They spent the rest of the hour just soaking, and when the knock came

to

warn them their time was up, Zel suddenly realized what it was he'd

forgotten... his clothes were completely soaked.

"Great." he muttered, "What do I do now?"

"It's my fault, let me fix it for you." Lina offered as she toweled

off.

Zelgadis handed her his clothes, and she laid them over a chair, then

cast

something which looked to him to be a combination of a web spell and a

very

weak fireball around them. Steam rose, and by the time he had toweled

himself dry, his clothes were as well.

"You must teach me that spell!" he said, "I can think of hundreds of

times

it could come in handy."

* * * * * * * * *

Xellos was watching as the two left the bath to go for dinner.

"As if things couldn't get worse for me." he muttered, "Well, it seems

I

need a new plan of action. I'm certainly not going to risk HER wrath

by

splitting them up, but if I don't neutralize their threat somehow,

Zelas

will hand me my head on a platter and make me eat it!"

he pondered this dilemma for a bit, then decided he'd be better off if

he

went to check on the rest of Lina's group. Who knows what

opportunities he

might find if he just looked in the right place. Besides, he grinned

to

himself, the chimerae weren't going anywhere for the rest of the night,

that

was almost guaranteed. He decided to first pay a little visit to see

how

Lina's dear bodyguard was...maybe a little jealousy running through the

group

would provide that disruption he needed.

When he teleported to where the swordsman was, he knew immediately that

jealousy from this angle was unlikely. He was asleep...and sharing the

bed

with him was that priestess Xell had seen a couple of times.

"Seems everybody's getting some but me." he grumbled, "Ah well, at

least

this gives me a chance to get a closer look at the girl."

He made sure neither of them would wake up by putting them under a

sleeping

spell, then leaned in close to examine her.

"Well well." He said with a bittersweet smile, "It seems Xala's child

did

live. How she managed to mask the girl's heritage is more of a

surprise,

though. My poor dear daughter must have used the last of her power and

strength to do it." He gazed down at the couple entwined on the bed,

only

half-covered by a sheet and smiled a little true smile. "Well, I'll

leave

the mask intact for now, Zelas would probably kill her the way she

killed

her mother if she found her alive, but I should at least warn her about

her

heritage...and introduce myself properly to my darling granddaughter."

Xellos gently stroked Sylphiel's hair into neatness before teleporting

down

to the door of the inn so he could book a room in the normal fashion.

* * * * * * * * *

Amelia looked around curiously. The summons she had told her to come

to

this inn, in a backwater little river-port town near the border, and

that

was it. The strange part was that the seal at the bottom of the

summons had

been that of her grandfather, which hadn't been used in almost ten

years. A

little nervous, she opened the door and slipped into the rowdy taproom.

The

note had said that if she gave it to the bartender, he would direct her

to

the one she was supposed to meet. She elbowed her way to the bar and

discreetly passed the piece of paper to the bartender. He slipped out

from

behind the bar and led her to the back corner booth, where he pressed

what

she assumed to be a switch to reveal the door to a hidden meeting room.

As

soon as Amelia went through the door it closed behind her.

Amelia stood just inside the hidden room, looking around, and a figure

stood

up from the shadows in the back. She was tall and dressed in a flowing

gown, cut fairly high in the bodice, but she was one of those women

blessed

(or some would say cursed) with a more-than-ample bosom, so it looked

lower-cut than it was. Her hair was long and glossy black, and her

eyes

were blue. It took a minute before the knowledge of who this was

really

sank in for Amelia, then she ran across the room to hug the other woman

tightly.

"Gracia!" she exclaimed happily, "You ARE alive after all!"

Gracia hugged her little sister back. "I'm sorry I was gone for so

long

Ameli-li, but I think I'm ready to come home now."