Lina Inverse strode into the tavern and plopped down next to Gourry, "Hey, Gourry! What's for dinner? I'm STARVING!"
"Um, I don't know."
"How can you NOT know what we have to eat, Gourry?!"
"Well I already ate..." Gourry pointed at the menu... "Want me to order for you? FOUR OF EVERYTHING ON THIS LIST!" He waved at a waiter.
"HEY! I never said you could order for me! Besides, how DARE you eat without waiting for me! Men..."
"Sorry!" Gourry covered his head waiting for a thrashing.
Lina ignored him. "WAITER! I want FIVE of everything on here, and make it snappy!"
Gourry continued, "You weren't here and I was hungry..... oh well, I can eat what I ordered" ^_^
Lina thwacked Gourry, "That's not an excuse!"
"Well how was I know you'd show up. I have been here a long time with no one else here...so I was starving and ate."
"Idiot, I ALWAYS show up. Waiter, WHERE's that food!?"
Gourry whispered to the hurrying waiter, "You don't wanna keep HER waiting."
Lina leaned back in her chair and watched the kitchen staff dash frantically around trying to fill her order, "Where are the others?"
"They are gone? Oh yeah....heh...thinking aobut my stomach... I don't know where they are. I was gonna ask you."
Lina's eyes got round and shiny as and the food arrived and she dug in. Gourry's eyes got round and shiny as he watched Lina pig out. Lina muttered around a stuffed mouth. "How should I know?! They're always wandering off! Don't even think about it, sword boy!"
Gourry decided to dig in before she ate HIS food too. Lina began stacking her plates, keeping a watchful eye on the swordsman. And his food... "You eat a lot Lina." Gourry shoveled food faster.
"Hey, I'm a growing girl, I've got to eat!" She took a big swallow of water.
"*Growing?* HAHAHAHA-"
"Dang it, Gourry, GET OFF IT!!!" *THWACK* Lina saw her chance while Gourry was on the floor and snatched some more roast beef from HIS plate.
Gourry rubbed his head, still shoving his mouth full. "WELL, you think you are still growing, it's not my fault....LINA!" Gourry jumped back up to the table shoving at Lina as he noticed the missing roast beef. "You eat like a man!!!"
Lina shrugged and stacked her last plate on top of the HUGE pile before yelling for the waiter again. The small man came scurrying up looking petrified, "Miss Inverse, you've eaten all our food! You CAN'T order anything else..."
Lina raised one brow, "I just wanted a cup of coffee."
The poor waiter fell down before picking himself up off the floor and going to find that coffee Gourry stared at the frightened wait staff, thinking 'I told them they didn't want to mess with her'. He smiled as the waiter started back with Lina's drink....
Lina smiled a tad too sweetly as the waiter brought her the coffee, coming only close enough to set it down, sweat drops abounding, before scurrying back to the kitchen. Lina frowned, "What's his problem?! You'd think I'd fireballed the place or something."
*sweatdrop* "Fireball?!?!?!? RUN!!!!"
Lina leaned back in her chair with one hand behind her head, sipping the coffee.
Gourry jumped under the table...
"Grrr... I DIDN'T say I was GOING TO!"
^_^; "Don't scare me like that!" Gourry climbed back into his chair. "Hey Lina, you ate more than I did!"
The few other patrons in the tavern stared at them in silent anxiety.
"Yay! That means I win this time!"
"Hey Lina, I think you ate more than everyone here!" ^_^ He looked around at the few remaining patrons.
"Gourry, you idiot, we always eat more than everyone else! They just don't know what's good!"
"Oh yeah." *^_^* "Food is good. Right, Lina?"
"Right, Gourry." She sipped her coffee.
"Where is everyone else?"
*sweatdrop* Lina muttered, "Didn't we JUST discuss this five minutes ago. We don't know! They probably wandered off on their own, again."
"Oh yeah." ^_^
Lina looked up and waved as Amelia entered, "Hey Amelia, over here!"
"Hi Amelia!" Gourry waved.
"Ooh! Hello Miss Lina!" Amelia bounded over.
Lina winced slightly, "You're too late, Gourry and I already ate this restaurant out of food." She said with a slightly evil smile.
^_^ "Or LINA did...." Gourry poked Lina in the side.
"We BOTH did!" She poked Gourry back.
Gourry whispered in Amelia's direction, "she ate more than me."
Amelia replied absently, "That's okay...I'm not hungry...have you seen Mr. Zelgadis anywhere?" She looked around the room."
"I HEARD that, Gourry!"
Gourry whispered to Amelia again... "She thinks she is a ...um...growing...girl...heehee..." Gourry sat back again. "Nope, not Zelgadis."
Lina growled and suddenly screamed, "EXPLOSION ARRAY!!!!" blowing Gourry to the other side of the restaurant. Lina sat back down, calm again, "I told him to get off that."
Amelia screamed and cowered. "EEEEEEEEE!"
"***OOOF!!***" Gourry looked up right as the ceiling fell on him... ""LINA!" Patrons and waiters scattered in terror.
Lina calmly sipped her coffee, "I DID warn you." She shook her head, "Nope, I haven't seen Zel all day. You know how he likes to wander off. Impossible chimera..."
Gourry pushed debris off himself.....and just sat there. "You warned me Lina?"
"Miss Lina, that wasn't very nice!"
"Oh, shut up, he survived."
Gourry got off the floor and dusted himself off, then walked back and sat by Amelia. "Hey Lina, whatcha do THAT for???"
Lina didn't even entertain that stupid question.
"Oh well, what are we gonna do now Lina?"
"Well, we already found the-" **Dramatic pause, good camera angle, great lighting** "-Claire Bible... so I guess that means we're ready for a new adventure! I dunno, but wherever it is, adventure is sure to find us, it always does!"
{insert random line about JUSTICE}
Lina blinked at Amelia, "What brought THAT on?!"
"I'm practicing."
*blink* O_o
^_^
Lina blinked. *sweatdrop* "Okay..."
"Hey Lina, should we leave this town before the others get here?"
Lina made a digusted sound, "WHY would we do that, Gourry?!"
*^_^* "Um, just a question."
"Course, I'm all for leaving Xelloss... but we've tried that before. He always finds us again." Lina muttered.
Gourry tipped his chair right onto the floor and bumped his head... "OUCH!"
"You moron!"
Gourry grinned stupidly and got back into his chair, looking at the wait staff again. "I am hungry."
The waitstaff heard Gourry.... O_O;;;;
"And you say I'm a pig..." Lina snorted.
"Hey, YOU ate more than I did. AND I didn't say I was growing, I just said I was hungry!" Gourry hid by Amelia, who blinked in surprise.
*piku*
Zelgadiss ambled in casually and took a seat, adjusting his cloak.
Gourry shouted as Zelgadiss entered, "Finally. Hey Lina, can we go yet?"
Lina waved, "Hey, Zel! Finally deciding to join us, huh?"
Amelia poinged, "Mr. Zelgadiss!"
"Dangit, Gourry, would you just be patient?!"
Zelgadiss raised an eyebrow at Amelia.
"We were wondering where you were."
"Zelgadis, where have you been?"
"Yeah, we've been waiting for you! You missed all the food!"
"I was...attending to business elsewhere."
The waitstaff eyed the newcomer worriedly and whispered amongst themselves, concerned that the party of psychos was growing larger.
Lina sipped her coffee, "Well, if that doesn't just sound like a Xelloss excuse."
"What kind of business?"
"I wonder if the waiters have got anymore food yet?"
Zelgadiss glowered at Lina and she smiled sweetly at him over the rim of the cup. He turned to Amelia, but ignored her question. "Did I miss anything important?"
"Yeah, you missed dinner!"
"I am still hungry. Lina ate all the food."
"Gourry!! She thwacked him. "We BOTH ate it, for the 5th time."
*^_^* Gourry mumbled under breath something about her eating more than him and looked for the waiter to call him over and find out about the food situation.
Lina raised her hands as if to cast a spell, glaring at the swordsman, "What was that?"
O_O "Nothing Lina."
"That's what I thought."
Zelgadiss rolled his eyes. Gourry gave Zel a *see what I put up with* look.
The restaurant manager approached the table timidly. "Errr...ahh..."
Lina ignored the manager, preoccupied with her coffee.
"Sir, I want a coffee heavy on the cream and lots of sugar please." Gourry waved his cup in front of the manager.
"Coffee, black please."
The manager cleared his throat, then blinked at Gourry. "You want wha--? I..."
"I want a coffee heavy on the cream and lots of sugar." ^_^
The manager looked confused at the barrage of orders. "I wanted to speak to you about the damage...to the ceiling..."
Gourry pointed at Lina. "SHE did it. Right Lina?"
Lina grinned, "Hey Gourry, do you have coffee with your cream and sugar?"
Zelgadiss pointed at Lina As well, just to keep blame off himself.
Amelia pointed at Lina, too.
"I have coffee with my cream and sugar?!?!? Right?"
Lina gave the manager an innocent look, "You don't really think little me could have done THAT, do you?" She hissed at her friends, "You're POINTING."
"Then what happened?" The manager asked.
Gourry crossed his hands quickly on the table to avoid Lina's further wrath.
Zelgadiss sighed and pulled his hood up, turning back to Amelia. "So what did I miss other than Lina and Gourry fighting?"
Amelia folded her hands in her lap and looked innocent. "Ohh...not much...just talk about where we'll go and what we'll do next."
Lina sipped her coffee and pointed to Gourry, "The idiot swordsman lost control again."
The manager looked at Gourry.
"Whaa??" He looked back at the manager, "I don't know any spells."
Lina pointed to the chapter topic, "But, he has the sword of light. I just don't know what we're going to do with him..." She smiled sweetly at Gourry.
o_O ........... ^_^ "A family heirloom." He held up the sword. "uhh...." Gourry put the sword down again quickly so no one would notice.
The manager cleared his throat. "Regardless...of who it was...I'm sure it was an accident...I was hoping perhaps you'd offer to...pay for it?"
Zelgadiss slouched a bit lower...
Gourry pointed again at Lina.
^_^;
Gourry quickly placed hands on the table again...
Lina sighed and grabbed some of Gourry's coins, tossing them to the manager, "That should cover it."
"HEY!"
"Suck it up, sword boy."
"But Lina..."
"Thank you!" The manager darted off before they could change their minds.
"Shut up, Gourry."
"But Miss Lina, it was you who--"
o_o Gourry decided it was about time for him to hide his money out of Lina's reach...
Zelgadiss muttered to Amelia, "Don't bother, or she'll just use your money next time..."
"Ohh." O_O Amelia shut up.
Lina grinned at Zel, "Too late, remember?" She pulled the Seyruun Family seal out of her clothing, "The Seyruun royal family always picks up our tab."
-_-;; Amelia moaned. Zelgadiss felt glad no one ever seemed to expect him to have money.
"Speaking of... Waiter!! Just charge everything to the girl who just fell on the floor!"
Amelia opened her mouth to protest, but changed her mind, knowing that would be useless. "Ohh...daddy's going to be so mad..."
Zelgadiss shook his head at the chaos.
Lina obviously didn't care how mad Prince Phil was going to be. She looked around at her friends, "So, where are we going to go now! We've found the- **dramatic pause, good lighting, good camera angle** -Claire Bible, so I guess we're ready for a new adventure!"
Zelgadiss heaved a depressed sigh and leaned his elbow on the table, chin in hand.
"What's wrong, Mr. Zelgadiss?" Amelia asked.
"Awww... cheer up, Zel, we're going to find a way to turn you back!"
"Well *you* can all do what you like..."
Lina looked bored, "Don't start that going off on your own thing again, I thought we were past that!"
Gourry stood, "Hey Lina, I am gonna go outside and take a walk."
"Just don't get lost again, Gourry, it took us three days to find you last time!Okay I won't."
Zelgadiss raised an eyebrow, first at Lina, then at Gourry, lifting his head.
^_^ "Bye everyone! *waves* see you when you all decide to come outside!" Gourry walked out...
"He's never going to find his way back here..." Lina shook her head.
"And you accuse *me* of wandering off..."
"At least I know you do it on purpose, he just gets lost. Idiot..."
Zelgadiss *hoped* She was calling Gourry the idiot...
Manzi entered quietly, deeply cloaked and hooded in gray, and moved to a nearby table, making a soft rustling as she moved. She slid into a seat, motioned a waiter over, and quietly ordered a pitcher of cold water.
Lina stretched, "Well, I better go after Gourry. We can't afford to spend three days looking all over the countryside for him again!" She stood up, her cape swirling around her. "See you guys, later!" she called as she walked out with her hands behind her head, oblivious to the other patrons cringing away from her as she passed.
Amelia leaned her chin in her hands. "So what now?"
Zelgadiss let out a sigh and slouched on the table, wondering if his black coffee would ever come. "Where *did* they decide we're going?"
"They...didn't, really. Where did you want to go, Mr. Zelgadiss?"
"Well... I've got no leads right now..."
"Leads?"
"If destroying Rezo, copy Rezo, Shabranigdu and Hellmaster hasn't led me to run across a cure yet, I don't know what will..."
Manzi turned her hooded head slightly toward them, rustling faintly.
"We sure have destroyed a lot of monsters..."
Zelgadiss was oblivious to Manzi, lost in his own depression even as she got up and moved quietly toward their table, pausing next to Zelgadiss. "I don't mean to impose...but I believe I heard you speak the name of Rezo, the Red Priest...would I be correct in assuming you are one of his creations? A chimaera?"
Zelgadiss fell out of his chair.
Amelia jumped to help Zel up... "Are you okay??!"
Zelgadiss glowered up at Manzi from the floor. "Who are you??"
Manzi's voice was bitter. "Some of his earlier work.." She pushed back her hood, revealing pale green skin, yellow eyes fringed with leafy eyelashes, pointed ears, and hair twined back with living vines.
Amelia 's eyes grew huge.
Zelgadiss' eyes narrowed fractionally. "And what if I am?"
"Aside from us having something in common? I was the first human to survive this transformation. I was present for much of the experimental process...and I am very close to finding a way to reverse it."
Zelgadiss miraculously, being still on the floor, fell over again.
"Ohh, poor Mr. Zelgadiss..."
Zelgadiss leapt to his feet and grabbed Manzi by the front of her cloak, hanging off her slightly. "WHERE...?!?!? HOW???!?!?!?"
Manzi raised an eyebrow. "I can assume you're interested, then."
Zelgadiss' eyes grew huge. O_O
Manzi smiled faintly as some of the vines in her hair curled out to disengage Zel's hands from her cloak. "May I sit down?"
Amelia folded her arms suspiciously. Zelgadiss sank back towards his chair, nodding weakly and staring at Manzi.
Manzi retracted the vines and sat in the seat Lina was in. "Rezo taught me nearly everything I know...he was like a father to me, until..." She glanced meaningfully at the delicate tendrils that were part of her hands. Zelgadiss' expression darkened again quickly and he nodded slowly in understanding.
"I never lost the memories of the experiments I watched him perform...from duplicating some of the animal experiments and from studying my own body, I've come to understand most of the processes that formed Rezo's chimaeras, and I believe I can reverse those processes. Only I'm not sure yet how dangerous it might be."
Zelgadiss' eyes narrowed again. "But you still haven't tested it...?"
"Not on a human...or part-human, as you will. And I won't be able to perform it on myself."
Zelgadiss eyed Manzi with suspicion, crossing his arms.
"I'm not suggesting you be my guinea pig. I am suggesting that between the two of us we might come up with a definite solution."
Amelia whispered, "I don't trust her, Mr. Zelgadiss..."
Zelgadiss whispered back, "I don't either, but I can't pass up the chance...."
"I have a small laboratory on the outskirts of town. If you'd like, I'll show you what I've learned thus far."
Zelgadiss nodded slowly. "All right... but there's some...friends I'd like to bring along." Amelia nodded and grinned smugly.
Manzi looked pensive. "The nature of my work is very delicate...how many friends?"
"Amelia here, and Lina, and Gourry will be all right if he just keeps his hands to himself."
Manzi raised an eyebrow and pointedly eyed the damage in the ceiling of the inn.
^_^;; "Well so long as there's no food in the lab, they should be okay..."
Manzi frowned. "Alright...but I want to meet these other two first before allowing them into my lab..."
Zelgadiss nodded. "Naturally. They've gone out for a short walk, but we're staying at this inn. Interesting coincidence that after all this searching I should stumble on the answer in a tavern..."
Manzi smiled wryly. "Sometimes you find what you're looking for, sometimes it finds you."
-_-
Zelgadiss looked at Manzi with narrowed eyes a moment more. "Amelia, I think we should go find Lina and Gourry..they can't have gone far."
Amelia nodded and stood. "Okay..."
Manzi stood as well. "I'll return to my lab and prepare. This evening, then?"
"Give us directions and we'll be there..."
Manzi withdrew a pen and paper from her pocket and scribbled rapidly. "There...it isn't hard to find. Although none of the townsfolk will go near it. I've not the best of reputations." She smiled humorlessly. Zelgadiss nodded grimly, a hint of sympathy showing in his usually inscrutable face. Manzi nodded in return, dropped a few coins on her own table, pulled up her hood, and exited the tavern quietly.
Zelgadiss pocketed the scribbled map and looked to Amelia. "Shall we?"
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"No. It might even be a very bad idea. But if she's telling the truth..." He broke off with a note of desperation, turning away from Amelia slightly to hide any emotions..
"We like you the way you are now, Mr. Zelgadiss..."
"Well I don't!"
Amelia winced slightly. "Well...let's go see what Miss Lina and Mr. Gourry have to say about it..."
"I have to check this out you know... whether anyone's willing to come with me or not.." Zel started for the door.
Amelia followed. "I'll come with you, Mr. Zelgadiss..." She then loudly declared, "No matter what you look like or where you go, our friendship is eternal and undying!!"
Zelgadiss smiled faintly and led the way outside...