Double Take! Who's the Real Lina?

            Being that Seyruun was the most trusting city in the world, Ara, Leigh, and Rofellos were let in with no questions asked. As they stood on the clean streets of the justice-loving city of Seyruun, Ara leaned over and whispered a warning loudly into Leigh’s ear. “If you value your life, you will stay away from the Justice Princess and her companions until they leave the city, especially Lina Inverse.”

            “The Dragon Spooker is here?!!” Leigh asked in surprise.

            Ara, ignoring his comment, addressed the two of them. “I have some other business to attend to. I’ll meet you in a few days.” Then she turned and disappeared around a corner without another word.

            “That was interesting,” Rofellos commented when she had gone. “What do you want to do?”

            “Eat.” Leigh grinned and Rofellos sweatdropped. “Shop, perhaps?”

            Suddenly, a girl rushed through Seyruun’s gate and crashed into Rofellos, knocking him over; they went down in a tangle of limbs. The girl looked identical to Lina Inverse: short, “flat-chested,” red hair, and pink eyes, though she claimed, when asked about them, that the colors are dark orange and magenta, respectively. Her outfit, however, gave a bit more difference from Lina: though it looked almost identical, down to the placement of magical gems, her outfit bore different colors. Her cape and shoulder guards, which were gigantic like Lina’s, were white, and the pink and white on Lina’s outfit were blue and black, respectively, on the girl’s. The last discrepancy was the absence of a sword and the Bandit Killer’s infamous Demon’s Blood Talismans.

            “Excuse me,” the girl said as she disengaged herself from the air shaman. She rose and righted her black head band – the only thing perfectly matching the Bandit Killer.

            Leigh’s eye twitched involuntarily when he saw the Lina Inverse doppelganger, and he backed away slowly and carefully, trying not to attract the strange girl’s attention.

            Rofellos got up, too, and brushed himself off. “Are you all right?” he asked her.

            “Yes,” she replied. “I’m sorry. I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

            “I won’t stand in your way,” Rofellos told her and moved.

            The girl walked a few steps past him, stopped, and turned back around. “Um, I don’t suppose you know where I might find a Lina Inverse?” she asked.

            “Nooooo...”

            “No, we don’t,” Rofellos replied. “We just arrived.”

            “Well, thank you,” the girl said and smiled. “I’m sorry I ran into you. Take this as an apology.” She took Rofellos’ hand and placed a few gold coins into it.

            Leigh’s eye twitched again. First he has a close encounter with the Enemy of All Who Live and now she’s handing out money? What’s going on?

            “Oh, it’s no problem,” Rofellos assured her as he pocketed the coins.

            Catching Leigh’s repeated involuntary movement, she asked, “Is there a problem with your companion?” To Leigh, she said with concern, “Is there something in your eye?”

            “Um, no. Nothing’s wrong,” he replied and grinned nervously.

            Suddenly, the shouts of two men reached their ears, as well as the sounds of metal clashing; it thankfully prevented any further interrogation of Leigh. “Look!” Leigh shouted, pointing at the fight, as he tried to get the attention off of him. Then he followed Rofellos, who had already walked up the street to investigate. The girl trailed after them as she was also curious.

            A handsome, muscular man was fighting a smaller, wiry, and generally disturbing man. The handsome man wore very dark blue; it was the color of his cape, silk shirt, and pants, as well as his leg, chest, and shoulder armor, which like most anime shoulder guards, stuck out farther than function required, yet still managed to look good. His left arm was noticeably more protected than his right for some strange reason.

            “Gerard Grelwick, you bastard!” the handsome man shouted. “Prepare to die!” He charged forward, slashing with his katana.

            Rofellos and the others watched, trying to figure out what was happening or who was the real bad guy. Their answer seemed to come faster than expected.

            Gerard lost his arm on a particularly awkward block. The handsome man swung at his midsection, and Gerard tried to block the blow with his longsword, but he was too slow; Rofellos, who was much more agile, drew his sword and deflected the fatal blow.

            “Why won’t you die?” the handsome man demanded of Gerard.

            Then the girl closed her eyes and started chanting. “Oh, gods of ancient times, spirits who dwell between earth and sky, take mercy and make us calm like the sea...” She opened her eyes as she shouted, “Tranquility!”

            “Silence for a moment, please,” the handsome man said, but his anger suddenly subsided, as had his anger at Gerard Grelwick. In fact, everyone had lost their will to fight, if they had any, and felt relaxed. The handsome man, feeling more cheerful, picked up Gerard’s arm and handed it to him. “Sorry about that. Here you are,” he said.

            “Right,” Gerard replied, confused. As the girl used a healing spell on him, he added, “Why were we fighting?”

            I want to kill him because he rapes chickens and kills people, but why am I not? the handsome man thought.

            “Yes, why were you fighting?” Rofellos asked.

            “He needs to die to end the suffering in the lower section of the city,” the handsome man replied simply. Then he took out a white rag and wiped the blood off his blade before sheathing it.

            The girl turned to Gerard. “You want to explain this?” she asked, but she was eclipsed by the other man.

            “Does this hurt?” the handsome man asked as he poked Gerard’s healed stump.

            “No,” he replied and wondered why he had been poked.

            “Good.”

            “You know, it’s not very nice to poke a wounded man,” the girl chided. “Why are you guys fighting?”

            “It did not hurt him and he’s not answering you,” the handsome man replied.

            “I don’t know what he’s talking about!” Gerard cried.

            “It was requested that I kill him, so he could not bring more suffering to the people and chickens of the lower section of the city,” the handsome man explained.

            The others collectively sweatdropped. The girl blinked before repeating, “Chickens?”

            “I was not too clear on that one and decided not to ask further,” the handsome man replied. Then he continued, “He is a bandit and a bad one at that.”

            “Then we should take him to the guard and have them take care of it!” the girl said. “Killing him isn’t necessary!”

            “Why not? He has done much worse,” the handsome man replied. “I can still see the faces of the chickens in that coup…”

            “Just because he has done something wrong doesn’t mean you have to kill him,” Rofellos rebuked the stranger.

            “The guard is supposed to take care of criminals,” the girl said. “It’s bad enough that you just condemned him to a half-life with only one arm!”

            “That is not a half life,” the handsome man replied. “Besides, I was not going to give him a half life; I was going to give him no life, so you did that one.”

            “But I couldn’t let you kill him! And neither could he,” the girl said and pointed at Rofellos. Then she muttered, “Whoever he is…”

            “Besides, the guards couldn’t catch the man, so someone needed to do it,” the handsome man insisted. “I told you that much, but you did not listen.” Then in response to the girl’s rant about not killing, he muttered, “At least you didn’t heal him in the name of Justice…” When she glared at him, he added, “Am I onto something?”

            The girl started ranting evilly and slightly insanely to herself about “Lina” and “Amelia.” “First I get mistaken for that damned Lina Inverse and now I’m being called Amelia? What is with these people?!!” When her face started to match her red hair, Rofellos tried to calm her down.

            “What is wrong with you?” the handsome man asked as he raised his eyebrow.

            Realizing she was getting out of hand, the girl muttered the Tranquility spell from earlier and calmed everyone, herself included.

            “That works,” the handsome man commented.

            Rofellos sighed in content. “Man, that feels good!”

            Meanwhile, Gerard Grelwick was trying to sneak off. “No, you don’t!” the handsome man shouted and ran after him.

            “Dammit!” Gerard cried when his opponent grabbed his remaining arm.

            “Now you will die!” The handsome man let Gerard go as he drew his katana again.

“No!” the girl shouted. “Turn him in to the authorities!”

Thinking quickly, Rofellos tackled the heavier man, barely missing his blade. Just as the handsome man, who was not better looking than Rofellos, threw the air shaman to the side, the girl shouted, “Laphas Seed!” Web-like ropes came into existence and arced from her hand to engulf Gerard and his attacker.

“He will get away,” the handsome man told Rofellos.

“He won’t get away from magical ropes!” the girl told him and smiled as she tugged at her Laphas Seed lead.

The handsome man tried to swing at Gerard’s waist, but found that he couldn’t move at all. “You’re making a terrible mistake!” he told them.

The girl ignored him. “Come on. Let’s turn these guys into the authorities,” she said to Rofellos and started toward the center of town.

“He will run and kill again,” the handsome man warned them as he subtly tried to move again.

The girl stopped. “How so? You can’t move,” she said as Rofellos tried to drag the two of them by himself. When the handsome man didn’t answer, the girl went back to helping Rofellos move their captives. “By the way,” she said, “my name is Mina Sanverse.” She carefully pronounced her name.

“I don’t care,” the handsome man muttered, but he was ignored. “By the way, I am Vincent Cloudstrife.”

In a joking tone, Rofellos asked, “Lina Inverse?” Seeing Mina’s rather violent response, which consisted of the instant reddening of her face, fire burning behind her eyes, and steam coming out of her ears, the air shaman quickly added, “Just kidding!”

“I am not Lina Inverse!” she shouted as she balled her fists and her head grew to gargantuan proportions.

“Calm down. Calm down!” Rofellos soothed, but it was too late.

“Fireball!” Mina shouted as she hurled the fire spell at Rofellos. Then she picked the lead back up and dragged her captives easily down the street.

Fortunately, Rofellos was only charred. He sighed a puff of smoke as he docilely followed Mina. Leigh just shook his head at the display.

Vincent started wiggling again as he tried to get loose. “Stop that! You’re making it harder to pull!” Mina commanded. Quietly, she stopped and used Tranquility on herself again before she lost it.

Vincent only wiggled more. He grinned as he said, “Fun.” Then his face went back to being neutral.

Noticing Tranquility’s effect on himself once more, Leigh commented, “I’ll be that comes in handy.”

Mina glared at him. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“As often as you are probably called Lina, that spell must help you a lot,” he replied with a smile.

“I am not Lina!” Mina shouted and started raving like a lunatic again.

“I know you aren’t!” Leigh shouted back. “I said, ‘As often as you are probably called’!”

“Mono Volt!” Rofellos said as he threw the electrical spell at Mina, who was too wrapped up in her rant to see it coming.

Mina collapsed to the ground as soon as the elementary spell hit her. “Ouch,” she murmured as she twitched in pain.

Leigh sighed. “There you go with the Mono Volt again.” He glared at him as he said, “Remember what happened last time?”

“It is very effective though,” Rofellos pointed out.

Meanwhile, Mina cast Recovery on herself, and she accepted Rofellos’ helping hand when it was offered. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I just get…” She trailed off.

“Excited?” Leigh guessed.

“-Really upset when she’s mentioned,” Mina finished.

“It is no problem, really,” Rofellos assured her. “I am sorry I did that to you, too.”

“I understand,” Leigh said as he flashed her a smile.

“Shall we take these two to the authorities now?” Mina asked and the party, of which it seemed she was now a member, agreed.

“I didn’t do anything!” Gerard shouted in denial.

“You did more than enough,” Vincent growled.

“We shall see,” Rofellos promised them.

***

An hour passed pretty quickly for the party as they walked to Seyruun’s guardhouse. However, Leigh had the feeling the entire time that they were being followed, though he did not know by whom. Perhaps it was Ara, but he doubted it for some reason; maybe it was instinct.

Vincent wiggled again and tugged on Rofellos’ grip on the rope. Mina re-cast Laphas Seed on their captives, as the spell was about to fade. This time, she tied the captives separately so it would be easier to hand them over to the guard.

Meanwhile, Leigh looked around for a cheese shop. When he didn’t see any, he turned to Mina and asked, “Are there any good cheese shops around here?”

She shrugged. “I just got here, too,” she replied. Then she knocked on the door of the guardhouse.

“Will you move me about five inches closer to Gerard?” Vincent asked as he ineffectually wielded a knife he managed to get out. Mina glared at him.

“What have you got there?” asked the guard who answered the door.

“We have two guys who were making trouble,” Rofellos replied diplomatically.

“Hm?” Leigh looked around and remembered their mission. “Oh…yeah.”

“Almost can stab him,” Vincent muttered. As he had been restrained in a rather awkward but now useful position, he was almost able to reach his target.

“Heh,” Leigh laughed as he casually walked over and stepped on the knife, effectively disarming Vincent. Then he innocently stared at the sky.

“Oh?” the guard asked. He turned to the captives. “And who are you?”

“Will you be putting Gerard Grelwick here to death?” Vincent asked.

“My name’s Sam! I swear it!” Gerard lied and then glared at Vincent.

“Whatever you call yourself,” Vincent replied. “You have been killing villagers.”

“Oh, him,” the guard said. “Yes, Gerard, you can come with us to the jailhouse.” He took the Laphas Seed rope from Rofellos and handed it to another guard, who dragged him away. “Who’s he?” the guard asked, indicating Vincent.

“I am Vincent Cloudstrife, the Abyssal Knight.”

“Abysmal?” Leigh repeated.

“Defender of the innocent!” Vincent continued, prompting Mina to think, Now who’s a Justice Freak?

The guard backed up and whispered into another guard’s ear. The other guard left, probably to talk to someone else, as the first guard said, “We’ll see about that.”

“Look at this, then!” Vincent commanded, but couldn’t move to indicate anything.

“Look at what?”

“I can’t move.”

“You should have thought about that before you attacked that man again,” Mina quipped.

“So it was probably a bad choice of words,” Vincent continued. Then he turned to the young sorceress. “And he was running away!”

Leigh looked around suspiciously and then leaned over. “I think someone is watching us,” he whispered to Rofellos.

 “I could have handled him!” Mina declared.

“Someone always is,” Rofellos replied quietly.

The guard rolled his eyes. “Will you please cooperate, Miss Inverse?”

“Uh, oh…”

Fire burned in Mina’s eyes. “What did you call me?!!”

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Leigh warned.

“Fireball!” The poor guard jumped out of the way of Mina’s many fireballs as she blew up half the guardhouse.

Leigh winced. “Mina, calm down!” he shouted.

“Yes, stop being so touchy,” Vincent agreed.

“Simmer down!” Leigh ordered.

“Dust Chip! Freeze Arrow!” she shouted, aiming at nothing in particular.

Leigh blinked in confusion. “Is that like paint chips?”

“Not again,” Rofellos muttered. “Mono Volt!” The spell was coming in handy.

At the same time, Leigh cast Flare Arrow and aimed it at Mina’s Freeze Arrow. The spells struck each other and the flame cancelled out the ice spell.

“Defense!” Mina shouted as soon as she heard Rofellos’ attack; the powerful white spell deflected the near-harmless air spell. “Freeze Arrow!”

“If it’s that much of a problem, change your name and clothing,” Vincent suggested.

“Freeze Arrow!” Mina shouted as she aimed the spell and her anger at Vincent. “I dressed like this first!” she declared. The remaining guard chose that time to discreetly slip away.

“Gah!” Leigh shouted between Flare Arrows; he was having a hard time keeping up with the enraged sorceress.

“Bomb di Wind!” Rofellos aimed his spell at the ice spell, hoping to deflect its path, just before Leigh cancelled it; it was unnecessary.

“And she won’t change,” Vincent continued, oblivious to his danger. “Why don’t you?”

“Demona Crystal!” Mina shouted; her spell would abruptly end her taunting. An icy fog appeared out of the ground, surrounded Vincent, and engulfed him. “I am first!” she declared.

“Gah!” Leigh shouted; he was unsure of how to counter this spell.

“And why are you attacking a defenseless man? Guards, arrest this woman!” Vincent managed to spit out before the fog froze into perfect ice crystals, trapping him inside.

“Mono Volt!”

“Fireball!” Leigh shouted and aimed the spell at the ice; he hoped to free its captive.

Mina, too intent on controlling the often unpredictable spell, was taken by surprise. Unable to defend herself, she fell to the ground as the spell hit her. “Ga ha!” Rofellos exclaimed when he sedated her. He offered to help her up, but she was still too shocked to move.

“Biii-ttt-chchch,” Vincent stuttered from within the ice sculpture. Lucky for him, Leigh managed to melt some of the block of ice and freed everything but his legs and an arm. “Warm. When can I get my staff?” he asked, still chattering. “Help, I am unpleasantly chilly…” Rofellos started to chip away at the remaining ice carefully with his sword.

“Kill…Lina…Inverse,” Mina muttered weakly from the ground.

“Good luck to you on that one,” Vincent replied sarcastically. “And watch the arm!” he warned Leigh as he tried to melt the ice with a Fireball. Unfortunately, Leigh was getting too close to continue.

“Hey, how you guys doing?” Rofellos asked the whole of the guard, who had just arrived, with a nervous smile.

“Help! She is psychotic!” Vincent cried as he tried to point at Mina.

Mina abruptly sat up. “I am not!” she denied vehemently.

“What happened?” asked one of the confused guards.

“We were practicing spells,” Leigh replied nervously as he sweatdropped.

“Yea, that’s it!” Rofellos agreed as Mina cast Tranquility to calm the guards.

“She attacked me several times!” Vincent accused.

“I hate my life,” Mina muttered, thinking of the last few years chasing Lina Inverse.

“Me, too,” Rofellos agreed, thinking of the last few days, among other things.

Mina released Demona Crystal, freeing Vincent, as she denied, “I did not!”

“Uh, we…” one of the guards feebly replied while the others started whispering about Lina Inverse’s temper, making the common mistake. Thankfully, Mina did not hear them.

“What did you say about…” Rofellos caught himself before he said “Lina Inverse”. “Sorry,” he apologized instead.

Meanwhile, Vincent walked away. “I don’t need this,” he said to himself as he sheathed his sword.

“Laphas Seed!” Mina shouted. Vincent ducked, but the spell still restrained him, though in an awkward position. “Where are you going?” she demanded.

“You are intent on keeping him, aren’t you?” Leigh asked her.

“For her own illogical purposes,” Rofellos added.

“You don’t have enough money,” Vincent quipped, getting a laugh from Leigh.

“Until I find out what his problem is, yes,” Mina replied. Then to the guards, she ordered, “Take him!” She handed her leash to one of the guards.

“Take her! She’s crazy!” Vincent shouted.

Mina glared at the others as she replied. “I am not! I’m just a nice little merchant’s daughter who happens to do her duty as a citizen by capturing thieves!”

“Good for you,” Rofellos replied. Then he muttered, “Justice freak.”

“Then what am I doing here?” Vincent demanded. I’m so glad to be standing straight up, he thought angrily as the guards looked at each other skeptically.

“I am not a justice freak,” Mina replied and pouted. “I just feel it’s my duty to help those in need.”

“Oh yeah, by fireballing them,” Rofellos quipped.

“I need to move so there goes that theory,” Vincent muttered to himself.

Mina whirled around and accusingly said, “You’re a bandit! Otherwise you wouldn’t have been fighting in Seyruun!”

“And what were you doing?” Vincent retorted. “Playing house?!!”

Meanwhile, Leigh whispered to one of the guards. “Where is the closest tavern? I need to blot this out of my memory…”

The guard’s reply was interrupted by another guard. “His story checks out. He’s free to go,” the guard said and let go of the Laphas Seed rein.

“Thank you,” Vincent replied as Mina released her control of the spell. He straightened up and stretched. “I will retrieve my staff now,” he told them.

Mina sweatdropped. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she meekly apologized. “Here’s something to make up for it,” she said as she handed Vincent a few coins.

“Well, doesn’t that make everything better,” Vincent replied sarcastically, but he accepted the coins anyway. “I will return shortly,” he said, not really meaning it, and left.

Leigh, who had been ignored, waved at the guards, trying to get their attention. “Hello?”

“Sorry,” replied the guard Leigh had asked the question to in the first place. “You think we’re allowed to drink?” the guard said and sighed in disappointment.

“Gah!” Leigh exclaimed. “Never mind!”

“Thanks for the help,” Rofellos said to the guards.

“You’re welcome,” a guard replied as they filed back into the barracks.

“I’m sorry for you guys, too,” Mina apologized to Leigh and Rofellos. Meanwhile, the air shaman levitated to a vantage point where he could see the nearest tavern.

“You have the temper of She-Who-Is-Not-To-Be-Mentioned-In-Your-Presence,” Leigh remarked.

Mina’s eyebrow twitched in anger. “What did you say?” she demanded.

Rofellos sighed. “Don’t start that again…”

Leigh looked around innocently. “Who? Me?”

“I don’t have a temper!” Mina declared.

“What was that back there, then?” Leigh demanded. He pointed at the water, charred places, and melting ice.

“That was just…a misunderstanding…” Mina couldn’t come up with a better reply; Leigh nodded skeptically.

“I’d hate to see an understanding,” Vincent muttered. He grabbed his staff and turned to face the party.

“Dammit! I missed her!” Mina exclaimed suddenly.

“Missed who?” Leigh asked before anyone could stop him.

“Don’t!” Rofellos warned.

“Oops…”

“Please, no,” Vincent prayed, hoping not to feel the tornado that was Mina’s wrath again that day.

“No one,” she replied, and they collectively sighed in relief.

“Let’s go to a tavern,” Rofellos suggested. Not waiting for an agreement, Vincent headed toward the nearest pub.

“Okay,” Mina agreed as she and the others followed Vincent. Maybe I’ll run into her there… When Rofellos flew over her, she asked, “Any reason you’re flying?” He always seemed to fly.

Rofellos landed, and they entered the pub together. “Why not?” he replied.

“Walking is just as good.”

Leigh sat down at a random table before saying, “So?” Rofellos and Mina joined him, but Vincent sat at the bar.

“Why did they follow me?” Vincent muttered to himself.

A waitress sashayed up to the party’s table. “Can I help you?” she asked.

In slight distraction, Mina looked around the tavern for a moment as she searched for her prey; Vincent shuddered as he felt her gaze. Then she replied to the waitress. “I’ll have whatever the special is. And I’ll pay for their meals, too.” She pointed at her companions. “By the way, who are you?” It seemed rather late for introductions, but the sooner they happened, the better.

“I would like the special,” Rofellos told the waitress. “I am Rofellos,” he said. “And this is Leigh.”

“I am Leigh,” he said at the same time. He gave Rofellos a mean look.

Meanwhile, the bartender served Vincent. “Double Scotch,” he ordered. The bartender nodded and soon poured him his drink. “Ah,” he commented after sipping lightly; there’s nothing like a stiff drink after a day like the one he was having.

Mina, with careful pronunciation, reintroduced herself. “As I said before, I am Mina Sanverse, not to be confused with her.”

“With who?” Rofellos joked and earned a glare from Mina. “Just kidding!”

Leigh turned to the patient waitress. “I would like the lobster servadore au cravats with the mournet sauce, truffle pâté, a fried egg on top and ham.”

“That all for you folks?” the waitress asked.

“I would like some wine, too, please,” Rofellos ordered.

“What kind? We have the finest.”

“Just some red wine, please.”

“I want a small glass of pineapple juice and some coconut juice also,” Leigh ordered. “Separate glasses.”

“I’ll have a small glass of red wine, too,” Mina added. “I guess.”

The waitress wrote down the order. “Okay then. I’ll be back soon with your order!” she said and smiled as she left.

Mina turned to her companions. “I hope this makes up for all the trouble I made for you guys earlier. I really didn’t mean to be so…flustered.” They assured her that is was fine. “So, what brings you to Seyruun?”

“We are looking for someone,” Rofellos replied, and Leigh nodded in agreement.

“What a coincidence. So am I,” Mina said. “Who? Maybe I can help you guys.”

The waitress came with their drinks. She smiled cheerfully and left.

Rofellos took a sip of his wine before replying. “You can’t help us.”

Leigh, after mixing his glasses of pineapple and coconut together in appropriate proportions, said something less rude. “That depends.” He glared at Rofellos, who ignored him until Leigh whispered into his ear. “We need all the help we can get.”

Meanwhile, Vincent finished his drink and got up from the bar. After leaving enough money to pay for both the drink and tip, he went outside and stayed just outside the door. He nonchalantly practiced with his katana as he eavesdropped on the party.

Rofellos sighed and whispered back. “I guess she can, but she is your responsibility. If she messes up our search, it is your fault.”

“That’s fine.”

Mina, seeing the exchange between her new companions, looked at them strangely and then apologized. “I’m sorry.”

Leigh sat up straight again. “Sorry for what?” he asked.

“Apparently I did something to make you upset at one another,” Mina replied.

“Could guess what that was,” Vincent commented.

“You have done nothing,” Rofellos told her; Leigh nodded reassuringly.

Mina, having caught Vincent’s statement, shouted at him. “You know, it isn’t nice to eavesdrop!”

“You people are too loud,” he retorted and returned his attention to his katana; it moved faster as he increased the pace his practice.

Leigh ignored Vincent. “Perhaps we could use you. What offensive spells do you know?”

“Me?” Mina asked. “I know…” She paused as she thought. “Well, my specialties are white magic and water shamanism, but I do know a lot of black, wind, and fire magic.”

“Anything particularly useful against Mazoku?”

“Her voice,” Vincent quipped.

At the same time, Mina replied, “A few.”

“Her face,” Vincent added. Mina fumed.

“Please, don’t,” Rofellos told Vincent.

But it was too late. Mina smiled mischievously as she said, “Aqua Create.” As Vincent turned the corner, he was drenched by a sudden waterfall.

“Ahh, refreshing,” he commented as he dried off his sword. Then he grabbed his staff.

Meanwhile, Leigh leaned over and whispered to Mina. “He thinks you are really Lina spying on him…” He nodded knowingly and then leaned back contentedly in his chair to watch the action. He smiled in a very Xelloss-like way.

Suddenly, Mina stood up and stomped out the door. “I’ll show you Lina Inverse…”

“Oh, crap,” Rofellos muttered and then followed her out the door.

“Brilliance beyond dawn, elements of earth, fire, wind, and water, I call upon thee,” she chanted as she held her hands in a precise position in front of her. White light gathered in her hands as she continued. “In Thy great names, I pledge myself to light! Let the fools who stand before us be destroyed by our purity! Dragon Strike!”

“What is that? A bad Dragon Slave knock-off?” he quipped a split-second before she got the spell off; Rofellos, being smart, ducked back inside the building.

The second after she named the spell, Leigh said, “Oh, crap.” Then he quickly started chanting his own spell. “I am the purifier, the light that clears all shadows. I am the unraveler, the loosened thread that will not hold. Counter-Spell!” He aimed the spell at Mina’s. Unfortunately, it was already too late; Mina’s spell had already started to go off, and even if it hadn’t, Leigh’s spell would have had no effect on it.

Five dragon heads exploded from Mina’s hands and formed into a spiral; the dragon heads represented Ceiphied and the four Dragon Lords and were the colors indicating each. The spiral reconnected in an orb around a beam of energy, which converted into a mix of brown and light blue color. Dragon Strike hit the corner of the building, barely missing Vincent, and caused a massive earthquake and hurricane winds to destroy the surrounding city blocks. The spell actually rivaled Dragon Slave for amounts of property damage.

The shockwave knocked everyone from their feet, except for Mina. Leigh’s Counter-Spell fizzled as it missed its target. “Drat. Too late,” Leigh commented as he got up.

“Oh yeah?” replied Vincent, who also miraculously recovered. “Protoplasm!” A little green ball appeared in his hand, and he threw it at Mina; it hit her leg and flopped harmlessly to the ground.

“What did you do that for?” Rofellos demanded.

“He thinks I’m Lina spying on him!” Mina shouted indignantly.

“Who?” Vincent asked.

“You!”

“Why would I think that?” Vincent asked, silently adding “stupid”.

“He said so,” Mina replied and pointed at Leigh.

“Me?” Leigh asked innocently. “I did no such thing…” Then he snorted in laughter to himself.

“Stupid people,” Vincent muttered.

Mina glared at Leigh as he turned to the side and snickered so more. “Dust Chip!” she shouted angrily, and instantly several tiny ice arrows appeared to smite Leigh for her.

He quickly drew his sword and deflected as many of the chips as he could. “Ow!” he exclaimed at the few he missed.

Rofellos decided to take care of the situation by casting Mono Volt again. Unfortunately, Mina blocked with Defense, the White version of Windy Shield, just in time. He followed through with Bram Fang, which was also blocked by Mina’s defensive spell.

In the mean time, Mina had started casting another spell. “Oh, gods of ancient times, spirits who dwell between earth and sky, take mercy-”

“Bomb di Wind!” Leigh and Rofellos cast the wind spell at the same time; it knocked Mina backward and caused her spell to fizzle.

Vincent raised an eyebrow. “Well, that was quick.” He turned around as he continued, “And I need a drink if the tavern is still there.” It wasn’t; all that remained was a pile of boards and the unconscious patrons. “Well, maybe later…”

“Oops,” Leigh mumbled sheepishly when he realized she had only been casting her calming spell. He followed Rofellos, also embarrassed, over to her, and he started to cast Recovery on her.

“I don’t like you, Leigh,” Mina grumbled.

“I’m sorry, Mina. I can’t help myself sometimes,” he apologized. “Just ask Roff about the Lighting incident.”

“I wonder how this will turn out,” Vincent said. Then he turned and started walking slowly toward the center of Seyruun.

Leigh, already close to Mina’s ear, whispered, “Besides, he deserved it for what he was saying about your pretty self.” He winked at her, and her face started to glow.

Then Mina recovered as she suddenly realized what she had done with Dragon Strike. “Oh crap! We gotta go!” she shouted as she jumped up. “The town guard isn’t going to ignore this!” She disappeared in a cloud of dust and soon passed up Vincent, who was still calmly walking.

Rofellos and Leigh looked at each other a moment in confusion. “Shall we follow her?” Rofellos asked, but he was already answered when Leigh took off after her. “Levitation,” he said and flew after them.

Mina stopped a few blocks from ground zero and surprisingly, only a few feet from where the destruction stopped. She looked back and commented, “I guess I got a little carried away, huh?” She smiled sheepishly.

“Just a little,” Rofellos said as he hovered above her. Leigh agreed, gesturing a little amount with his fingers.

“So,” Mina said, trying to get over her embarrassment. “Who are you looking for, anyway?”

“A man named Zoragath,” Leigh replied.

Mina paused and then suddenly exclaimed, “I didn’t pay the tavern owner!”

“Um, oops,” Leigh said.

“Don’t worry about it,” Rofellos told her.

“I doubt he cares much now,” Vincent added. “Being a crater will put your life into perspective.”

“Actually, he would care the most now,” Rofellos refuted, looking back at Mina’s wake.

“If he cares about anything right now,” Leigh agreed, “besides breathing.”

“At least the reward we left behind will pay for a little of the reconstruction, right?” Mina asked as she smiled nervously.

The others were stunned into silence. “Reward?”

“For Gerard,” Mina explained. “If there was one.”

“What are you talking about?” Vincent asked in confusion.

Mina looked at him with surprise. “You mean you weren’t going to get a reward?!!”

“Whatever,” Vincent replied nonchalantly.

“You are an odd mercenary,” she told him.

“I am not a mercenary.” Quietly, he added, “I am not an Inverse.”

Mina, not hearing him, tried to get the conversation back on track. “What did Zoragath do? Why are you looking for him?”

“Scatter-bleed!” Rofellos suddenly shouted as he aimed the spherical lightning at his friends.

Leigh tried to dodge, but Mina used Defense instead and held off the attack. “That’s pointless,” she muttered.

Vincent pointed and started to laugh at the party when Rofellos aimed Bomb di Wind at him. At the same time, Mina cast Dust Chip. “Hey, stop that!” Vincent shouted as he tried to jump out of the way. Fortunately, Bomb di Wind blew him out of the way of Mina’s Dust Chip and only hurt him slightly upon landing.

Meanwhile, Leigh decided to answer Mina since he was not the center of smiting. “Well, he sealed my powers, but they were partially restored by a time-reversal spell. I’m not sure what he did to Roff, but he was there too.”

Rofellos turned away from Vincent and added, “I am not really sure either. Heh.”

“We seem to have lost the other party member that was sealed also,” Leigh continued. “So, we figure, if he dies, we get our power back.” He nodded as an emphasis.

“Who?” Mina asked. “The lost party member?”

“Just some guy,” Rofellos replied, not really understanding her question.

“Ueiko…Crovaar, was it?” Leigh asked Rofellos. Then he paused as he realized what Mina had thought he’d meant. “No, no, no! If Zoragath dies, we get power back. Ueiko was other party member.”

“Oh!” Mina exclaimed, finally understanding. “So you suspect Zoragath is here?”

“Yes,” Leigh replied. He reached into his subspace pocket and drew out a fish that he intended to hit Rofellos with, but instead, he drew a piranha. “I gotta stop reaching into that pocket,” he muttered as he threw the deadly fish at the air shaman. “Maybe this one over here…”

“Bomb di Wind!” Rofellos shouted and reflect the fish back at Leigh, who dodged it; he flew higher at the same time.

“Aha!” Leigh exclaimed as he pulled out a very large carp. He jumped and smacked Rofellos with it.

Vincent walked by, ignoring the odd scene, but Mina couldn’t ignore it. “What the hell?!!”

“Hmmm?” The fish disappeared suddenly.

“Please don’t mind him; he is an idiot,” Rofellos told her, repeating his earlier description of the swordsman.

Leigh glared at him. “Yogurt brains.”

Meanwhile, Mina shook her head in bewilderment and decided to catch up to Vincent before another Alice in Wonderland-inspired fight broke out. The two men quickly caught up to her as she asked, “Vincent, are you going to the palace by chance?”

“Yes, actually,” he replied. He not-so-secretly wished they would all just leave him alone.

“Good.”

“Prince Phil?” Leigh exclaimed, eyes bulging. “No!”

“Why not?” Mina asked.

“He scares me,” Rofellos exclaimed as he eyes also got bigger at the thought of meeting Mr. Justice.

“Do you have any idea how scary Prince Phil is?” Leigh demanded.

“Who cares about him? It’s Lina Inverse I’m after…” She grinned manically.

“Did you say Lina? She is here?” Rofellos asked. “Interesting.”

“And you think She-Who-Is-Not-To-Be-Mentioned-In-Your-Presence is at the palace?” Leigh asked, hoping the answer was no.

Instead, Mina growled her reply. “Stupid Dragon Spooker is in the palace. I meant to catch her before she got in. Now we’ll have to do things the hard way.”

“Wanna fill it full of holes?” Rofellos asked mischievously.

“So Vincent, how are you going to get into the palace?” Mina smiled eagerly.

“Walk in.”

“You can’t do that!” Mina exclaimed. “…Can you?” Mina, seeing Rofellos showing off his flying skill, decided that it would be better to fly, so she went off after him. He stopped before he reached the palace; unfortunately, it was directly in front of Mina. “Ouch!” she exclaimed when she couldn’t stop in time. She landed, deciding that it was much safer to walk.

“I don’t see why not,” Leigh said, replying to Mina’s earlier question. He took off also, but Ara suddenly appeared next to him before he could move. His eyes widened in surprise as he asked, “Where did you come from?”

“We have to talk,” Ara growled and grabbed him.

“Gah!” he exclaimed as they teleported.

They reappeared over the hillsides surrounding Seyruun. Ara had a death grip on Leigh’s tunic as she held him above the ground while she flew. She hissed a warning in a voice that was not at all like the one she had been using when they first met. “I meant it when I said you don’t want to have anything to do with Amelia or her companions. One of them is going to kill you if you’re not careful. Stay away from the palace until they’re gone.” Then she promptly returned him to his companions without another word.

***

“What just happened?” Mina asked with worry.

“I don’t know,” Rofellos replied as he tried to understand the situation.

“Who cares?” Vincent said. He continued to sing in his nice voice as he walked toward the gate.

“Well, it seems that one of our companions came back,” Rofellos commented.

Suddenly, Leigh reappeared, dazed, next to Mina. Rofellos landed and asked in concern, “What happened, Leigh?”

“I’m not quite sure,” he replied and sat down to contemplate.

Vincent reached the gate and there was no sign of how he could get in. “Hello in there!” he called. “Can you hear me? Anyone?” he asked when no one answered; at the same time, Rofellos cast Levitation.

“Who goes there?” a guard shouted from the tower.

“I do!” Vincent replied. Then Rofellos picked him up, intending to fly over the wall. “What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded.

“Hey!” the guard shouted. “You can’t do that! Land!”

“Heh,” Rofellos replied and set down Vincent as he landed.

Still in his daze, Leigh said, “I’m just going to sit out here…”

“What business do you have?” the guard asked.

“Significant kind,” Vincent answered.

“Um, we are here to visit some people,” Rofellos lied; he hoped he overlapped Vincent’s response. He also searched for more guards and was disappointed to see more posted in the other guard tower.

“You’ll have to be more specific than that to get in.”

“I want to visit Lina Inverse!” Mina shouted; the guards looked quizzically at each other.

Vincent, in the meantime, said, “I need to pass through, but the gate is hindering that action.”

One of the guards, not knowing that the question might cause his death, confusedly asked, “Lina Inverse? Aren’t you Lina Inverse?”

“No!” Rofellos shouted, but it was too late.

“Crap,” Vincent exclaimed.

Mina’s eye twitched in annoyance and fury. Then she shouted, “I’m Mina Sanverse! Fireball!”

“Damn you!” Rofellos yelled at the guards or at Mina. The guards ducked as the Fireball took off the top of the guard tower.

Vincent put his head in his hand and shook it. “Why me?” he asked. “What are they doing?”

One of the remaining guards peeked tentatively over the edge of the rubble. “Whatever you want, Miss Inverse…” He opened the gate, and Mina strode in proudly, having misunderstood, “Miss Inverse.” Rofellos flew after her.

Mina turned around and, to Vincent, said, “Walking in. What does it look like? Are you coming?” Vincent followed her, having decided that she might actually be useful. As she walked through the gates, she muttered, “Finally, after all these years, I can kill Lina Inverse!” She laughed evilly.

The others thought it best to ignore her. Rofellos landed next to Vincent and started walking as he asked, “Do you know any spells, Vincent?”

“One – but it is the most feared that I have seen.”

“Hurry up!” Mina shouted.

“May I ask what it is?”

“You may ask, but would you like an answer?”

Mina stopped and tapped her foot impatiently. Meanwhile, Rofellos sighed and replied, “Yes, I would.”

“Protoplasm.”

Giving up on their slowness, Mina stomped over to the two, grabbed their wrists, and dragged them after her, causing Rofellos to yelp in surprise. “Come on, Leigh!” she shouted angrily back at him, but he stubbornly didn’t move.

“Bram Fang!” Rofellos aimed the air arrow at Mina’s wrist; it lightly cut her skin and would probably not leave a scar, but it was enough to make her let go of his hand.

“Ow! What was that for?” she demanded.

She still had a hold of Vincent, and he exclaimed, “That is not my hand. I don’t think you should grab that until we get to know each other better.”

Mina looked down to make sure that she did, in fact, have a hold of his hand. “Is too your hand!” she shouted as she let go. Then she used her free hand to cast Recovery on her wounded wrist; she made sure to glare at Rofellos as she did so.

“Well, let’s get a move on,” Rofellos said as he flew ahead of them.

***

Lina Inverse was not, in fact, in the palace any more. Actually, she was walking with Gourry and Xelloss toward the edge of the city to meet with her friend Amelia and Zelgadis. Suddenly, she sneezed, and then she shook her head in wonderment. Her ears had been burning all day and now she was sneezing; maybe she was getting sick.

“Is something the matter, Lina?” Gourry asked, but she shook her head. At Xelloss’ urging, they continued out of Seyruun.