"We are going on picnic!" Amelia cheered as the group walked up the northern road. "This is going to be so much fun."
"I hope we brought enough food," Lina muttered looking at the basket she was holding.
"I think you brought enough," Zel interrupted as he glanced back at Gourry, who was following behind with a massive backpack almost bursting with food. "Why are we even going on a picnic in the first place?"
"The mood just struck us, I guess," Lina answered as Zel rolled his eyes. "Besides, it's a beautiful day, so let's go have some fun. Come on, you should try to cheer up a bit, have some fun for a change. Or will that stone face of yours crack if you even try to look like you're having fun?"
Zel didn't even grace that reply as he pulled his lower mask up.
"How much farther do we have to go before we can settle down? Speaking for myself, this load is getting pretty heavy." Gourry inquired as he trudged along slowly. "Plus I'm getting pretty hungry too," he added as his stomached growled hungrily on cue.
"Don't worry about it," Lina smiled. "I got Amelia scouting up ahead to find a place for us to settle down to rest."
"I found it!" Amelia yelled up ahead as she waved her arms to them. "This spot is perfect," she called to them as they reached where she was standing.
The picnic area and the nearby stream to the north offered the ideal spot to rest from a long journey. Although the emerald glade to the west provoked an eerie dread, the kind most often associated with places of dark mystery, the well-used picnic site assured them that other travelers have stopped by this very place without any incident. Gourry happily sat down and took off the massive pack, letting it down with a crash. Amelia pulled out the cloth as Gourry started to take out the food and place it down.
Suddenly a loud shriek from Lina interrupted everyone as they turned towards the source.
They were greeted with the sight of a 2'-tall manlike creature dressed in tweed suit and green fishing cap, darting into the forest with one of Lina's demon blood talismans.
"Hey that's mine!" Lina screeched at the fleeing figure shaking her fist at him.
"Oh, me bukos, you'll have to be sharper than the last bunch of armed scoundrels if you wish to keep up with Tim O'Brien," laughed the little fellow as he turned with a bow and removed his tweed-fishing cap ceremoniously. Faster than a wink, the tiny man plunged deeper into the emerald woods just barely missing a flare arrow from Lina.
"Damn it, I missed him," Lina cursed as a wisp of smoke stemmed from her finger. "Come on, let's go after him," she ordered getting up to give chase.
"Shouldn't someone stand guard over the food?" Gourry asked as Lina paused to think about that subject for a moment.
"Zel, stay here and guard the food," Lina ordered as she grabbed Gourry.
"Why me?" Zel asked.
"Because I know I'll come back with all the food not eaten," Lina answered as she raced into the wood after the little man. "Give me back my talisman, I need a complete set to use it!"
Watching the three disappeared into the wood, Zel just laid back on the sheet and lazily stared up at the blue sky. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that this event will be climaxed into Lina's removing a good section of the forest with a Dragu Slave. Lina was fairly easy to predict when it came to these sorts of things.
"Where did that little bugger go?" Lina cursed as she pushed away the branches of the tree as she tried to squeeze through the woods. "When I get my hand on his scrawny little neck, I'm going to throttle it!" she promised.
"For a small guy, he certainly moves very fast." Amelia said as she ducked under some branches. "I wonder what he was?"
"Maybe he was a leprechaun?" Gourry suggest having the most difficult time navigating through the thick woods. "My Grandpa used to tell me tales about such diminutive people like that dressed in green and known for mischief."
"Doesn't that also mean he has a pot of gold and grants wishes?" Amelia inquired as Gourry paused to think for a moment only to get swatted by a branch that Lina had pushed aside.
"Yes, it does," Lina answered as she finally pushed out of the forest.
Stepping into a shaded clearing, Lina saw no sign of the sneaky little fellow. The stream winded through the clearing and snaked deeper into the lush wood. A hollow willow tree, obviously the victim of some recent catastrophe, lay uprooted a few feet from its former resting-place. A few small pieces of broken furniture and assorted fishing gear, made for someone quite small, were scattered here and there.
"Wow, this must had been the leprechaun's house," Amelia remarked holding up a small pair of pants.
"Never mind that," Lina muttered looking around for the little guy. "I want to know where that little thief is."
"Over here, my friends. Oh no! You'll not catch Tim O'Brien looking that way, don't ya know?"
"That sounds like it came from down there," Gourry pointed down the stream.
"Then let's go," Lina called leading the charge.
As they trotted farther down the path, they came to a small log bridge spanning the stream, whose currents seemed to be picking up speed here. Leaning casually against the other side of the bridge, Tim smiled and beckoned them with a wave. Still clutching his prize, Tim bolted into the forest on the far side of the stream, laughing all the way.
"Not so fast!" Lina called as she raced across the bridge after the little fellow.
"Lina-san, you'd better be careful. That bridge doesn't look that...sturdy," Amelia warned too late as Lina fell off the bridge into the stream.
"Are you okay?" Gourry asked as a rather soaked Lina arose from the shallow stream, hair covering her face.
"That's the last straw!" Lina roared as fire started to radiate around her despite her position in the middle of the stream.
"Oh Lina-san is getting scary," Amelia muttered as Gourry nod. Zel was relaxing on the grass as he chewed on a piece of wheat while gazing up at the clouds passing overhead. He heard a loud explosion as a massive cloud of smoke came rising up from certain section of the forest.
"Typical," Zel muttered.
The entire forest section, having been scorched clean , was completely devoid of any semblance of life. Burning remains of several trees were evident along with the fried and scorched form of Amelia and Gourry. Lina hopped out of the lake after the outburst and calmly dusted herself off, surveying the damage.
"Ah that felt good," Lina smiled as Amelia and Gourry looked at her as if she was crazy. "Come on, we got ourselves a leprechaun to catch. And with the clearing around here, we can take the easier route. Raywing."
The three flew over the forest area with Amelia and Lina supporting Gourry as they surveyed the blast zone for any signs of the little fellow.
"Hey look over there," Amelia yelled pointing to a muddy basin below them.
Dropping down, they could see that lying in the middle of the mired basin was Lina's missing demon blood talisman. The mud looked slippery and glistens with a strange violet hue.
"I wonder why it's lying here all alone?" Amelia muttered.
"Probably fell out of that Tim's hand was he was blown away by my blast," Lina smiled as the others sweatdropped. "Gourry, go in there and get it for me!" Lina ordered as she booted Gourry into the mud basin.
"That was mean Lina-san," Amelia lectured.
"It's just mud," Lina replied shrugging.
"Oh, does mud usually do this?" Gourry inquired the mud slowly started to rise around him and take the form of humanoids. Pulling out his sword of light, Gourry cut a swathe through the mud, but the mudmen kept coming.
"Wow, they seem to be quite numerous," Amelia muttered as she watched Gourry get slowly overcome by the sheer mass of the mudmen. "I wonder if the leprechaun was devoured by those things," she asked Lina.
"Who cares?" Lina muttered watching the fight with growing disappointment. "Hey Gourry, stop wasting time and get me my talisman before it sinks even deeper into the mud."
"Right," Gourry nodded as he raised the sword of light up, despite all the mudmen clinging all over him. "Light!" he called as he blasted the whole basin with a beam of light from the sword.
The mud basin exploded in a huge fountain of mud straight up before it all came splashing down into the basin again. Following from the sky was two things. The first was Lina's missing demon blood talisman, which landed on her hand. The second was a copper pot filled to the brim with shiny gold coins that glittered in the sunlight that happened to hit Amelia in the head.
"Lucky," Lina beamed picking up the pot from Amelia's head.
"Itai..."Amelia muttered painfully.
Before the two could say anything else a shadow came down upon them as they looked up to see a tall mudman standing before them.
"AARRGGHH! Giant mudman! Fireball!" Amelia cast, blasting the mudman into a nearby tree.
The cooked mud slowly flaked off as the blasted figure was revealed to be Gourry.
"Oops," Amelia muttered scratching her head. "Is that the Leprechaun's pot of gold?"
"You are correct in your assumption," Tim smiled as he popping in front of them. "That be my gold and, I'll be more than happy to have it returned to me."
"Heck no," Lina retorted hugging the pot of gold. "This is payment for all the grief you cause me."
"I see that this will not be an easy matter to solve," Tim sighed rubbing his chin before his face brighten for a moment. "Alright then, in exchange for my pot of gold, I'll grant you three wishes," he offered as Lina look at him.
"With no strings attached? Following the intention of the wish and not twisting it?" Lina inquired as he nodded.
"Are you sure this is such a wise thing?" Amelia asked.
"Okay it's a deal, but if you're going to pull a fast one on me then I'm going to Dragu Slave you to the Sea of Chaos," Lina warned as Tim chuckled a bit.
"Well first give me my pot back and then I'll grant your wish," he said holding his arms out. "I can't grant it without the pot," he added as Lina grudgingly handed the pot over. "Okay what will be your first wish?"
"For my first wish, I would like to have 30 millions gold piece to be given to me every month as a tribute to how great I truly am!" Lina exclaimed.
"30 million a month?" Amelia exclaimed choking at the figures.
"Hey, I don't want to be greedy and ask for 90 million," Lina shrugged.
Sweatdropping at the wish, Tim sighed, "Okay then."
He pulled out a notepad and a quill from his coat and marked down the description of the wish.
"For my second wish, I would like to have all encompassing power over every living thing in this world."
"Lina-san!" Amelia cried.
"And for my last wish, I would like a better figure."
"Fine then," Tim said marking down all of the wishes onto the notepad before he looked it over. "Let's see, the wishes are money, power, and looks, right?"
"That's correct," Lina remarked.
"Well seeing that you made such wonderful three wishes, I just feel morally obligated to give you a fourth one." Tim smiled as he put the notepad away.
"Really?" Lina exclaimed as Tim nodded.
"Be careful Lina-san, this might be a trick," Amelia warned.
Unfortunately Lina wasn't paying attention to Amelia at the moment, "Okay, for my fourth wish. I would like revenge against all my enemies they should burn like pigs in hell!"
"Granted," Tim smiled as he snapped his finger, bring down a brilliant flash of light.
As it cleared, Tim was the only one standing in the clearing as Lina, Amelia, and even Gourry had vanished without a trace. Snickering to himself, Tim placed the notepad away as he studied his pot of gold for a moment to ensure that they were all there. Satisfied, he merrily made his way through the forest as he eventually came upon Zel resting at the forest edge.
"So you're a Leprechaun?" Zel muttered chewing on a piece of wheat not even looking at the new arrival.
"Yup, that I am. I'm afraid your friends are going to be away for awhile." Tim smiled as he set his pot of gold aside and examined a bottle of wine that was set out. "Mmm, a fine brand of Zefilia wine indeed. You won't mind if I indulge myself a bit?"
"Go right ahead, not like I could stop you," Zel stated. "So where are they anyway?" he asked as Tim popped the cap of the bottle.
"Oh probably stuck in the local mire a bit farther down the road, I would presume. I can't always tell where those rascals end up," Tim reflected as he poured himself a cup.
"Let me guess, Lina fell for the fourth wish trick," Zel muttered.
"That's right, the good old Leprechaun rule. When granting a person three wishes, we had the option of ignoring all wishes and teleporting them somewhere else if they should accept a fourth wish. Really plays on the greed of people. Had to play it on the last bunch of people I ran into." Tim hiccuped as he downed the bottle.
"Typical," Zel sighed as he decided to take a nap, at least until Lina and the others came back. At least he'll be able to enjoy some R&R for awhile.