Sonjia couldn't take much more of this. Her face twitched in annoyance as she continued to experience what she assumed to be Lina's wrath. "Curse you, Lina Inverse…" she muttered. "And I was beginning to think that you were easing up on me. But now I see why you sent me with these two."

Amelia had gone into what was quite possibly the longest justice speech on record. And it was directed at Sonjia.

"Sonjia-san," Amelia continued, "now that you have revealed yourself as a goddess, we take a great honor in allowing you to help us fight this evil! For you are a being of the highest form of justice, and I know that it is your duty to aid us on this mission! And even though your own comrades betrayed you, you still refuse to turn against them! With our mighty powers combined, we shall smash the wicked with the swift sword of--"

"ALL RIGHT!! THAT'S ENOUGH!!!" Sonjia shouted, clutching her head. "Shut up…" she whispered. "Just shut up."

"Oops, I guess I did get a little carried away, didn't I?" Amelia said cheerily. "Anyway, now we know what we have to do."

"You really think she's gonna help us?" Gourry asked.

"Of course she is!" said Amelia proudly. "She's a goddess, the pinnacle of goodness, and it is her duty in the world to defeat those who are unjust."

"Do you really believe that?" said Sonjia, her voice shaking.

Amelia scratched her head, confused. "Sure I believe that. The Mazoku embody negative things, and the gods embody positive things. And so we need to defeat the Mazoku so that the world can be a positive, peaceful, and just place. That's how the world works, isn't it?"

Sonjia's shoulders shook with anger and frustration. "No…. that's not how the world works. Not at all…" She sighed. "But I guess you're not supposed to know that. Not until it's too late. That's what happened to us."

"Is this one of those 'Secret of the Universe' sort of things?" Gourry asked.

"Actually, it's more of the correlation between positive and negative things and the balance that needs to be maintained between them," Sonjia said, sitting down and leaning her head against a wall. She then realized that she had completely lost them on that one.

Amelia slowly sat down in front of her. "Um… since the Mazoku isn't chasing us right now, maybe you could explain that a little. And use smaller words."

Sonjia looked at Amelia, who was expectantly awaiting her lesson on the workings of the world. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you. We used to think like you did, until that thinking sent our world to the grave. We know better now, but it's too late to do anything about it."

Amelia and Gourry both blinked in surprise. "Your world?" Amelia asked. "You mean you're not from this world?"

Sonjia raised an eyebrow. "Funny, I thought you considered that already. I thought for sure that one of Zelgadis's accusations would be that I can't be a goddess because the only gods in this world are Ceipheed and his elemental dragon counterparts." Receiving blank looks from Amelia and Gourry, Sonjia concluded, "I guess that hadn't even crossed your mind."

"So, your world got destroyed?" Gourry asked. "That's too bad. Did the Mazoku get too powerful or something?"

"Nope," Sonjia said. "The gods did. The gods won our Mazoku war. And so the world ended."

"Ehhh?!" said Amelia. "You mean the gods destroyed your world? Why would they do that?"

"It's not a question of why, it's more like…" Sonjia searched around for some sort of visual she could use to explain it. She finally picked two rocks up off the ground, then drew a circle in the dirt in front of her. "Okay, pretend that this circle is the world, and these two rocks are everything that exists." She placed one rock inside the circle and one rock outside the circle. "The gods are the creators and the Mazoku are the destroyers."

"Ah," said Gourry, beginning to get lost already.

Sonjia looked up at him. "The gods put things together and the Mazoku take things apart," she simplified.

"Gotcha!" said Gourry, back on track.

"Anyway," Sonjia continued, "the gods create things from what has been destroyed." To show this, she moved the second rock into the circle. "And the Mazoku destroy that which has been created." She moved the first rock out of the circle. "And so the cycle continues," she explained, moving the rocks in and out of the circle, but never having them both in the same place at the same time.

"What happens if I do this?" asked Amelia, moving both rocks to the outside of the circle.

"That's what happens if the Mazoku win," Sonjia explained. "All life is destroyed, and then the world becomes a cold, desolate place."

Amelia didn't like that. "Okay, so if I do this," she said, moving both rocks to the inside of the circle, "then there's no destruction."

Sonjia bit her lip, but said in a monotone voice, "And that's what happens if the gods win. All life is created… then the world becomes a cold, desolate place."

Gourry and Amelia didn't understand that part. "But why would that happen?" Amelia asked.

"Simple. It stopped moving," Sonjia said, pointing to the circle containing the two rocks. "Funny, it's just like the ML. When movement completely stops, energy is gone, so everything freezes beyond the point of being cold. The world is… locked."

Amelia sniffed at the realization that no matter who won, the world would be destroyed. "So… so is that the real reason your sister didn't want to give the Gold Dragons the spell?"

Sonjia nodded slowly. "Yeah… And that's why I don't want anyone using it. Because this is what it can do."

Gourry looked back and forth between the two, not understanding. "Well, why don't you just do this?" he asked, taking one of the rocks out.

"Who's going to do it?" Sonjia asked. "With the Mazoku gone, nothing is destroyed. And without anything destroyed, there is nothing more to create from."

"They can't put anything together if they don't have any pieces," Amelia paraphrased.

"Oh," said Gourry, understanding a little better.

"My sister, brother and I were the only survivors of our world. We fled here, but decided to keep a low profile," said Sonjia. "When my sister decided to act godly again, all hell broke loose. All I've ever experienced in my life is gods trying to do the right thing, and then have it blow up in their faces."

"So… you're not going to help us," Amelia concluded. "But, I thought all gods were positive, and always had positive energy. Which doesn't include giving up!"

Sonjia put her forehead in her hand and sighed. "I have absolutely no idea why you people think that. The gods embody negative energy, while it's the Mazoku who embody positive energy."

Amelia blinked. "Don't you have that reversed?"

"Nope," said Sonjia, waving her hand and producing two magnets, one colored red and the other blue. Except these magnets hand ends marked "N" and "P" instead of "N" and "S". "Okay," she said. "Here's another analogy for you to better explain it. The red magnet represents the Mazoku and gods. The blue magnet represents energy. Now, who feeds off the negative energy?"

"Oh, I know this one!" called Gourry, raising his hand. "The Mazoku do!"

"Very good!" said Sonjia, holding up the blue magnet so that the "N" side showed. "So, this represents negative energy. But if the Mazoku embody negative energy as well," she continued, holding the red magnet with the "N" end up, "well, see, it doesn't quite work." She tried putting the two magnets together, but they kept forcing each other apart. "The only way for this to work is if the Mazoku were like this." She reversed the red magnet so that the "P" side was on top. This time the two magnets had no trouble coming together, and stuck fast.

"That's….. weird," Amelia observed.

"Oh, but this is even weirder," said Sonjia, turning the two magnets around, showing the blue "P" and the red "N" stuck fast together. "This represents the gods."

Gourry scratched his head. "I'm not too good with this science stuff," he admitted. "I don't get it."

Sonjia fell over and groaned. "Okay, fine, let's try a different example that says the same thing." She sat back up and thought. "Oh, I know! Gourry, what do you do when you're hungry?"

"I eat!" said Gourry excitedly, proud that he knew the answer to a question.

"That's right! And what happens if you're hungry and you don't eat?" Sonjia asked.

"I….. get hungrier?" Gourry replied.

Sonjia sweatdropped. "Well, yeah, I guess. But, I mean what happens if you don't eat for a really really long time?"

"I get really really hungry!" said Gourry.

"Um, Gourry-san, I think she means you die of starvation," Amelia said.

"Oh, that too," said Gourry.

"Right, and you die because your body needs food, right? And your body needs food because it can't make it itself," Sonjia explained.

"Sure, I guess," Gourry said, having never really given any thought as to why he needed to eat.

"So, basically, you eat what your body can't make. So, if the Mazoku live off negative energy, then…"

Gourry scratched his head. This was a tough one. "Um, they live off negative energy because they can't make it themselves?" he finally answered, not really knowing what he was saying.

"Correct! You get a gold star!" Sonjia congratulated him. Gourry beamed.

"But, if the Mazoku are positive, then why are they always so mean and unjust?" Amelia asked.

Sonjia leaned back against the wall and shrugged. "Dunno. You are what you eat, I guess."

Amelia looked back over the city. "That Mazoku hasn't come after us yet. I hope Lina-san and Zelgadis-san are okay…"

Jadarin cancelled his fireball and looked curiously at Zelgadis. "Dead, you say?"

Zelgadis lowered his head. "Yes, I said she's dead. You won…. You killed her," he whispered.

Jadarin raised an eyebrow. "Well, let's see here. I can't decide on this. Is she really dead, or are you just saying that so I'll leave you alone?"

Zel stiffened. Damn, didn't work. Lina was still lying on him, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps. If he didn't do something quick, that lie could turn into the truth.

"Oh well, doesn't matter," said Jadarin. "I'll take you both out right here so that there's no question about it." He snapped his fingers, preparing a Magic Lock spell. Except… nothing happened. Jadarin blinked and checked for his chopsticks making sure they weren't touching his skin. No, they were safe in his pocket. He snapped again, and still nothing happened. "No…" he whispered. "Damn you, what did you do?!" He spread his wings and took off back towards the town.

Zelgadis breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know what happened to suddenly make that Mazoku freak out like that, but he was glad for it.

Lina needed to be healed right away. Zelgadis didn't know any very potent healing spells himself, as he never expected himself to get injured because of his condition. He'd have to find Amelia and the others to give Lina a full healing.

He picked Lina up and carried her out of the ditch, heading back to town. Hopefully, he'd find Amelia before the Mazoku did, or else they'd be in trouble. Besides, Lina seemed to have figured out how to fight the thing, which meant she needed to be able to tell others how. Which meant she needed to be healed. Zel told himself that to keep from feeling like he was being heroic.

Lina groaned while still unconscious. "You…. can't…. heal it…" she muttered.

"Don't talk like that, Lina," Zel said forcefully, not even looking at her. "I'll get you to a healer."

"You… can't…. heal it…" Lina repeated. "Hurt… without magic…. Can't…. heal it…"

"Yeah, I know he hurt you without magic," said Zel. "But we can still heal that. Don't worry." Gods, he felt like some parent reassuring a child after they skinned a knee. Yeah, it's just a skinned knee. Nothing to be worried about. We can still fix it.

Wait a minute. "Can't heal it"? Isn't that what Lina said before when she figured out how to fight the Mazoku? Then what did "Hurt without magic" mean? You can't hurt a Mazoku without magic! They just heal themse......

Zelgadis's eyes widened in realization. "Is that what you meant, Lina?" he said half to her, half to himself. "If the shield disables all magic, does that mean he can't heal himself if he gets hurt physically?" He thought back to Sonjia's bleeding arm. Yes, she was wearing the ribbon when he hurt her, and she couldn't heal herself. Physical attacks against a Mazoku. It was a strange strategy, but they were out of options.