“How about this one?” a young sales clerk
tried desperately to please the international pop star.

    “Are you kidding?

    That’s so overpriced.  I told you I was looking for something elegant, not
something that will make me look the Titanic!”

     “Okay.  Good choice!  I don’t like it either.”  She lied and hung it
back up.

     “Something simpler,no?  How about this lovely frock?”

     “A frock?  That’s a tube of fabric.  I want something nice, just nice,
 not some stupid deco overkill or something plain or frumpy.  I want
something to match my hair and my eyes, something that complements the
better parts, and I do mean the better parts of my body.  Is that too much
to ask?”

     “Oh course not, Lina-san!”  the clerk lowered here eyes in complete
apology.  “We have fine selection of evening gowns over there.” She pointed
to a rack stuffed with long, wavy, sophisticated dresses that made Lina’s
eyes boggle.

     “Why didn’t you show me them in the first place?” Lina muttered, as
she bolted for the dress rack.

    After twenty minutes or so she managed to narrow the field down to
three dresses; an ankle length royal blue sequin dress, a loose red
mini-dress that came down to mid-thigh, trimmed with yellow and riddled
with accessories and a dazzling black and white dress, a bit frilly for
her taste perhaps.

     Lina tried all three on.  The black and white one was definitely not
her style.  It was far too prissy for her.  The royal blue one was nice,
but it too wasn’t really her style, and it was too tight fit to please her
figure.  So she decided on the short red dress.  It did look best on her
and it accented her better features.  It was also the most expensive, Lina
noted, but for a super-star vocalist like herself, money was no object.

     Lina purchased the dress and grabbed a quick bite to eat at a fast
food stand before heading to the concert hall.  This particular concert was
to be held outdoors, and would attract millions of fans from all over
Honshu, the other islands, China, the rest of Asia and even distant
countries.  Martina seemed far more excited about the concert than Lina was,
but Lina figured if she was a no talent wanna-be with a salary like Martina
was paid, she’d be excited too.

     She arrived at the concert hall at six and the concert started in an
hour.  That gave her more than enough time to get ready for the concert
and have some down time before it started.  She went backstage and got
dressed for the show in her new outfit and shoes (which I forgot to mention
she had also purchased and Bloomingdale’s and were strewn with
ultra-expensive rubies and garnets).  She brushed her long crimson hair and
applied an appropriate amount of stage make-up, plus a tad extra for that
glamour look.

    Martina, once again clad in a leather bodysuit, confronted
Lina as she approached the stage.

     “What are you doing, Lina-san!  Everybody knows that you can’t be
exactly on time for your concert.”

     “Why not?” Lina looked skeptically at her manager.

     “Haven’t you ever heard of being fashionably late?  I bet you were
the first person to arrive at your school dances too.  Tacky, tacky, tacky!

     "What you do without me?”

     “I’d be a hell of a lot richer for one thing.  Of all the great
managers out there I pick the one who demands as much a month as I make a
gig.  Jesus.  Anyway, I think I’m late enough as it is.  That crowd is
getting ugly out there.”  She just realized it.  It was automatic to have
to yell over the cheering.

     “Lina, Lina, Lina!  You give yourself way too much credit.  Sure
you’ve got a touch of talent here and there but it’s me who gets you to the
top.  And what about the stage crew?  The technicians?  There are scores of
people who make you what you are - a star!”

     “Yes, and without me they’d all be out of a job.  It’s a two-way
street Martina.  And what’s with this redundancy thing you’re experiencing
tonight?  Well, whatever.  My public awaits.  I think I’m fashionably late
enough.  C’ya.”

     “Break a leg!” Martina called after her.  “Cause this concert is
costing me and arm and a leg!”

     “Cute.” Lina remarked flatly as she danced onto the stage.  The crowd
was roaring madly.  Louder than she had ever experienced before.  She
stood there a moment, blowing kisses and receiving roses hurled atop her
platform.

     “Hello out there.” Lina reached for her microphone.  The crowd hushed
somewhat to hear what was being said.  “I know this is gonna be a night to
remember.  I know there are a lot of people to thank for this.  I can’t ever
name them all.  But thank you to mom and dad, my sister Luna for helping me
get out of the house faster than I was comfortable with.” She paused,
allowing the crowd to laugh at her joke.  “Thank you to my manger, Martina
Nevladerwar, all the technicians here tonight, the stage crew and everyone
who has ever had a hand in my successes.  But most of all, thank you to
that nice man in blue who bought me breakfast this morning.” She paused for
another uproar of laughter.  “No, but in all seriousness, thank you.  You
can have all the wealth and all the talent.  But what makes a star is her
fans.  We are nothing without you.  Thank you for all of this.” She tossed
the roses back into the crowd.  “You deserve these way more than me.  No
let’s get it on!  We haven’t got all night.  Let’s pump it up.  Well, okay,
we can pump it up in a minute.  Right now I wanna do a little something I
know you all seem to love.  This was number one on the World Top Ten Chart
for ten months running and won three Grammy awards.  I wrote it almost a
year ago and it debuted in my third album, RED DIAMOND.”

     By now the crowd was getting out of control with excitement.  They
knew what was coming.

     “Hirogaru omoi, kanata be tsuzuku.  IImaomoidasu solaro hate…”

     She began Just Be Conscious, some crowd member in blue, whom she had
to thank for lunch, was having problems of his own.

     “What’s the matter, Zelgadis-sama?” Naga bent over Zel, who had
recoiled and was clutching his head in pain.

     It took him a moment to manage words.  “This…this is all part of my
dream.  I didn’t remember at first…something is going to happen to that
girl…”

     “Which girl?” Naga asked frantically.

     “Lina.” Zel replied simply, seemingly fighting the idea in his mind.

     “What?  You’re serious about this psychic thing, aren’t you?”

     “Of course I am, for God’s sake!  You think I’d want to make this all
 up?  I have enough negative rumors to shake a stick at.”

     “Well then!  We’ve got to do something!  You’ve got to do something!”

     “You think anyone will listen to me?  Simply the fact my head hurts
as I am saying this is enough to get me committed for life!” Zel clenched
his teeth together and winced at the almost unbearable pain.

     “I’ve got to do something then!  It’s just…what if you’re wrong?”

     “You can’t do anything, so don’t bother.  In my vision I don’t think
 we’re meant to do anything.  After all, she was there by Tokyo Tower.”

     “She was the person you saw?  Are you sure?  At any rate, if we don’t
do something quick, she won’t be there.  Just because you might know how
the past turns out, doesn’t mean you don’t have t try at life anymore.  You
can always change the future - always!”

     “You!  I see you at the tower.  Except…what you’re wearing…” he
sounded repulsed.  “And, you are very strange when we are near the tower.
You’re not even acting human…you’re acting like…like…like you have muffins
for brains.”

     “Thanx.  I like you too.”

     “SHHHHHHHHHHH!” a man behind them hissed viciously.  “Some people are
actually paying money to LISTEN to this concert, ya know!  If you can’t
keep it down, leave!”

     “Ummm, well, sir…I…He’s dying!  That’s it!  This man is dying!  He’s
suffering a stroke.  Call the police!  Call the paramedics!  Help!!!  This
man requires medical attention!  Help me!  Help him!  Help my cat!  Help
save the whales!  HELP!!!!”

     “Look kid, I don’t know exactly what your problem is, and quite
frankly I don’t want to know.  All that matters is that you SHUT UP!!”

     “Of course, sir.” Naga produced a faux smile.  “Asshole.” She
muttered.

     “I beg your pardon young lady?” the man tapped his finger sharply on
her shoulder.

     “I said…ummm…’that’s my goal!’”

     The man looked at her strangely.

     “See, it’s my goal not to bug people and keep my trap shut.”

     “Oh.” The man said.  “That’s what I thought you said.  You do that,
now.”

     “Zel.” Naga whispered and poked him, hoping to get a response.

     “I…” Zel began quietly.

     “Zel, you have to talk louder.  But we have to whisper.  That
jack-ass has a serious attitude problem and I doubt he’d mind calling
security I we piss him off further.”

     “Whatever.” Zel commented weakly.

     “How’re you doing?”

     “How does it look like I’m doing?” the chimera snapped.

     “Sorry.” Naga mumbled, annoyed rather than apologetic.  “I mean, what
do you see is going to happen?”

     “Y-you and I h-have to save Lina I-Inverse.” Zel struggled to hold
tight to the images in his mind, which were beginning to dissipate.

     “Are you sure?”

     “Of course I’m sure for God’s sake!” he paused a moment.  “Look,
I’m sorry about my disposition at the moment, but right now I’m in a great
deal of pain and you’re not helping.”

     Naga looked frantically up at Lina.  “What would you have me do?”

     “Well, for one thing, suggest who you think hates Lina Inverse.  Right
now I see a woman with long, dark bluish-purple hair.  She’s tall, she
seems calm at first I guess, but she is deadly.  Another person is a big
fat woman with a sack over her head, and she keeps saying she’s passing
through.”

     “You told me about her.” Naga answered.  “Well, I’ll bet I’m the
biggest Lina fan on the planet, but I can’t think of anyone who meets
either of those descriptions who might have something against her.”

     “We have to do something quick.” Zelgadis was now reeling over in his
seat, dizzy with agony.  “It’s getting closer.  Whatever is going to happen
to Lina is happening soon…I can feel it…I wish I could see it.”

     Then out of the blue a bullet fired straight at Lina.  It missed her
by closer than a centimeter.  The crowd howled with fear and ducked down
low as the gunshots continued to be fired.  Lina managed to avoid every one,
darting in a panic this way and that.

     Zel looked up at her, his eyes full of terror for her.  “Deim Wing!”
     A blast of powerful wind blew Lina right offstage.  He heard a cackle
of female laughter and Lina’s scream.  No gunshots, however, so she was
relatively safe, wasn’t she?

     “Help!”  she screamed, although he couldn’t see her.

     Then he heard no more.  He and Naga quietly left the shaken audience
members to deal with the fact their idol had been taken captive.

     “How did you do that?”

     “What?” Zel asked, brushing off his beige suit.

     “That spell I saw you doing!  That was weird.  You saved her life
though.”

     “I didn’t.  Because of me she fell right into the hands of evil.”

     “No she didn’t.  Because of you, she didn’t get shot and she’s safe
now.”

     “How do you know?” Zel sounded indignant.

     “How do you know she isn’t?

    If she was dead and was also a big part of your vision, wouldn’t you be able
to sense it?”

     “That’s true.” He finally admitted.  “But we don’t know where she is,
or how we’re going to get her back.”

     “We’ll work on that.  The police will investigate this, but how do we
know that they’ll find anything?  With your psychic ability, we’ll have a
total advantage over the cops.”

     “Not so skeptical anymore, eh?”

     “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOha ha ha ha!  I didn’t say that!  You’re the king!
They’ll let you do whatever you want.”

     “I thought you understood about my life.”  Zelgadis grumbled.  “It’s not a game with no rules, it’s a game with millions.  They won’t let me anywhere in the name of my protection.”

     “Ah, but as king you can tell them you already have a bodyguard and
it isn’t their job to look out for your well-being, it’s mine.  Oh
Zelgadis-kun, you are very dense at times!” And to prove it she gave him a
healthy smack on the back to finalize their equality.  They were friends,
not employer and employee.

     Zel wondered what he could have possibly done to deserve Naga Serpent
as his convoy.  Not to mention she had been getting increasingly weird
since the beginning of the concert.  But she was right.  Some way, some how
he had to rescue Lina!
 
 

End Part Seven.