Lina marched along through the forest, not caring about the extra weight on the end of her cape. "The thought had crossed my mind, Amelia. If I don't kill her, I'll at least cause her to suffer intense bodily harm."

"But what did she do?" Amelia asked.

Lina grabbed Amelia by the wrist and pulled her up to eye-level. "Haven't you been paying any attention to what's going on? She's working with that cat Mazoku, which means that she is most likely a Mazoku herself."

Amelia processed this for a moment, before asking, "Does that make her bad?"

Lina fell over. "YES that makes her bad!"

"I didn't think she was that bad," Gourry commented. "She was just lonely from being stuck for a really long time."

"Well, maybe she wasn't really sealed away for thousands of years," said Zelgadis, crossing his arms in thought.

"What are you thinking, Zel?" asked Lina, letting Amelia go.

"When we got into that lab, there were no wards blocking us. Which means that anyone could have gone down there before us when it was uncovered," he reasoned.

"And if she's working with that Mazoku," said Lina, "then she may have gone down there as a diversion right before we came. Yes, that's it!" she realized, pounding her fist into her palm. "She came with Jadarin, or whatever his name is, to Sairaag, but stayed undercover! After he blew up the city and I chased him away, she found the lab and ransacked it of anything valuable. But we must have gotten there before she had time to get out, so she had to think up an excuse for being down there."

"So she sealed herself in stone and pretended to be stuck down there from the beginning, so as not to seem suspicious," Zelgadis concluded.

"See, Amelia?" said Lina. "She's been lying to us all along."

Amelia sheepishly pressed her index fingers together. "But, you don't know that, do you?"

"What other explanation do you have?" asked Lina.

"Well..." Amelia began. "If she's really a bad person, why did she come with us in the first place? It probably would have been easier for her to just leave once she got out of the lab. And she never tried to kill any of us, either."

"Yes she did," Zelgadis interrupted.

All eyes turned to him. "When?" asked Lina.

"Last night," said Zelgadis. "She tried to steal one of your weapons, but I stopped her. She then came up with the idiotic excuse that since she had no weapons and couldn't use magic, she'd need something to help her with guard duty."

"That's what I would have done," Amelia said lamely, knowing that it wouldn't help.

"And then there's that ribbon of hers," said Lina, pulling out the bloody blue piece of fabric. "This obviously isn't it, since it's the wrong color. But she seemed pretty protective of it, don't you think?"

"Maybe it's the thing she got out of the lab that's supposed to be able to destroy the world or something," said Gourry. Everyone stared at him, shocked that he actually had a coherent thought.

"You know..... you're probably right," said Lina. "When she was sealed in stone, as soon as we took that thing off her, she lost her stone disguise. She blew her cover because she didn't want us to take it."

Amelia thought hard for a while. She hadn't actually been down in the lab when Sonjia was discovered, so was trying to piece everything together from what everyone had said. It all seemed to fit together so perfectly. Could it be true that Sonjia-san was really a villain? Amelia couldn't bring herself to believe it. She went over the evidence in her head again and again. It was looking bad, but..... there was still one image that didn't quite make sense.

"Lina-san," Amelia finally said. "You said that Sonjia-san broke out of the stone when you took the ribbon off her, right?" Lina nodded. "And you also said that you think she sealed herself up?" Another nod. "Then... how did she get the ribbon tied around her wrist if she turned herself to stone? And if she didn't want anyone else to find it, why would she put it there?"

Lina opened her mouth and held up a finger to respond, but couldn't think of any logical answer. Sonjia had kept a note in her vest pocket, which would have been completely inaccessible while she was stone. So why not put the ribbon there? And since the ribbon hadn't turned to stone with her, it meant that it was tied to her wrist after the spell was cast. Interesting.

"Details details," Lina finally said, waving it off. "Let's just concentrate on finding her." Just those little discontinuities couldn't discredit her theory. ...Could they?

Jadarin kept the chopstick pressed against Xellos's throat. "So you see, my friend, it's two against one. You're not getting out of this one alive."

"Excuse me," said Sonjia. "I'm not against him. Don't get me wrong, I'm not his ally, either. But I still don't see how you think I tie in to all of this."

"If he dies, you'll be the one to kill him," Jadarin explained. "You already killed all the people in that pathetic little town. And soon, you will cause the demise of all life on earth."

Sonjia raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to make me feel guilty or something? I don't care if the world blows up, as long as I'm not the one who lit the fuse. And once the fuse is lit, I'm not going to risk myself to put it out. I have this thing for not interfering." She yawned. "Just let him go and go off on your merry way. I don't care if you kill him, just don't do it in front of me."

"Sonjia-chan, words like that hurt," said Xellos. He couldn't see her around Jadarin's body, so... wait a minute. Xellos looked back at Jadarin, and noticed some changes. For some reason, he suddenly looked different. He wasn't nearly so gangly-looking, and his hair was quite a bit neater. And his wings were no longer black and bat-like, but... brown and feathered? But Jadarin hadn't looked like that when he first appeared in the tree, Xellos was sure of that.

"Why are you so intent on killing him?" Sonjia asked.

"Simple!" said Jadarin, removing the chopstick and holding Xellos up by the collar. "For the past thousand years, I've had to answer to him. He's always been the favorite of the Beastmaster, while I've simply been termed a 'flunky'. But he needs to be shown the power that I can unleash upon him!"

"Oh, so this is just one of those macho rivalry things?" said Sonjia, not exactly thrilled.

Xellos struggled slightly and looked down. Wait, now Jadarin looked like he usually did. What was going on here? Xellos also realized that he once again had his powers back. Okay, time to blow Mister Insubordinate to little pieces. He placed a hand on Jadarin's arm and cast a spell to electrocute him. But... nothing happened (for the millionth time). Xellos checked himself and found that his powers were indeed still functioning.

"What's wrong?" taunted Jadarin, tapping Xellos on the nose with his chopstick. "Can't even kill a little underling like me?"

"Would you just kill him or let him go already?" said Sonjia, leaning against a tree. "Your routine is getting old fast." She closed her eyes, looking to be ready to fall asleep.

"Why don't you kill him?" Jadarin offered.

"I already said 'no'." said Sonjia, not even opening her eyes. "I absolutely refuse to let my power be used for destructive purposes. If anyone dies, it's not going to be because of me."

Jadarin scratched the back of his head with his chopstick. "I understand your refusing to kill anyone, seeing that you're a healer and all. But you are completely content to sit back and watch someone die, when it's practically the same thing."

"I just don't want to interfere. Bad things happen when you do," she said sleepily. But then she opened her eyes in realization. "Wait, how did you know that I'm a healer?"

Jadarin ignored the question and smirked. "You're afraid of this, aren't you?" he said, holding up the chopstick. Sonjia was about to ask why in the world she'd be afraid of a chopstick, when he tilted it slightly, letting it glint. Glint silver, to be precise. "Now do you see? You and I both know what this is, and know that there's absolutely nothing that can be done against it."

Sonjia rose unsteadily. "Well, if you know what it is, then what is it?"

Jadarin waved the chopstick. "You won't let yourself believe that the ML can still be cast, will you? Just off in your safe little world, forgetting that a spell like this even exists, even though deep down inside, you know it's responsible for everything..."

"The ML was an accident! It shouldn't even exist!" Sonjia shouted at him. "And no one should be able to use it now, because its power source is gone! All spells--even that one--need a higher being to draw power from, whether it be a Dark Lord or an earth spirit, or..."

"That was your sister, wasn't it?" Jadarin interrupted. "The being from whom the ML's power is drawn. Quite sad, what happened to her. Killed by the Gold Dragons. Such a shame."

Sonjia was not about to ask how he knew about her sister, or how to cast the ML. Frankly, she didn't want to know. "The Gold Dragons killed her? They were that desperate?"

Xellos, who was still hanging by his collar from Jadarin's hand, put all that together. "Ah, so there is a spell which drew its power from your sister? And if the Gold Dragons killed her, that means she was probably a Mazoku. And if she was Mazoku, then that naturally makes you...."

He was cut off by a fireball that blasted into the grove, incinerating the grass and trees. "Ah, Lina-san! So glad you could make it!" Xellos called out.

"She certainly likes to make her presence known," said Jadarin, tossing Xellos to the ground.

Lina appeared and pointed a finger at Jadarin. "So this is where you ran off to! Looks like I can blast you all at once! Prepare to fry!"

Jadarin shrugged. "Thanks for the warning." Lina let loose an Elmekia Lance on him, but it... oh, by now you should get the gist of it.

"Drat. Stupid shield," cursed Lina. "Sonjia, be useful and give us a hint about getting through that shield of his!"

"Um, you can't?" Sonjia offered.

Lina sulked. "Oh, that really helps. No choice then. Didn't want to have to resort to this, but it's all I've got left." She held up her arms and activated the talismans on her wrists, collar, and belt. "Let's just see how powerful a shield this thing really is. Laguna..... Blade!" A lance of dark Nightmare energy appeared in her hands. Holding it firmly, she slashed it down on Jadarin.

Guess what? Even that didn't work! The dark lance fizzled and died as soon as it touched him. "Um..." was Lina's observation of this.

"Even the Laguna Blade is ineffective?" said Zelgadis in shock. "That shield must have practically infinite energy!"

"Or zero," commented Sonjia.

Zelgadis looked at her. "Pardon?"

Jadarin pointed his chopstick at Lina. "You've become quite a nuisance, Ms. Inverse. I do believe you've just volunteered yourself to be the next casualty." He sheathed the chopstick in his belt, much like a dagger. "Go away," he commanded, snapping his fingers.

Lina flinched, thinking for a moment that the snap would activate a teleportation spell, or maybe a Mega Brand. Instead, it didn't appear to have done anything. She looked back up at him and saw that he was holding a single silver thread in front of her face.

"Do you know what this is?" Jadarin asked. "Well, no, I'd suppose you wouldn't. But you, along with everyone else, will get to experience it firsthand."

"You expect me to be scared of this thing?" said Lina, reaching out to pluck the string out of his hand.

Jadarin smirked. "Go ahead. Touch it." There was nothing threatening about it. It was just a piece of silver thread. What could it possibly do? Lina reached out...

"Don't touch it, Lina!" Sonjia shouted from behind Jadarin. "I know you don't trust me at all, but if you trusted me for one thing in the whole world, trust me about this. Do NOT touch that."

Lina hesitated slightly. Maybe it would be better to see what would happen if the thread was touched before she touched it herself. In a split second, she swiped a stick off the ground and swatted it at the string. The effect was rather interesting. The string immediately wove itself into the very wood fibers, elongating and multiplying itself. Thousands of threads branched out from the original, covering the stick with a tight web of silver, until the stick itself appeared to be made of silver.

"This," said Lina, dropping the stick. "This has to be the spell you used on that town! What is it?"

Jadarin wagged a finger. "Ah, that's...."

"...a secret," Xellos finished, perched on a branch. "I'd appreciate it if people stopped stealing my line. And I believe I shall end this once and for all." He pointed a finger and a lance of Mazoku power arced out from it. Jadarin put his hands on his hips and shook his head in annoyance... until he realized that he wasn't the one being targeted.

Sonjia didn't even see it coming. And by the time she did, it was far too late. The energy beam ripped a hole right through her chest, throwing her against a tree. Although Lina had thought of killing the girl herself, now that she actually witnessed someone do it, it wasn't the most pleasant thought in the world.

"Xellos!" shouted Lina. "Why did you do that?"

"Isn't it what any of you would have done?" he asked innocently. "I decided to eliminate my enemy's associate. No harm in that, right? Besides, I wanted to see my power actually working for once." He looked at Jadarin. "Hm, but he doesn't seem the least bit phased that I killed her."

"I think... that's because... you didn't kill me..." said Sonjia, staggering to her feet. There was still a tattered hole through her chest, but it wasn't bleeding at all. The seared pieces of flesh fluctuated and began closing in on themselves, slowly repairing the injury.

"By the gods!" exclaimed Amelia. "She really is a Mazoku!"

"Actually," said Sonjia, clutching her chest, "That first guess hit a little closer to home..."