looked down, her face darkening.

Luckily, the doctor seemed to understand what Lina was trying to do. She smiled, and took the purse. "I'm sure they'll understand the gesture, Miss Inverse. And thank you. No matter what you may think of yourself, we're mourning two people today, and not four. Thank you for that."

Lina kicked the ground, and nodded again. Her stomach was churning. "Did they ever find out why that bitch came after K-kairen and her family?"

"It was pure stupidity. A local merchant wanted to buy out her father's restaurant, and when threats and bribes didn't work he decided to hire the first assassin that was available. But she was - well, you saw what she was. He's turned himself in. Trust me, we'll deal with him. I don't think he intended anything like this to happen, though."

Lina growled, clearly unhappy with the reasoning.

The doctor turned to Gracia. "I wish you luck, Princess. If you feel the need, you can come back here."

Lina noted Gracia's irritation. She was still in denial that she'd somehow lost three years, and wasn't wild about a mysterious sorceress joining her on her journey. Well, she wasn't going to be thrilled with Lina's behaviour on their journey, then; Lina was determined to get Naga's memories back no matter what.

She'd been wondering why ever since the doctor had asked. Naga was a friend, but not really a good friend. They were closer to the rivals that Naga always said they were. Lina frequently had abandoned Naga and set out on her own, only to have the busty sorceress turn up again and again, like the 'Goldfish Faeces' nickname she'd garnered. Lina had no reason whatsoever to help Naga get her memories back.

Except for a deep reaction of loneliness that she felt when she thought of never seeing her again.

Lina shook her head. Bullshit. She was helping Naga because she felt guilty about partially causing this. That was it. She sighed, feeling depression wash over her again. She hated being depressed. She always tried to go through life smiling. But sometimes there's just a lot to be depressed about.

She grabbed her pack. "C'mon, Na...Gracia," she muttered, "let's go."

The other woman nodded, then set off at a killer pace towards Saillune. Lina blinked then ran off after her. "Oi, hold it, hold it! Saillune's a week or so away no matter how fast you walk!"

Gracia sat by the fire, staring off into space. Too much had happened today, and coming right off her mother's... her mother's death, it was becoming very difficult to hold things together. She'd been rather disturbed to find she was wearing her mother's old battle bikini... the one her mother had shown her as a girl, saying she gave it up to marry her father.

She wondered why she hadn't cried more than she had. She and her mother had never really gotten along, true... they were too similar for that. But that didn't mean that Gracia didn't love her. It must still be the shock, Gracia mused to herself.

"Hey, Na-Gracia, can I ask you something?"

Gracia sighed. Lina Inverse was proving to be a particularly annoying travelling companion. In many ways, she reminded Gracia of her baby sister. Amelia was Daddy's little girl, and it was starting to show, as she was exhibiting all of her father's... odder habits. Gracia, on the other hand, took after her mother... which was frequently irritating in and of itself.

On the other hand, Gracia certainly didn't want to travel alone, and Lina was tolerable enough to know when to leave her be. Until now, it seems. "Yes," she asked, putting on her mother's best aloof look.

Lina shivered. "Gah... you look so much like Naga when you do that..."

"Stop that!" Gracia snapped. "It's Gracia! I know I've lost some memories, but I have not lost three years!" Gracia stopped shouting; she could hear desperation in her voice.

Luckily Lina backed off quickly. "Sorry, sorry! I'll really try not to do it again, Gracia."

"What was it?"

Lina seemed to be trying to speak circumspectly, her fingers dancing along the ground. "Well, you know you've lost some memories... and it'd be great if you got them back before we hit the palace... I was thinking you could go over what you last remember with me. It might help you gather your thoughts, give us a clue what happened."

"And allow you to understand me better, so you'll be able to help me recover these phantom memories I have lost?"

"Er... well..."

Gracia continued, a sneer coming to her lips. "And so you want me to relive the most horrifying, traumatic time of my life - while I'm still desperately attempting to recover from it?"

"OK, sorry, forget I said anything!" Lina was snarling too now.

"Well, what do you expect? This phantom persona you seem to think I have may have told you all about herself while you were travelling together, but my life is private, thank you!"

Lina stood up. "You never talked about your life at all! Why do you think I'm asking you this? Certainly not because I'm charmed by your bewitching personality!"

Now Gracia was on her feet, which left Lina at a distinct disadvantage... especially when Gracia lifted her up in the air. "Stop pretending that I'm some fake person you're trying to get rid of, dammit!"

Lina looked back at her, the anger leaving her face. Gracia began to realise what she was doing. Getting angry again. You know what happens when you get angry, Gracia.

Gracia dropped Lina as if she'd been shot. "I need to..." she began, then ran into the woods. She stopped some ways in, leaning up against a tree, panting.

"Just like mother," Gracia murmured. She slumped to the ground. "Just like mother."

Lina sat by the fire, feeling rather angry. At Naga, at the world, at herself.

She'd rushed things. She wanted to get this over and done with, so she'd pressed Naga when she was still trying to recover from this whole Gracia business.

Still, it'd help if she was totally different. But she isn't, Lina mused. There were certain aspects of this 'Gracia' that were very similar to her friend. Notably the bearing. Naga always carried herself as if she was posing for a poster on good posture. And not only that, but it extended to her personality. It was something Lina always envied about Naga. She was proud. So was 'Gracia'. If anything, she was even worse. She was regal.

Naga being royalty. Boy, was that a stunner. Lina grumbled to herself. And here she thought she could try to copy Naga's confidence and just pick it up. Hell no, it was something you were born with.

Not that this woman was all peaches and cream. Naga was also, for the most part, happy. Not the constant perk Lina had, but a quiet, jovial cheer. The sort that led to a laugh that grated on you like bad cheese. Gracia, though... Gracia was angry. And Lina didn't think it was just because of her mother's death.

Lina's train of thought was interrupted by Naga... Gracia returning, and sitting down across from her by the fire.

"My mother and father met when his father was still ruling the kingdom. Old Eldran had sent Prince Phil out to make a man of himself, and as usual, daddy overdid it." Lina saw Gracia look at her out of the corner of her eye, but wasn't about to speak now that her traveling companion was actually opening up.

"He went from town to town, propositioning anything female with a pulse. You've seen pictures of my father, right?"

Lina shivered and nodded, remembering the portrait in the library.

"He always tried to mention he was a prince first. It didn't do much good, very few people believed him. He was getting a reputation in the kingdom all right, but it was the wrong one. Eldran sent out envoys to bring him back to Saillune before he destroyed the family name further. Luckily, before they got to him, he arrived in my mother's town."

Gracia was relaxing now, seeming to lose herself in memories. Lina watched, fascinated. She was looking even more like Naga now.

"My mother, Amanda, was the daughter of the mayor. She was also rather spoiled. Naturally, when my father arrived and attempted to woo her in his particular way, she nearly threw him across town. Little did she know how this encouraged my father. Someone who reacted with something other than pure fear and loathing... he was smitten. Not to mention my mother's taste in clothing was a bit eccentric. This outfit is hers, did you know that?"

Lina blinked. "You're wearing your dead mother's bikini?"

Gracia glared at her, and Lina raised a hand. "Sorry... just slipped out. I won't speak again."

"It's alright... I can't remember why I'd have it on anyway. After they married, my mother never wore it. At least, not in public."

Lina's eyes crossed. "Gyaaahh... moving on..."

Gracia giggled. Lina grabbed a hold of herself and tried not to react. It was a giggle. A normal giggle. It wasn't the laugh. My God, Naga didn't have the laugh anymore. For some reason, that thought terrified Lina.

"In any event, for several days, my father courted. It was the most pathetic courting in the history of romance. Bards fled the town and vowed never to write again after hearing my father's words of love. Young lovers broke up in horror upon seeing the innocent passion on his face. My mother's father offered him the entire family fortune if he would only leave."

Lina blinked. "Please don't tell me that your mother was inspired by your father's tender declaration of love, and fell for him despite everything. Because if you do, I may have to go and be sick..."

Gracia laughed this time, a light, pure alto laugh. Lina's stomach churned; she might end up having to be sick anyway.

"It had nothing to do with my father's words of love. But once she managed to pry him off the subject of her, he started talking about what he wanted to do for Saillune, and the rest of the area around it. My father can be quite inspirational when it comes to politics. And my mother was trapped in a male-dominated town with no hope of much but being the wife of the next mayor. A political marriage was perfect."

Gracia sighed, and lay back, staring up at the stars. She was looking sad again. "The drawback, of course, was that it was a marriage of ideas, not of love. After much debate, they both decided that their union would be best for the people of Saillune, and therefore above such petty things. My mother took this to heart... but I don't think my father ever did. He still loved her just as much. He just tried not to let it get out of control when she was around.

"In any event, a political marriage can be a drawback to a young child. Right away, there was a fight over how I should be raised. My father wanted to groom me to be his heir, the princess of justice and peace. My mother, on the other hand, was grooming me to be a priestess, genteel nobility and grace. My early years, frankly, were a nightmare."

Lina by now had put her knees up to her chest, totally engrossed in the story. She had known Naga merely as an annoying woman who followed her around, stole her food, and helped her beat on bandits and bad guys. Now here was a woman with an actual past, a history. And a complex one at that.

It occurred to Lina that she was being slightly hypocritical about Naga not saying anything about her past. All Naga knew about Lina was that she was from Zephelia. Lina had never mentioned her parents, or her sister. Especially not her sister.

"My sister's arrival made everything better. They were able to divide us down the middle. Daddy would get to mould Amelia-chan into his own little disciple, and Mother would do the same thing with me. It worked out fine as the years went by. Amelia took after daddy, and was only to happy to be taught the wonders of justice. Unfortunately, I took after Mother. Mother would have made a miserable priestess. So did I. I was being asked to become an ideal, and the idea grated on me."

Lina was beginning to get a sense of where this was going, and wasn't sure she was going to like the outcome. Still, it was too late to stop now. "So the two of you probably fought a lot, then?"

Gracia laughed, a bitter laugh that sounded more like she was choking. After over a year of nothing but 'The Laugh', Lina was starting to enjoy picking apart the varied tones Gracia now used. Lina didn't really feel a need to leap into this conversation as per usual, but rather to just sit and listen to Gracia speak.

"My mother and I didn't speak for almost a year at one point. In fact, we'd made up almost a month ago. She had been expecting that I would drift into a life of loose morals, drinking, and alchemy. In fact, I still studied. Any knowledge can be put to use, no matter where it comes from. And I was getting very good at white magic."

Lina nodded; she knew Naga had incredible skill at white magic, though she'd never mentioned it out loud. When trapped in a castle, Naga had once taken out an entire room full of animated armour with a Flow Break. That kind of power wasn't just something you picked up in passing. "Did you annoy her when you started learning Shamanism and Black Magic?"

Gracia blinked. "I didn't. I'd been meaning to, but I was a bit of a public presence, and it was very difficult to get people to teach you when you were the young princess."

Lina's eyes narrowed, and the clearing they were camping in suddenly seemed a lot darker and more dangerous. She would have to teach... or rather, reteach Gracia some of the basic shamanism and black magic spells.

Murderer.

She jerked, hearing her little inner voice again. Teach magic? Her? How could she trust herself to teach magic after Gaav Flaring a young girl to death? She wasn't even ready to start using it herself, now she was going to teach someone else easy ways to slaughter?

Oh, so you're just going to retire and become a good little housewife and mother? The other half of her mind was yelling at her now. It was the one that suggested the Gaav Flare, but it was also the one that got angry whenever seeing good people being treated like crap... just like Kairen's family.

There wasn't going to be an easy answer to this. All she could do now was keep a better watch over the countryside until she had things figured out.

Gracia was still talking, and Lina guiltily began to listen again.

"...wasn't much of a surprise that Amelia and I didn't see too much of each other. That might have been my fault; I never really hung around Daddy, either. His personality just... didn't mesh with mine. Same with Amelia's. I used to do an evil sorceress-type laugh to scare her away when she was getting to be too much. OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO - are you all right?"

Lina had leapt about six feet in the air, blanket and all. She put her hand to her temple and tried to recover herself. "Sorry, you just... took me by surprise. Go on."

Gracia, however, didn't go on for a few minutes; instead she sat and stared at the fire. When she continued, it was in a far more subdued tone.

"My mother and I made up about a month or so ago. It was actually quite nice; I think the fact that I'd kept to my studies impressed her. She started teaching me more complex white magic spells, some of the harder stuff. I spent about three weeks working on getting Chaos String to work."

Lina's eyebrows nearly left her head. Chaos String wasn't a strong white magic spell, but it was delicate. Most people didn't bother with it because it required a great deal of dexterity and manipulation to master it. Come to think of it, she remembered Naga had started to use it once in their travels... but Lina hadn't exactly been the most patient person back then.

Gracia's voice was growing softer, and Lina moved closer to be able to hear her.

"I finally managed to do it. I could manoeuvre even the finest strings to do what I want. I was so pleased I ran straight to Mother's room to tell her."

Gracia began to shiver. Lina, after a moment's though, reached out and grabbed her shoulder. This seemed to help, and Gracia nodded her thanks.

"The room... was a bloodbath. There's really no other way to describe it. The walls, the ceiling, the floors... everything was drenched in blood. My mother's blood. What was left of her... was lying in several pieces on the ground. Enough to identify on sight. After that... I must have screamed, I suppose. Guards leading me away, Father hugging me, Amelia screaming and being led away... it all blurs together."

Lina's face was white. She never knew. She never knew this was the reason for Naga's anaemia. A shock so traumatic and horrifying... Lina wondered what she would have done if she ever found Luna like that. She hoped to God she never, ever had to find out. Even picturing the scene was starting to make her shake. After a moment, she quietly murmured, "And you can't remember anything after that?"

Gracia blinked. "Oh yes I can. It's just that time that's blurry. I definitely remember what happened next. The palace security told us it was the work of a notable assassin... Booley was his name. The wires were his trademark... not only were they razor sharp, but he used a Mono Volt spell to electrify them. The death of his victims is agony."

Gracia stopped for a moment, and her eyes began to water, but she didn't start to cry. After a moment, she went on. "Everyone was discussing precautions to take, ways of guarding the rest of us, but I didn't hear them. I just heard that my mother's killer was named Booley. And that he used wires."

Lina's brows furrowed, then she gasped. "Naga, you didn't!!" she shouted in disbelief.

If Gracia heard the misuse of her name, she didn't pay any attention. "I did. I deliberately left myself open to attack that evening. Early in the morning, I heard footsteps. I sat up quickly and confronted him. It was Booley. He didn't even try to deny it. He simply said that this time he'd make no mistakes, and sent his wires towards me. I was ready for him, though. I had already begun the chant under my breath. I could feel the wires sailing towards me, and began to manipulate them the way I wanted. It was everything I had been taught by my mother, in that one spell."

For a few moments, Lina was so rapt in Gracia's memories that she didn't realise the woman had stopped speaking. "And then..." she prompted.

Gracia smiled sadly, and shrugged. "And then I woke up in a hospital bed, wearing my mother's bikini, and everyone was telling me I was someone else. If you want to fill in any blanks, I'd be happy to hear them."

Lina tried to find her voice. "Um... not much to say here."

Gracia sighed. "You can tell me what you know about me, I'll try not to snap at you. I'm starting to realise that it's not simply a matter of my waking up the next day."

Lina paused for a moment nevertheless. Despite Gracia's seeming relaxation about the whole three years thing, Lina did not want to begin her recollections with 'It all started when you burned down my hotel...'. In fact, most of her stories were inappropriate for someone who seemed to view herself as a cultured, reserved, yet fiery young woman.

"Well..." began Lina, "I don't know how much of what I can tell is useful. You never really talked about your past. I didn't either, I suppose. We just went around the countryside blowing up bandits, taking their money... eating... it's wasn't what you'd call complicated, y'know? The odd saving the world or so."

Gracia's eyes narrowed, but she didn't say anything. Privately, Lina was a little relieved that she'd worn herself out discussing her memories, so she was less likely to get crabby with Lina's own recollections.

"Anyway, I think I remember once you tried to use Chaos String... we were going after this bad guy, and the two of you got to yelling at each other. It looked as if you had a handle on it... yawn anyway, I just Mega Branded the guy and we went on."

Lina was feeling her eyes getting heavy. After the adrenaline rush of Gracia's horrific story, she was starting to feel drained. "Do you mind taking first watch?" she asked muzzily.

Gracia shook her head. "I'm a little too wired to sleep right now..." she said, a slight smile curling her lips.

Lina winced at the pun but didn't comment. She smiled, then lay back down on the ground and fell into a deep, deep sleep.

Walking down the lane, but something was wrong. There was something there, just out of her sight, something she couldn't place...

Staring at her.

She was getting nervous her eyes darting from side to side now.

There.

It was near the side of the road, just for a second, a sombre face staring directly at her, expressionless.

Kairen.

Kairen's face. Lina tried to panic, but couldn't, all she could do was keep moving, trying not to show her growing fear as the path she was travelling on seemed to stretch out forever.

And she was there, at the other side of the road. Staring at her with a face that gave away absolutely nothing. Not the face of the cute young girl she'd met several days ago, but something else. It was as if it wasn't really Kairen at all.

Behind her.

Lina spun, her hands ready to cast a spell, but there was nothing there.

Again.

She turned, and there was Kairen again, staring at her, blank-faced and silent.

Lina couldn't move. She tried to drag herself away from the girl, but she couldn't move...

Kairen finally moved, walking closer and closer to Lina. Lina wasn't moving, but the girl seemed to be getting taller and taller... or was she just walking into the air? She slowly reached out to take Lina's face, caressing her cheek.

Lina's eyes were wide with terror by now, there was simply no other emotion available to her.

And then Kairen opened her mouth, and screamed...

Lina shot up in her bedroll, panting heavily, tears streaming down her eyes. She stared around wildly, but there was no sign of...

Nightmare.

Dammit.

"Are you alright, Lina?" Gracia was looking over at Lina, a look of concern on her face. It almost made Lina dizzy, she should be seeing Naga's smirk, not some... well, some compassion.

Lina shook her head. "Bad dream. I'll be alright."

Gracia frowned but said nothing, turning her eyes back to the forest.

Lina shivered once more, turned over, and closed her eyes. She soon fell quickly into sleep, this time without dreams.

The following day, Lina stopped Gracia before they set out.

"Before we go... we've got to start teaching you some offensive magic. I don't care if it's teaching or kicking your old memories into gear but we're going through heavy bandit country, and I want us to be prepared."

She expected Gracia to say something snide about the memories comment, but instead Gracia asked, "Why aren't you handling our defences? I thought you were the wondrous sorceress."

Lina pondered lying. "Because I need to practice with m - " She stopped, knowing that she wasn't sounding remotely convincing. And she felt fresh waves of guilt when she tried to think of other explanations. "Because something happened in that village, and I don't trust myself anymore. And before I do any more magic, I need to get that back, or else things are just gonna get worse. So I'm gonna handle things with a sword, and you're gonna do the magic. Okay?"

There was a pause, and Lina looked up at Gracia's face. There was a hint of sadness behind those eyes, something Lina really couldn't look away from. Gracia's face was so expressive. A full gamut of emotions, from grief to anger to sly humour. Why did she become Naga? Naga, who suddenly seemed so... cartoonish, so shallow.

And why was it that Lina still desperately wanted to see Naga return?

Gracia nodded, breaking Lina's concentration, and dropped her pack. "All right. I've been meaning to learn these sorts of things anyway, I was just awaiting the proper time. Couldn't be better than this. What do we do?"

Lina furrowed her brow. "Well, ideally, we'd go to a Sorcerer's Guild and get you lots of pre-training and background, in order to avoid all sorts of accidents."

Gracia raised an eyebrow. "Is that how you learned?"

"Sometimes!" Lina shouted, a flush rising to her cheeks. "I mean, even a talented and beautiful young sorceress has to start somewhere... though I admit after a while I was mostly learning as I went." Mostly because no guild would allow her within five hundred feet of its walls, Lina didn't add. "Anyway, you only know White Magic? Nothing else?"

Gracia shrugged. "I'd started to learn some Water Shamanist spells... as much as I could handle virtually on my own. Freeze Arrow and Demona Crystal were pretty much it."

Lina nodded. "Good enough. Most bandits out here aren't exactly the pride of their homelands, and being encased in ice tends to make them cool off. Nag - um..." She cut herself off again, but Gracia sighed.

"Go on, I'll just put it to one side for now."

Lina sweated, but continued. "You didn't use as much Black Magic as I did. Actually, you really didn't use a lot of any category, except water, but from what I saw, you had the basics down for almost every different category. A general smattering of everything."

"Sounds like me. Anything else?"

"Most of your black magic spells were ones you invented yourself, or modified for your own use. A lot of golems and controlling of earth, water... Vu Vraimer, that sort of thing."

Gracia held her head for a moment. "Ow..."

"Eh? A memory?" Lina was attentive now.

"No... but I remember saying the words..." Gracia's eyes fogged over a bit, and she raised her hands. "I can see myself... doing something..."

Lina grabbed her hands and brought them together sharply. "Oi!"

Gracia snapped out of her trance. "What's the matter with you? I was remembering some magic!"

"Yes, and once you'd summoned the golem, what were you planning to do with it? No offence to you, and I always admired how you could create new variations on spells, but we need useful stuff. The others can come later."

Gracia looked angered for a moment, then nodded. "Fine, teacher. So what should I learn?"

Lina sighed. "We'll start with Fireball. I'm hoping the Water spells will come back to you as we go, I'm just not as good with them as you are... were, so teaching them would be dangerous. But Fire... I know fire." Lina grinned like a cat.

"Well, what have we here?"

Lina and Gracia spun around, both cursing their inattentiveness. There were about eight bandits surrounding them in a loose circle, swords already drawn. The usual crowd of large, ugly men with a short, more intelligent-looking ugly man out in front. Lina grimaced, drawing her sword. She had expected this to happen, just not so soon.

Gracia suddenly grabbed Lina. "Stay behind me."

Lina blinked. "Eh?" Was she going to try to take out eight bandits with freeze arrow? She moved behind Gracia's back, quietly working out what to do when the bandits who avoided the first attack went after her.

"SLEEPING!"

Lina jumped, manoeuvring quickly behind Gracia's suddenly moving form as she swept the circle of bandits. The bandits started to charge, then as one they fell to the ground, snoring heavily.

Gracia sighed, dusted off her hands, and turned to Lina. "What, I can't use White Magic with bandits?"

Lina just gaped for a moment. She finally managed to pick her jaw up off the floor and stammered, "You... you never used white magic at all except for emergencies! And I never even knew you could do Sleeping! How'd you manage to learn that one?"

Gracia grinned. "Saillune's priests and priestesses know how to handle themselves if attacked. And I was training to be a priestess, you recall."

Lina looked around at the bandits, who would likely be unconscious for the rest of the day. She looked back at Gracia, about to say something, then closed her mouth and shrugged. She then went to each bandit in turn, relieving them of their ill-gotten gains... and maybe even the gains they'd gotten legitimately.

She turned back to Gracia, her packs now once more filled to the brim with gold pieces.

"Lucky!"

"That's exactly what I thought.", she said in a quiet voice.

Turning over quickly, a pained look appearing on her face.

"You cover thin metal strings with the Mono Volt, and control them as a whip to kill the target.

Her arms reached up, trying to drive away the images in front of her.

"I know that the assassin Booley used the same skill. In that case, you were an apprentice of him, right?"

She was sweating now, thrashing back and forth, unable to stop herself from... reliving? Were these memories?

"I know that Booley was better than you." she said coldly. The body of the man fell down on the ground. "I forgot to say this." Naga said. "It was me who killed the assassin Booley."

Gracia's eyes snapped open and she almost hurled herself out of her blankets with a small cry. She fell back to the ground, breathing heavily, her hands clenched into fists.

"Naga! Are you all right!"

She rubbed her fists against her eyes, half to wake up and half to see of she could erase the images that still lurked there. "Gracia. Just a nightmare of some sort."

She felt the young redhead back off, and knew if she looked up she'd be grinning and rubbing the back of her head. Funny how she'd only been travelling with Lina Inverse for a short time, but was already able to know her so well.

Or not really funny at all. Gracia knew she was deluding herself now. She hadn't lost a few days, she'd lost years. And that wasn't a nightmare, it was a memory. A memory of her using her white magic to kill - just as she'd done on the assassin who killed her mother. So much for honouring her mother's memory. It seemed she was nothing more than a vengeful mage, wandering the country seeking people to torment.

Stop that, she remonstrated. You're working from one sole memory. You have no idea what you were like, that's why you're returning home. So that Father can help.

She sighed, and stood slowly. Lina had returned to her lookout position, and was doing her best to pretend that she wasn't paying attention to Gracia while secretly looking at her every two seconds.

Gracia suddenly decided she wanted to know more about the young woman. Lina had said that she had never really told 'Naga' about her past. Well, maybe it was time that changed.

She walked over to the tree Lina had been perched on and sat down next to her. "I really don't feel like going to sleep right now."

Lina nodded. "Don't blame you." She'd tensed up the moment that Gracia had sat down. Was she still annoyed about the bandits? Or was this going back to something else? It might even have been something that happened before, when she was...

And you can stop that as well. Keep thinking everything's familiar to you because you knew it as Naga, you'll wind up letting your guard down. Gracia shushed her inner voice, she was beginning to get sick of it.

Gracia decided to hell with being polite. "You know, last night I basically told you my entire life story."

Lina stiffened but nodded. "Now you want mine."

"Well, I mean if your parents were murdered in front of you when you were a child and now you travel the countryside to right wrongs in order to assuage your tainted soul, I think I can skip it..."

Lina waved a hand. "It's nothing like that. I leave that stuff to you."

Gracia gave a sort of pained half-smile but continued. "I'm interested in hearing about your life, even if Naga wasn't."

"It wasn't that we weren't interested... it just never came up. Our lives were really simple until a few days ago. We'd beat up bandits, eat food, get involved in some huge quest to save the universe. Then you'd irritate me to the point that I'd sneak out one evening and go off on my own... until you found me a couple of months later and we'd start over again. It's not the stuff of which legends are made."

Gracia's eyebrow was definitely twitching by now. The less she heard about herself the less she liked her. "You seem very casual about telling it to me now, though. What happens when I get my memories back?"

"Not sure. Cross that bridge when we come to it, I guess. I've never been one for planning ahead. I dunno, though, you're just... easier to talk to than Naga was." Lina flushed now, and kicked at the ground with her foot. Gracia found herself getting a little red as well, and decided to go back to the original subject.

"So what was your life like before you met me?"

"Ah, the usual. No major things, I mean my parents are still around somewhere..."

Something in the way Lina said 'somewhere' put Gracia on alert. "Are they travellers?"

"Sort of... well, OK, professional vacationers might be more accurate. My dad was a mercenary-for-hire when he was young, you know, going round the country, seeing adventures, hacking up bandits. He was travelling through Kruasar when he was hired to help quell a rebellion of sorcerers that had happened in their city. My dad, being young and stupid, agreed on the spot. My mother was one of the sorceresses that he was hired to take down. Um..."

Gracia had been listening attentively and didn't notice Lina pausing for a few minutes. Finally she caught the unsaid words Lina was having trouble with. "Ah. He didn't fight her so much as..."

"Right. My dad was kind of a... my mother discovered he... um..." Lina was staring off into the woods, and almost looked purple.

"She was dazzled by the weapon he was carrying," Gracia said, filling in the blanks.

"Right," Lina quavered, waving her hand frantically. "Anyway, he ended up staying afterwards, and they got to know each other. Eventually they fell in love for more than just... y'know, physical, and decided to get married."

Lina relaxed a little more, warming to her topic. "They honeymooned in Zephelia, and fell in love with the place. I dunno if you've ever been there..."

Gracia nodded. "Father gave a speech there once. I can easily see why someone would honeymoon there, it's gorgeous..."

"Well, they liked it so much they decided to stay. And when my parents decide things, they decide. They bought a house, and started a small business selling coffees."

"Coffee? Really?"

"Zephelia's wine country. Anything that isn't wine is regarded as big stuff to them. And my parents still had connections all over... no troubles getting merchandise."

Gracia nodded. "They didn't mind settling down?"

"As I said, they went all the way. My dad didn't pick up his sword for years, my mom never used a spell, not even when threatened by burglars. Typical ordinary merchants. Same year they settled down, my sister Luna was born."

There was another long pause. Gracia presumed there was something else embarrassing that Lina didn't want to mention, and waited for her to force it out. But after a minute or two, it became apparent that this was not an embarrassed pause.

Gracia decided to try and prod Lina. "You mentioned earlier you and your sister had troubles..."

"My sister's the Knight of Ceipheed."

Gracia sat there for a moment with her mouth half open, ready to ask another question. Unfortunately, the best she could do was "Wha... she's..."

Lina shrugged once more. "It's all right. The only people who could possibly blackmail me already know about Luna. Besides, it's not as if I can't take care of myself."

"You..." Gracia paused, trying to shift gears. She'd mentioned it so casually, the way someone might say, 'Oh, my mother was a Mazoku'. "You really mean that, don't you? You're not being metaphorical?"

Lina nodded. "I really mean it. When I was seven, my sister decided to tell me and my parents. She'd apparently known since before she could talk, but decided that she wanted to 'protect' us by not letting on. But now she was sixteen, and her power was coming into its own. She wanted us to know in case any major-level Mazoku decided to drop by."

"How... I mean, you believed her? What did she do to convince you?" Gracia was a little disbelieving herself.

"She flew down to the front of the store riding a dragon."

Gracia opened her mouth, then decided to stop making a fool of herself and simply waited until Lina finished.

Lina covered her eyes for a moment. "She made a big impression all right. My parents were filled with congratulations and 'I can't believe it' and 'our little girl, to be so important'. The next day, I woke up and the entire place was deserted. They'd packed during the night and bolted."

"You never saw them again?"

"I got the occasional card. 'Having a lovely time, make sure your sister stays away from here', that sort of thing."

"What did you do?"

"Well, my sister was hardly going to leave me abandoned - the Knight of Ceipheed just didn't do those sorts of things. She got a job waitressing to pay for the house, and I ended up doing little odd jobs for people to try and earn a little more each week." Lina's voice had gotten very weary, and Gracia realised that any anger or sorrow Lina had felt about this had long since been replaced with simple acceptance.

Gracia wished she could accept her own tragedies as easily.

"I ended up getting pretty good at finding ways to get money. Either by begging, borrowing, or beating. The local kids used to shake down the wimps for their money - then I'd shake them down.

Lina's face darkened, and her hair fell over her eyes.

"I'd also been practising some spells. I really wanted to be a sorceress, partly because I wanted people to realise I was just as good as Luna was, but also... I got a rush out of the magic. You know what I mean."

Gracia nodded. Even with white magic, the feeling was like nothing else in the world.

"Anyway, I'd been learning a few spells, mostly fire shamanism, that was what I was really good at. Also found a spell that projected objects as images. You could adjust it to any size you liked, make a little lizard appear as big as a house."

"I've heard of it," Gracia said. "It's mostly used at carnivals, because the image is mostly transparent."

Lina nodded in agreement. "It's not very strong. Anyway, one day Luna grounded me. I think she had heard that one of the guys I had beat up was in the hospital or something. Anyway, I was upset. You understand when I was young I was a little more hot-headed than I am now."

Gracia didn't react at all; she could tell Lina was waiting for one. But Lina didn't continue.

"Go on," she prodded.

Lina shook her head. "I hate talking about this."

"You've been talking about it non-stop for the past half hour," Gracia said with an annoyed tone in her voice. She was getting caught up in the narrative Lina was weaving, and wanted to know what happened next.

"Yeah, but this..." Gracia began to notice Lina was sweating, and looking a lot paler than usual. She reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder, but it didn't seem to give her comfort the way Lina's had given her last night.

It was nearly ten minutes later when Lina spoke once more. "I decided I'd get revenge on her, show her she wasn't so great. So I snuck up on her while she was showering, and I used the spell."

Gracia blinked. "What spell?" Then her eyes got wide as saucers. "THAT spell?!?!"

Lina nodded, shivering slightly. "The whole town saw it. I made it so that it hovered over the house... my sister, singing in the shower, naked."

She was almost doubled over now, and visibly shaking. Gracia had no idea what to do besides simply wait for her to finish.

"When my sister found out... she went to find me. I rarely saw my sister's eyes... she wears her hair around her face, makes her more mysterious. But this time... they were glowing a golden white. She was almost floating above the ground, heading towards me, looking like something straight from a Mazoku's nightmares."

Lina turned to Gracia. "When I have nightmares, that's what I see. Only this time, I don't get the chance to run away."

"You ran?" Gracia said.

"I flew. Literally. I'd never been able to quite master Raywing before then, but boy did I learn fast. I was out the door and three hundred yards away before I remembered to breathe. I know I didn't make it sound like much, but... my god, she terrified me."

"How old were you?"

"Ten. I'd been planning on asking Luna if I could study at a Sorcerer's Guild anyway... this just meant I had to take the extra step of forging my permission."

"And you've never seen her since."

"No, no, she dropped by lots of times. The first night I was there, she dropped by my room. I almost took my sword and killed myself right there. She was blocking the window this time, too. But all she said was she was glad I was going to take my magic seriously. I've seen her a couple of times since then, usually when I was mastering dangerous spells."

"Then why the fear? If she were going to kill you, she'd have done it already." Gracia was puzzled a bit by this anticlimax to Lina's life story.

"I was a kid," Lina said softly. "When my sister said that she was the Knight of Ceipheed, I didn't know what it meant. I just thought it meant that she could fly cool dragons. But when I saw her eyes... I knew. My sister could kill me by snapping her fingers. And there'd be nothing I could do. Ever since then, I've tried to get more and more powerful. Just so that, if she ever does come for me... I'll be ready."

Gracia looked at Lina, and saw that she was still shivering, sweat running down her body.

"But it's never going to happen. I can't beat the Knight. And I know that one day, when I die... I'll see those eyes again."

It was hot.

No doubt about that. Lina had already abandoned her cloak a mile or so back, and sweat was still pouring off her in buckets. She stared straight ahead of her, her tongue lolling out, gazing at the unchanging stretch of desert and stone that greeted her as far as the eye can see.

"How the hell did I get here," she tried to say, but with her mouth as dry as it was her words merely came out as a choked rasp.

"Greetings, Miss Inverse."

She turned, looking for the source of the voice, but there was nothing. She tried to clear her throat. "Who are you?" she croaked.

"A friend. Would you like some water?"

Lina's eyes lit up. "Water, yes! Water! Please! I'm so thirsty..."

"You're a woman of the world, Miss Inverse. You know it won't come cheap. There's a price for this water."

Lina would have jumped up and down in fury if she had the energy. As it was she simply slung off her pack and let it fall to the ground. It burst open, gold spilling everywhere. She growled. "I'm desperate here."

"Are you? Are you really? I wonder... I don't want your gold, Miss Inverse. I want a favor. One favor from you is all I ask. I have someone that needs dealing with. I understand that you deal with troublemakers. All you have to do is take care of them. I'll even pay in advance."

"Of course! I promise, I promise! I'll blow up whoever you want, just gimme the water!"

Suddenly a canteen landed in front of her on the sand. She grabbed it and opened it with shakey hands, drinking greedily, not letting a drop of water hit the ground. When it was empty, she sat back on the hot path with a sigh.

"Thank you," she murmured.

"Ahem. Our arrangement?" the voice said, still sounding amused.

"Right, right, I get you. Where do I find this person?"

"Why she's right over there, Miss Inverse. She's been giving me no end of trouble."

Lina turned, and saw a figure sillhouetted against the burning sun.

Kairen.

"Now, Lina Inverse. Kill her. You did promise."

Lina was backpedaling, but suddenly found herself trapped by a stone cliff two hundred meters high. "No! I won't! Not again..."

"But you promised, Miss Inverse. And you drank my water. Now... kill her."

Kairen was crying, her wide eyes staring at Lina.

"Please... no..." she whispered.

Lina stood still for a full minute, then raised her hands.

"GAAV..."

"AAAAAIGH!"

"Lina!"

Lina sat up in her bedroll, arms wrapped around her so tightly she was almost cutting off circulation. She was already crying, sobs escaping her lips unbidden. She tried to stop them, not wanting to look weak, but she kept seeing Kairen. The nightmare wouldn't fade, wou;dn't go away. It was there, playing over and over again.

Then there were arms encircling her, holding her, keeping her from trembling. Soothing words in her ear. "It's alright. Just relax. Take deep breaths. It'll be alright. Just another nightmare..."

After about five minutes of this, Lina felt in control of herself enough to nod thanks, and slowly got to her feet. "I think I'd better take the watch."

Gracia gave her a dubious look. "Lina, do you want to talk about this?"

After a moment, she looked down. "No. I'm sorry."

Gracia looked hurt for a moment, but then nodded. "I understand."

"I'm sorry," Lina felt the need to say.

Gracia shrugged. "We all have our burdens we can't unload." Then she knelt down by her bedroll and got ready for sleep.

Lina sat and stared at the woods, seeing a certain face in every shadow.

The next day was spent teaching Gracia more magic... or more accurately, nudging Gracia's hidden memories in the right direction and having her recall the spells.

Both had agreed in mutual silence not to bring up the previous evening's events... both before and after the nightmare. Gracia had a feeling Lina had revealed a lot more about her private life than she'd planned to, and therefore would be feeling extremely uncomfortable about it now.

Lina was trying not to brood and doing a really lousy job of it. She had managed to put the nightmare out of her head after about two hours. Now she was upset with herself because she couldn't believe she'd told Gracia that much last night. It was as if once she started talking she couldn't stop until everything had been spewed out, like a leaking dam. She was sure that Gracia was amused by the whole thing... a girl afraid of her own sister.

Lina shook her head and got back to the point. "Lessee... we've gone through Fireball, Bomb Spread, Freeze Brid, Icicle Lance, Bomb Di Wind..."

"I still say I remember Freeze Rain too," Gracia muttered.

"And you aren't doing that one till your memory's all healed, cause it's another Naga Special. No adapted spells!"

"Fine, fine..."

Lina went on. "Levitation, Raywing... you probably have the skills and power to do Dragon Slave, but I've never taught it to you before and I'm not going to start now."

Gracia's eyes briefly widened. "Why would I want to? I've already learned enough offensive spells to take out a small army... why learn one that takes out the town behind it?"

This threw Lina. She took some time trying to phrase her answer. "Because... because you and I both essentially learn any new spell we come across. If it's magic, and it can be learned... we learn it. I can't really explain why."

"Your sister?" Gracia blurted out, then winced at her bluntness. Lina didn't seem to care, though.

"No. Dragon Slave wouldn't scratch her. I don't even think it's a power trip, though lots of people would tell you it is. And yeah, I do get off a bit on blowing up bad guys with my magic. But... I just need to learn it. Basic raw need. And I'm sorry, Gracia, but Naga understood that. It was something rare that we totally agreed on."

Gracia felt rather hurt by this. She had actually been feeling very good about the bond she and Lina were developing on this journey, and here was Lina throwing it back in her face that she wasn't "Naga". Her eyes narrowed a bit.

"I must be very different from her, then. I can see why learning some offensive magic spells to protect oneself and others is a good thing, but too much power just leads to corruption to me."

Lina got up and walked over to Gracia, attempting to look her directly in the eye. "Magic doesn't corrupt anyone. It's what the person does with that magic that's what matters. A priest can use absolutely nothing but white magic, but if he's using it for selfish reasons, than he's just another evil asshole. I've learned enough magic to blow up this entire continent sixty times over, but I've never used it to steal, or to blackmail, or to hold anyone hostage."

She was breathing hard by the time she finished. Gracia backed up, looking down at her feet. "I apologise. You're absolutely right."

Lina suddenly slapped her on the back, startling her. "It's OK. I think I needed to hear that a lot more than you did." And Gracia saw an inner fire in Lina's eyes, something that hadn't been there since they'd left the village. It was exhilarating.

"You two women! Bow down before our might! We are the Bloody Battlers of Bosrane, and we own this entire area! Give us all your money and give pleasure to our men, and we just might let you live! Ahahahahahahaha!"

Lina and Gracia both looked slowly towards the source of the voice. Ten or so large men stood at the other end of the clearing, with their arms folded and a sneer on their faces. They could have been identical twins, except that half wore red bandannas on their heads, and half blue.

Lina slowly smiled, her canines showing. "Mine."

Gracia had an equally evil grin on her face. "Nono, I must insist on joining you. After all, I have to make sure I've got the hang of these incredibly destructive offensive spells. And these are bad guys."

Lina's grin broadened. "You take blue, I'll take red."

"Sounds like a plan."

The lead bandit frowned a bit. "Hey, we asked you for your money!"

"FIREBALL!"

"FREEZE BRID!"

"We should probably be able to get a room for the night here. No worries about bandits. And we're only about two days away from Saillune."

"Mmm." Lina sounded distinctly unenthusiastic.

"What's wrong?"

"I could swear I've been here before..." Lina was looking around, trying to identify some landmark that would jog her memory. Something here was familiar...

"Let's check the inns. I bet I ate a really good meal here. Besides, I'm starving!"

Gracia smirked. "Yes, it's been at least half an hour since we last ate." She didn't object, though - inns meant good service, and the chance for a nice wine - it had been too long since she'd had one, and recent events had only added to her need to get "tipsy".

As they walked down the main street, it became apparent that there was something wrong.

"Where is everyone? Is it siesta?"

Gracia peered into a doorway, and frowned as she noted the dust gathering on the tables. "I'm beginning to think this town is deserted... maybe you were here before."

"Hey!" Lina started to object, before they both turned at the sound of a door slamming from further up the street.

"Ah ha! People!" Lina started to move, but Gracia caught her arm.

"Or looters."

Lina shrugged. "If it's people who live here, they can explain what's going on and we'll get food. If it's looters, there's still something worth stealing here, maybe even food. Either way, food!" And with that she took off up the street.

Gracia sighed and started to follow, but was brought up short by another noise, this one coming from upstairs. She readied herself to cast a spell, and went to see who was up there.

She was quickly brought short, however, by the figure coming down the stairs.

It was herself.

The same outfit, the same bearing. It was like looking into a mirror.

"OOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!"

Well, almost.

Gracia opened her mouth to say something when she suddenly felt herself lifted bodily and carried out of the building at about the speed of sound. She looked around wildly, and saw that it was Lina, carrying her as if she were lighter than a feather.

"Can't. Talk. Now. Explain. Later," Lina said between breaths.

A few minutes later, well out of sight of the town, Lina finally stopped. While Gracia did her best to readjust herself after the impromptu flight, Lina simply lay against a tree, panting.

"Now that we're here, what the hell was that all about?" Gracia demanded.

Lina looked up. "I remembered where I'd seen that town before. We were both there about a year ago."

"There was someone there who looked exactly like me."

"The entire town probably cleared out. It may be the clones are the only ones living there now."

"...clones?"

Lina sighed, and gestured for Gracia to sit.

"About a year ago, we ran into this loopy guy who was conducting some sort of mad scientist experiment. He wanted some of my hair, so that he could use it to clone me and raise an army. It's understandable... why try to raise an army of lazy, weak bandits when you could create your own Lina Inverse, genius sorceress?"

Gracia's eyebrow twitched. "Lina..."

"Anyway, I naturally refused and left. What I didn't know is that he'd gotten some hair anyway... some of yours. He then used it to create ten clones of you and try to capture me."

Gracia's mouth dropped open. "Ten clones?"

"Yup."

"Just to capture you?"

"Yup."

"I feel insulted."

Lina looked at her oddly. "But it wasn't you, it was Naga. Well, OK, that is you, but trust me, there are differences."

Gracia shifted, clearly uncomfortable with the subject. "Anyway, go on."

"Right. Well, anyway, being confronted with ten Naga clones, I did the only possible thing I could."

"Why am I afraid to ask?"

"I fainted dead away."

Gracia started to massage her temples. Lina paused, but then went on.

"Anyway, when I woke up, you had essentially fixed everything. The clones were more loyal to you than they were to him. We went on our way and I thought that was that. I had assumed the clones wouldn't live very long... looks like I was wrong."

"How close were they to my... to Naga's personality?"

Lina shrugged. "They weren't very good. They could laugh, and stick out their chests a bit, but that was about it. You even said so yourself, afterwards."

For a moment the two of them sat there, then Lina hopped to her feet.

"OK, no town tonight. Fish, maybe? I saw a stream nearby."

"Sounds fine to me," Gracia murmured.

Lina nodded and headed off, looking back over her shoulder worriedly. Gracia barely acknowledged it, just sat staring at the ground.

The fishing wasn't as easy as it should be - Lina decided to actually catch the fish, rather than use magic to bring them to her. Saved wear and tear on the ecosystem. When she got back to the clearing, she was utterly ravenous.

Thus it was only after she'd cooked and polished off her third fish that she realised that Gracia was no longer there.

For a moment, Lina considered running off to search for her, but then realised that it was pretty much dark by now, she'd run so fast she was unfamiliar with the territory, and she wouldn't even know where to start looking.

So instead she sat there, polished off the fish, and fretted.

It was nearly three hours before Gracia returned. She was uninjured but seemed if anything even more depressed then she had when Lina left her.

"Where the hell have you been" Lina asked, leaping to her feet.

"I went back to the town," Gracia said, slumping to the ground.

"What?!?! Why in God's name - "

Gracia cut her off. "Lina, let's stop. Let's not go to Saillune. We'll go somewhere else, do whatever it was we used to do before whatever happened. Typical adventuring, two sorceresses."

Lina stared at Gracia as if she'd grown another head. "And this whole 'we have to get back to Saillune, we can't stop for rest, must get back' thing?"

Gracia stared at Lina. "It's become painfully obvious that I've lost my memory. My family are fine; you've said as much, there's been no word of any tragedy with the Saillune Royal family... since my mother's death. Therefore the only reason to go back there is to restore my memories. And quite frankly, I don't want them back."

Staring at Gracia, Lina felt herself start to panic. "What - what do you mean? You're talking about years of your life!"

"Not my life! Hers!" Gracia was shouting now. "None of these are my memories, they aren't me! I'm Gracia, and she didn't do any of this! I talked to those clones... as best I could, they don't speak. I watched them, watched their mannerisms. It was pathetic. From what I gather, and from what you haven't said, Naga the White Serpent was a pathetic, shallow vixen who stomped around flaunting her boobs at people and cackling maniacally. What memories to recover? Three years of acting like a complete fool? Why bother. I'd rather just start over."

Lina opened her mouth, then shut it again. What the hell was she supposed to say? Gracia had a point. Hadn't Lina herself constantly been running away from Naga's irritating, infuriating, and insane antics? The Naga who was constantly emphasising, over and over again, her physical superiority in every way to Lina? The woman with the laugh that sent even Mazoku screaming back to the astral plane?

Lina had gotten along far better with the cool and composed yet far more personable Gracia. Gracia who acknowledged that Lina was the better sorceress. Gracia who seemed to listen to Lina, and cared what she thought. Why in God's name did Lina want Naga back?

"Well, it's time to sleep now anyway," Lina found herself saying. Her mouth seemed to be moving without actually connecting to her brain. "We can talk about where we're going to go in the morning."

Gracia nodded, not wanting to talk about it any more than Lina. The two settled down for the evening, events of the past year and a half whirling around in Lina's mind.

She wanted Naga back. She didn't know why, but she did.

Now to figure out how to explain that to Gracia...

Gracia awoke slowly, events of last night still fresh in her mind.

Lina had agreed a little too readily to Gracia's insistence that she didn't want to recover her old memories. Now either she was hatching some sort of scheme - not unlikely, admittedly - or else she agreed that Gracia didn't need her memories back, didn't need to recover "Naga".

Good Lord, what sort of person had she become? Was the trauma of her mother's killing so awful that she had to retreat from reality that much?

Suddenly she found her cloak thrown in her face. Lina was standing over her, smirking.

"C'mon, let's go! The quicker we leave, the quicker we get to Saillune!"

Gracia sighed. Looks like her first idea was the correct one. "Lina..." she began.

"I spent a lot of time last night figuring out why it was I wanted Naga back," Lina said, continuing as if Gracia hadn't spoken. "It's not the sort of thing I thought about before, you know? Sure, I was always running off, or avoiding her, but I always knew she'd be back, and we'd end up teaming up against some insane old scientist or ruthless moron."

"You're not helping your case."

"I'm saying I didn't really appreciate the things I liked about Naga. Like her confidence. You couldn't insult Naga, it was totally impossible. She was totally convinced that she would win and was always right... and when she turned out to be totally wrong, she'd just shrug it off and move on. In almost a year and a half, I never saw Naga depressed."

Gracia snorted. "Wonderful, denial is an admirable trait."

"It is in our line of work. You need self-confidence, or else some bandit is gonna get the better of you. Think about it, Gracia. I come from a family where my big sister is one of the most powerful beings in the universe! Do you realise how that makes me feel?" Lina had caught hold of Gracia's shoulder, almost pleading. "Knowing that no matter what I do, no matter how many spells I learn, that Luna could kill me in less than a second!"

Gracia stopped sneering, torn by Lina's emotions. "Lina..."

"So Naga comes along, someone less powerful than me who at the same time considers herself the world's genius sorceress... that impressed me. And made me realise that even if I'd never be able to beat Luna, I was still a pretty damn good magic-user myself. Naga gave me pride."

Opening her mouth to interject, Gracia was interrupted once again by Lina. "But that's not why we're going to Saillune. That's just why I didn't kill Naga during our journeys."

"And why are we going to Saillune, then?" Gracia said, standing and putting on her cloak.

Lina grinned. "Two reasons. First, I don't think Naga ever gave up on anything, so I'm not about to let you give up. And second, I want to know why this all happened. You said it yourself, there's a big difference between you and Naga, though not as big as you think. And I don't mean any disrespect, but I think that means something more than just your mother's death. I hate not knowing about things."

Gracia frowned. "Fine."

Lina grumbled right back at her, irritated that Gracia was still being petulant. "Stop grumbling! You want to know just as much, admit it."

Gracia turned away. "No, I don't."

Lina's face fell. "Eh?"

"Lina, didn't you hear me last night? I'm scared! It's bad enough remembering my mother's death, I don't want to be forced to bring back more. Maybe Naga was there for a good reason... can I be sure my mind won't snap once I find out?"

"Well, running away from your problems sure isn't going to help either!" Lina shouted.

"This from the woman who's run away from hers for the past three years!"

Lina breathed in sharply, and raised her hand. Gracia caught it.

"Don't even think about it. I'm bigger and stronger than you. And unless you want to fireball me..."

The words were out of her mouth before she realised what she'd said. All the same, Lina reacted as if she'd been slapped. She stumbled backwards, her hand to her face. "I wouldn't..." she gasped out. "I'd never..."

Gracia recoiled as well, angry at herself for what she'd said. She still didn't remember what had happened a week ago, but she knew that it involved Lina accidentally killing an innocent with magic. It was simply cruel to suggest she'd do anything of the sort. Bandits, yes. But not...

Not what? Gracia was hardly an innocent. Partner? Fellow magic-user? Gracia wondered what her dividing line between good guys and bad guys was... and what Lina's was.

Gracia stood back, trying to regain her equilibrium. Something had just occurred to her, and it wasn't pleasant. In fact, she tried to deny it, shaking her head.

She walked away, leaving Lina to recover from her words. She needed to think, needed to figure out what was going on.

She didn't want to be Naga. Naga was an idiot, someone who people seemed to laugh at daily, even Lina. Naga was the antithesis of what Gracia wanted to be when she decided to learn other types of magicks. She wanted to be noble, to be helpful, to go out and do good in the world. Not to...

Not to run around the countryside with Lina Inverse drinking at various inns and getting into wacky adventures.

God, she was such a child.

Gracia walked slowly back to the clearing. Lina was sitting on the ground, staring off into the middle distance.

"Ready to go?" Gracia said. There was a need for apologies, but not yet. Wait a while.

Lina hefted herself up. "Yup." She understood as much as Gracia did. "Where to?"

There was an invitation in that. If Gracia wanted, she could have them go somewhere else. Lina wasn't going to object anymore.

"Saillune."

This surprised Lina. "Eh?"

Gracia gave a small smile. "I don't want to be Naga... but I'm not sure I even know who Gracia is anymore. Until I find out... it's best to keep trying to recover my memories."

Lina grinned. "Sounds good. Besides, nobody's saying that once you get them back you'll end up being totally Naga either. You'd still have you there, Gracia as well."

Gracia blinked. "I didn't before?"

Lina had a cagey look on her face. "I'm starting to wonder. Naga never mentioned her past... I never though about it because I didn't mention mine either. But it makes sense. What if we're not just dealing with one loss of memory incident?"

Gracia stared at Lina for a moment, then the two of them commenced to packing and moving on. She had a thoughtful look on her face for the rest of the day, however.

Lina sighed, falling back against a tree. "OK, that's really about all I can do. You've managed to get most of your magic back, and hopefully anything else will come to you as you need it. Most of this has been subconscious anyway."

Gracia nodded, feeling tired out. They were in a clearing just outside Saillune, close enough to see it but far enough so that the sight of magical energies being shot off didn't startle anyone. The need for magical training was just an excuse, really. Gracia was still feeling hyperactively nervous about talking to her father, finding out what had happened to her. She still felt an urge to simply walk away, let her memories return when they decided to, and just remain wilfully ignorant.

Instead she squared her shoulders, and set off towards the gates.

Lina was following her. "How are we going to get inside, anyway?"

Gracia blinked, and stared at Lina. "Ask the guard to let me in?"

"Oh right. Ehehehehe... I keep forgetting that whole royalty thing sometimes." Lina rubbed the back of her head, then stopped. "You know... do we really want to advertise our presence that much? I mean, you're basically the prodigal daughter. If you come back, they're gonna want parades and stuff, right?"

Gracia paused, realising that that's exactly the sort of thing her father would do. "You're right. Maybe we should sneak in... or at least disguise ourselves..."

Fifteen minutes later, one regal and one extremely pissed-off shrine maiden made their way towards the gates of the city. Gracia sighed, hoping Lina could hold it together for a few more moments.

"This thing itches, dammit! It feels like it's trying to crawl off my skin!"

"It could very well be. Some of the shrine maiden cloaks sold outside the city are liberally laced with white magic. It's probably reacting poorly to all the black magic abilities you have. You should just be thankful it's not a Dragon Shrine cloak, you'd probably have lost both arms putting it on."

Lina continued to twitch as they approached the gate. Gracia, however, brightened as she noted the Commander of the Watch was outside, inspecting his men. Maybe they'd be able to get inside quietly after all.

"Call this a Watch? The two of you couldn't watch over a mountain to make sure it stood still! I'm surprised any number of Dark Lords haven't sauntered in the way you two have been - "

"Excuse me, Commander? I apologise most humbly for interrupting."

Lina boggled for a moment at the change in Gracia's demeanour. Her entire body seemed to hunch over. She looked every bit the supplicating shrine maiden, right down to the voice. Well, Lina mused, she was raised to do this for most of her life. I suppose I should be more surprised at the egotistical, chest-thrusting Naga that she became.

The commander turned, giving the shrine maiden a bow of his own. "Yes, Miss?"

"We need to seek an audience with the Prince. It's a matter of some urgency."

This earned a frown. "I'm afraid Prince Phil has a very tight schedule, Miss. I really don't think he could see you at such..." Suddenly he looked puzzled and took a closer look at Gracia, who assisted him by pulling back her hood slightly.

"You see, I really think he'll see me," she said, her normal tones filtering back into her voice.

To his credit, the commander managed to keep his composure. He merely stepped back, took Gracia's elbow, and said, "If the two of you will step into the guardhouse for a moment, I'm sure something can be arranged. Kohlen?"

"Yessir?" murmured the fat, jowly officer who guarded the left side of Saillune's entrance.

"Go get a couple of the lads together, and arrange some discreet - and I do mean discreet, no flaming death chariots, please - transport to get these two to the palace."

"Um... but sir, what about the gate?"

"Look around you, sergeant, no one's going to storm the gates at this hour of the morning. Now get a move on."

The sergeant, blinked, then said "Yessir," pausing only to whack the head of the other watchman sniggering at the whole exchange. Then Lina and Gracia were led by the commander into a small building just inside the gates, probably serving as a base for the City Watch that guarded Saillune's borders, so to speak.

When he'd closed the door, the Commander threw off any pretence of cool control. "Princess? Is that you?"

An odd expression came over Gracia's face, Lina noticed. It was sort of a combination of embarrassment, irritation and happiness. She almost expected the woman to start twirling her hair. Instead she merely flushed and said, "Of course it's me. I haven't changed that much, I hope."

"Well, you've filled out a bit... something I didn't think possible, frankly."

Gracia flushed even more. "Can we stop embarrassing me in front of others, please? I can still have you flogged, you know."

The commander seemed to take in Lina for the first time, something that made her eye twitch a bit. She was unused to being ignored. "Sorry, didn't notice you, Miss..."

"Lina Inverse," Lina said without thinking, simply happy to have the focus.

The commander seemed to stiffen a bit, though he kept his face calm. "I see. Gracia, you're travelling with her?"

"For quite some time, it would seem."

The commander kept staring at Lina. "Doesn't seem like much of a threat."

"Hey! I'll have you know that I've carved out quite a name for myself among the criminals who - "

"Who manage to survive your remonstrations. Yes, I have five warrants for your immediate arrest back in my office, right on top of the three orders for execution, damage estimates totalling in the millions, and several families who simply want to be informed if you're near so they can flee screaming. Yes, you've made quite the name for yourself, Miss Inverse." All of this was drolly recited with the same grim detachment the commander seemed to give to everything.

Lina closed her mouth, which had dropped open about halfway through his speech. "But... but I'm a good guy! Honest!"

The commander turned back to Gracia, who held up a hand before he could speak. "We're not staying long, I promise she'll stay in disguise, and I can vouch for her... well, mostly." Both she and Lina looked uncomfortable with that, as the reason for their visit made itself known yet again.

The commander looked uncomfortable, his mask slipping once again in front of Gracia. "Princess... "

Gracia put her hand on his shoulder. "It's OK. Come with me if you like, I have to explain to Daddy why I'm here."

He sighed, then nodded. He then turned to Lina, who seemed to anticipate his speech. "Yeah, yeah, I won't use any magic, my sword stays sheathed, won't speak till spoken too, and I'll get out as soon as possible or when ordered. Got it." She still seemed a little disturbed at what her reputation had become.

"Actually, I was going to suggest keeping you in arm and leg shackles..."

"Vymes..." Gracia growled.

"...but since Gracia says you're safe, I have to take her word. Let's get you two to the palace." He noticed the sergeant returning walking alongside a carriage, with a large, muscular man beside him. "Ah, I'll just have a word with the captain. Stay here."

As he moved off, Lina moved over to whisper to Gracia. "He's the commander of your guards?" she asked disbelievingly.

Gracia nodded. "He was promoted just before Mother died. Why are you surprised?"

"He's... well... smart."

Gracia chuckled. "Indeed. Vymes is one of the smartest men in Saillune, and I don't mean in terms of library knowledge."

"Why isn't he a Duke or something?"

"Why waste him in something like that? He doesn't know much about foreign affairs, and hates ceremony. Believe me, making him Commander of the Watch was one of the best things Daddy ever did."

"Mmm."

"Don't worry, he's not going to arrest you. I grew up talking to Vymes, my word means a lot to him." Gracia shifted nervously, something Lina immediately picked up on.

"Then why are you so tense?"

Gracia grimaced.

"Daddy."

"GRACIA! MY DAUGHTER HAS RETURNED! MY GOD, LOOK AT HOW YOU'VE GROWN! LET ME GET A GOOD LOOK AT YOU! IT'S BEEN FAR TOO LONG! VYMES, CALL OUT THE HONOUR GUARDS! WE'LL NEED A PARADE! AND A FESTIVAL! AND TELL THE COOK TO KILL THAT CALF THEY'VE LET GO TO SEED AND GET OUT OF SHAPE!!!"

"...glllk," was all Gracia managed to get out, being enfolded as she was in the arms of her father.

Lina had seen a picture of Prince Phil a few days earlier. She'd heard Gracia describe his overexuberance vividly. But nothing at all could have prepared her for Philionel Il De Saillune in the flesh. First of all, he was just so huge. Not merely his physicality, although the man was built like two grizzly bears glued together. It was simply that Phil's presence filled any room he was in... and probably took in most of the surrounding area when he went outside. You couldn't simply slot him into the background, he had to be the focus of your attention.

And right now the focus of Lina's attention was not only managing to accidentally smother his own daughter, but was also really complicating a visit they wanted to keep very quiet.

Therefore Lina did what came naturally to her; she got involved. "OI!!! YOUR MAJESTY!!!"

She didn't stop the killer embrace, but did manage to distract Phil enough so that he paused in his shouting/greeting/crying/all of the above. He looked down at her, puzzled.

She talked fast, relieved that Phil, Gracia, and Vymes were the only people in the room. "I don't think that your daughter returned just for a social call. I think she has something she needs to say to you." Gracia moved her hands back and forth, the closest she could manage to an affirmation at that point.

Phil pulled back, still holding Gracia high in the air. "Of course!" he continued at a slightly lower if still incredibly loud volume. "You know that anything in the kingdom is at your disposal, my child! Speak, and I will give you all the fatherly wisdom I have saved over the past - "

Gracia had taken advantage of Phil's less crushing hug to wriggle out of his arms, and now went face to face with him, livid. "Daddy, shut up. I have not come home, I am not staying long, and I wouldn't even be here at all except for problems I need to solve. What I didn't need was you going berserk at your first sight of me. Do you even have the ability to remain calm at all anymore? Or has that now completely vanished since Mother died?" Her voice raised in volume with each sentence, till she shouted the last, red faced and hoarse.

The entire room seemed to fall into a tense silence. Phil trembled slightly, his face slightly pale. Gracia too paled, apparently realising the repercussions of what she'd said to him. Lina was in total shock, staring with her mouth wide open. Only Vymes didn't seem to let the incident bother him. Instead, he quickly separated Phil from his daughter, and turned to Gracia.

"I think you do your father an injustice, Princess. He is only reacting the way any father would when a lost daughter has returned. Has it occurred to you that you've been gone for three years now, most of those with no word? He is hardly reacting like a man with no self-control. He is reacting with the joy of a man reunited with his family."

The speech seemed to do the trick. Phil calmed himself, and smiled once more at Gracia. Gracia in turn looked as if she wanted to do nothing more than crawl in a hole and die, but managed instead to shake her head.

"I'm sorry. I spoke without thinking. I know I haven't been... actually, no, I don't know at all. That's the problem." At Vymes and Phil's frowns, she gestured towards the large table that served as both a strategy centre and desk for Phil, who had never managed to rule a kingdom without producing vast quantities of paper. "Let's sit. This may take a while."

The three of them moved towards the table, Lina following a short time later. She was annoyed at once again being on the fringe of the action, unnoticed and unimportant. She shouldn't complain... it was Gracia's memory they were here about, after all. It just felt wrong.

Gracia sighed, rubbing her temples. "I need to gather my thoughts," she said, then barked out a short laugh. "Literally." She looked up, trying to fix her father with her most serious gaze. "I've lost some of my memories. There was a fight... apparently, I can't remember it, of course... and it must have triggered some sort of shock to my system."

Phil, to his credit, did remain fairly calm, though he did slam his palm against the oak table, making it shake slightly. Lina wondered idly how many tables he went through in a year. "Name the last thing you remember."

Gracia looked up at him, her eyes hooded. "Executing mother's killer."

Vymes clenched his fists, but Phil just nodded. "The night before you left."

"I left the next day?" Gracia seemed surprised. So did Vymes, who looked at the Prince questioningly.

"I thought the princess was in convalescence for three weeks after that."

Phil coughed. "Well, we had to make sure that she was able to get out quietly... and of course, if you believed that she was in seclusion, everyone did. You're above reproach, Vymes."

"As opposed to our ruler, it would seem," Vymes said with a sardonic gaze.

"Precisely!" Phil said, slapping Vymes on the back (and nearly throwing him to the ground). He then turned back to his daughter, who was watching with slight amusement. "What do you want to know? Or do you want a doctor?"

"No. What I want, I suppose, is... just go over what happened. As you remember it. And no editing history to suit your goals, either."

Phil steepled his hands in front of his face, then gestured for Gracia to sit. She reluctantly did so, and Lina plopped herself down in the other chair without being asked.

"Vymes, you can probably tell the beginning of this better than I can," Phil said, motioning to the commander, who still stood stiffly by the desk.

Vymes nodded. "Well, we hadn't been entirely idle that evening. We had put a guard on each of you, just in case the assassin tried to strike again. Unfortunately, he managed to incapacitate your guard."

Gracia raised a hand. "Actually, I was the one who did that. I wanted to make sure that the assassin had a chance to get to me."

"Princess, I had the man demoted because of his inability to protect you," Vymes said in a pained voice.

"If he was a better guard, I probably wouldn't have been able to get the better of him so easily. In any case, I remember this. I knocked out the guard and waited for Booley to come. He did. And I used my magic, used a Chaos String spell to turn his wires against him. After that... after that it's a blank."

"The guard stationed at Princess Amelia's room heard Booley's screams and sounded a general alarm. When we got inside... well, Booley was dead, all right."

Gracia looked annoyed. "Commander, I know what must have happened to him. And you can talk about it in front of me, that's the whole point. Don't be afraid of offending my sensibilities."

"All right, Princess. Booley was lying in several pieces all across the room. His head was lying on top of your stomach. You were, and I can't emphasise this enough, covered in his blood, so much so that you were barely recognisable. You were also unresponsive when we tried to see if you were unhurt. We moved you as quickly as possible to the shrine, and set about searching the room for any clues as to accomplices, or any other information as to why he was hired for this."

"Did you ever find out why?"

"No," Vymes said, looking upset.

Phil looked to the side, an odd expression on his face. Gracia missed it, but Lina picked up on it. What's he looking so guilty for, she mused.

"And why was I taken to the shrine?" Gracia asked.

Phil was the one who answered. "After we discovered you weren't hurt, you were taken to the shrine and purified. It was hoped that not only would this help you to recover, but would also remove the taint of evil that Booley's blood had left on you."

Lina was ready to snort at this, but stopped herself when she saw Gracia nod. "Thank you for that," the young woman added. Dammit, I keep forgetting she was raised as a shrine maiden, Lina cursed silently.

Vymes turned to Phil. "The next I heard she'd been sequestered in that shrine to recover. I take it that wasn't the case?"

Phil nodded. "No indeed. My daughter recovered with rapid speed from the assassin's foul attack on her person." Phil was getting worked up again, and both Lina and Gracia shifted in their seats. "She - well, you - came to me personally the next morning. You said you were going to go out and single-handedly strike down the miscreants who would dare perform such a cowardly attack on our family! You said you would strike them down in the name of peace and goodwill!" Phil raised his fist in the air. Lina closed her mouth, which had opened again at Phil's antics.

Gracia was nodding. "Sounds like something I'd pull to get you to let me go. I'm amazed you didn't see through it, frankly."

Phil looked momentarily pained. "I wasn't really thinking properly at that time, Gracia."

She winced and seemed to crumple inwards. "I'm sorry."

Phil waved a hand. "I may have let you go anyway. I loved your mother, Gracia, and always will, but we were never close after Amelia was born. Her death was a great blow to me... but I had, in a way, prepared myself for years. You were the one I was worried about, Gracia. You were closer to your mother than anyone else. I may have allowed you to go simply because I wanted to respect her memory, and thought your finding the ones who wanted her dead would do that."

Lina looked over at Gracia, and was surprised to find she was crying. "Thank you, Daddy. I'm sure she would have wanted that."

Phil got up and came over to embrace his daughter, this time without the bear-crushing strength of before. "Even if you don't stay, Gracia, you'll always be welcome here. We love you."

Gracia nodded, laying her head against her father's shoulder. "I know. Believe me, I would have returned sooner if I'd been able to."

Lina had turned away, embarrassed to be watching such a private moment. Instead, she considered what they'd been told... and what didn't add up. Sitting up, she started to interrupt, but a quick glare from Vymes shut her up. Instead she sat squirming on the chair while Phil and Gracia sat there and held each other for a few minutes. When they separated at last, the commander gave her a nod and Lina spoke up.

"Um... I'm sorry to interrupt, but getting back to the whole memory thing... Gracia, did this bring anything back? Do you remember it at all?"

Gracia thought for a moment, then shook her head. "It doesn't sound familiar. It's as if I'm being told a story."

"Then in that case... maybe the death of your mother, or you killing that assassin, isn't the reason you lost your memories. Maybe it was something after that. Prince Phil... um, your highness..."

"Please, call me Phil! You're a friend of my daughter's!" Phil had recovered from his family moment and seemed jovial again. Lina was probably lucky he didn't slap her on the back.

"Um, OK, Phil, did Gracia seem any different than the daughter you knew when you last saw her? I mean, obviously she was still recovering from the death of her mother, but... she still dressed the same, acted the same?" Lina couldn't find a way of casually asking 'Did your daughter dress up as a leather-clad slut and laugh maniacally before leaving', so stuck with subtlety.

Phil shrugged. "She was a little bit vociferous... as I said, I believe she was playing up the idea of this being a quest for justice and peace so that I'd let her go... but there wasn't anything else I'd particularly notice, no."

Gracia was tapping her fingers against the chair, her mouth pursed. "Dammit. I had thought I'd find answers here. Daddy, do you know where I went after I left?"

"No. The last we heard about you was when Mileria returned. She simply said you were travelling on alone, and wouldn't say anything else." Again he looked to the side before continuing. Wow, Lina thought, he's really bad at hiding things. She'd have to see if she could figure out a way to grill him later without getting arrested.

Gracia perked up. "Mileria? She came with me?"

"I may have allowed you to go on a quest for vengeance that would lay low the villains of the land in a war cry that was heard from the depths of your soul, but you are still a princess of Saillune, and you needed a retainer!" Phil had risen to his feet in another oration pose.

"Is she still here?" Now that she had been reminded of their purpose, Gracia seemed once more to be dedicated to finding her memories as soon as possible, much to Lina's relief.

Phil nodded. "When she returned, I wanted to have her be Amelia's handmaiden, but she refused to take the job. She works as a seamstress now."

Gracia stood. "I should speak with her."

Phil shook his head. "It's her day off. Stay here tonight, you can talk with her tomorrow." Lina looked into Phil's eyes. There was none of the flashy orator and overeager child here. It was, instead, a closer look than she'd like into the eyes of a father who'd lost one of his daughters, and was only just getting used to having her back.

So as she saw Gracia start to shake her head, Lina spoke up. "We'd love to! I mean, we've been travelling for a long time, and I'm sure Gracia wouldn't want to run away from here again so soon, at least not without spending the night. Right, Gracia?"

Subtle as a three-eyed bandit, but it got the point across. Gracia wilted slightly and she turned back to her father, a smile on her face. "Of course, daddy. I'd offer to spend the evening catching up, but I'm afraid it'd be pretty one-sided."

Phil grinned and slapped his daughter on the back. Surprisingly, she barely moved. He then moved over and did the same to Lina, who flew forwards and planted her face into the table.

"Owwww..." she groaned. She heard a snicker behind her that she knew was Gracia. Phil immediately walked over and picked her up, which made Lina a bit dizzy.

"Sorry about that. Sometimes I don't know my own strength. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Lina made an effort to look amused. "Eheheh..."

Vymes took this moment to speak, since it seemed the reunion was almost over. "I'll talk to the staff, see that some rooms are set up. Better arrange some security as well. Not that we expect any problems, but you can't be too careful."

Phil nodded. "I'll leave the details to you, Vymes. Why don't we give your friend a tour of the palace, Gracia? Where are you from, Miss...?"

Lina noted the expectant pause at the end of his sentence. She wished at times that she weren't so proud. But that was one good thing she'd learned from Naga. And she'd die before hiding who she was.

"Lina. Lina Inverse."

Phil's eyes widened, and Lina was afraid she'd be marched away on the spot. Instead he took her hand and shook it vigorously, seeming to become even more excited.

"I've wanted to meet you for some time! The story of your exploits is one of the most popular in all the kingdom! Your quests for justice and freedom inspire all of us who dream of a better tomorrow!"

"Eeeehhheheheheheh..." Lina keened, currently feeling as if her hand was about to be taken off by sheer exuberance.

"Although I do admit I here you simetimes get carried away..." He grabbed Lina and turned her out towards the window, facing out on the city. "Do not forget, Miss Inverse, that LOVE AND PEACE is what a hero of justice must constantly strive for! We must use tools of violence when needed, but only to further our basic core belief in a nonviolent world!"

Lina spent a moment trying to figure out Phil's previous sentence, then gave up. "OK," she shrugged.

"Now, Miss Lina Inverse," Phil continued, pronouncing her name as if it were a title, "what land do you call home?"

I don't call any land my home, Lina thought to herself. "Zephilia," she said aloud.

"I remember it well! Well, we certainly know where to start our tour! Saillune is well known for its collection of Zephilian wine! And we can stop in the kitchen for a nice meal as well, a little girl like you must be starving. We'll need to put some meat on those bones!"

A small pink cloud surrounded Lina's face, and her eyes turned into hearts. "You... you want to show me your food?"

"Certainly! We have some of the finest cooks in all the land at our disposal - "

Vymes started, staring at the blank space where Lina and Phil had stood half a second ago. "Wha - "

Gracia chuckled. "It's alright, Commander. Daddy made the mistake of mentioning food around Lina. By now she's probably on the second course. I'd better get down there before she cleans out the entire city of comestibles."

Vymes smiled. "It's good to see you again, Princess. I'm sorry to hear about your memory loss, but to be honest, it relieves me to hear that you didn't deliberately cut yourself off from us."

Gracia smiled. "No, I wouldn't do that. This is my home. And even if I do get my memories back, it always will be."

Lina looked around at the huge room, complete with two Queen-sized beds and indoor plumbing. "Sugoi! Is this your old room?"

Gracia shook her head. "This is the guestroom where we keep most of the foreign dignitaries. My room was much smaller... and besides, they're hardly likely to put me in it considering what happened there last, are they? It's probably still sealed off."

She saw Lina pale slightly, and took her shoulder. "Don't worry, I didn't mean anything by it."

"It's just hard to think of it as real, you know? It's like I'm walking into a history book." Lina walked over to the bed and threw herself on it, bouncing up and down. "Plus I think I'm starting to feel a little bit like Naga, you know?"

Gracia stared at Lina. "Actually, I don't. What do you mean?"

Lina shifted. "Well, Naga and I used to go from village to village a lot, and sometimes people would come to me for help. Or they'd have heard of me, or something. Anytime I was there, something would happen."

"And it wasn't the same for m-for her?"

Lina massaged her temples. "No. I never really asked whether it bothered her that everyone seemed to ignore her. Naga really never acted like anything bothered her, you know? But then Naga and I never really talked much at all..."

Gracia turned. "What happens if I do get my memories back, then?"

Lina didn't look at her, but remained staring at the ceiling. "I dunno. I dunno what I want now. I miss a lot... but I don't wanna miss this. I guess I just hope that... I dunno."

Gracia sighed. "I wish I knew what would happen. Will I lose all this, go back to having only memories of Naga? Was I even like that? We still don't know if I had lost my memories before, or just didn't talk about it. I don't want to lose myself, Lina. But I also don't want this hole in my mind. I don't know what I want, either."

She looked down at Lina, who seemed to have relaxed a bit. Then she heard a soft snore, and knew why.

"Oh well... it has been a long day," she whispered. She pulled a blanket over Lina, then stepped out into the hall.

It had only been three years. She shouldn't have expected any changes. But still, it was somewhat eerie the way that everything in the palace was exactly as she remembered it. The doors creaked in the same places, the secret passages still opened in their neat, well-oiled way.

She found herself moving towards the wing where she and her sister lived. Amelia was away for the week on a diplomatic mission, the first one she'd ever gone to by herself. Gracia had boggled at Phil's description of Amelia's progress. 13 years old and already settling internal disputes between cities? By the time she reached 21, she'd probably be ready to take over Saillune entirely... not that Phil was in any danger of passing on that mantle soon.

I wonder if there'll be a family power struggle, Gracia thought. She didn't appreciate the idea of being called in to mediate that one, and decided that any fights over future rule would be left to her uncle to settle.

She paused outside her door. There was a simple magical ward blocking it. She could easily break it, and move inside. Maybe it would bring back something...

Or maybe it would only serve to tarnish some of her happiest childhood memories.

She stood back, and sighed. She really didn't want to go in there. This part of her life was over, and she knew her answers were elsewhere.

I can't go back, she thought sadly as she made her way back to the room she and Lina shared.

Lina sat bolt upright, managing to keep herself from crying out. She looked around at the sumptuous room that she and Gracia shared. Gracia lay in the other bed. She didn't seem to have heard Lina wake.

Lina curled up into a ball, rolling back down onto the bed.

This couldn't go on... she'd go insane. Or kill herself.

Something had to give.

Lina stared at the ceiling, and began to think long and hard on the basic principles of her life.

Gracia was somewhat stunned at the reception she got when Mileria came to see her. There was a fear in her eyes that seemed to vanish when Gracia stood up smiling.

"Princess, honey? Is that really you?"

Gracia smiled weakly. "I hope so, Mileria."

The woman sobbed and threw herself into Gracia's arms. Lina raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Gracia just held her.

"I was so worried... the last I saw of you, well it was frightening. I was worried you'd simply lost your mind."

"I think I did for a bit, Mileria. But now I'm trying to get it back."

She moved over to the table, and sat down, Mileria releasing her and taking the chair next to her. This left Lina on her feet, but she was content to simply stand back and watch. Mileria's behaviour seemed to indicate that she was there when whatever happened to Gracia happened.

"Mileria, I've lost my memories. The last thing I remember is executing mother's killer three years ago. I need you to help me find out what happened after that, help me recover them."

Lina wasn't sure she was comfortable with Gracia's use of the word 'executing'. She was of the opinion that Gracia wasn't exactly proud of what she'd done, and was using language to make it seem a bit more acceptable. Still, Lina had done the same thing a lot, so who was she to judge?

"Why in God's name would you want those memories back, Gracia?" Mileria asked, seeming to be appalled.

Gracia smiled weakly. "Don't think I haven't asked myself the same. But there might have been something important I did in that time that I need to know. And besides... I don't like having part of my life simply erased. I want to know, even if it is bad."

Mileria stared at Gracia, but saw the resolve in her face and nodded sadly. "You have to understand that I didn't tell anyone about this except His Majesty... and even with him, I didn't tell him everything."

Lina smiled, seeing that she wouldn't have to corner Phil about those little side glances after all. She then shifted when Mileria turned a sharp gaze to her, feeling a little inadequate.

Gracia picked up on it. "Mileria, I've been travelling with Lina for a year and a half, and over the course of the past week have probably told her more of my life story than even you know. It's safe, I promise."

Mileria took a deep breath and nodded. "So you just want me to tell you what happened, right? And see if something comes back to you?"

"Right."

"Well... I'm sure your father told you what had happened after that beastly assassin was... well, after he died. The commander had found some possessions on him that seemed to indicate he'd come from Praium. You were dead set on going there to find out who'd hired the assassin to... well, to kill your mother." Mileria's voice grew quiet at that last sentence.

Gracia nodded. "You and I were the only ones to leave, right?"

"Yes, Princess. We travelled for about two days. When we arrived, you decided to disguise yourself, so people wouldn't confuse you for the princess of Saillune."

Lina spoke up. "I'm getting a really nasty idea here. Would this disguise, by any chance, have consisted of an old leather bikini minimal Gracia had taken from her late mother's wardrobe? And did she, by any chance, try to frighten people with a laugh she used to tease her sister with?"

Gracia looked surprised, but Mileria nodded, fixing Lina with a cagey look. "You see where I'm heading, don't you?"

"I don't. Please, Mileria, continue." Gracia was starting to get a nasty headache.

"You made a few contacts, shook down a few local bandits, and eventually were able to corner the person who'd set up the contract. It was actually several people... a guild of bandits pooled their resources."

Gracia nodded, her eyes starting to tear up. Mileria noticed this. "Are you alright, Princess?"

She shook her head. "No... my head is throbbing... please go on, I think this is what I need..." She put her head down between her knees, but waved to Mileria to go on.

"You went to confront one of them yourself... I insisted on coming with you, in case something happened to you, but I promised that if fighting started I would run. You threatened the leader with a sword... you'd gotten him to a secluded place... I think he was so surprised to see you when you revealed who you were that he simply told you everything."

Gracia whimpered. Both Lina and Mileria stepped to either side of her, Lina putting a hand on her trembling shoulder.

Mileria took a deep breath. "When you were told that the contract wasn't meant for your mother... but for you and your sister... that's when you changed."

Lina turned white as a sheet, but that was nothing compared to Gracia's reaction. She screamed piercingly, clutching the sides of her head, and then slipped bonelessly to the floor.

The door banged open and Phil burst in, followed by Commander Vymes and two other guards. Lina and Mileria stopped them, however, turning Gracia to lie on her back.

Lina spoke up. "I think she's got her memories back."

Lina sat by Gracia's bed, having nothing better to do but wait for her to wake up. She wasn't allowed to leave the palace, and didn't really feel right chatting with Phil about what his daughter had been up to.

She had spoken to Mileria, getting the rest of the story from after Gracia had collapsed. There wasn't really much to tell. "Gracia" had killed the bandit, but upon seeing his blood she had collapsed in a dead faint. Mileria had then ran to help her, pulling her as best she could away from the clearing where the bandit lay.

Upon awakening, Mileria was horrified to find that Gracia didn't seem to even remember who she was. She insisted her name was Naga, and had no idea why Mileria was "pestering" her. After letting out a piercing laugh and tossing back her cloak, she fled faster than Mileria could keep up. That was the last she'd seen of Gracia till today.

After searching for three weeks, she returned to Saillune to report to Prince Phil. Rather than add to his already overwhelming grief by telling him his eldest daughter had lost her mind, she decided to hold back some of the truth. She told of Gracia's discovery of the plot, in order to ensure that Princess Amelia would be safe, but merely said that Gracia had elected to continue on alone, fighting against injustice whenever she saw it. Which was, Lina admitted, more or less accurate, though certainly she also fought against injustice when the just could pay well. They both did.

Luckily, Lina's depressed meanderings were cut off by a guttural moan coming from the bed. Gracia's eyes fluttered and she moaned again, trying to raise a hand to her head.

Lina got up and helped her to a sitting position, ignoring the further moaning and cursing. She then got a glass of water from the nightstand, from which the other woman took a grateful sip.

Now we'll see what's happened, Lina thought.

"OK, I need to ask you a few questions. What's the last thing you remember before you passed out?"

Gracia gave a small smile. "Mileria was informing me of my discoveries in Praium."

Lina smiled. "OK, next question. We once took a vacation to a hot spring. You said that it was absolutely the best hot spring you'd ever been to."

"I most certainly did not! That hot spring was nothing more than a forgery, as anyone with my delicate skin and sensitive nose would be able to tell you! Certainly it had its charms, but only in the top twenty, at most!" The last was said with a large grin on her face.

Lina leaped into the air. "Yes! We did it!" She then paused giving her companion a puzzled frown. "OK, now for an interesting question: is it Naga, or is it Gracia?"

The other woman seemed to give this much thought. "It could be either, really. I think I genuinely do have all my memories back, so there's essentially two lives that I've been living."

Lina frowned. "Why did it happen? I mean... I understand that it was a shock to you. I think. But was it a bigger shock than... than what you had seen earlier that week?" Despite Gracia's dislike of indirect conversation, she still felt uncomfortable talking about her mother's murder like that.

The other woman seemed to give the question some thought. "I don't know. When I think about it now, I get angry, sad, appalled... to think that my mother's killing was just an accident, that the assassin was actually supposed to be killing her daughters. But it's too far away. I took care of it. Booley's dead, the people who put out the contract are dead. Gracia or Naga, I got my revenge. At the time, though... I'm not sure. Nobody really knows what makes a mind crack or not. Mine just burst its tolerance."

"You still sound like Gracia," Lina muttered to herself.

"You're stronger than I am, anyway."

"Eh?"

"Kairen. That that sort of thing could happen and you can... go on. I can't imagine doing that. I don't think I could."

Pain flared behind Lina's eyes, and the other woman held up a hand. "I'm s - "

Lina shook her head violently. "It's OK." She looked up again, her eyes bright. "You know what's kept me going? The thing I keep coming back to at night, when the nightmares start again and I just want to take my sword and stab it in my heart? It's Kairen. I keep imagining seeing her after I die, seeing the hurt and the pain in her eyes. Not just in the nightmares, but memories of her face before she died. And it scares me. It scares me half to death."

"Lina..."

She shook her head once more. "Isn't it funny, Naga? Everything I do, every single driving force in my life is driven by fear. First fear of my sister. Now of Kairen. And she's dead."

The other woman didn't know what to say about that. Lina went on in any case.

"So I'm going to keep doing what I do. Searching for treasure, beating up bad guys, saving the world once or twice. Just keep living and living. So that when I die, I can look at the girl I killed and apologize. And say, 'I made up for it. I learned from my mistakes. Your death was one of the most important things in my life. It had meaning.' I want her to understand that. I want to understand that."

The two of them remained silent for a moment, lost in private thoughts. Finally Lina slapped the bed softly. "So... now what?"

"Hm?"

"Well, I mean it's not as easy as just walking around the country beating up bad guys and having adventures, is it? You're princess of Saillune! You'll prolly have to do all sorts of balls and gala luncheons and cocktail parties and god, I'm hungry." Lina paused to salivate.

Said princess seemed to consider this, then shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

Lina looked both startled and hopeful. "Eh?"

"Well, it's quite clear that Amelia's the one Daddy's grooming to take over, not me. And that suits me just fine. I was planning to leave anyway, even before mother was killed. That's why I learned so much magic." She paused, a smirk crossing her face. It was the most Naga-ish expression Lina had seen on her since the accident.

"And in fact, since I probably will end up travelling the world, what better name to strike fear, awe, and lust into the hearts of men and women alike than one that already has?" She got up from the bed and removed her priestess robes, startling Lina by still having the old leather bikini on. Striking a pose, she cried, "Yes, I think Naga, the White Serpent will have to live again! OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!"

Lina stood stock still, her eyebrow twitching. At least until Naga turned from her pose and gave her a wink.

Still, her relaxation didn't last long. Naga gave a slow chuckle. It was a chuckle that Lina knew very well from their long partnership. It was a chuckle of pure, raw, evil.

"I'm feeling hungry. If you're good, I might let you have a wishbone."

Lina's eyes widened. Spinning rapidly, she disappeared, heading down to the kitchens as fast as her legs could carry her.

Naga laughed, a far more normal laugh this time. "Yes, I think this is definitely the right decision," she said to herself before heading quickly down the secret passage to the kitchens.

A few days later, the pair were walking along a dirt road, leaving Saillune the same way that Gracia had three years earlier: from the tradesman's entrance. Their journey had been delayed by Phil's insistence that some sort of party be thrown, even if it was private; and also his feeling that Amelia would be crushed if she found out she'd missed her big sister's return.

"I still can't believe he slapped me on the back again! Didn't he learn from the last time?"

"I think he likes you. He's trying to toughen you up."

"He's trying to kill me!"

"He did the same thing to me since I could stand. It's taken years of experience to be able to stand daddy's backslaps. Builds up good back muscles too."

"Well, you certainly need those more than I do."

"Are you still going on about my breasts?"

"Let's face it, Naga, it's all about your breasts. And what about that sister of yours? She's thirteen and her chest is as big as mine!"

"Family characteristic. When I finally decide to get rid of you I won't need to use magic or a sword, I'll just roll over you in my sleep."

"Rephrase that."

"Eh? Oh. Lina, you pervert!"

"Listen, I have a serious question."

"What is it?"

"Well, I mean... we're pretty much going to do what we did before, right? Going around, looking for treasure, beating on bad guys, and the like?"

"Don't see any reason to change it."

"Right. But if we - "

Naga was startled to suddenly find herself walking alone down the road. She turned back to see that not only had Lina turned bleach white, but even her clothes had managed the trick. She was slowly vibrating, her expression that of complete and utter terror.

Turning, Naga tries to figure out what could possibly have inspired such a reaction in Lina, someone who had faced down some minor Mazoku with only a toss of her hair. The only figures she saw approaching were a pair of young women, not much older than the two of them. Were they demons? The one on the right gave Naga an odd feeling, but it wasn't that of your typical Mazoku...

Lina finally managed to move... straight onto the ground, where she lay flat, supplicating herself towards the approaching couple. Naga could now here a sort of high pitched, keening whimpering emanating from Lina in a steady stream.

The young women slowed as they hit this spot in the road. One was a tall woman with dark purple hair, most of which managed to obscure her face. Her mouth was visible, twisted into a perplexed grin. The other woman, who gave Naga the creeps for some undefined reason, looked similar in terms of hair style, though her hair was blonde and far longer. They were holding hands, and only paused in their whispered conversation upon seeing the prostrate young sorceress before them.

"Lina, are you alright?" the dark-haired girl asked. This only seemed to make Lina cry out, and return to the whimpering at a faster and higher pitch.

Several things seemed to click together for Naga, who stared at the other girl open-mouthed. "You're her sister," she finally managed.

Luna Inverse looked up. "Yup. Are you Naga?"

Naga managed a nod.

"Good. You and Lina have been making a name for yourselves. It's nice to see."

Naga was getting over her initial shock, and beginning to move to anger. Not thinking of the consequences, she quickly moved to stare into Luna's... hair.

"I'm sorry, have you seen what you've done to your sister? She's a nervous wreck! She lives in fear of you coming to find and destroy her! Any self-confidence she may have is no thanks to you! And you have the nerve to stand there and ask if she's all right? Do you really think you can get away with that?"

Luna seemed to take that in, tilting her head to one side. "Well, yeah. I do. But good point, don't want any sort of misunderstanding." She squatted down, taking hold of Lina's chin and pulling it up. "Oi, Lina!"

Lina's pupils were almost pinpoints. Luna waited until she was sure her sister was focusing on her. "Listening?"

"Yes!" Lina responded almost instantly.

Luna nodded. "Don't worry about the whole bathtub thing. I forgot about it a long time ago. And I'm not gonna kill ya. So de-stress."

Lina's jaw worked a few times. Finally she managed to croak out a raspy, dried-out "Really?"

Luna nodded. "Hey, we're sisters. Family, right? Love ya lots." And Luna then let Lina's head go, where it immediately sank back into the road.

She straightened up. "OK?"

Naga had watched the proceeding with a certain appalled fascination. She couldn't really complain about it, especially if Luna was as powerful as Lina implied. "I suppose. Thank you."

Luna just grinned, stepped around Lina, and moved down the road towards Saillune.

Her companion, who had remained silent throughout the entire incident, gave Naga a smile that looked very much like a shark. "Be seeing you," she purred, then moved to join her companion.

Naga looked down at Lina, who was still trembling on the ground, and sighed. "And here I was thinking things would be back to normal. That was the biggest thing I forgot. They never were." She reached down, hoisted Lina into a semi-standing position, and started to manoeuvre her down the road.

"Naga?" Lina stuttered out.

"Yes, Lina?"

"Let's put off deep metaphysical thought for a while now."

"Sounds good."

"Take me to bad guys."

"Will do."

And with that, Lina Inverse and Naga the White Serpent set off on another series of adventures.

Epilogue

"That was interesting. You decided to lose the whole fear thing?"

"It was getting old. Besides, can't have her fearing me forever. What if I need her? She's got some pretty damn strong power, you know."

"Oh, trust me, I know."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing. I just mean that I think Lina Inverse and her companion are going places. I may have Xelloss keep an eye on them, just out of curiosity."

"You're assigning your priest, one of the five most powerful beings in the entire world, to watch over my sister?"

"Well, she is an Inverse. I can't afford to take any chances."

"Hmmph. You're sleeping on the floor tonight."

"What?!"

Author's Notes

This started life as a f/f romance, to be honest. I had been promoting on a couple of websites why I thought, given time, attention, and a lack of Gourry, a Lina/Naga romance wasn't entirely unfeasible. I decided to try and write a story to prove my point. Unfortunately, I did prove it. In order to work, it needs TIME. And ATTENTION. Things which can't simply be done in one story. Yes, maybe if I write a sequel to this, it may turn romantic. But here, they're simply friends.

This is also the second story in a row (the first being my Nadesico fic, Facades) where I've taken a poorly developed character who has a catchy laugh, play off of an tragic event in their life, and turn the character much more serious. It's a hobby. ^^;; Seriously, the backstory of Naga given first in fan rumour and later confirmed by the creator has always fascinated me, especially given the somewhat... over the top personality Naga has in the movies and OAVs. A lot of this fic went into analysing that.

Naga's hard to write in character, so I cheated by giving her a new one for most of the fic. Phil I couldn't cheat with. He's another one hard to write in character in an angsty drama, especially if you're dealing with the death of his wife. Hope I gave him enough "Phil"-ey moments.

One of the characters, Commander Vymes, is sort of a double reference. The character is from several of Wendy Lee's excellent Slayers fics, where he is also Commander of Saillune's Watch. She, of course, borrowed him from Commander VIMES of Terry Pratchett's books. Thanks to her for allowing me to use him.

One of Gracia's flashback to her time as Naga used quotes from one of the Slayers novels. Thanks to QP/Diana and Avatar for providing translation.

The line "It's all about your breasts" is taken from the Faithful mailing list. Eliza Dushku rocks, and I promise I'll get back to my Buffy fic now.

Yes, that's Luna and Zelas in the epilogue. I've no idea who first started the idea of them being lovers, but it amused me greatly. I also heard from a couple of my prereaders that I had Luna talk too much, to which I point out that in no novel, manga or anime have we ever heard Luna talk. So... :-D

Thanks to my prereaders: Avatar, Jeff Hosmer, John Biles, Lara Bartram, David Tai, Shadra, Wendy Lee, and Astra M. Thanks also to Kris Overstreet and Matthew Campbell for pointing out some flaws in the alpha draft that I tried to fix.

- Sean Gaffney
- August 21, 2000

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