"Oi..."
          Lina frowned in her sleep, trying to ignore whoever it was that was now nudging her back.
          "Oi..." The voice came a little louder that time, sounding irritated and impatient, yet slightly concerned all the while. She muttered something under her breath and started to cast a fireball spell when she remembered where they were. She groaned and sat up, rubbing the last bits of sleep out of her eyes. Zelgadiss sat in front of her, gazing at her with an unreadable expression on his face. A tiny frown of grimace seemed to come across his lips, but he forced it away and said, "Is there something wrong? You don't usually fall asleep on a night watch."
          Lina blinked, her memory of the night still fuzzy in her mind. She looked up and noticed that the clouds were various shades of pink, orange, and violet, indicating that it was dawn. Leave it to Zel to wake up as early as possible. In fact, usually he would be the one to relieve her night duties. So why hadn't he last night?
          She ran her fingers through her hair while in thought, got them snagged on a knot, ripped a few strands of hair out in frustration, and sighed. It was then that she realized Zel was watching her, and that he had asked her a question a while ago and was waiting for her answer. A light blush played its way across her cheeks as she laughed in embarrassment and replied, "Oh I'm fine. I just suppose I was really tired yesterday after eating all that fish." Suddenly she remembered what had happened the previous night and had to look down to try and hide her dark crimson blush.
          Zelgadiss wasn't amused, nor did he believe what she had said. He had witnessed part of what happened and now wanted to hear the whole truth from her without letting her know he had been spying. "If you fell asleep then who tended to the fire all night?" he asked her, nodding his head towards the lively flame and small stack of wood left.
          Lina looked up at him again, her cheeks still shining a rosy color. She pretended not to know, shrugged, and replied, "I thought it would have been you, but I guess not since you don't know either." Though at the moment, she wasn't sure why she had acted like that towards Xelloss and why she had fallen asleep so easily in his arms. It could have been the kiss that made her react to him like that...or...
          Her cheeks went red again, and she had to look away once more. Zelgadiss had definitely seen her that time, and there wasn't anything she could really do about it. Before he could state the obvious, she answered, "Ok, ok. I'll tell you what happened...though promise you won't tell Gourry or Ameria about it." If Gourry ever found out...
          That thought immediately disappeared and was replaced with reality. Gourry seemed to love her more as a younger sister rather than a romantic interest... Maybe she was only dreaming of him loving her in a different way. Though, did she truly love him? Lately she had begun to think it was only a childish crush. She was fifteen at the time anyway. Now she was nineteen and should know better...
          She saw Zelgadiss nod in agreement, silently asked herself why she hadn't been more careful and began, "Well you see... The person who watched over camp last night was..."
          "Why good morning Lina-san, Zelgadiss-san!" Xelloss interrupted, suddenly appearing sitting comfortably on the ground, no trace of what had happened the night before on his face. He wore his usual cheerful mask, smiling from ear to ear as he spoke. Lina buried her face in her hand and groaned, and Zelgadiss glared at him for interrupting. Xelloss pretended to be clueless as to why they were acting this way and asked, "So what are we doing?"
          Lina stood up and said, "I'll go wake Gourry and Ameria..." Xelloss's annoyance was not what she needed in the morning... It was something she would have been very glad to do without. She walked over to Gourry's tent, leaving the mazoku and chimera alone, which, if she had been fully awake and more attentive, was definitely not something she should have done.
          Zelgadiss seethed at Xelloss, hating the priest more with every moment that passed. Xelloss just continued to smile, waggled his finger in front of his face, and commented, "It's not nice to glare at other people, Zelgadiss-san."
          Zelgadiss growled. "Shut up fruitcake. I'm not trying to be nice to you," he spat back bitterly.
          Xelloss chuckled lightly. "Oya, oya. Is that jealousy I feel?" he asked with a smirk. One of his violet eyes opened, which only intimidated Zelgadiss further. Filia and he were always the easiest to arouse, and they hated him with all their being. Xelloss saw it as nothing more than a free meal ticket, so there was no real reason not to tick them off whenever he could.
          Before they could continue, however, Lina poked her head out of Gourry's tent and shouted, "Don't do anything rash now. We're too close to the village for you two to be fighting," then went back inside.
          Zelgadiss scowled and sat back down, looking away from the Trickster Priest. He rested his chin on his hand and unconsciously gazed at the spot where Lina had been a few minutes ago.
          "Ah so I was right about your jealousy..."

          Lina left the tent flap open so the sun would shine through. She smiled softly as she watched Gourry sleep, admiring his looks while she could. He still looked like he had the day he "saved" her from the bandits and they first met. He was still as handsome as ever in her eyes, cuter than any other guy that she had met before. Somehow, though, after what had happened last night with Xelloss, she just couldn't look at Gourry the same way she had before... He looked more like the ignorant guardian he was and less like a love interest.
          She giggled quietly to herself, then knelt down beside him to wake him up. He was still snoring loudly, and she had to step over a few limbs to get near his head. She nudged his shoulder and said, "Gourry... Gourry wake up."
          He muttered, "Just a few more minutes," and rolled over so his back was facing her. She clenched her teeth in frustration, fighting the urge to just fireball him awake. She nudged him again, a little harder this time, and said, "Gourry, wake up." She heard him say something about food in his sleep and her stomach growled in response...loudly.
          She rubbed it in self-pity and wondered when the last time she had eaten at a decent restaurant was. Too long, she concluded, and decided to drop by one in Miran.
          "You must be really hungry Lina... Your stomach woke me up," Gourry said, sitting up on his blanket. He yawned and patted her head. "So what's for breakfast? I'm starved."

          Xelloss and Zelgadiss stopped their glaring/grinning contest when they heard Gourry yelp and ask what he did wrong. Amelia crawled out of her tent as well, obviously woken up by all the noise.
          All three sighed at the same time.

          "So hungry..." Gourry whined, tears streaming down his face. He had a dark blue ring around his eye where Lina's fist had connected. He sat a fair distance away from her, Ameria and Zelgadiss between them to prevent any further abuse to the swordsman. Xelloss sat to Lina's left, a bit separate from the rest of the group. He watched as Lina gave Gourry angry little side glares, Ameria sweatdropped, and Zelgadiss sipped at his coffee, not seeming to care much about the two.
          Lina suddenly turned her attention to Xelloss, but when she opened her mouth to speak, she stuttered and blushed, looking around in slight panic. Xelloss had obviously seen it, for his smile disappeared from his face. Zelgadiss watched them from behind his cup, noting that Xelloss seemed about as uneasy as Lina did. Ameria didn't notice anything between the two and tried to quiet Gourry down.
          Lina gathered her courage and swallowed before asking, "So Xelloss... could you explain to us why the people of Miran hate sorcery? I also want you to tell us everything you know about the artifact we're looking for." She tried to look at him, but every time she did, she would instantly look away.
          A tiny frown surfaced in place of his usual smile as he replied, "I'll tell you the legend, but I must ask that you listen so I don't have to repeat myself." He glanced at Gourry. "Feel free to ask questions after I have finished." Lina nodded on behalf of the others, encouraging Xelloss to continue. "Very well then. I'll tell you what I have heard about the legend of Miran."

          Long, long ago, around the time of the Kouma-sensou, a faery by the name of Miran landed on this continent. She was a heavenly being, her hair the color of the sky and eyes the color of the sea. She was alone and had damaged one of her wings so she couldn't leave. For days she wandered, eating wild berries and fruits to survive. Overall she was quite miserable and didn't know what to do.
          One day, Miran happened to see a young man fishing near the beach. His name is unknown, but he is said to have been a human of around twenty years of age. She wept in joy, for she had believed she would die alone on this continent. She ran out to him, splashing in the water and leaping into his arms. He was rather surprised at first, but soon embraced and kissed her.
          From that day, they became lovers, staying by each other's side through good and bad. The boy's village did not accept her, however, for they feared her magical abilities, calling it awful things like "witchcraft" and "Satan's power". The boy tried to convince them that she truly was a kind-hearted person, but they refused to believe him and said that he had been "deluded by the devil". The village elder then told him he was forbidden from seeing her ever again, and he was locked away in a prison cell.
          The days that passed were long and filled with agony, for his heart ached to see his love. He cried loudly, as did she from this forest. Never to see one another ever again was a punishment neither could take, and one day they decided to rebel against the village.
          At night, when nobody was awake, Miran sneaked into the room the boy was trapped in. Tears streamed down their faces as they kissed one another. Their weeping woke the rest of the villagers who then gathered around the cell to watch in mixed horror.
          The pair turned to face the people, eyes blazing with fury and hands grasping each other's tightly. With a look that cannot be described with words, the boy said, "If we cannot be together in life..."
          "Then we shall be together in death," the faery finished for him. A bright blue light grew from their hands, enveloping everything in the area. When the light vanished and all was normal again, the villagers noticed a single crystal shaped in the form of a tear where the two had stood...

          "...And that is the lost artifact you all are looking for, the Faery's Tear. It is simply what was left of Miran's powers, which explains why the villagers have it sealed off in the tomb. I believe it has an odd curse on it...though I may be mistaken," Xelloss finished, sighing in relief as he did so. He looked up and saw Lina with a look of pure interest on her face, Zelgadiss with a look of doubt, Ameria close to tears, and Gourry confused.
          "So why would the village change their name to hers and build a tomb for them?" Lina asked curiously. Some parts of the story didn't quite make sense, but Xelloss probably left out details to save time.
          "Oh that was out of pity I assume," he answered, quite unsure about it himself. "It's only a legend after all, it's not necessarily true." He glanced at Lina and saw her turn pink again. He raised an eyebrow in question, but asked, "Shouldn't you all change and get going? Or do you intend to stay in this forest forever?"
          Lina blinked. She had almost forgotten about that part after listening to Xelloss's story. Oh yeah, was her dull reply as she walked over to her bag to fish out something to wear. "Do they have a trend of some sort or does it not matter?" she asked Xelloss.
          Zelgadiss and Gourry watched her, one in interest and one not. Ameria stood up and walked to her own bags to find something to wear.
          "Oh anything that a commoner would wear will do, really. They welcome travelers as long as they don't use magic, or so I've heard," Xelloss replied.
          Lina stopped sorting through her clothes and turned to Xelloss again. "What about you?"
          Xelloss shook his head calmly. "I'll meet up with you all when we go to get the artifact. You're on your own for now. I'll see you off at the village entrance and wait near the tomb."
          Lina blinked, then shrugged it off and continued to search for something to wear. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Zelgadiss say, "I'll stay at the inn."
          Everyone's attention shifted to the chimera. Ameria was the first to speak. "But why, Zelgadiss-san?" Her voice was small and confused as she spoke. She had already settled on a simple, forest green sleeveless shirt and a dark, casual pair of pants. She clutched these in her arms as she stood, waiting patiently for everyone to finish talking.
          Zelgadiss shut his eyelids, dropping his head in disgust. "Isn't it a bit obvious why not? Unless you have an unimaginable amount of make up, I don't think it is a good idea for me to walk around in a town like that," he said. He crossed his arms and gave them a few seconds to comprehend the situation before asking, "Well?"
          "I guess it's ok," Lina said, her nose wrinkling slightly at the thought of leaving him in an inn all by himself. "You'll come with us to the tomb though, right?"
          Zelgadiss seemed a bit surprised at her question. "Are you kidding? Of course I'm coming with you all to the tomb. At any rate, it's my fault for dragging you all into this mess..."
          Lina grinned in satisfaction, then glanced at Gourry and Ameria. "Are you two going to sit there all day? We have to get that Faery's Tear for Zel!" She saw him fluster out of the corner of her eye and smiled, giving him a small wink when no one else was looking. She then slipped inside a tent to change into her outfit. As she stripped her garments and slid into the others, one thought surfaced in her mind.
          "I sure hope this 'Faery's Tear' thing works..."

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