A lone owl's call split the stillness of the night, shaking Zelgadis from his thoughts. Not a thing had disturbed the quiet night, aside from the lone owl, so Zelgadis decided to investigate. As he snuck through the woods, he came upon a rather large encampment, all things considered, but he didn't see a single soul out patrolling.

He smiled despite himself.

Zelgadis made his way towards the entrance of the main stronghold, seeing the two guards sleeping soundly, the guarded door left wide open. Zelgadis' smile grew into a large grin as he walked quietly passed the guards and walked right through the open door, the guards never so much as rolling over in their sleep.

The inside was pretty much the same as outside: silent halls, with no guards patrolling. Every so often Zelgadis passed by a figure slumped against the wall, but like the guards outside, they too were fast asleep. He made sure not to jostle any of the sleeping men as he continued deeper into the stronghold, until at last he came to the room he'd been seeking.

He put an ear to the door and held his breath. He could hear one person inside the room quietly shuffling around, but nothing more. With a smirk, Zelgadis pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"You're getting really good at this," Zelgadis' smirk grew wider.

The occupant of the room whirled around, stopping when she recognized the intruder. "Mister Zelgadis, not so loud. Sleeping can be undone by normal methods." Amelia scolded in a loud whisper, putting her finger up to her mouth to reaffirm what she had just said.

Zelgadis quirked a brow. "I saw the guards, Amelia. I've a feeling that even if I kicked one, he'd not stir. You've really outdone yourself."

Amelia ducked her head shyly. "T-thanks, Mister Zelgadis. I just think this is a better way to get what you want. Not that I would be opposed to smashing anyone with the Hammer of Justice, but...well, you know." Amelia shrugged.

Zelgadis nodded. "This has been nice. If you were to leave now, I don't know if I could go back to how I used to do my research. You're sure your family doesn't mind you being away?" Zelgadis approached Amelia to see what she had been looking through.

Amelia shook her head. "With my sister home and having reassumed her duties, I'm not needed. I suppose I would be stuck inside all day signing treaties and proposals..."

Zelgadis gave a slight jerk in surprise, gaping at Amelia.

Amelia looked up in surprise at his sudden reaction, quickly amending her statement, "That is, LAW proposals. For new laws...and things like that. Nothing more." She gave a nervous laugh, but then smiled up at Zelgadis. "In any case, my family is just fine without me being home. Besides, by traveling the world with you I can do a lot of good. You did promise me any spells you don't need could be taken back to the Saillune Library."

Zelgadis gave a nod. "I did, and I meant it. I must be going soft, but I just can't see letting useful magic be kept hidden away."

Amelia hmmed quietly. "Come to think of it, it has been a long time since you started your journey, hasn't it?"

"Seven years," Zelgadis replied.

"Right! Seven years..." Amelia fell into thought. "Wow, so we've been traveling around like this for well over a year. Maybe I should write home soon to let them know how we're doing."

Zelgadis coughed. "We? Do you have to tell them about me?"

Amelia lightly smacked Zelgadis' arm. "Of course I do! Without you, I wouldn't be here right now. Besides, Daddy likes to know how you're doing."

Zelgadis felt his cheeks flush, but tried to wave it off. "One would think we were married or something..." he muttered.

"What was that?" Amelia asked.

Zelgadis jerked to attention. "Oh, ah, I was wondering what was in here. We should probably cut the chatter and get what we came for, before your spells wear off."

"Right," Amelia agreed. "So far I just found the usual treasure hoard, but nothing special."

Zelgadis' gaze fell to a pedestal near the back of the room. "What of that back there?" he pointed to the pedestal.

"Wow, good eye. It has some stone slab with writing on top, but it's in runes." Amelia made a weird face, getting a chuckle from Zelgadis.

"I really need to teach you how to read runes one of these days," Zelgadis called back as he worked his way to the stone slab. "It's true you'd not find holy magics written in runes, but they're worth knowing to read ancient text. History, as it were."

Amelia nodded. "That's a good point." She waited patiently for Zelgadis to translate the stone slab. At first he was staring at it intently, concentration written all over his face. As the minutes passed, Amelia glanced up again to see he now seemed rooted in place, his gaze not focused. "...Mister Zelgadis? What is it?"

No response came, but before Amelia could move toward Zelgadis, a loud laugh filled the room. "What, indeed. Just the thing to get you right where I wanted you, Princess!"

Amelia jerked around to find the source of the voice, finally seeing a man perched on top of an overhang built into the wall. She squinted to make him out in the poor lighting where he was at, only able to make out a man wearing long, dark robes. "Who are you? How do you know me?"

The man launched himself from the ceiling, coming to land gently via a Levitation spell nearby. "I've spent a great deal of time getting to know you, Princess. To think so soon after learning of your ability with golems, then learning such a woman was in the area with her golem. Fate has dropped you right into my hands."

"But I-" Amelia made to protest, her words not heeded by the man at all.

"Now come. A new world order is coming, and you get to be the special one to set it off." The man reached out to grab onto Amelia's arm.

"Don't touch me!" Amelia leaped back, stealing a glance back at Zelgadis. Her heart sank to see he was just as she'd seen him a moment before. "What makes you think I would go anywhere with you? And what did you do to Mister Zelgadis!"

The man grinned, pulling the hood of his robe more snugly over his head. "How quaint, you even named it." He grinned. "What I did is rather ingenious, really. I took a gamble, but I hit the jackpot! I've no idea how you made it seem so sentient, but no matter. It can't do anything now. Why, with a word I could utterly destroy it." As if to prove his point, the man began collecting magical energy in his fist, grinning madly all the while.

"You won't touch a hair on his head!" Amelia suddenly charged toward the man, fists raised and ready to smite.

The man only continued to grin. "You'll not have a say in the matter, Princess. Lafas Seed!"

Amelia's eyes bugged out in surprise as magical binds formed around her, trapping her arms against her sides, and binding her legs as well. Her momentum caused her to stumble, and she landed face-first against the ground. "How dare you!" Amelia spit dirt from her mouth, seething with anger. She began to rant against the misdeeds of man, but was stopped short when the man touched a finger to her forehead, causing her to black out.

"It would seem White Magic isn't completely useless after all. Now come, Princess Gracia, I have big plans for you."

To Be Continued…

-0-0-0-0-0-

Author's notes: -cue scary music- I'm baaaaaaack! Well, mostly. I still have a few weeks of school left, so I don't know if I'll have the next chapter posted until afterward, but we'll see what happens. (I'm supposed to be working on final papers, but they're not nearly so fun to write.)

Anyway, yep, another idea I've been tossing around for a while. I wanted to start it forever ago, but the inspiration just wasn't there. Want to know what made it finally kick in? Super Smash Bros. Brawl, of all things! Seriously, I got it the other day and have been working to unlock all of the characters, being surprised when I got Marth. Quick history lesson: Back in the NES days Nintendo released Fire Emblem, a tactics game, for the NES. This was widely popular in Japan, and even got the start of an anime series based on it (that ADV, for whatever reason grabbed and released over here despite it being only a pilot, really). What does this have to do with Slayers? Marth, or Prince Marth, if you want to get technical, was voiced in the doomed anime by Hikaru Midorikawa who also provides the voice for our very own Zelgadis Greywords. He reprised the role in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and again for Brawl, so while I was playing Marth I kept thinking of Zelgadis, so there you go.

Long story short, video games are good.

As to the story itself, the opening is loosely based on the Mind Life doujinshi, which shows Amelia and Zelgadis working together to infiltrate a building, but the outcome was far different. I always liked the concept of Amelia and Zelgadis working together like that. Amelia would have very good spells at her disposal, such as an unlock spell or the sleep spell, which would keep Zelgadis from destroying everything in his wake as he seems prone to do when left to his own devices. (So to those who forever ago wanted me to write a 'fifteen years later' A/Z fic as I had done for L/G, the opening was essentially that.)

The time is only a few years after the main series (be it the anime, novels, manga, etc.), so Amelia and Zelgadis are both in their early 20s. Nothing too extreme. I do already have everything loosely planned, so please don't request certain things to happen. As it is, I think a lot of people will be surprised and perhaps irked at me when they realize just what I've done.

In any case, I'll go back to fighting a stupid illness and see whether I can clear my thoughts enough to get some more of this written out. Feel free to leave reviews. I like to know people are reading.

(Also, Slayers Revolution, the upcoming fourth anime season has been announced for later this year. Give a cheer!)