Sadly, the entirety of this second fanfic cannot fit into one email message. 
Thusly, I'll post the first PART of the second part of the first episode 
(^_^) and invite anyone with the time to spare to visit the whole thing at 
the website, located at... < 
http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/slayerspersist/index.html >

Arigatou.
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     Around the time Zelgadiss arrived at the quaint out-of-the-way town of 
Biatz, Lina Inverse was crawling out from under her 
covers, sliding her thin legs off the bed, stretching her arms over her head 
and yawning in the cutest way possible. She blinked her 
eyes, rubbed them for good measure, and hopped to the floor.
     The inn they were staying in was a good one, in the middle of a large 
resort town named Daningu. Thusly, each room came 
with a first-rate bath, and so she slid out of the cute little pink slip she 
wore and hopped in, turning the medieval faucet and basking 
in the warm, sparsely sudded liquid that filled the tub around her.
     She slid her hands behind her head to brace it against the hard surface 
of the tub's edge, made a content vocal that sounded 
sort of like "Ahhhh!" but was more abrasive and Hayashibara-sounding, and 
closed her eyes.
     She didn't think about much of importance. She did, however, reflect 
back to that big river snake yesterday, and wondered 
why in hell that stuff always happened to her. Her life was always that 
perilous, whether she was saving the world or just trying to get 
from one village to the next. She paid no attention to the fact that she 
usually invited these things, by attacking bandits or blowing up 
towns while trying to show off, because that made her sound much less like 
fate's poor victim.
     She raised a foot up out of the water, the rest of her leg raising after 
it, moist from its submergence. She sighed, and sunk 
lower so that her cheeks were kissed by the clear liquid, raising the leg a 
fraction higher and resting it along the rim of the tub.
     The above was done not as enrichment to the world, to the set the scene, 
or to symbolize that deep down, beneath all her 
hectic and violent spells, her wild personality, and her happy-go-lucky 
visage, she was actually just a normal girl with normal girl 
wants and needs and even goals. Instead, the above was mostly done as fan 
service to overly hormoned adolescent males.
     Something began pounding at the door, snapping Lina out of her quasi 
reverie. Her leg dropped back into the water to the 
disappointment of teens everywhere as she sat upright and gave a couple of 
owlish blinks.
     Whoever it was knocked again. Lina reached out and grabbed her towel, no 
longer startled and now simply annoyed. As she 
began to climb out of the tub, the scene changed to one of the fist knocking 
a third time, and everywhere teens like the author 
shouted protest.
     The door opened just a tiny tiny tiny little crack, and a tiny tiny tiny 
portion of Lina's eye showed up between the two bodies of 
wood that made up the doorway. "What do you want?" she demanded, and then, 
seeing it wasn't Gourry, opened the door a little 
wider and glared furiously. "And what made you think you could interrupt my 
bath?"
     The man standing there was short, stocky, clean-shaven, and had short 
cropped hair that hung off his head with a distinct 
lack of life. His clothes were roughly the ugliest things in existence, but 
his face wasn't so bad, and his eyes were wide and black. 
When he smiled, his pure white teeth reflected enough light to blind a person.
     "I have a warrant for your arrest, fiend," the man said, not smiling.
     "Excuse me?" Lina asked, throwing open the door and moving her hands in 
the general Fireball casting motion. Then she 
remembered two things, both equally important. One, she needed to conserve 
her energy for an emergency, and two, she needed her 
hands to hold up her towel.
     The man in the hallway, who it could now be noted was holding an ax, and 
was also accompanied by four ruffled looking 
guards, took a step back and broke into a heavy nosebleed. The guards soon 
followed suit, once they figured what was going on, but 
by then Lina had wrapped herself in her arms, slunk to her knees and shrieked 
loud enough to cave the roof down on them all.
     "HENTAIIII!" she screamed, tugging the towel back into place, picking up 
a chair with one hand, and hurling it at the 
axe-wielder. Then she slammed the door, and scurried around the room to get 
her clothing on.
     The door burst inward just as she had cinched the last of her costume 
into place, the man with the ax rubbing his head, and 
leaning on the doorknob for support.
     "You dare to attack me after you murdered my child?" he cried, his eyes 
ablaze.
     Lina was silent, with staring, wide eyes. Then her mouth and tongue met 
a mutual decision, and she shot back, "Murdered 
your child?" She didn't like the taste of that.
     "Don't play innocent, you heartless killer!" he screamed, stomping his 
foot, and swinging his ax in her direction to indicate her 
to the guards for effect. "She killed my little Pochie!"
     "Now hold on!" she cried and leaned forward, arms flailing. "I never 
killed anyone's child!"
     By now the guards were beginning to file in the room, looking wary and 
somewhat lusty. She could tell by the uniforms that 
they were tacky, low rank grunts, and thusly surmised that if this was the 
best this wealthy town felt was needed to go after her, the 
allegation wasn't all that serious. But murder was a serious offense. She 
drew herself into an apathetic stance and smiled.
     "Look," she said, trying to keep a level head about this. "I may have 
done a lot of things, but I've never murdered." A pause. 
"Well, at least, not anyone who didn't deserve it."
     "Oh, you murdered her, all right!" The man placed the head of the ax to 
the ground, leaned on it with one arm and wiped his 
eyes with the other. "You slaughtered her right through! When I found her 
body, I used magic to replay the last moments of her life, 
and--"
     Lina sighed, cutting him off. "Can the performance, Ghim. At least tell 
me the real reason you came."
     "Denial to the end," the man cried, raising the battle-ax. "Death to 
you, abominable fiend! Death to Lina Inverse!"
     "Li-Lina..."
     "...Inverse?"
     The last two paragraphs of dialogue came from two of the four guards. 
The other two were already retreating.
     The man with the ax blinked and looked at the first. "Uh, hai..." he 
answered. "That's what the memories of my beloved Pochie 
displayed to me... this girl was having a conversation with some bandit tied 
to a tree, and..."
     Lina blinked, suddenly very much confused. First, about this magical 
talent the man said he possessed.. replaying visions 
was a very complex spell, and, in fact, a myth. And then the fact that he 
knew what she was doing yesterday.
     "Lina Inverse!!!" the two guards yelled, and hugged each other. "Oh God, 
spare us, spare us!"
     Lina shook her head in exasperation. "For crying..." She turned to the 
two cowering guards, hefted another chair, and 
prepared to fling it. "Get out of here! Let me talk to this mystery guy 
alone!"
     The guards fled happily enough, one of them on all fours. She then 
turned to the man who was wearing a confused expression 
and a large sweatdrop.
     "Okay. Now you mind telling me your name?" Lina casually slipped into a 
chair, crossed her legs, and shot her gaze at him.
     "I, um," he began. "They call me Halgon."
     "Ah," she nodded. "Halgon, do you know why those men ran off?"
     Halgon shook his head.
     "To sum up, it's because I'm pretty famous."
     "Famous?" He blinked.
     "Yeah. Well, more like 'infamous,' unfortunately, but you get the idea."
     "Wow, and here I thought you were just a small, flat-chested little 
punk!" he said, sincerely impressed.
     The chair Lina had been sitting in found its way over Halgon's head. He 
collapsed, a large tear forming in his left eye.
     "So you've never heard of me?" Lina asked, rubbing her hands together in 
that famous job-done gesture.
     "No," he gasped, looking up.
     "Well, I guess that's okay." She knelt in front of him. "So you mind 
telling me what you're doing here?"
     "I told you," he said, and said it so vehemently that she finally 
believed him. "You killed my Pochie. I am here to get revenge."
     "Look, uh, Halgon." Lina drew herself up and looked down at him, not 
smirking, but not exactly radiating sympathy either. "I 
never murdered any Pochie."
     Halgon stood, backed up a step for the room he needed, grabbed his ax, 
and pointed it accusingly at her. "You did, so says I! 
My baby Pochie, the poor little lake dragon, was brought to an early doom by 
YOU, girl!"
     Lina picked herself off the floor. "L... lake dragon?"
     "Yes!" Halgon cried, drawing his ax back and preparing to swing. Lina 
fumbled a minute, suddenly thinking a sword would be 
better life insurance than any salesman could pitch you. Well, she figured, 
that explained why the local officials hadn't felt like 
sending more adept troopers to look after the matter. Halgon cried out and 
struck, obviously now beyond the idea of lawful dealings 
and instead looking for a more bloody resolution.
     "N-now look!" she said, drawing her thin blade and just barely parrying 
the first thrust. "Oi! Oi! Watch it!"
     Halgon swiped the ax across in a horizontal sweep, growling. "Have you 
any final words, fiendish Lina?"
     "Y-yeah I do!" she said, suddenly realizing this guy had the brute 
strength of a pack of bores and she did not and that now 
TIME was the best life insurance she could get. "Um, _I_ didn't kill that 
river snake!" Duck, parry, duck. "It was Gourry!"
     Halgon stopped swinging. "Gourry? Who's--"
     "Lina-san?" Gourry asked from the hallway. He was wearing his blue night 
outfit, peering into the room with half-closed eyes, 
and scratching the top of his blond head. "Is something going on in there?"
     "YES, SOMETHING'S GOING ON IN HERE!" she shouted madly, and took the 
opportunity to duck past the oaf with the ax 
and club her sidekick with a slipper. "THIS GUY'S TRYING TO KILL ME!"
     "Oh, I remember you!" Halgon said, renewing his stance. "YOU are the one 
who killed Pochie!"
     "Make up your mind," Lina growled, the heel of her hands against her 
forehead.
     "DIE, NOTORIOUS GOURRY!" Halgon ran at him, swinging his ax.
     "Hereyagogoodluck!" Lina said, tossing the half awake man her sword and 
scrambling to the side.
     "Ano?" Gourry asked, grabbing the sword handle and lightly moving his 
wrist to the right angle and timing, parrying the blow.
     Halgon, reared, slashed again. Gourry blinked lazily, yawned, and lifted 
the sword four inches and with a slight out-thrust to 
send him tottering back on his heels. "What's going on, Lina?"
     "Uh, you remember that river snake you killed?" Lina asked with a fake 
smile. "Well, uh, I guess it was this guy's pet or 
something."
     "Pochie was no pet!" Halgon said, drawing back and venting frustration. 
"I'll have you know, she was my god daughter!"
     "He's insane," Lina pointed out calmly.
     "Hai," Gourry agreed, and thrust in quickly, knocking the ax out of the 
man's hands and unbalancing him with a jab of the 
handle. Halgon fell on his keister with a groan and a generic sound effect.
     "And now that we're all comfy," Lina murmured, walking back in, "maybe 
we could have a little chat about common courtesy 
towards our fellow man."
     Halgon sat up, crossed his arms, and sulked.
     "To start off, never interrupt a girl's private time." She ticked these 
off on her fingers. "Second, never do so and then have the 
balls to say you're going to arrest her. C, never do so and then say the 
reason is because her partner killed a river snake in self 
defense."
     Gourry, who was rubbing his eyes and now partially more awake, gave a 
little yawn. "Hai, it did attack us first. I mean, I agree, 
I wouldn't want people killing off my god daughters, but..."
     "Gourry!" Lina snapped, and he obligingly shut up.
     "You're right," Halgon murmured, staring at the floor. "You're right, of 
course! She always had a mean streak in her, I always 
knew she did! But I couldn't accept the truth!" He rose to his feet, tears 
streaming down his eyes.
     Gourry smiled and clapped the man on the back. Lina, simply annoyed his 
innocent little talk had once again done more than 
her bravado, muttered "Dammit" a couple times.
     "...take it so hard," Gourry was saying. "Everyone has a black sheep in 
their family! I have my rogue Grandpa Raudy, Lina has 
her mean sister Luna, Zelgadiss has his great-grandfather Rezo..."
     Lina threw the previously mentioned slipper at Gourry's head, watched as 
it did more damage than it should have, and turned 
to look Halgon square in the eye. "Look, we're busy people. We don't need 
insane yahoos showing up all the time, ne? Just... go on 
your way, we'll forget this whole ordeal."
     "I cannot!" Halgon said, grabbing Lina's hands in his and smiling 
through his tears. "You have shown me the error of my ways, 
Lina Inverse! I must make it up to you."
     "Oh, God," Lina groaned, but did so to herself. To him, she said with a 
bright smile, "No, no, that's okay, Mr. Halgon Sir, 
there's no need for that! Just don't let it happen again!"
     "It might be kind of fun having a new companion," Gourry said 
thoughtfully, standing up and rubbing his slipper-inflicted bruise.
     "You're not helping," Lina stated flatly.
     No, that wasn't a joke about her cleavage.
     "Then it's settled!" Halgon cried with a bright smile. "I'll devote my 
life to the two of you, doing whatever you need done!"
     Gourry was all smiles. "Yosh! A new friend! Isn't this great, Lina? We 
can be a trio!"
     Lina's scream filled the noon air.

Somewhere outside the inn was a person with a black cloak. She slid smoothly 
through the doors into the lobby, smiling to 
herself in a wide, sultry kind of way. She carried an artifact of great 
importance, an artifact that would change Lina and the other two 
in her room forever. She held it in her hand, in the light of day, uncaring 
if any of the people hustling about in their day-to-day lives 
saw it or not. Puny weaklings, the woman in the black cloak thought with a 
sneer. They won't be alive much longer, no. Soon indeed, 
they will get what's coming to them. Soon, soon judgment will rain from 
above! Black death will seep into their skin like a plague, 
eating their bodies and corrupting their minds. She smiled, then laughed, as 
her booted feet carried her up the stairs... after, of 
course, she had checked with the desk to see which room the girl was staying 
in.
     She heard the scream, and was, for a moment, caught off guard. Had 
someone already reached her prey? Was this one, this 
Lina Inverse, this plague of destruction, was she already dead? The woman 
rushed up the rest of the stairway in a hurry, looking 
around with uneasy eyes. Her feet carried her past a couple closed doors, and 
she paused to sneer at the amount of work that had 
been put into furnishing them. Silly mortals, foolish mortals, to waste their 
short and puny lives with such ridiculousness. At the 
least, they could be conspiring to build an empire of world domination, but 
no, they just scurried around with desk jobs and expected 
everything to be fine, despite their lack of any integrity or other redeeming 
value. The woman in the black cloak hurried on, 
remembering the girl and the artifact, and wanting to make sure she wasn't 
too late.
     She wasn't. When she arrived at the door, the girl was busy hitting some 
blond buffoon over the head with a slipper, and some 
stocky short man with an ax was laughing as if he thought the whole thing was 
part of an end-of-episode-laugh moment. The cloaked 
person sneered, drew raised the artifact over her head, and called clearly, 
"This is for YOU, Lina Inverse! This, this sacred artifact, will 
allow me to defeat you, and through defeating you, I shall rule over all!"
     Lina blinked. Gourry raised his head and blinked. Halgon, not wishing to 
stop a trend, blinked as well.
     Gourry strode forward and peered at the item in the woman's hand. "Um."
     "What do you want, you foolish human?!" the woman cried.
     "It just looks like an ordinary envelope to me," he said, poking it with 
a finger.
     The woman drew the envelope away from him and clutched it to her 
breasts. "Ah, but it's what is INSIDE the envelope that 
makes it important!" she informed.
     "So what's in it?" Lina said, folding her arms and allowing herself to 
forget about Halgon for the moment.
     "Ah, my dear Lina-san," she said with a smile. "I can't tell you that."
     "It's got my name on it," Lina pointed out with a frown.
     "Oh." The woman blinked, and looked at the item. "Oh yeah. Well, here 
you go, then."
     "Jeez," Lina cried, snatching the letter away from her. "One weirdo 
after another!"
     "What's it say, Mistress Lina?!" Halgon asked excitedly.
     "None of your business," she snapped, and turned away to read it.
     Gourry looked at the woman with a smile while his partner read whatever 
it was she had been addressed. "Konnichiwa, I'm 
Gourry Gabriev."
     The woman blinked, looked him over as if she hadn't seen him before, and 
shrugged. "Good for you."
     Gourry, not used to the cold shoulder, was at a loss for words. "Do you 
have a name?"
     "Yes," she said grandly, turning to him and placing her hands on her 
hips. "It resounds throughout the heavens and the hells. I 
am the one, the inheritor of the world! The minions of the lands flock to me, 
for I am--"
     "Yuu Watase?!" Gourry asked, psyched out.
     "No," the woman said. "I am of much more stamina and importance than 
she!"
     "No way!" Gourry said, very impressed. "That's really something!"
     "Yeah," she agreed with a nod. "For I, dear sir, am known as..." She 
paused for dramatic effect. "Raleic Deontri!"
     Gourry blinked.
     "You know," Raleic prodded.
     "Afraid not," Gourry apologized.
     "Oh, forget you," Raleic grumbled and crossed her arms.
     "So, um..." Gourry looked over at Lina, abandoning the strange envelope 
girl. "What's the letter say?"
     Lina looked up with a shrug, and handed it over. "Read for yourself."
     Gourry blinked, took it, and Halgon and Raleic crowded next to him and 
read as well.
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I don't know, I guess that's as good a place to end as any. Again, thanks to 
everyone who gave their feedback to the first part... it really means a lot 
to me!

~Zach