Gourry, on the other hand, was all too happy to help. He happily donned a pair of old blue overalls and a hard hat. Lina preferred to stay in her usual garb, minus the cape. However, working hard in that outfit made her extremely hot. So, when she saw a girl carrying around cool drinks for the workers, she immediately pounced on her. And then realized who the drink girl was.

"Sylphiel?" Lina asked, hardly believing that a shrine maiden was out serving drinks.

"Lina-san?" Sylphiel nearly dropped her tray. "What brings you here? I'm glad to see you've decided to help us rebuild."

Lina scratched her chin nervously. "Well, to tell you the truth, I didn't really have much choice...."

Suddenly, Gourry shouted down from the top of a ladder. "Hi, Sylphiel! Haven't seen you in a while!" He waved, but lost his grip on the ladder and came crashing down to the street.

"Gourry-sama!" Sylphiel ran to him. But Gourry's head was as dense as a brick. It would take more than that to hurt him. "Oh, Gourry! Did you come to aid us in rebuilding after that Mazoku attack?"

Gourry smiled cheerfully. "Actually, Lina was the one who blew up the city, so the officials are making her stay and help out." A piece of wood smartly connected with his head.

"Don't go around saying it was my fault, Jellyfish-brain!" Lina shouted. "It was that @%&! Mazoku's fault for countering my spell!" She then began uttering a string of curses about the Mazoku's intelligence level, choice of diversions, and questionable parentage.

"Ne, Lina, don't you think that's enough?" said Gourry, attempting to calm the savage beast.

The foreman then came around to inspect people's progress. He noticed that Lina and Gourry weren't doing anything. "You two! Get back to work!" he commanded. The foreman was a huge man that looked like someone from a wrestling tournament. Definitely someone you didn't want to say "no" to.

"Y...yes sir!" Lina and Gourry said in unison, and immediately got back to work.

After two weeks, neighboring towns and kingdoms had heard of Sairaag's predicament, so sent in relief squads. Lina was glad for them, because more people working meant less work for her. Lina was glad, that is, until the Seyruun relief squad showed up.

"Have no fear, citizens of Sairaag! Your liberation is upon you!" echoed a voice through the city.

Lina immediately dropped her hammer. "Oh no.... That isn't....!"

"The Seyruun Relief Squad of Justice has come to aid you in your darkest hour! Even though villains may smash your town, we will stand before them and rebuild what they have destroyed! Those who wish destruction will see the error of their ways and be punished by the swift hammer of justice!"

Lina ducked for cover behind a pile of wood. Heaven help her if Amelia saw her here. She had enough problems already. Amelia led the Seyruun Relief Squad of Justice through the streets, sending workers off to places that needed extra assistance. If Lina just stayed behind the pile of wood, Amelia would never....

"Hey, you! Trying to hide from your job, missy?" Lina was greeted by the scary face of the foreman. She cowered behind the wood, not wanting to make a spectacle of herself now. "Hey, you listening to me? I said GET TO WORK!" With that the foreman tossed her into the street...

...And right into Amelia. Both sorceress and princess went tumbling, and ended in a heap on the other side of the road. Amelia shook her head to reorient herself, and noticed Lina trying to discreetly sneak away. Too late. She was spotted.

"Lina-saaaaan!" Amelia cheered as she latched onto her former idol's leg. "It's been soooo long!"

"Oh, hi Amelia....!" Lina laughed nervously. "I, uh, wasn't expecting to run into you...."

Amelia's eyes got all shiny. "Oh, Lina-san! Is it possible that you have finally discovered the way of justice, and came to this city's aid after it was destroyed and cried out for help?"

"No!" Lina shouted. "And before anyone else asks, I blew up the city while fighting a monster and this is my punishment for it! OKAY?!"

Amelia's expression wavered. "Lina-san...." Then she smiled. "You haven't changed a bit!"

"Yeah, whatever," said Lina, picking up a hammer. "I just want this to be over with so I can get on with my life."

Meanwhile, a dark cloaked figure was making his way toward Sairaag. He had been there before, but didn't have much time to look around then, even though it seemed a promising place to find a cure for his curse. Sairaag held many ancient magic laboratories and knowledge of ancient magical power. In the past, it had been known as the Magical City. So, what better place to look for a spell? And since he was alone and not a wanted criminal, now was the best time to check things out.

As Zelgadis reached the crest of the hill, the first thing that greeted his eyes was a crater containing the remains of the completely destroyed Sairaag.

"Damn."

Scratch one place to look for a cure. He turned to leave, but stopped. "On second thought, why do I have this nagging feeling that Lina had something to do with this?"

Zelgadis walked into town; his hood pulled over his head and his mask over his face. Thankfully, his appearance did little to attract attention, as other people were also wearing masks to prevent the inhalation of sawdust. Although the city had been completely destroyed, there was still an inside chance that he might find something worthwhile here. Besides, from what he had observed of the damage to the city, he was curious as to what exactly happened. Judging by the depth of the crater, whatever spell that was used was not used at ground level. But why would someone detonate a spell in mid-air....?

Zel's train of thought was interrupted by a rough hand on his shoulder. Looking up, his eyes met those of a very tall, very muscular, very scary person.

"So, I guess you think you're better than the rest of us by not having to work, huh?" The foreman grunted.

"Well, uh, actually, I...." Zel stammered.

"Don't get funny on me! I don't need your excuses, buddy!" the foreman roared. "Be a man and put some of that muscle to work! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

"Y...yes," Zel replied meekly. Although he was made of stone, he figured that this guy could probably crush him with his bare hands. Better not argue. The foreman thrust Zelgadis over to a heap of wood and shoved a hammer into his hand. Zel quickly began pounding nails as the foreman glared over his shoulder. After a while, the foreman seemed satisfied and left. Zel slowed his pace and breathed a sigh of relief. He did not want to meet that guy in a dark alley.

Zelgadis reached over to pick up another piece of wood. Instead, he grabbed the hand that was already holding that particular piece of wood.

"Hey, do you mind?" shot the owner of the hand.

"Sorry," Zel quickly said, releasing his grip. He looked up to see that the owner of the hand was a small, sweaty girl with fiery orange hair. "Lina?" he gasped.

"Zel?" Lina said, equally astonished. She waved her hand in confusion. "Whoa, wait a minute. The day you volunteer for charity work is the day the world ends. So, let me guess. The foreman found you wandering around and made you come work, right?"

Zel nodded. "And I'm assuming you caused this mess, so you're being forced to work here as punishment."

Lina clutched the piece of wood. "Thank L-sama someone finally figured that out on their own. It's embarrassing enough having to tell people that."

"I figured as much," said Zel. "You're hardly the charitable type." Whap. Lina brought the board down on Zel's head.

"I'm cranky enough about this whole mess as it is. Don't push your luck," she warned him.

"I understand," came Zel's muffled voice from under the board.

Lina half-heartedly pounded a nail with her hammer. "This is getting so boring," she sighed. "I wish something would happen to get me out of this."

Ah, and this time the entity heard Lina's remark, and was all too happy to oblige. It was getting pretty bored just watching Lina hammer away the past two weeks, and probably would have done something on its own eventually, anyway.

Sylphiel came running up the street. "Lina-san! Lina-san! We need you!"

Lina immediately jumped to her feet. "The Mazoku's back! Great! Don't worry, Sylphiel, he's dust this time!"

"Um, there's no Mazoku, Lina," Sylphiel replied.

"Okay, then. Dragon. Where's the dragon? He's gonna be sorry he ever messed with me!"

"There's no dragon."

"Bandits, then, right? Ohh, they're not gonna leave this town with a single copper piece!" Lina rolled up her sleeve in anticipation.

"No, Lina-san, it's not bandits. It's..."

"A troll maybe?"

"No."

Lina scratched her head. "Timmy fell down the old well again?"

Sylphiel sighed. "No, Lina, it's nothing like that."

"Huh?" was all Lina could think of to say. "Then what do you need me for?"

Sylphiel pointed back up the street. "While we were clearing away rubble, we came across something you might be interested in. It looks like the entrance to an old magic laboratory."

That got Zel's attention. "A magic lab? Where?"

Sylphiel was quite surprised. "Oh, Zelgadis-san, you're here too! Please, come with me. I'll show you what we found."

The two followed Sylphiel, eager to get away from their mundane work. "Are Gourry and Amelia here as well?" Zelgadis asked.

"Yeah, but you know how those two are with helping people in need. We shouldn't bother them," said Lina. "Besides, what would they know about magic labs?"

The three came upon a cleared area in the middle of the city. Although the blast had taken about 50 feet of the depth of the ground with it, it was obvious that there had been quite a bit of digging done to reach what was assumed to be a laboratory. They floated down the hole that was dug, which went down another 20 feet. They landed on a hatch that would lead downwards even more. Lina brushed the dirt away to examine the emblem on the door. It was an eye, with a six-pointed star as the pupil.

"I've never seen this seal before," Lina commented. "Must have been some local sorcerer's signature." With that, she raised her hands and began chanting a spell to blow the door open. Before she could finish, though, Zel simply pulled the hatch open with little effort at all.

"Hey!" said Lina. "You take all the fun out of things! I haven't blown anything up in weeks!"

"And thus the world is a better place," said Zel, a split second before he realized that saying it was suicide.

Yup. The next thing he knew, he was on his head, halfway down the stairs into the lab.

"Hey, Zel! No fair getting ahead of me!" Lina shouted from the top of the stairs. She came bounding down, a Lighting spell in one hand, Sylphiel in the other. "I don't want you to spoil anything for me!"

The stairs went down forever. Lina was beginning to think that this lab was deeper than Rezo's, which she'd had the privilege of exploring years before. Besides that fact, the entrance to this particular lab was buried 70 feet underground. And yet..... there was no ward on the door. Whoever built it must've been pretty overconfident that no one would find it. Either that, or...

"You know, this has been too easy," Lina said. "That means it's probably a trap." The three froze and surveyed their surroundings. Stairs. That was about it. Nothing else spectacular. They continued a little ways more, and still nothing happened. "I said, this is probably a trap!" Lina shouted again, hearing her voice echo down the stairs. Still nothing happened. "Ohh, this is driving me nuts! Someone spring the trap already!"

Lina banged on every wall, and jumped on every stair. Nothing. She ran in circles, frustrated out of her mind, until she finally tripped and went tumbling down the stairs, only to smack into the door at the bottom. "I found a door..." she said groggily. Zelgadis and Sylphiel ran down to her.

Lina got up and rubbed her hands together. "Okay, I bet when we open this door, it'll probably set off a trap, so..." She got a mischievous gleam in her eye. "No choice but to blow it up!"

But before she could even start casting a spell, Zel walked over and pulled on the door. It opened without protest. And, again, nothing happened.

"What kind of crazy lab is this?" yelled Lina. "No seals! No traps! No mazes!"

"Which means there probably isn't anything worthwhile in here," Zelgadis observed.

A little lightbulb lit up over Lina's head. "Ah, maybe that's what they want us to think! Maybe this lab was designed to be uneventful so that anyone sneaking in would think that it's worthless!" Highly improbable, but it was still worth a look.

The three went through the doors and found themselves in a small room. Lina let her Lighting spell float up to light the entire room, revealing that it indeed was the lowest (and only) chamber in the lab. And the chamber itself was no larger than a large bedroom. There were a few shelves with old books, some rusted and broken weapons, and a stone statue tucked in the corner.

Zelgadis immediately went for the books and began thumbing through them. Lina went to the old weapons, and Sylphiel examined the statue. After a moment's silence, the three announced their findings.

"These books are useless!" said Zelgadis. "They're not even spellbooks! Just some old novels and bards' tales."

Lina fingered the blade of one of the swords, and the metal crumbled in her hand. "There's no magic in any of these items whatsoever. They're just common weapons, and not very good ones at that."

Sylphiel was still examining the statue. "This statue is weird," she commented.

"How so?" ventured Zelgadis. "Is there a spell carved on it?"

"Is there magic sealed in it?" asked Lina.

"No," said Sylphiel. "It's just that the artist had really weird tastes. The position of the subject just doesn't convey anything." Lina and Zel fell over. Lina then got up to examine the statue.

It was a statue of a girl. She was wearing a simple blouse and tunic and traveling pants. Usually sculptors put girls in either flowing silk or ::ahem:: nothing at all. The position was also weird. She was just standing there, with one arm slightly away from her body, and her palm raised, like she was about to say something.

"Maybe they were just trying to capture the true essence of this person," Sylphiel said. "Maybe she was a simple country girl who spoke out against oppression or something."

Lina blew air through her bangs. "Well, this was a pleasant waste of time. But at least it got us away from working for a while." However, Lina's breath of air rustled something.

"Hey, what do you think this is for?" said Sylphiel, pointing at a silver ribbon tied around the statue's outstretched arm. "Maybe there's something written on it." She untied the ribbon and looked it over. "Or maybe not." But it was a very pretty ribbon, she had to admit.

Lina sighed. "I guess there really isn't anything spectacular down here. Even if that ribbon was woven out of pure silver strands, it still wouldn't be worth enough to seal away in a place like this." She took the ribbon, only to find that it felt like normal silk, without the slightest hint of metal. "Oh, even better. It's just dyed silver." She clenched her fist in frustration. "Who the heck would go through all the trouble of building this stupid place if there's nothing down here?!"

"Can I keep the ribbon, though?" Sylphiel asked.

Lina was about to yell at her when they heard a rather audible crack. Turning, they found that it had come from the statue.

"The statue just moved, didn't it?" said Sylphiel.

Lina cheered. "All right! A trap! It's about time!" She readied a fireball to blow the piece of rock to smithereens.

However, instead of attacking, the stone from the statue simply flaked off, revealing the very animate, very living form of the girl it had portrayed. "....think this is such a good ide..." She blinked, realizing the people she was talking to were not whom she expected. "Uhhh.... who are you?"

Lina, Sylphiel, and Zelgadis could only just look at each other.