Zelgadis and Lina lay on their backs amidst the summer's grass, staring at the stars above their heads.

They needed no words; all emotions were displayed by a touch or a glance.

The Shamanist closed his eyes and sighed in content, extremely pleased by the turnout of events. The gentle weight of her head against his stomach was comforting, and he absently carressed her face with his slender fingertips.

And to think, that all this came from a book, he laughed to himself, smiling as Lina cuddled closer to him. Life is Perfect

A distant, familiar scream shattered that thought.

Zelgadis and Lina arrived at the camp and were greeted by a blood chilling sight. Ameria was being hung over the fire, the noose at her throat loosening every so often to lower her towards the hungry flames and prevent death by strangling alone. Gourry looked like a living pincushion, with long silver quills impaling his limbs and pinning him to the ground that was bathed in his blood. And Xellos...

Xellos was the one screaming. The lean Mazoku was a mere shadow of his Trickster's self; haggard, scrawny, and helpless with demon wards searing his flesh. His tangled violet hair was matted with his own blood, and the firelight caught the salty trails tears had carved on his face.

"Xellos!" Zelgadis drew in a sharp breath, eyes widening.

"Zelgadis?" Xellos spun around, and made to run to them, but the wards errupted with enough force to drive him to his knees. "Lina, Zel. You came back. Thank the gods." He managed a weak smile, but their common foe had decided that was enough from the Trickster Priest as should be tolerated.

"Nuisance." The captor brought an omnious looking staff down on the weakened Mazoku's head, and rendered him unconscious. "It seems one cannot even trust one's ancestors, eh Zelgadis?" Materializing from the shadows behind Xellos, a figure clad in the cerulean robes of the priesthood leaned on the stave.

"Lemme guess," Lina remarked, "Reia, the Blue Priest, right?" There was no reply, only a smirk, even as the roaring energy of an emmense fireball connected with the Priest's magic barrier.

"Reia, you bitch, let my friends go!" Zelgadis roared, whipping out his sword. Lina glanced back at him, stunned. Only a moment ago, he had been clad in a toga-like garment made of Xellos' coat and carried no weapon. Now he wore the black equivilant of his Shamanist's garb, and brandished a long sword. What on earth was going on?!

"So, you've finally regained your human form, Zelgadis." Reia threw aside the heavy outer cloak that her her female contour, the tighter blue tunic and pants more practically designed for movement. Her long sapphire-blue braid swirled around her lithe form as she leapt up and threw a volley of foot-long quills at Lina. The sorceress, who had been charging up a DRAGONSLAVE, had barely noticed that they were the same kind that trapped Gourry, and hadn't even time to duck. But with the resounding tone of a light metal deflecting off a steel-strong rock, she found herself sheltered by Zelgadis. His gaze turned to Reia, and Lina could see that it was the impenitrable skin of his golem body that had saved her. His eyes narrowed, and his features shifted to the sharper, more cunning elements of a Mazoku. The golem and human parts seemed to melt away, leaving the angered Shamanist-Mazoku with a twisted looking version of the Sword of Light in his hand. It hadn't seemed that he had moved, but suddenly he as atop Reia, sword at her throat and broken stave in his free hand.

"I don't care what your relationship to Rezo was," he snarled, looking scary enough to even frighten the barely conscious Xellos, "but forget that you ever heard of us. If I ever, EVER, learn that you have even come within my Lina's eyesight, you'll regret the day you ever learned of the Greywers line. Do you understand this, Blue Priest? Stay away from my friends and family, or you'll learn a new meaning to the words excessive punishment." Reia nodded silently, then teleported away.

"What was all that about?" Lina asked as she peeled the demon wards off Xellos.

"Just some loon who heard how the descendants of the Red Priest were like magic amplifiers and/or carriers of Shabranigdo." Zelgadis shrugged, returning to human with a thought and helping Ameria down. "You needn't worry about her anymore, not if I have anything to say about it."

The princess weakly massaged the life back into her aching throat, even as Zelgadis and Lina began the pain-staking task of healing and freeing Gourry.

"Ne, Zelgadis, how did you master your true power so quickly?" Xellos asked as his damaged flesh began rejuvinating. "You only just regained your human self, and yet you still managed to Shift flawlessly."

"I-I-I don't know." The Shamanist stammered under the truth of the compliment. "I was just thinking about what I needed to be able to do and it... well, it happened."

"Ah, stress. The best teacher, next to angst." The Trickster smiled at the completion of his healing and brushed the dust from his shirt. "Then again, angst is rather sloppy and excessive..." He paused to ponder this while Zel pulled out the spikes and Lina and Ameria healed the mercenary.

"Well? What are we going to do now?" Gourry yawned upon the finish.

"Hmmm." Zelgadis glanced to Lina with a mischievious light in his eyes. "The night is young, there's a filthy rich band of looters within about ten miles of here, and a village about a mile from there. Are you all thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yep!" Everyone announced, cracking their knuckles and other joints. "TIME FOR BED!"

And so, they slept happily ever after. Well, at least until morning, when they kicked butt and got rich and lived happily ever after.