"Are you having nightmares? If so then you're familiar with the latest band to take the music industry by storm; Lord of Nightmares. Lord of Nightmares came into prominence about a year ago, emerging from a group of kids and graduates of Cepheid Memorial high school. Indeed, this is the youngest band to come along in 5 years, the last being Dance founded by the Purple Sisters Mimi and Nene." - Laila, Chaos Music Television

"Lord of Nightmares is making incredible headway. Their first album release 'Astral Vine' features their number one single 'Dragon Slave', a song that has topped the charts for over 40 weeks running, a world record for the music industry." - Kerel, Myths, Music, and Magic Magazine

"Lord of Nightmares is a rock band headed up by Lina and Zelgadis Greywords. The young couple were married not long after their high school graduation. Rumor has it that another member of their band, backup vocalist Xellos is supposedly seeing one of the road crew." - Mazenda, Pop Culture Digest

"They're something to be amazed by. Lina carries a kind of electric sexuality and vitality to the stage, and Zelgadis' dark, and powerfully moody presence on stage mix with a tremendous confidence to make a nearly indestructible team. This is a band that is going places." - Joyrock, Celeb Magazine

"Lord of Nightmares is due to make an appearance in Lyzeille tomorrow night, with all of 'Lord's' shows sold out, fans can be found camping out for days at a time in order to get tickets, and scalping is in prominence." - Kanzeil, Solaria News

"They're simply the rage right now, but we'll see if this band has any staying power." - Joe, music critic

"Zel, Zelgadis, Zelgadis, Zel!"

Zelgadis nearly fell from his chair. He looked and saw Lina, her eyebrow hoop shining playfully as she leaned into him, "What?"

"What do you mean, 'What?',"Lina yelled, "You didn't hear a word I said?"

Zelgadis slumped into his chair; daydreaming too much, "No, sorry, I guess my head's still spinning from everything that's happened. First, we almost lost the contract with Milgasia, but somehow Vrumugun's boldness got us through. Of course, then there was the issue with Jiras losing his left arm, but still he is the best drummer in the industry.

"And then you and I got married, which I do not regret, but it just piles up with everything else and makes my head swim, seeing as it's all happened within a year."

Lina sighed and sat down in the chair with him, resting on his knee, "Yeah, I can see why that might be overwhelming. But, we're here right, and we're doing okay?"

"Yeah," Zelgadis regarded softly, then noticed the open envelope in Lina's hand, "What's this?"

Lina kept it from him as she rose from the chair, "This was what I was telling you about...it's a letter from Amelia letting us know what's going on at home. Filia got married to that one girl Sarina. Amelia and Hyui broke up, and now she's a police officer."

"Appropriate," Zelgadis chuckled, "What else?"

"Mr. Gabriev is retiring in a year. Ms. Aqua is still dealing with the trouble students.

"Gourry and Sylphiel got married three months ago, and it looks like Sylphiel has triplets on the way."

"Lina, Zel, you're on in fifteen minutes," Martina called over the sound system."

"Thanks Martina," Zelgadis replied, "And make sure Valgarv has those security guys in place this time." Valgarv and Martina had made an uneasy peace with Lina and him, they had become heads of Lord of Nightmares' road crew, and were two of the best workers Zelgadis could've hoped for.

"Right, not like two weeks ago," Martina agreed, "At least this time we'll be ready."

Zelgadis closed his eyes ; the incident had been bad news altogether. As the band had started their performance, the crowd rushed the stage; three people were hospitalized, and about fifteen security guards suffered minor injuries. He could still remember pulling one of the victims onto the stage, her face so white and yet somehow beautiful.

"Yeah, we'll be ready," Martina agreed, then as she turned to leave, "See you in fifteen." Lina and Zelgadis watched her leave, and then looked to one another.

"Is she?" Zelgadis asked.

"I thought she was putting on weight," Lina noted, then laughed, "Guess the two of them have been busy. At least I know Miwan will never get pregnant."

Zelgadis laughed, "Yeah, that's something we can definitely count on," he rose from the chair and slipped out of his t-shirt, "I think I'm going to wear that blue shirt Xellos picked out for me the other day." He walked to the closet and slid the door open. On the inside walls were drawn and carved symbols from other bands before them, including the small characters that eventually became Shitenoe's world-recognized logo. He grabbed the shirt and pulled it on slowly, doing only enough buttons to close it.

"Something bothering you Zel?" Lina asked, a little worry on her face. Zelgadis shook his head, instead smiling at her.

"One day, I will come back and leave our mark too," Zelgadis remarked as he crossed to Lina and hugged her, "Are you ready to do this?"

Lina nodded, and Zelgadis crossed to their guitars. She watched him; had he not noticed? Maybe she should tell him why she kept getting up in the early morning, why the sudden food impulses. "Maybe I'll just let you figure it out yourself."

"What was that?" Zelgadis asked.

"Nothing, just talking to myself," Lina smiled as she crossed to get her guitar, "Let's rock this town!"

Lina gave birth to a daughter seven months later, and the couple took the child on tour with them. They took a year to look after their daughter Mina, and then went back on the road with her. Lord of Nightmares completed two more tours before going on a 4-year hiatus, then started touring again. The band broke up after 10 years together, and reunited 5 years past that.:

Lina and Zelgadis purchased a small country home, and had two more children, Nina and Zachary Greywords. Both Lina and Zelgadis went to college and graduated with music majors. After the breakup, Zelgadis taught high school music and released albums with Lina, the couple releasing a total of 10 albums before the reunion, 3 of which garnered critical acclaim and Sammy awards. After the reunion, Zelgadis and Lina continued to produce music for the rest of their lives, releasing more than 30 albums as a musical pair.

Jiras played with the band until the breakup, upon which he went to college and earned his degree in music education. After the reunion he continued his education and became a professor at Claire College where he taught music and theater. Though the relationship between Zangulus and he came in question, the two remained best friends and roommates for the rest of their lives.

Vrumugun tried to release a few of his own records after the breakup, but they never became big. After the reunion he retired, opening a musical instrument store in Atlas Heights, and lived a simple, quiet life.

Xellos and Miwan rose into fame like stars, the two of them cast into a series of movies and stage shows. Later, a personal pornographic video of theirs was stolen and leaked to the Internet, a small scandal that later landed them other roles in film. The years following the reunion saw the two of them settle quietly, Xellos later surviving a battle with a cocaine addiction. However, the two survived and remained together.

Martina and Valgarv married after Martina revealed she was pregnant, and the two of them followed Lord of Nightmares for the rest of their career, ever happy to finally have a place among people.

Lord of Nightmares, after the reunion, continued to release albums and went on yet another series of tours. The band received a Sammy for lifetime achievement, and a place in the Music Hall of Fame alongside Shitenoe and Chimera.

"You can see their mark right here," the security officer pointed out on the insde wall of the closet, "I was 15 when they did their first concert here."

"Wow," the young man gaped. His father always listened to Lord of Nightmares, and now he could understand why. This music history paper was going to be huge.

"It's as if you can still feel them here," the security officer said, "They were the biggest thing to come along since Shitenoe."

"Who?"

"Oh, nevermind that," the security officer said, "You're standing in front of a piece of history."

Faintly, the student swore he could hear music, the shouts of the crowds, and suddenly felt like he'd stepped into a place both familiar and alien, "Yeah, I guess I am."