The shop sits in an abandoned corner of town, far away from the noise and profit. It sits innocently between two larger shops, one a whorehouse, the other a small bakery. Not exactly the most prominent placement for a house of wares, but those who understood what it sold would find it no matter what. Many do, sometimes traveling weeks to reach it. Above the carved, worn, wooden door, a painted sign announces "Odds and Ends" to passers by. It's written with a graceful, precise hand in black paint, but doesn't exactly call attention. It looks like a family owned bookstore, perhaps, or a curiosity shop. Inside, the entire place seems to be built of shelves upon more shelves, covered with countless magical knickknacks. Through the door, you can see the room branches from others like it, covered with books, spells, crystals and potions. Cages hang from the ceiling, holding brightly plumaged birds and scowling monkeys. All around is the feeling of cluttered organization, as if everything is extremely well catalogued, but only the owner would be able to find anything. Nothing is labeled, priced, or sorted...You have to ask for directions to get anything you want. It isn't very crowded...only one sale a month is enough. If you looked closer, you would find everything is extremely rare.

Of course, selling the rarities isn't exactly the point of this shop. Not really. It's more of a side business in all honesty, funding a larger... industry. You could call it a zoo... but you would be wrong.

I suppose you could come closest if you called it a magical wildlife preserve.

In the back of the shop is a small, cramped, dimensional doorway. It can be larger or smaller as you care to make it, but cramped tends to discourage peeking noses. Behind it is as much space as you wish, in whatever form you want, as long as you're willing to transport the elements inside. If you could get past the extensive magical field, you would find it to be quite an amazing layout, formed of miniature habitats all glued together on the sides.

Directly ahead of you is a good sized lake, crystal clear and still. To the right is a half circle of dense woods, about mile in radius, and behind it is a rainforest of similar proportions. To the left is a cavernous darkness, covered with bright stars that cast mysterious shadows on the black sands, and on the far side of the extensive square of land is a towering mountain whose top is obscured by mists and clouds. Directly in the middle is a blazing desert. Streams of molten rock flow into eachother from eddying pools surrounding the small mountain, shorter than the first but no less impressive. Massive caverns can be seen inside, filled with silent fires and red stone. The layout seems almost like a gameboard, supporting each of the variances in turn.

From the quiet of the lake comes a splash, and a brightly colored tail covered with purple hued scales slips back into the water. Two pairs of brilliant blue eyes appear, both partly obscured by tangled mops of luxuriant black hair. The mermaids dive back under, only to reappear nearer to the fires, curious. Behind them swims various aquatic mythological animals, varying from tiny jeweled amphibians to blue dragons, but no more humanoid lifeforms.

Out of the darkness comes the screeching of bats, and dark beings hiss and slither as they, too, move closer to the fires, fear of the light overcome somewhat by morbid curiosity. Two purple eyes blink twice and dense smoke swirls and condenses to an intrigued figure with violet hair, looking towards the flame filled caverns with the slit eyes of a cat. Birds twitter and call from the mountain, and dancing, tiny fairies swirl around a majestic figure with flowing blonde hair soaring down towards the heat on angelic wings. She hovers, garbed in a billowing length of light sunrise pink as various brightly plumaged birds, dragons, and small griffins join in her wary surveillance of the crimson stones.

A young man with golden hair and calm blue eyes moves gracefully from the dappled shadow of the luxuriant greenery, staring with confused but cheerful eyes at the dark red mountain. A small unicorn of pearly white nuzzles his hand in alarm, and he pets it absently, tilting his head as more forest wildlife come hesitantly to see the commotion.

From the caves, however, salamanders and phoenixes pour out in terror and confusion, as a steady, mourning, pitched shrieking emanates from the largest cavern. Flames explode from its mouth, and the wailing screams take on furious, then dismal tones in turn, driving out any heat-seeking life within.

The screaming batters at the doorway, sending its wailing sound beneath and through the wooden barrier to the shop, then the world outside. Children cry in response, dogs howl, and cats take the good sense to hide wherever they may. Horses shy and dance as women pull their children inside from playing, and a young man bargaining at a stall looks up with a frown and hurries towards his shop.

The man has soft, silver hair that sweeps into his face despite the tie desperately holding perhaps half of it back, and his lily skin betrays his abhorrence of the outdoors. He has diamond eyes that never smile, and now they are narrowed in annoyance and worry. He swirls his ivory cloak over his sky blue linen shirt as his leather boots click on the hard wood floor. The carved door opens and shuts, "closed" hanging in the window like a bad omen. He hurries towards the back of his cluttered shop, dodging various piles of wares with practiced ease before he opens the enchanted door to the only thing that gives him any peace, any comfort in the world. Which was, at present, very little.

The mermaids swim towards him, distressed at the noise shaking the bottom of their lake, and rise on jeweled tails to meet him. The man smiles reassuringly at them as he slips swiftly across the surface of the lake, frowning. This is silly and childish of her. She should be mature enough to understand, accept, and be grateful. But not her. Oh no, not the child of the flame.

The black and purple figure grins mischievously at him from the darkness, but he ignores it, allowing the winged beauty to glare at it for him. He often regretted that addition to the reserve, but it would be wrong to exclude the darker side in favor of the more cheerful one. The world needed the balance, even if he didn't like the malevolent side of the spectrum. He nods to the man in blonde, who smiles cheerfully at him and retreats into the forest, certain everything would be taken care of.

He sweeps his silver hair from his face and stands directly in front of the fiery cavern, the flames not touching him or his fine clothing as the creatures from the crimson rock swarmed towards him for reassurance. He caresses and calms them, before shooing them into the other caves and stepping into the center inferno.

"Lina!" He calls, his voice falling like mercury into the air as he uses her Truename, the name of her soul that gave him absolute power over her. He uses them to call the beasts to this realm, but then no more, if he can help it. He doesn't like to exert control--he just wants to save them, give them a little magical haven in the rapidly modernizing world that no longer believes in magic. His is one of the few remaining magic shops, and will probably be the last, simply because it is the best. Soon only the most powerful and greatest magicians would still believe, and the rest would go out of business.

And the magic will die when even they stop believing. So he brought them all here, one or two of each immortal species, to save them. Lina is most recent.

And most unruly.

As he utters her Truename, the screaming stops, cut off by a restraining fist, and two large ruby eyes peer resentfully at him from the flames. They narrow in anger as his do in annoyance, a slight pang of guilt in his side making him harsher than he might have been. Nothing goads anger and stubbornness like the feeling you are wrong. He glares at the eyes disapprovingly, but they gaze out unabashed by their disrespectful and ungrateful act. He taps his foot impatiently, but no apology, real or forced, eminates from the flames. Instead, a thinly veiled threat wafts forward in the form of sulfur and the scent of burning flesh. The man loses his temper, or comes as close as he ever does, and calls her name once more.

"Lina!"

A pixie-like face reveals itself from the flames, her mouth curled down in a surly pout, her tiny nose turned up in disgust at the human who dares try to control her. She creeps forward slightly, her slim, short form writhing with flickers of flames, her hair a blazing, coppery red. She glares balefully at him, impervious to his absolute power, wanting only to return to the world and wreak the fiery havoc she had before being imprisoned--no, saved. His lips thin in anger as he glares at the creature, who glowers spitefully at him with rebellious eyes.

I'm not a creature. I'm Lina. I am fire incarnate, far more powerful than you, puny human. You don't know what you're dealing with. You don't know who you're imprisoning.

The words burn in his mind, flickering in and out before he hastily throws up his mental barriers against them. Her mental voice is the hiss and crackle of burning wood, angry and uncontrollable as the sun. He grins at the smug girl, and her eyes narrow in fury at his next words.

"Then why are you trapped?"

"You caught me off guard." Nothing like her mind, her voice is that of a young girl, perhaps 16 or so. Perhaps cheerful, spunky, and even cute in a better mood, it is now laced with disgust and fury. The man pulls back from the venomous tone, surprised at the bitterness rolling from her tongue. "You would have died if I had been prepared."

"It's your fault then," He defends. "If I could bring you here so easily, what if someone who had not wanted to help you had captured you? You should thank me."

"Help? THANK??" She screams, rage rolling off her in incensed waves and battering against his mental shields. Luckily, she cannot not tell how close she comes to smashing them down from the outside. He advances slightly, striking at her with her own name. She shrieks and recoils, retreating halfway into the flames, but does not break off in her hateful glare. He sighs, and she looks even more infuriated at his exasperation, as though she were no more than a child throwing a tantrum.

"Look, I'm sorry you're not happy. But you're the last. The last. I can't let you die off. I couldn't let any of them die, either. It's for your own good." He turns to leave.

"It's for your own pride. And loneliness." Comes the taunt from behind him. He spins back around, angrily.

"What was that?"

"You want to feel you're saving the world, but you want us all to yourself. You want your own special zoo to look at."

"I do not! This is for...it's to keep the extinction of magic from happening."

"I don't believe you." She has turned her back to him, now she looks into his eyes. He sees a fear, a fiery longing, and a fierce freedom screaming to be let loose. "Let me go."

"I can't. You will never come back, and you will die."

"Let me go."

"I can't."

"You won't."

"I can't."

He spins on his heel and leaves the cave, and only half hears the fiery breath whispering at his back as he stalks angrily away.

"Liar."

* * *

"Awwwwww..." A hissing, seductive voice followed The young mage Zelgadis from the flaming caverns of the fire child. He turned his head away from Xellos, ignoring him. "Did the mean old fire witch make you mad?" He whispered, a slimy, silky feel to the words making Zelgadis shiver internally. Zelgadis wished he could have let Xellos perish where he found him, but he couldn't. No more than he could have left the sweet mermaids in the hands of that English collector, or the winged Felia to be caged in the exotic zoo. Lina was the only one not actively rescued, so perhaps that was why she didn't realize what was happening to the magic.

Xellos slicked towards him, and his mouth turned up into a sultry grin as Zelgadis frowned and hurried away. Zelgadis didn't want to deal with the demon right now, he wanted to work the anger out of his system. Perhaps he would talk to the mermaids; they always understood.

"Let's go drown our anger in pity, shall we?" Xellos hissed, as if reading his thoughts. "You're always sooooo predictable. Always running to the pretty regions to forget mine." He grinned wider, revealing sharp white incisors along with a carnivore's teeth. Zelgadis glared at him, but the mazoku blithely continued. "And now... her. That. Aren't you the one always preaching about balance? What about us, Zelgadis? Why are we so disgusting?"

"I never said you were disgusting." Zelgadis winced at the defensive tone his words took, and Xellos smirked.

"Never said. But you find me positively repellent, you want the calm, cool, light grottos, not the dark, fiery, or uncomfortable ones. It's your human duty to fight against me, I suppose... but what about her? Simply because she doesn't accept you as lord and master?"

"Shut up." Zelgadis hissed, angry with the mazoku, but mostly at himself for falling into his twisted traps. "I'm not lord and master here. I'm trying to protect you."

"We accept your dictatorship--we owe you our lives. Besides, what else can we do? But you captured her. She wasn't dying in this world losing belief--she was thriving."

"She would have soon."

"Would she? Are you sure there is anyone besides you with the power to trap and keep her, as you say you fear? I doubt it." Xellos slunk around behind him, hissing his syllabants and taunting Zelgadis with lightly placed threats. He could never do anything to him, but he could push and pull at his weak spots as much as he wished. "She was powerful in this world of machines, Zelgadis. She had the fiery power of the burning oils, the racing electricity. Are you sure you didn't 'save' her now simply for the ability to have your complete collection before she was too far away? Hmmmm?"

Zelgadis ignored him and stalked past his domain, seething inwardly. It's not like that, he thought, guilt rising up in his mind. I do it for their own good.

* * *

"Lina!" The shrieking was cut off and was replaced by a sullen quiet. "Lina, would you stop that? You have the unicorns stampeding and the mermaids are in fits! This is the third time today, why do you insist on making a habit of it?"

I want out. Let me free. Zelgadis accepted the words but refused the rest of her powers entry into his mind. Let me go.

"We've already covered this. I already said it's for your own good."

I am not some child to be told what is good for her! The furious words crashed into his mind, making him reel beneath the pure rage cascading between his ears. I do not have to answer to you! You are not a caretaker, you are a jailer, and this peace you speak of can only belong to the subservient of our elements! The blaze twisted and spun, but Zelgadis held firm. He let her fury crash into his walls, unchanging, harming nothing. Finally she tired and relented, and Zelgadis had to remain still to prevent revealing how tired he was, as well. Why won't you let me go?

"You would be destroyed, eventually. Everyone else here was taken from the brink of death, I wanted to save you before that happened."

Liar.

"I am not lying."

Liar.

"Now the great Lina has resorted to name calling?"

I am not name calling. As you name me Lina, I name you Liar.

Zelgadis snorted. "Oh, that was creative."

...Are you human?

Zelgadis started in surprise, cursing himself as he did so. "What are you talking about?" He demanded, and seethed at her smug smile as the pixie face appeared from the fire.

So you aren't. I wondered where you got all your power from. No human should be able to hold me. You hide it well, keeper of ice.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."

Right. Of course. How silly of me. But her smile didn't change.

"I'm sorry you have to delude yourself so your pride would be mended."

Lina ignored him, slinking forward in a manner that reminded him very much of Xellos. I wondered why you weren't here already. Why there is no frozen wasteland for you to inhabit waiting for you. I'm sure that's why Xellos has such interest in you, even if the fool doesn't realize it.

Zelgadis stood silently, glaring at her, as she emerged from the flames.

That's why you could catch me, with your power and your icy element. If you mean to protect us, why capture us, and if you die... but your power has increased with the use of metals, hasn't it? Even as mine will fade as they use more of other powers than fire. She smirked at his stony, frozen expression. What's the real reason? Alright, I concede to your rescuing them. They were dying. People aren't as afraid of the dark anymore, they have me to shine and banish Xellos. The humans are killing and destroying the forests, so poor Gourry was dying as well. The seas are being flooded with toxins, I understand Sylphiel and Amelia. Perhaps even Felia, whose domain is filled with as many pollutants as the mermaids. But I? I am still untamable, unbridled. I am still and always will be powerful, for I am deep in the earth and high in the heavens. Even when the sun is destroyed and the earth explodes, I will be present in the everlasting stars. And as they too are destroyed, one by one, so will they arise, one by one. I will never die. I will never change. I am beyond the earth, as are you, in the frigid reaches of space. Why keep me? Let me go, let me free.

Zelgadis railed against her, angry and guilty beneath his cool veneer. Why should I let you go? You ignore me. You attack me. You fill my peace with anger and flames, yet never once have you even spoken to me before this. I had to confine you to even get you to acknowledge me. Even then, you ignore and fight me. Why should I not exert the power I have, with the humans fueling with belief and labor, to control you for once? Why not, when I am so--

Lonely? Her voice cut in, flames flickering against his icy surface. I am freedom personified, Zelgadis. You could have spoken to me any time you agreed to let me ignore you if I chose. I would not have.

But you could have! You might have. I was never sure--

You can't be! Not with flames! Even though I am carefully watched and used, I burst free and attack in the humans homes. You cannot be certain, you can never be sure!

But I want to be.

You can't.

I am now.

...you are.

There was silence as she retreated, scowling, but not facing him. He paused.

I am...sorry.,/i>

Then set me free.

I can't.

Then know hatred. We can be enemies or allies, Zelgadis. You decide.

But...

There was silence.

I...

You?

I will...think.

Good.

The swirling fires of the lady of flame subsided, leaving the keeper of ice alone in the entrance of her home.

"I shall...think."

* * *