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	Naga the White Serpent fiddled with the strings of her black
leather corset a bit, feeling as one with her sisters across the 
centuries while she struggled for an equitable blend between fashion 
and comfort. "Are you sure that all this is necessary? I feel so... 
so... overdressed." She tried to hike her skirt a bit higher, but her 
attempt was in vain.

	The eavesdroppers took a moment to imagine how this excessively 
endowed woman might look, if she thought _that_ was overdressed, and 
each shivered.

	Kodachi shook her head and sighed. "Dear heart, you know as 
well as I that we don't want to seem too forward to our beloved. We 
must present a united front! Besides, I would catch my death of cold 
trying to emulate your usual fashions." 

	Naga waggled one finger in rebuke. "There are advantages to my
usual ensemble. After the second winter, I rarely felt even the worst 
chill. What doesn't kill you-"

	"Maims you in horribly vicious ways? A touch of frostbite no 
doubt builds character," Kodachi finished brightly. Then added, "Oh, 
I'm sorry if that sounded a bit sarcastic; don't know what I was 
thinking."

	Naga started to reply, then gave it up. _Looks like I've lost
this round. Oh well, happens to the best of us..._ Rather than dwell on
this horribly out-of-character thought, she reached into the steamer 
trunk they'd purchased several days before and removed an extremely short 
miniskirt that _might_ cover the bare essentials. "Is _this_ long 
enough for your dress code?"

	Kodachi shook her head in resignation. "I suppose. I can't 
expect to change you in a week, after all. Go right ahead, display
your ample charms to the loutish rabble; see if I care."

	Naga laughed briefly, a discomfort to the spies listening avidly 
to their every word. "OHOHOHO! Dearie, it's obvious you care too much what 
other people think."

	"No, I just care what Ranma-sama thinks." Both women sighed 
with longing. "And yet..."

	"How long must we wait for our love?" Naga shook her head. "I
wish the oracle had given us some clearer signs..."

	"Right now, of more importance to me is..." 

	Naga looked at her partner in concern. "More important than
RANMA?! You've still got a lot of growing up to do if..."

	In response, Kodachi held up their last coin purse and shook
it. It gave the dull clunk of almost emptiness, rather than the tempting 
jingle of sweet fullness. "How are we going to pay the bills? Unless
we find a job soon, we'll run out of money!"

	The people still eavesdropping took this opportunity to slip away. 
All thought to themselves as they leapt from rooftop to rooftop, scattering 
in different directions, _At last! Our masters will be pleased..._

Slayers NIBUNNOICHI
Part the Eighth
TAUNTING THE BEAST


	The Sea of Chaos said softly, musingly, "It's strange..."

	Jenni, Lover of Cuteness Incarnate, took the straight line
She'd been offered and asked, "What's strange?"

	The Sea of Chaos gestured towards Her feet and said, "Well, 
I've seen more mortals in this situation than even I can remember, and
yet..." She sighed and said, "I still don't know how to act."

	Jenni, an uncharacteristic depth in Her eyes, put one hand on
the Sea of Chaos's shoulder and said, "Yeah, I know what You mean. 
They tell Us that this sort of thing doesn't happen to Us, but it 
does anyway, no matter how much You might wish otherwise. The only 
thing to do is to remember and move on."

	The Sea of Chaos nodded as She bent down and gathered together
all that remained of Jusenkyou's once-immortal essence. "I will shatter
the thing that did this to You, My friend, and cast its spirit into a
place where it will never know My sight, a cold grey joyless place that 
gives only despair and regret."

	Jenni waved one of Her hands in the air. "Ooo! Ooo! Can I do a
curse too? I _love_ those things!"

	The Sea of Chaos looked ready to protest for a moment, then
waved one hand tiredly. "Go ahead."

	Jenni cleared Her throat, then began. "When We find this
creature that has destroyed You, I shall make the place We cast its
spirit smell like Venice and look like London. The only food will be
cooked cafeteria-style and the only sounds will be... umm..." A sudden 
thought burrowed its way into Her consciousness. "How will We find 
this creature, anyway?"

	"Oh, that's easy." The Sea of Chaos held up one finger. "Only 
a being with the aid of Jusenkyou's Keys could have done this, and only
one being has these Keys now. She cannot hide forever, now that I know
her essence." That lone finger retreated into a clenched fist. "And 
once I find her..."

****

	Amelia came to with a start. "Where am I?" Without opening her
eyes, she realized that she was totally naked, soft cotton sheets 
covering her body. The bed she was lying in was so comfortable, the
covers pressing down with just the right weight, and the pillow 
conforming so perfectly to her head, that she almost turned over and 
went back to sleep.

	A clear, piping voice said, "Ah, you is awake now."

	The princess's eyes opened wide at this sudden intrusion on 
her peaceful, half-aware state. She sat up, clutching the sheets close 
to her body, and looked around. Amelia saw a young girl sitting by her 
bedside, darning what looked like Amelia's shirt. Amelia asked softly, 
"Who are you?"

	The girl didn't look up from her work. "I name is Plum. You
lying in big cursed dried-up pool when Father found you, and he bring 
you here. I fix clothes, yes?"

	Amelia nodded slowly. "Um... yeah, sure." She leaned back 
against a wall and looked around the room. It gave the impression of being
more an office than a real home, the sort of place a man might live if
his job required the occasional bit of overnight work. Half-closing her
eyes, she tried to recall the events of the last few days.

	_Hmm... I remember finding that restaurant, walking in, and 
then..._ She shivered involuntarily, clutching the blankets a bit 
closer. _Drowning in an endless ocean of blue..._

	*Yeah, um... sorry about that.*

	Amelia sat straight up again. "What?"

	Plum looked up, wincing as she pricked her finger. "Hmm? What
you ask?"

	"...Never mind." Amelia leaned back against the wall once more,
suspicions beginning to cement themselves. 

	A magician, no matter of what kind, is trained from almost the
first day to look for... portents... of things that are almost certain 
to be bloody annoying. Broad-shouldered men with a grim, set jaw, 
broadsword clutched firmly in hand; maidens wearing once-rich clothes 
that have been rent by brambles and thorns; and most telling of all, 
befuddled-looking wizards with bent hats and robes of indeterminite 
color: all signs that a Serious Quest was underway, maybe even a True
Saga. 

	Although Voices in Your Head wasn't at the head of that list, 
it was in the top twenty at least. 

	She closed her eyes and thought very loudly, _ALL RIGHT, 
WHOEVER YOU ARE, TALK TO ME!!!

	The voice said grumpily, *No need to get into a huff. Stop
shouting, by Myself! It isn't as if this is _My_ idea of fun either...*
	
	Amelia shook her head. _Who are you?_

	*Umm...* Amelia got the distinct feeling that the voice was
waffling. Then, she gasped as something clicked inside her mind.

	Some uncharitable people might describe Amelia wil Tesla de 
Saillune as simple. 

	They would be right.

	But simple is not the same as stupid.

	Amelia was not stupid; not by any stretch of the imagination.
Being out-and-out stupid would have granted her the life expectancy of 
a jellyfish in a Dragonslave during her younger years in the intrigue-
ridden courts of her homeland (and that's exactly what some calculating 
oddsmakers had given her) but there _were_ other mitigating factors. One 
was the twisted craftiness that centuries of backstabbing had bred into 
her family; albiet a craftiness refracted through the metaphorical Lens 
of Justice she carried within her. 

	Now, that twisted craftiness turned inward, adding one and one
and one, coming up with seventeen, and rang up no sale. Then it shrugged 
its metaphysical shoulders and told Amelia the absurd conclusion it had 
drawn anyway.

	_Are you a god?_

	She heard the voice laugh softly. *A very wise man once said
that if anyone ever asks that question, answer 'yes.'*

	Amelia blinked. _What's your name?_

	*Umm... erm... that's a... good question. I don't... quite 
know. Ever had that feeling, like something was on the tip of your
tongue and almost ready to say itself?*

	_Yeah..._

	*Well, this not knowing my name thing feels just like the
exact opposite of that. It's as if I have a name, I _know_ I have a 
name, but... the name just isn't there.*

	Amelia said out loud, "That's _weird_." Plum looked up at her
again.

	"What that?"

	Amelia waved one hand nervously. "Never mind, never mind! Don't
mind me, hehe..." She chuckled falsely, and the little girl eyed her
for a moment before going back to her sewing.

	"Ahh, honorable guest, you is awake? Very, very good." Amelia 
looked up at the door, alarmed that someone could have walked in 
without her noticing. A short, dumpy man wearing a strange green 
outfit was taking off his hat and bowing deeply towards the puzzled 
princess. "Me have very bad news for you. Me find you in empty spring
in center of cursed springs."

	Because Amelia didn't seem to have a clue what the heck the 
strange little man was saying, Plum supplied the next line. "And what
drown in that one?"

	The little man held up one finger. "Ahh, is very strange, yes?
That one no one ever drown in, because it too far into center of 
springs. They always drown in other one first." He shook his head.
"I wonder what in that one?"

****

	Working for Dynast Grauscherra had few perks. One of them was 
the freedom of having a fat slob of a boss who didn't much care what 
you did, as long as you did what he said when he said it. Since he 
didn't usually ask for much of anything, this was a good deal for the 
Mazoku who worked under him, all of whom knew of Phibrizo's capricious 
games, Metallium's incessant meddling, or Deep Sea Dolphin's silly 
courts, and wanted nothing to do with that rot. 

	The problems came, of course, when he asks you to do something.

	"'Follow the girls,'" quoted a rather bored being who enjoyed 
being called Dighe the Corrupt; when he bothered with a name at all. 
"'Don't harm them, just find out what they're going to get and make sure 
they don't get it. Those damn Amazons can't keep up the barrier forever, 
and the only reason they would send someone out is to get something - or 
someone - that might help them.'"

	He looked down at the two girls, who were wandering the streets
of a good-sized city, and grinned. He'd actually come to... like, in a
way, the two Amazons. Their minds were easily vulnerable to his skills,
and he'd had quite a few good meals off of them over the past few 
weeks. With their fear of failure and censure from their fellow 
Amazons, all he had to do was insert a single, simple image into their
dreams and let them run with it. 

	Delicious.

	He'd be sorry to kill them.

	Yeah, sure, it went against orders, but initiative has always
been a big part of Mazoku society. Otherwise, how would anyone rise to
the top?

	Even now, their terror at being lost drifted up to him, and he 
grinned even wider. Then, his senses stretched to their limits to take all
the dark emotion that he could from this city, he caught a hint of 
something, something he had not felt since...

	He cursed. "DAMN him! How DARE he be here! I will destroy him!"
Expending a fraction of his precious energy, he vanished from the skies.

****

	Ling Ling looked up at the sky. "Did you just feel..."

	Lung Lung looked up too. "What?"

	The Amazon paused for a moment, then shook her head. "Nothing."

****

	Xelloss didn't need to sleep. Being a Creature of Ineffable 
Evil (he thought that adding capitol letters to the phrase, even
mentally, gave it a certain panache), sleep wasn't only unnecessary,
but somewhat... repugnant, implying a weakness that he didn't like
to think of.

	Be that as it may, he was dozing off in his seat next to Luna's
bed when she sat up suddenly, jerkily. He snapped awake and said,
"Jumpin' gee whillikers, Luna-chan, that was..." Then he saw her eyes.

	They weren't pits of luminescent, brilliant light, nor were 
they boring into what passed for Xelloss's skull, nor did they burn
with the wisdom of centuries. To anyone without the power that Xelloss
still had, they would have still been the same pale blue of a sky that
gave no warning before a sudden storm.

	But to Xelloss, they gave away the dead certainty that a god 
was in control of her body. And it was a god that he was intimately 
familiar with, a god he'd faced across many bloody battlefields in the 
days when the war between the dragons and the Mazoku was still burning 
fresh.

	He said tentatively, "Hello, Dragon God Ceipheed. It's so nice
to see you again."

	"And you, Xelloss, are looking... fine." His voice was still
Luna's - no destruction of a host's vocal cords just to sound flashy
for Ceipheed - but to those with ears to hear, there was no doubt who,
or what, was really speaking.

	"What do you want with Luna, Ceipheed?" 

	Ceipheed tilted his head slightly, as if in thought. The pause
that wieghted the air between them told Xelloss all he needed to know.
"To do what is necessary, of course."

	Xelloss sneered. "Golly, figures that you would clothe your 
hypocrisies in cryptic riddles. I never did like you, you know that?"

	"And you think that I love you for slaughtering My people, eh?"

	The Mazoku had no response for that. Ceipheed nodded. "I will
not destroy Luna unless I have to. The next woman who would be my 
carrier is not yet ready. It would crush her."

	"Yes, well..." Xelloss was nonplussed. He didn't know why 
Ceipheed had chosen to shelter inside humans as he healed from the 
shattering wounds Shabranigdo had inflicted upon him, but he did know 
that interrupting it could do no good for the being that Ceipheed
would become. "Why are you revealing yourself?"

	"Because things have taken a turn. She is distracted, and turns
Her eyes from our plight."

	Xelloss didn't need to ask whom Ceipheed was speaking of. "You
mean..."

	"Yes." The Dragon God didn't elaborate. Xelloss nodded slowly.

	"And so we'll have to..."

	"Yes."

	"Gee, what am I going to do?"

	The Dragon God spoke, and Xelloss listened.

****

	Soun was happy.

	It wasn't often that he could make a claim like that anymore,
especially in any way connected with his ancient and very evil master,
Happosai. But he had given the middle-aged martial artist a goal, a 
purpose in life that stretched beyond marrying his daughters off and 
living with one of them.

	Yes, his new silky darlings were worth all the trouble. 

	He buried his hands up to his wrists in his box of panties and
cackled in glee.

	"Father?"

	At the sudden call from the hall, Soun shoved the box into his
closet under the futon and said warily, "Yes?"

	Kasumi slid the door open. "Dinner's ready! I called ten minutes
ago, silly!" She smiled peacefully.

	Soun stood up. "Yes, of course!" Casting about for some topic of
conversation, he asked, "How's Ranma?"

	Kasumi shrugged. "Poor Ranma-kun. He hasn't woken up yet. But 
Zelgadis-san and Lina-chan say that he'll be all right in a few hours!"

	Nodding in pleasure, Soun walked past his daughter. As soon as
he was past, Kasumi's pleasant expression changed to what anyone who 
didn't know her would have called a mild frown.

	But to those who did, they would have known that the person on
the recieving end had enraged her, driven her to a point that she'd never
been to before. And they would have feared her. 

	Whenever anyone angered the other two Tendo sisters, a person 
_knew_ what would happen. No one had ever actually _seen_ Kasumi angry,
so that meant that no one could know what she'd do.

	Not even Kasumi herself.

	That didn't mean that something wouldn't be done.

	Oh no.

	"Kasumi?"

	Kasumi looked around her shoulder and saw Gourry, the blonde
swordsman to whom she hadn't spoken very much, and had to force a smile 
on her face for the first time in ten years. "Yes?"

	Gourry rubbed the back of his head. "You looked like you were 
trapped in an excessively long internal monologue, and I just thought
I'd help you out!"

	Now Kasumi's smile was genuine, and it broadened. "Why, thank 
you, Gourry-kun!"

	The swordsman's nose twitched. "Hey, is that food?" He rushed 
past Kasumi and ran down the stairs. Kasumi looked one last time into 
her father's room, shrugged, slid the door shut, and turned to follow
Gourry.

****

	No Mazoku likes being lost. Being lost implies being weak, 
and being weak implies being flesh, and fewer things pleases any 
hellspawn less than the implication of actually being trapped in a
bag of mud and blood. Just the thought of it was enough to send most
Mazoku into a city-destroying rage, which usually solved the problem
of being lost anyway, so things usually worked out for the best!

	The only problem with such a system is, of course, when you 
want to avoid destroying the city that you're lost in...

	Loxim, Mazoku, sailor, and fugitive from what passes for 
Mazoku justice, was trying very hard not to destroy Tokyo in a sudden
rampage... though for some reason he got the feeling that there had 
been others here before him with the same urge and far less 
restraint...

	He shook off the Ghosts of B-movies Past and stopped a 
young woman who was walking nearby. "Excuse me, do you know where I 
could find the Restaurant of the Cat?"

	Now, most girls would have shrieked in terror and fled at the
mere sight of him, which is why Loxim was currently wrapped up in an
intricate illusion. He'd just picked an man's image out of his past,
and certainly wasn't expecting the girl to just stop dead and stare at
his face.

	"Da gweh bweh..." He noticed that she was drooling slightly,
and he reached up to wipe it off her chin. He frowned. _This means
something among humans... but what? I can't remember!_

	The moment his hand touched her face, she backpedaled 
furiously. Her face turned red, and Loxim touched her mind for a 
moment, just long enough to find out that she was going to shout over
her shoulder, "Ling-Ling!"

	It actually came out as "Oh my God look at this guy he's so
HOT!" but that's not important right now. What was important is that
another young woman, who'd been looking at a display of cloth, glanced
up and saw the disguised Mazoku as well. 

	"What about him?"

	"Can't you see that he's HOT!!"

	Loxim was even more lost than he'd been a minute ago; at least
then all he'd had to worry about was where the hell he was. "As far as
I can tell, I'm the same tempurature I've always been..." The Mazoku
felt his own forehead for a moment and frowned.

	The young woman who'd been looking at the cloth stepped forward.
"Don't mind my sister, Lung-Lung. She's an idiot. I'm Ling-Ling. What 
did you ask her?"

	Loxim said tentatively, "Um... where is the... Restaurant of 
the Cat..?"

	Ling-Ling shook her head. "No problem, my sister and I will take
you right there!" She grabbed Loxim's hand and started pulling him 
along. Loxim noticed her sister glaring at Ling-Ling, but for the unlife
of him didn't know why...

****

	Zelgadis was in the dojo, holding his sword out in what he'd
always called the Impressively Cool Stance. Being a self-taught 
swordsman hadn't given him many official-sounding titles for the 
various ways to hold a sword, and so he'd given them the names that
naturally occurred to him.

	The Impressively Cool Stance involved holding his left hand
out, extended as if telling someone to halt, while the right hand
was drawn back, holding the sword over his head. Most of his weight 
was on his rear foot, but his whole body was coiled tight, ready to
bring the sword out in a sweeping slash from almost any direction,
or even bring the sword forward in a thrust, with the left hand
moving to assist at just the right moment...

	Zelgadis believed in practicality melded with beauty in all
things, and nowhere was this more apparent then his swordsmanship; 
however, he didn't believe in excessive floweriness. He called it 
the Impressively Cool Stance because that's what it was.

	He lowered his sword and looked around at the walls of the 
dojo with fresh eyes. Somehow, this frail construction of wood, with
patched walls and leaky roof, managed to distill peace and channel it
to anyone inside, letting them practice without anger or distraction.

	A jarring note suddenly sounded in the harmony of the dojo,
and Zelgadis immediately whipped his sword up into the Sticking The
Pointy End Into Someone Stance. Sadly, it wouldn't do him much good,
as the person who'd disrupted the peace was none other than Xelloss.

	The chimera lowered the sword slowly. "What are _you_ doing 
here?" That's when he noticed something subtle, something that he
hadn't quite caught in his first glance.

	Xelloss had his eyes open.

	Both of them.

	The Trickster Priest said slowly, "You have to listen to me,
Zelgadis. Right now, you're all in grave danger, and I'm just gosh- 
darned gonna have to take Lina Inverse with me in order to prevent
one part of the Ultimate Disaster. What I need you to do is go with
two little girls that will show up soon, along with all the people
from this place that might help you."

	"Hmm?" For the first time in as long as Zelgadis had known
the Mazoku, he looked... rushed, almost harried, as though he were
trying to do something that he hadn't been expecting. Then, in the 
third strange event of the conversation, Xelloss said something 
that the chimera had never, _ever_ expected to hear from his mouth.

	"I _need_ your help."

	Zelgadis hesitated not a second. "All right, tell me every-
thing you can."

	Xelloss smiled and began.

****

	"Cuddlepie?" Cologne looked at Happi as she spoke, her face
glowing with joy.

	"Yes, snoogywookums?" His face was intent on the intricate
clockwork traps that protected what they'd decided to take as a 
souvenir on this leg of their journey.

	"Are the zombies supposed to be getting back up, pootielove?"

	Happosai frowned without looking up. "I don't think so... after 
all, we didn't stop attacking them until they were all dust..."

	"Oh. Then this must be a fresh batch. I'll take care of them 
while you get the Egg out, Happidumpling!"

	The sounds of battle breaking out behind him didn't disturb 
the aged martial artist's concentration at all, until a flying bit of 
zombie hors de'ouvres came flying over his shoulder, breaking the 
machinery, and setting off every trap in the place...

	Since there was no percentage in hesitation, Happosai grabbed 
the egg and shouted over his shoulder, "Run, my darling! Run!"
	
****

	There were so _many_ levels to Ranma's hatred of falling. The 
first (and simplest) was the sickening sensation that conjured 
unpleasant slit-eyed ghosts from his past, yowling in the pits of his 
mind. The second was that falling usually meant that someone had hit 
him in the first place with a fist or foot or mallet or giant frozen 
flounder, and he'd have to deal with the consequences after landing. 
The third was...

	Well, suffice to say there were a _lot_ of reasons that Ranma
hated falling. 

	But he hated landing even more.

	So when he found himself falling, somewhere above the mountains
of Japan, with no memory of how or why, he naturally groaned and braced
himself for impact.

	When he landed with absolutely no pain at all, and saw Ryouga
waiting there for him with an impatient look, Ranma Saotome was dead
certain he was stuck in a dream, and most likely a nightmare to boot. 

	Ranma hated nightmares even more than landing.

	"C'mon, Saotome! If you don't hurry up, _she's_ going to catch
up with us!"

	"Who's she?"

	Ryouga looked around like a hunted animal and whispered, "Your
wife."

	Ranma stood up straight, the fact that this was a dream already
lost, and started running down the road. He thought about asking little
things like who his wife was or why he was running away from her, but
he figured that the answers to those questions were pretty self-
explanatory anyway.

	He ran, wild and free, the epitomy of his namesake. He ran,
faster than the eye could follow. He ran as though the hounds of hell
were nipping at his heels. The only thing that could have stopped him 
was... a tollgate.
	
	Ranma almost didn't stop in time. His heels dug into the earth
as he tried to defy Newton's Laws of Motion. Fortunately for him, this
was just a dream, and he skidded to a halt mere inches away from the 
guard, who cringed in anticipation of the impact. 

	When it didn't come, the guard cracked open an eye, looked 
_carefully_ at the martial artist who stood, panting, within huggging 
distance. He straightened up suddenly, leaping backward as he held one
hand out. "H-halt!" he said quaveringly, apparently overlooking the 
fact that Ranma already was halted. "I can't let you go by until you
choose!"

	Ranma was confused. "Choose what?"

	"Choose... your destiny!" Suddenly, a giant game wheel popped 
out of the ground as cheesy music started playing. Colored streamers 
came sailing from the sky, covering the ground in meaningless snarls.

	Ryouga kicked his way through a drift of them as he came to a 
halt beside Ranma and gasped, "Ah, the Wheel of Time! Will you be 
crushed by it, or move on to the top?" Improbably, Ryouga was wearing a 
pink tutu and a black pig mask as he held out his hands in a Vanna 
White manner.

	"Gweh?"

	The old ghoul pogoed around the edge of the wheel and shouted,
"Yes! You must decide whether to inherit the future coming to you, or
to whimper in fear as..."

	She was cut off by a sudden shout of "YOU IDIOT!!" Akane 
stormed up and seized Ranma's ear. "We start shooting the next episode
in _five_ minutes, and you go running off just to..."

	"WAKE UP!"

	Ranma had no qualms with waking up, even with Xelloss's face
waiting for him on the other side of sleep. "Stupid nightmares," he
muttered.

	"What?"

	Ranma shook his head. "Never mind. But... thanks for waking
me up."

	Xelloss said grimly, "Golly, Ranma, I wouldn't be too certain
of that if I were you..."

****

	Luna/Ceipheed staggered to their feet, grimacing from the pain.
_We don't have a choice... we must get the only people who can do this
to the place where..._ 

	They became aware of a tearing sound coming from the front room,
and focused enough energy to detect what was doing it. They gasped in
shock. _What is HE doing here! Traitor... defiler..._ Then, they gathered
their anger and bundled it away. _We are not strong enough to fight him;
not now. We must escape!_

	The wall facing the front room fell in with a crash, revealing
a being that Ceipheed had once known as Dilphe; a being that had betrayed
his own race for a devil's bargain... with a devil.

	"You're looking well," Ceipheed said cautiously.

	"And you... are looking like a dead woman who hasn't realized it
yet." With that, Dighe the Corrupt wrapped one tentacle around in a circular 
fashion, creating a blast that lanced out towards Luna/Ceipheed.

	They dodged and gave up a fraction of energy to create a lance
of white energy, but it spattered against the thick hide of the Mazoku,
who laughed scornfully. Luna cursed seperately from Ceipheed. *Dammit, why 
did I leave Filia in the mountains? She could be really useful right now...*

	*Because,* Ceipheed said grimly, *if she saw Me as I am right now,
she wouldn't survive the experience...* 

****

	Filia sneezed and rubbed at her snout. _This wasn't my idea,_
Filia thought grimly as she turned around in the small cave again. _I wish
there was another way to do this..._ 

	"But," she continued out loud, "I HAVE to obey her. She answers to 
a higher authority than me. I just wish..."

	She scratched at the belly-strap and whined, "I just wish she
hadn't put a saddle on meeeeee..!"



AUTHOR'S NOTES


	Don't despair, Naga fans, and put down the torches and pitchforks; the 
infamous duo will be appearing in their OWN SIDE STORY! So don't lynch me for
not having them in here for more than a short appearance...

	Hmm... no doubt canon fans will be wondering, "Who the hell is this 
Dighe character? I don't remember him..." Well, the reason you don't remember
him is because I created him, so deal. I needed a villian anyway. 

	Oh, and the beast I was referring to in the title is you, the readers!
I can see that most of this chapter was just setting up later ones, teasing you
mercilessly... *begins fortifying door* I hope nobody comes after me for it...

	Can't think of anything else that needs to be explained right now...
this chapter was shorter than most of the ones I've been putting out lately,
but Dramatic Necessity demanded it end here. Sorry. I'll try to write more for
my five fans, really I will!


Aaron Bergman
imfanboy@hotmail.com
"Time on your hands? Then go and wash it off. 
 Make sure to use soap and water!"

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