[FFML] [slayers]Kitsune Lina 20-25

The Feast before the Storm

Lina yawned and stretched as she woke up. She blinked
sleepily and
disengaged herself from Xellos gently. The spell of
blood was still strong
in the room, at least to her it was, but there was
also the lingering scent
of healing. Lina shrugged that puzzle off. She didn't
remember entering
that state of forced wakefulness and enhanced
awareness, but she had
certainly dropped off fast enough after all the
festivities.
Lina stepped quickly over to the crib and peered down
at her children and
was filled with a quiet sense of wonder. Sylphiel had
obviously cleaned them
up and they lay there looking clean and fresh. They
even smelled fresh, she
realized as she filtered out the rest of the room. She
leaned over, resting
on the edge of the crib and sighed.
Xina's ears laid back in irritation, Xalan's ears
shortly followed suite.
Lina cocked her head and heard a faint grumbling, or
rather two such sounds.
Then both children blinked awake and barely a second
later began wailing.
Lina winced at the loud, piercing sound and then
reached down to pick them up.
Xellos snapped awake behind her and immediately
scanned about for the
problem, relaxing as soon as he noticed Lina carrying
the twins with a gait
that demonstrated both half-panicked urgency and
precise caution. Having
been around while Val Garv was just infant he
recognized the scene, of course
dragons had different needs than humans and the
species related to them, but
that didn't change the similarity..
"Could you hold Xina for a moment," Lina asked,
handing over the wailing
purple-haired child. Xellos blinked and obliged while
Lina sat down on the
bed with Xalan and the opened the front of her dress,
which had obviously
seen better days by now. "Okay, I can take her now."
"You were already awake?" he asked sitting next to him
and back against
the head of the bed. Lina was nervous, this wasn't her
first time feeding
them, she had done that soon after they had given
birth, but she was still
new at this.
"Yep," she answered. "I hope it didn't wake everybody
else up too."

*************

Gourry and Zelgadis stood with swords drawn scanning
the area for about
five full seconds before they finally realized that it
was just Lina's twins.
They breathed a sigh of relief and replaced their
swords.
"Looks like dawn is coming soon anyway," Zelgadis,
turning to face
Gourry. The blonde swordsman had already fallen
asleep. The chimera
face-faulted and then rolled his eyes as he stood up
again.
"Well I can get some practice out of the way then," he
said, stretching
as he walked outside with his sword.

*************

Amelia had woken up to the sound of Xina and Xalan
crying, as had
Sylphiel, though the priestess had gone right back to
sleep upon identifying
the source of the sound. Amelia stretched, blinked and
then watched the odd
image of a shambling Filia, eyes half-closed, open the
door to the room she
was sharing with Val Garv and start walking to the
kitchen.
The princess followed her out of curiousity for a
little while, then
pulled ahead of the zombie-like dragon-maid and waved
her hand back in front
oh Filia's face.
"Filia?" the dragon-in-human-form showed no sign of
recognition for a
moment. Then she blinked in confusion.
"Huh, what?" she looked around, noticing that she was
no longer where she
had fallen asleep. She blushed slightly and looked
confused. Then Lina's
kids quieted down. "Oh, Ra...Lina's twins."
"Are you okay?"
"Fine, I'll go back to bed now."
"Uhh, okay." Amelia shrugged and walked towards the
front room herself,
noticing that Zelgadis was draped on the couch or
about the floor like
Gourry, she walked outside. She found him working a
sword kata behind the
house, out of sight of the road.
Amelia sat down quietly and watched as the chimera
twirled his sword
expertly. Mentally she edited out the sword and
imagined the interplay of
stone flesh and muscle under the baige travel clothes.
The thought sent a
pleasant shiver over her flesh. Then one of his
manuevers turned him about
to where he could see her for a moment. He blinked,
lost track of what he
was doing and landed hard on his back.
"Oh!" Amelia rushed over to check on the chimera, and
managed to get
there as he was sitting up again and rubbing his back.
"Zelgadis, are you
okay?"
"I'm fine, you just surprised me," he answered back,
embarrassed. Her
initial concern over with, the rather comedic image of
Zelgadis twisting off
his feet and crashing to ground overwhelmed her. She
burst into
semi-hysterical laughter leaning on Zelgadis's
shoulder as the laughter kept
coming.
"I'm glad you think this is funny," he said tightly,
though when Amelia
looked up she could see him smiling as well. She found
the idea Zelgadis
even hiding laughter nearly as funny as him landing on
his back, her laughter
didn't calm down for several minutes.
"Its almost here," Amelia said, quietly. Zelgadis
nodded, all of them
had been adventuring long enough to recognize the
taste of approaching
battle. They gathered together closely and watched the
rising sun.

**********

Sylphiel's return to sleep had been partial and, as
the sound of laughter
worked its way from outside, short lived. Seeing that
the sun was rising
anyway she got dressed and walked out into bulk of the
house. Filia
certainly had a large house, though then again she was
a dragon, she'd want a
large dwelling, even if she spent most of her time in
human form.
She found Gourry draped across the floor, sleeping in
his armor, drawn
sword in his hand. He had probably woken up when
Lina's kids started crying,
and then fallen asleep again without putting his sword
in the sheath.
Sylphiel rolled her eyes, walked into the kitchen and
started cooking. She
and Filia were going to remain behind with the three
children, but that
didn't mean she couldn't feel the coming battle, and
cooking would get her
mind off of it. It would also probably wake up Gourry.
In the last couple of days she found that the kitchen
was kept incredibly
well stocked, though that made perfect sense to the
priestess. After all
under this roof lived two dragons and Lina Inverse. Of
course dragons could
thrive without food for days, even when they needed to
eat they could just
swallow dirt or whatever else is at hand and be
perfectly happily. The point
was dragons still preferred to eat vast amounts to
meat and such and Filia's
stores reflected that. And Lina Inverse of course had
an appetite to match
any dragon.
Sylphiel tried to imagine what was like to feed a
pregnant Lina and
shivered. It was a wonder that Filia hadn't been
bankrupted by the effort.
"You know, that smells good," Sylphiel smiled up as
Gourry entered into
the kitchen and sat down at the small table in the
middle of the room. She
put a large bowl of some meaty substance in front of
him. "What's this?" he
asked smelling the thick substance.
"Something I picked up recently, haven't tried it
yet." Sylphiel said.
Gourry spooned a bite into his mouth and decided it
tasted pretty good. He
swallowed ten more heaping spoonfuls before the after
taste hit him. "The
girl who showed me the recipe called it April Fool's
Chili. I think her name
was Discordia"
Gourry's eyes had shrunk to pin pricks and while he
was trying to talk,
nothing was coming out but quiet gasps. The swordsman
stumbled outside to
the water pump and started vigourously pumping out
water into his mouth until
the spice burn cooled down. Then he walked back into
the kitchen and sat
down again still fanning his mouth.
"It's supposed to be pretty hot, so I think you should
eat it fairly
slowly," she checked her various dishes a moment and
decided she had some
time to sit for a little while. She bowled at a little
of that "chili" and
moved to sit across from Gourry, noticed his red sweat
drenched face and
glanced nervously at her bowl of chili. "Gourry, are
you okay?"
"Yeah, I was just very hot for some reason," he
asnwered. Then he looked
at his bowl of chili and looked back at her. "What's
this stuff again?"
"Chili," Sylphiel said, rolling her eyes and using the
short version.
They both looked at their bowls, shrugged and started
eating. Again it took
a while for the aftertaste to hit, and then they were
both rushing for the
water pump.
As both were desperately swallowing water, their lips
met. Both of them
blinked in surprise, and Sylphiel blushed madly. Then
they both moved
forward, really kissing this time under the dwindling
flow of water.
"Oh," they heard a surprised gasp. Sylphiel, blush
returning in full
force, to see Amelia in her night clothes walking
around the corner of the
house with Zelgadis-san. "We're sorry."
"Princess Amelia, I'm surprised," Sylphiel responded.
"It isn't
lady-like to be walking around in your night clothes."
Amelia and Zelgadis
arched an eyebrow.
"And kissing under a water pump in full view of the
road is," Zelgadis
asked.
"Uh, I have to go check the food," Sylphiel responded,
dodging the
answer. She stood up and walked into the house looking
like a soaked, human
tomato. Amelia and Zelgadis turned their glances to
Gourry.
"Excuse me," he said. "I have to go finish my...." he
grasped at the
word, scratching his forehead. "....chili." Then he
went inside as well.
"We should probably be inside too," Zelgadis said, not
specifing the
bed-dressed Amelia.
"I wonder what chili is," Amelia asked as she walked
inside.
"Hot! Hot! HOT!" they both turned and sweatdropped to
see Xellos working
the water pump furiously. It was only a moment later
that Lina came rushing
by, tail swishing madly and ears extended in full
alarm. The were-fox
kneeled next to her mate and greedily swallowed as
much water as she could.
"I'm guessing that everybody is waking up," Zelgadis
said. "Shall we go
have breakfast?" Filia ran by carrying a gasping Val
Garv, Zelgadis and
Amelia had to dodge her whipping tail.
"M..m.m.moovaahh," Filia managed to get out past spice
burned tongue.
Xellos and Lina, spice burn down to a managable level
got out of the way and
settled for fanning their mouths while Filia and Val
Garv cooled their mouths.
"Let's eat slowly," Amelia suggested, finally they
managed to get inside
and walked to the kitchen. They sat down at the table
and stared
suspiciously at the bowls of what looked like a meaty
stew Sylphiel quickly
set in front of them. Looking up they saw Sylphiel
cooking and, most
disconcerting of all, Gourry taking very small bites
of his bowl of chili.
"Uh? Do you want to go first?" Zelgadis asked.
"Not sure, how about you?" Amelia responded. Zelgadis
gulped and took a
small bite.
"Hey, this isn't bad," he said, and spooned out a
larger bite.
"Really," Amelia asked. She took an experimental
taste.
"It doesn't hit you..." Sylphiel turned around to see
Amelia pause in her
normal rate of eating at about the same time Zelgadis
dropped his spoon.
Then both were rushing outside. "...right away."
Sylphiel finished
apologetically.
"What do you make this stuff out of, Sylphiel," Lina
demanded as she and
Xellos came back in and sat warily in front of their
bowls of chili. The
priestess took a glance at the recipe on the counter,
shoved it into
concealment and giggled nervously.

************

"Your highness," Philoniel turned to regard the
herald, an apprentice
probably. "Lady R'Lyeh has been found, she has sent
messages that indicate
her to be about five days ride from here."
"This is excellent news," Philoniel declared. "The
cause of justice will
always be victorious! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
"She's travelling here now with Master Reginald of the
temple of She with
a Thousand Young," the shouted last part of the
message cut off his laughter.
"Any word on my daughter or the other slayers?"
Philoniel asked.
"Lady R'Lyeh sends word that your daughter is still
being held captive by
her old companions and that she alone escaped them."
"I see," he arched an eyebrow and looked to the
captain of his guards
across the room. The soldier nodded understandingly.
"She also wishes for the marriage to take place
immediately upon her
arrival, so that you might," and his voice took on a
quality of dictation.
"confront these traitors of justice with all the force
of your love."
"Good, find the court herald and make arrangements,"
he told the herald.
The boy bowed and left the room to run on his
assignment. "We play their
game for now."
"Why not move against them?"
"There is no proof of wrong doing anywhere," he
answered. "Without proof
it would be unjust to act."
"I understand, your highness" the man bowed. "It
remains in the slayers
hands for now then?"
"For now," he agreed.

*********************************************************************

Private Plans

The man appeared to be a humble monk, merely a minor
follower of what was apparently a young cult. The
thick robes hid a wicked knife and the much-scarred
form of a common thug. His scowling face could be
mistaken for reticence considering his garb, but a
closer look saw that it was more like boredom and
restrained anger.
Over the last two days more and more of these thinnly
vieled thugs were joining the temples numbers. So far
most of them had been kept in out of the way tasks
that made them hard to find, much less observe.
That is, they would have been hard to find if
something like them hadn't been suspected already. As
the cloaked thug doled out stew to the seemingly
unending line of beggars and the poor, at least one of
the bedraggled was casting his glance surreptitiously
about the small complex.
Like the camouflaged thug, under his outer garments
was a fighter's body. This man was a professional
soldier, however. Even in such a peaceful kingdom as
Sailoon one such soldier was more than equal to three
or four of the thugs he had seen so far.
The Temple of She with a Thousand Young was building
up military forces, and quickly. They were planning
something for the prince's wedding day, and probably
the festival. The disguised guardsman nodded his
thanks to the grumbling thug, who was making a
credible attempt at sounding like a charitable, if
silent, worker of good deeds. Then the man handed his
bowl quietly to another of the throng and walked off
to make his report.
Across the way a third party that could, alone, defeat
all of them and more besides, arched one eyebrow,
barely visible under a deep baige hood.

*********

"Hmm," Xellos leaned back against the wall of the old
cathedral he had decided to perch on. He would rather
have stayed behind with Lina to help her with the
twins, but he was the only one of them that could
teleport. So he had to stay until the other mazoku
finally showed his hand.
The fact that the other scout was Zelgadis did not
ease matters. The two had spent the first hour staring
each other down before they finally got to the
business of getting a sense for the lay of the land.
The chimera was watching Regin's temple at the moment,
and Xellos was taking the time to think about the
mazoku's actions.
They had heard that Prince Philoniel was planning on
going through with the wedding as soon as "Lady
R'Lyeh" arrived in town. There was going to be a large
public festival involved. Regin's followers were
supposed to be present in strength to bring relief to
the hunger pains of the needy. Xellos smiled at that
description, but all in all it sounded like a day of
incredibly bright and sunny emotions, not something
most mazoku would want to be involved with.
"Unless," Xellos's back straightened as he realized
something. "Perhaps you could have actually brought
the Old Ones here after all." He smiled viciously,
then stood up and vanished, reappearing in the back
corner of a tavern. Sitting down in the table nearest
him was the rather sullen chimera.
"You're late," Zelgadis noted. "Where've you been?"
"Sore wa himitsu desu," Xellos smiled, he loved doing
that to them. Zelgadis glared at him
"Xellos," the chimera growled.
"I know how Regin is going to open the gate to the Old
Ones," Xellos said. "But they're not here yet."
"How?"
"Mazoku magic, I can handle it," Xellos assured him.
Zelgadis narrowed his eyes and glared and the mazoku,
who merely smiled back. "And what did you find out,
might I ask?"
"Prince Philoniel is not as unaware of the situation
as he seems," Zelgadis answered. "His guardsmen are
watching Reginald's men, and a number of Martina's
bandits have entered town as well."
"Whatever is going to happen is going to happen soon,"
Xellos nodded. "Perhaps I should return to my perch."
"One thing Xellos," the mazoku turned to face the
chmera, curious. "I don't like you."
"This is hardly a news flash."
"Let me finish, I don't like you, but Lina is a
friend. Don't try to take Xelas on by yourself."
Xellos's eyes narrowed as he appraised the chimera.
Then his face returned to its normal cheerful
expression and he laughed.
"Xelas isn't going to be a problem," he assured the
chimera. "Not a problem in the least." The mazoku
laughed quietly before vanishing away.
"He's up to something," Zelgadis grumbled, hoping that
it wouldn't be something they would have to worry
about soon. It would be stupid to take on Xelas now,
the mazoku had to know that.

***********

Regin and Martina rode at the front of the column,
about one third of her ladyship's bandit forces, all
dressed as monks. The thugs were unhappily armed with
easily hidden knives and innocent looking
quarterstaves. Still it was enough for what they had
planned. By the end of the day Martina would come into
power, Regin had promised this to her many times over.
As they topped the hill the city below came into view,
a glittering gem sitting at the bottom of the
downslope. The City of Justice, Martina's lip curled
derisively, the name was more than moderately
hypocritical. While the so-called rulers of the land
did have the best interests in mind, so often their
decrees pietered out after being filtered through
layers upon layers of bureaucracy. Still it was one of
the most respected kingdoms on the continent, and it
was a fitting place for Martina to regain her lost
status. After all wasn't that Saillon brat that
brought the damned Lina Inverse down on her? Yes,
Amelia's kingdom would be Martina's seat of power.
"You have been studying I assume," Master Reginald
asked her.
"Of course," Martina answered. "Though I still think
your exercises are rather silly."
"You will not think so after the ritual."
"You mean the wedding to my one true love?" Martina
asked.
"That is one way to put it," Reginald answered
monotonously. "You will be sure to taunt the prince
before you kill him?"
"I wonder how he'll take the truth," Martina pondered
the coming bloodshed. "I've taken care of Lina, now it
is Sailoon's turn! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"
Regin arched an eyebrow and then whipped to stare at
one of the buildings along Sailoon's skyline. For just
a moment he thought there was something there, and
then nothing. Emotion never showed much on the staid
face of the seemingly plain mazoku, but he was scared.
All five of them were alive and together. He wouldn't
let Regin know it, but that had been the true reason
that he refused to chase them to Inverse's shelter.
The end was coming now, for victory or defeat, but he
was no longer so certain of his victory. The mazoku
glanced irritably to his left, and spotted a large
raven sitting on a tree. If he didn't no better, he
could have sworn the beast was laughing at him.

*************

Xellos appeared again in front of the chimera.
"They're coming," the mazoku said simply.
"Why are we waiting here then?"
"Zelgadis, you're a third demon, correct," the mazoku
asked. Zelgadis arched an eyebrow.
"You know that," he confirmed. 'What game are you
playing Xellos?'
"At some point you'll see a stream of energy running
somewhere," Xellos told him. "Only you and I will see
it out of us."
"Because we're the only ones with mazoku blood,"
Zelgadis said calmly. "And what am I to do about this
energy stream?"
"You've seen the amulet Lina wears?" he asked.
"I recall that it used to hang about your neck."
"That's the one," Xellos said smiling. "Well, keep an
eye on it. It won't be long after the energy stream
appears, that amulet will start to crack. When you see
that I want you to cast a Ra Tilt into the energy
stream, and don't tell Lina about this."
"I need a reason, Xellos."
"Its a matter of my family's..." he paused,
considering the word and the part of him that was
still human after all those centuries enjoyed the
sound of it. "Yes...my family....it is important to
their survival."
"Why, what are you up to?"
"Sore wa himitsu desu," Xellos answered cheerfully,
ignoring Zelgadis's growl. "Remember, when you see the
amulet crack cast the spell, don't wait or you might
have serious problems." Then the annoying mazoku
vanished.

*********************************************************************

Pure Flow

Prince Philoniel stood before the kingdom's high
priest, patiently awaiting the arrival of his bride
and whatever plot the Temple had planned. Surrounding
him were most of the nobles and merchants of the city.
Liberally placed through out the room were guardsmen.
All of them were carefully watching everybody, but
they also seemed to be waiting for someone.
There were, in fact, more guardsmen than were normally
seen in one place at one time. Of course that only
made sense. In addition to the fact that this was a
royal wedding there was the fact that Lady R'Lyeh had
already been kidnapped once already. If any gathering
needed increased protection, it was this one.
Behind the rather irritable high priest, he'd been
called upon with hardly any warning at all, stood the
thrones. One of which had not been displayed in what
the collected nobles thought was far too long a time.
The presence of both royal thrones represented, more
than anything else, the hope they had for this
marriage.
As the nobility and merchant class of Sailoon sat and
waited, the common people and many of the younger
scions of the noble houses were engaged in the quickly
developing festival outside. As luck would have it, or
Regin had planned it, the marriage was falling on the
date of a pre-existing holiday. That combined with the
joy and charity surrounding the royal wedding was
causing the day to rise to almost mass euphoria.
The streets were flooded with people in all manner of
party dress, costumes extravagant and simple. Even the
destitute of the city were getting into the party with
costumes provided by Regin's Temple. It was a constant
stream of colors and people, with the odd bit of magic
thrown in by a minor spellcaster or two to further
liven the day. The illusionary dragons were especially
decorous, emotions were running high.
Considering the overall variety and festive attitude
it was odd that so many people had chosen to dress up
as monks or guardsmen. That was, until you realized
that they were guardsmen and monks. If you were paying
attention enough to notice that, then you would easily
notice that the monks weren't really very monk-like.
And if you noticed that, it was an easy leap from
there to notice that the guards and the monks were
watching each other like hawks.
Nobody much noticed five cloaked figures walking in a
tight line through the crowds. One of the smaller
figures had taken the lead, mostly out of long habit
still not broken by more than a year and a half mostly
on her own.
"I hope this doesn't take long," Lina grumbled from
under her cloak. Grumbling and trying to force her way
through the crowd were currently her only methods of
expressing irritation. For the first time in months,
Lina was in full human form.
"Well some things apparently don't change," Gourry
commented.
"What was that?" Lina snapped.
"We're trying to sneak in," Zelgadis reminded them.
"Not alert the entire city that the slayers are here."
"You could bring a tavern down around its ears and
they wouldn't notice us," Lina commented, stressing
the you almost unconsciously. She didn't generally
think about her lost magic any more, but it still
rested uncomfortably under the surface.
"This my city, I can't believe I'm sneaking into my
own home," Amelia grumbled in mood decently similar to
Lina's.
"Hmm, I wonder if its a female thing," Xellos
commented. The other two guys considered this under
their hoods.
"Xellos, dear."
"What is it Lina-chan?" the mazoku responded
playfully.
"Please be quiet, we're trying to sneak in."
"Don't you even think about agreeing with him," Amelia
snapped at Zelgadis.
"Me agree with Xellos?"
"Okay, silly idea."
"Maybe sometimes." Amelia almost fell to the ground
when the chimera added that last comment. She righted
herself quickly, looked about at the other slayers,
cloaked though they were, and smiled slightly. Gourry
was right, some things didn't change, and she was glad
of that.
"Come on, the passage is this way." Amelia led them
along to one of the few places relatively free of
people. The fact that the palace garbage heap was here
might have had something to do with that.
"Nice place for a secret passage," Zelgadis commented.
"Yeah, who could stand to get close enough to it to
search," Lina agreed.
"I've just completely re-evaluated my impression of
your family, Amelia," Xellos added. Amelia and Gourry
looked and saw that all three of them were near to
tears. Amelia wondered what the place smelled like to
people with enhanced senses of smell, and
sweatdropped.
"Oh, sorry," she said, opening the passage and letting
the three non-humans rush past her and release
strangled breaths.
"What's wrong with them," Gourry asked. "It wasn't
that bad." Lina, Xellos and Zelgadis glared at the
blonde swordsman who just shrugged it off as usual.
As soon as the passage was closed behind them, Lina
shifted again to her preferred form. She was glad in a
way that the armor didn't have scaled breeches, it
would have been difficult to explain why she needed
the armor designed with a hole for a tail.
"Let's not waste time," Zelgadis commented calmly.
"You go on ahead," Xellos said suddenly. "I have to
find something."
"You were the one that insisted all five of us, and
only us, go," Amelia pointed out.
"This is my part to play," Xellos explained. "I have
to keep the gate from opening. To do that I need to
find where it has been prepared." Lina sniffed at the
air and stared at her love. There was a scent there
that she didn't know and didn't trust.
"You're not going to do something stupid, are you?"
she asked cautiously.
"Don't worry about me, I have everything well in
hand," Xellos promised. Lina narrowed her eyes, but
the scent said he was telling the truth.
"Be careful," Lina said, and on impulse she embraced
him quickly.
"I will, you don't have to worry about anything," he
said brushing her ear before fading away into nothing.
Lina stared in confusion at where he had just been in
her arms before turning about.
"Well? Let's get on with this!" she growled. Amelia
blinked and started leading the way through the
passage, Zelgadis lingered, remembering his
conversation with the mazoku.
"What are you up to, Xellos."
"Are you coming stone-boy!"

****************

A somber procession of men in monk's robes moved
through the halls of the palace under the watchful eye
of the city guard. At the group's head was Regin,
still appearing to be a staid, emotionless little man.
Only now people were actually meeting him eye to eye.
His unimpressive appearance wasn't causing him to be
overlooked anymore, too bad for the pathetic humans
they hadn't bothered to pay attention to him earlier.
Most of the humans didn't notice anything about him
that they didn't see before. One or two, however,
recoiled as they met his gaze. The slit pupiled gaze
of a mazoku. Regin would have preferred that they not
suspect anything at all, but he could use this
preparation to his advantage.
Behind the procession, in a position of respect walked
Martina. She hardly seemed now like the maniacal
princess that she was in truth. Martina walked slowly
to the pace of the "monks'" march smiling sweetly
while draped head to toe in flowing, silvery white
silk. Her eyes were narrowed in what was truly
ecstatic anticipation. Regin felt the guardsmen's pity
and concern for her, the innocent girl being used by
these evil men, and laughed inwardly. When the
betrayal came, the Pure Flow would be great indeed.
As they entered into the great throne room Regin
sensed the reverent awe of those humans still unaware
of what was coming. The various guardsmen added spices
of loyalty and conviction to the rather sickening mass
of emotions, with Philoniel's own righteous desire for
justice, and love for his "Lady R'Lyeh", completing
the revolting combination.
The rogue mazoku suffered through it as the ceremony
proceeded ever onward until it came to the culmination
of the ritual. That would be the point where all the
hope and love and expectation of the masses would be
at their highest. That would be the point at which
they would be the least prepared for the strike. That
would make the reversal of emotions as great as
possible. That would....
"In the name of Justice I demand that this wedding
come to an end!" All eyes turned to see Amelia Wil
Tesla Sailoon gesturing down the aisle in front of her
well known companions. Regin's expressionless face
broke into an enraged snarl.
"DO IT NOW!!" The mazoku's magic carried the message
far and way, its volume never dropping from that roar,
fading away only at the edges of the city. Wedding
guests looked from the slayers to Master Reginald in
blank surprise, celebrants in the streets quieted in
confusion, and monks across the city brandished knives
and started randomly attacking anybody in reach, just
as they had been ordered to.
Regin rushed upwards towards the bride and groom.
Philoniel placed himself in front of the on-rushing
mazoku, not noticing that his bride was drawing a
blade of her own. Regin wasn't interested in the
prince however, he batted the huge man aside with a
strength that could only be ascribed to creatures like
chimera and mazoku. Martina stared in open shock and
unbelieving betrayal as her "servant" extended an arm
and blasted a hole through her chest.
Throughout the city in a single instance, hope, joy,
and happiness was suddenly converted into hate, fear,
and despair. The sudden reversal heightened the new
emtions above and beyond what they would have been if
the attack had taken place on any other day. Runes had
been painted and carved in out of the way places by
thugs and monks not really aware of what they were
doing. These runes collected, concentrated and
channeled the force of the collected terror of the
city along a specific route.
Zelgadis's eyes popped open as he saw the faint trails
of energy collecting into one mass stream and leading
away deeper into the palace.
"That's what he was talking about," Zelgadis said,
turning his glance to Lina's amulet. "But what is he
planning." They entered battle trying to fight there
way to the murderous rogue mazoku.

************************

Inside the top of the palace's highest tower, Xellos
watched as the energy collected into a drawn circle of
the guard post, and explode upward through the roof.
Only he, Regin and Zelgadis would have been able to
see what caused the tower's roof to be demolished. All
the humans would see were the shards of stone and wood
raining down on the courtyard below.
"A pure flow," Xellos smiled. "Thank you, Regin." He
stepped up from his seat and walked into it.

*****************************************************************************

Plans Enacted

She drifted through the darkness confused, shocked and
overflowing with unbridled rage. She had been promised
power. She had been promised a kingdom. She had
promised the chance to humiliate hat meddling old man
who whose diplomatic mission had sent the slayers her
way in the first place.
She had not been promised betrayal. She had not been
promised that flash of burning pain. She had not been
promised death. She had certainly not been promised
this endless darkness. That utter and complete
helplessness of her situation magnified her rage
beyond anything it had ever been in life.
In this lightless place her total and complete rage
seemed to have a physical, if indeed this was a place
where physical things existed, presence. She could
have sworn that she felt it rippling outward, and
reflecting back towards what seemed to be her body.
She was not sure how long that she had been floating
in that void before the ripples that returned to her
weren't the heat filled and impotent rage of her own
soul.
These ripples were cold, alien, and considering. There
was one more thing about these ripples that made
Martina's lips curl in smile. These ripples carried
words.

**************

"R'Lyeh!" Philoniel roared out, and attacked the
enraged mazoku. Again Regin was barely concerned at
all with the over-sized wrestler prince. He caught an
incoming fist and tossed Prince Phil across the room
deep somewhere into the battle. It would take a while
for the pest to work his way back to where he could
annoy Regin again, this allowed tha mazoku to turn all
his attention on the approaching slayers.
As he turned to face them and take account of the
forces arrayed against him, his wrath turned suddenly
into tremendous mirth.
"Only four of you!" Regin laughed. "Where is your pet
mazoku, did he take my advice and stay out of this
battle?" He stopped laughing as he heard the clicking
of claws running across marble. Looking down he saw an
enraged Lina Inverse charging towards him, short sword
in hand and tail extended straight behind her almost
horizontal body.
The mazoku hurriedly released a lightning at the
charging were-fox. It was a minor spell of course, but
it also didn't take very long to cast. He was
surprised when the magically produced electricity
merely gathered about the glittering blue scales of
her armor and dissipated into nothing.
The sword slashed into the surprised mazoku's side,
but it wasn't a weapon of power and merely rebounded
off the little "man's" skin."
"Elmekia Lance!" that, however, was a problem.
The Sailoon princess and chimera's linked spell threw
the preoccupied mazoku backwards into the rear wall of
the great room. He stood up and shook his head clear
in time to dodge the blond swordsman's magical blade.
They had done nothing significant to him so far, and
he laughed as he floated above the general battle and
looked at the guardsmen overcoming his thugs and the
slayers moving to attack.

**************

Your master has failed.
That fool is not my master.
The point remains that he has failed, the gate will
not be opened.
I do not know what you are talking about.
Do you wish revenge on the mazoku?
Yes.
And you wish to rule over this world.
Yes, and then to destroy it all in the name of the
monster Zomalgustar.
Not destroy, you will open the gate.
What is this gate.
The gate will not open now, but the world boundaries
will weaken, it is as we have planned.
You planned this?
The stars are not yet right, but this will prepare for
when they are.
You wish to return as our servant?
Yes.

****************

Lina glanced at her sword a moment and sheathed it in
an angry motion before unfastening her sword belt and
letting it fall. The direct attack was not the way she
was going to win this. Regin wasn't paying attention
to her, more concerned with the actions of the other
three slayers.
The were-fox snarled and moved around behind the
mazoku's elevated position. Willing the mazoku to
continue not to see her. She jumped rebounded off the
wall and landed atop the mazoku. Her sword might not
have had power, but her claws did.
Regin cried out in enraged pain and reached back to
grab at the offending were-fox. Lina was gone by the
time his hand reached back. He scanned about, the
swordsmen was taking the fox's idea and looking for
higher ground to come down on the mazoku.
They exchanged blows and spells for a few moments
more, entering into an obvious standoff. Regin snarled
in annoyance, this was going nowhere. Then he noticed
a fluctuation in the pure flow.
He teleported, incidently dodging attacks by both
Gourry and Lina, and reappeared near the exit of the
throne room.
Someone was channelling the pure flow, but that was
impossible. Not only did he doubt any other mazoku
would be willing to take that risk, he didn't know of
any other mazoku in the....
"Xellos!?!"
"Whatever Xellos is doing, its got his attention."
Lina shouted, running across the room. "Get him!"
"Excuse me, I'd love to continue this fight," Regin
said in his characteristic monotone. "But I have to
see an old friend." The mazoku vanished again.
"I think I can find him," Zel said. "Let's go."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Are you forgetting
someone?"
"R'Lyeh? You're alive? I thought he had killed you my
love," Philoniel halted his happy rush as "Lady
R'Lyeh" turned a sadistic looking smile at him and
rose off the ground.
"What a foolish man," she snapped. "I never loved you,
fool, you were just a tool, don't you get it?
HAHAHAHAHA!!!" Her ruined wedding gown vanished to be
replaced by her normal mode of dress in a flash.
Philoniel looked on aghast as he finally recognized
Martina. The slayers stood unsure of what to do, leave
this new Martina behind or chase after the other
mazoku.
"You fooled me," Philoniel realized. "I'll not allow
my kingdom to fall to hands such as yours! Treacherous
witch."
"Father don't!" Amelia yelled as she watched her
father charge the hysterical newborn mazoku. Martina
extended a hand outward languidly, drunk on her new
power, and a burst of power incinirated the large man
as he attacked. "No you damn, Mazoku! Elmekia Lance!!"
Her spell was echoed from behind her by Zelgadis and
the twin spells barely missed the shocked Martina. At
least it shook her new found confidence.
"Well, I guess I shouldn't get too confident then
should I," Martina mused from where she had appeared
from her hasty teleport. "Hello there, Lina, enjoying
your new life?"
"Mazoku can die, Martina?" Lina growled, getting ready
to attack this younger weaker mazoku. She started to
rush forward seeing Gourry do the same, and then she
heard something cracking.
Heard it and felt it, as the warmth emanating from the
amulet Xellos had given her fluctuated briefly. She
halted and held up the amulet in her hand, it was
cracking slowly but surely. She could see the lines
radiating outwards.
"XELLOS!!!" she yelled turning around running out the
room, not sure how she was going find him, but knowing
she had to.
Zelgadis noted the were-fox's flight and nodded
grimmly, thinking he knew what just happened.
"Ra Tilt!" he shouted, casting the spell into the
stream of energy. The spell entered and flowed along
it. The stream may have been invisible to human and
lycanthrope eyes, but the Ra Tilt flowed along visible
to all, oblitering the pure flow as it went and
gaining in power.
Lina stopped and shielded her eyes as the channeled
flow of astral destruction flowed past her. She turned
and met Zelgadis's eyes in stunned shock, before
racing after the flowing magic.
Martina looked on and smiled, she was already well on
her way to defeat with only Amelia and Gourry to deal
with, but she had accomplished all she needed to do
for now.
"Well, I don't think I should stay any longer either,"
Martina declared suddenly. "I'll see you again
sometime! Ta Ta!!" The new mazoku vanished and didn't
reappear.
"Where's Lina going?" Gourry asked.
"She's going to find Xellos," Zelgadis said simply, he
turned to face Amelia and saw that she was working to
keep her tears in check. The eyes said it, there was
still another mazoku, much more powerful than the
fledgling Martina, to deal with. She could cry later.
"Come on, they'll need help and there's been enough
injustice today," Amelia said running after Lina's
path.

***********************************************************************

Xellos's Gambit

The moment he stepped into the flow he was flooded
with power. Xellos gritted his teeth in an effort to
resist merely being ripped away in the flow. He hadn't
felt near this level power in all his existence as a
Mazoku. For a long time now he hadn't been surrounded
by enough pain, terror and rage to come even close to
filling his reserves of power. Now he was going above
and beyond what he had thought was his maximum level
of power, and it still wasn't stopping
Xellos turned stiffly to the outer wall and further
demolished the tower top, leaving the doorway behind
him intact. It was a pathetically minor thing to do
with all this power, but he needed to buy some time.
He needed to slow down the rate at which power was
filling him. The mazoku priest overlooked the city
below with vision enhanced sharply by the pure flow
filling him, and the faint twinge of burning pain that
he was only just now beginning to register.
Extended his hand outward he picked out a thug here
and thug there, and raining death upon him from his
position. He didn't particularly care who he killed,
beyond the fact that these were the servants of his
enemy, but Lina would care. To further dissipate power
he filled the room about him with a rather harmless
light show that further terrified the people below.
Battle mostly ceased as everyone merely tried to run
from the monster on the tower, not noticing that only
the traitor monks were being targetted. This terror
entered the pure flow like every other negative
emotion, Xellos felt the surge moments later. This
wasn't slowing things down enough, that twinge of pain
was becoming more noticeable now. Every joint and
muscle seemed to hot and stiff, sweat was breaking out
in rivelets running down his face.
"He's not here yet," mumbled. "I need more time." The
mazoku circled his arms in, gathering power, and then
thrusting his staff upwards. A blast of black red
energy erupted into the sky harmlessly flying into the
space beyond the world. The power it took to produce
even that eruption of power was quickly refilled.
Xellos leaned on his staff, he didn't know how much
longer he could continue this. If Zelgadis fulfilled
his part in the plan and he was stubbornly trying to
buy more time for Regin to arrive then nothing would
be accomplished but his death. That last display had
slowed down the building pain, even alleivated it
some, but it was coming back. He had to do it now,
before the pain was too thick for him to think
clearly.
Xellos stood calmly in the center of the pure flow and
tapped his staff twice on the hard stone beneath him.
Then space around him began to warp, the sensation was
easily recognizeable. For the barest instant, two
places would become one and then split again leaving
the teleporter in a new place entirely. Only this time
the instant was slow in coming and it wasn't leaving.
Regin appeared suddenly in the hall outside the
doorway.
"I never thought of you as one for self-sacrifice,"
the rogue smiled as he walked into the demolished
tower top. He noticed the warping effect immediately
and realized that his enemy's full power was
concentrated on shaping it, for whatever reason.
"You're...late," Xellos wheezed. He let slip his
effort to merge the other location into this one and
dropped a circular wall of force around him and the
rogue mazoku. He almost lost the merger, but recovered
in time to keep the effect building.
"And just what do you plan to do with all that power,"
Regin asked glancing amusedly at the force wall. He
knew there was nothing he could do to Xellos at the
moment, too much power flowed around him, but he
didn't need to anyway.
"Sore...wa...hi..mitsu...desu," Xellos managed
something like his normal cheerful smile as the
spacial warping solidified into Xelas's throne room.
He was there, he was in the circle at the top of the
tower. The two places were now one. Behind him was the
remainder of the tower top's wall and the entryway
beyond, all else was Wolf Pack island, it was a
bizarre merging.
"What is the meaning of this, Xellos?" Xelas asked
irritably. Xellos wasn't fooled, the Beastmaster
recognized the pure flow. She knew her general well
enough to know that he wouldn't go through all this if
there wasn't a plan somewhere. She had already tried
to teleport out of her throne room, and failed. Xellos
had locked them in.
She was afraid, and Xellos could feel it. He could
feel it twice over in fact, his master's fear had been
sucked into the pure flow in a particularly painful
surge. Regin didn't seem to understand though, he was
just enraged and irritated. All he could see was
Xellos wasting energy that he had planned to use for
breaking the walls seperating this dimension from the
old ones' prison.
"I...promised....that we'd....discuss....Lina
again..." Xellos answered through gritted teeth. "I
won't...get...another chance." He laughed wearily,
this was taking tremendous effort, and keeping his
power reserves relatively low. Still the old saying
held true, half a dozen of one or six of the other,
the result is the same. Not only could he exhaust
himself utterly this way, he was still being filled
despite how much power he was using.
"And you think burning yourself away and making me
watch is going to accomplish something?" Xelas asked.
"You think I'll be happy that she inspired further
disobediance?"
"Problems at work, Xellos?" Regin asked quietly, Xelas
glared at him, but she couldn't do anything. Regin
wasn't all there, caught on the edges of Xellos's
place merging. He couldn't leave, but the amount of
power it would take to do anything significant would
be tremendous.
"You....know better...." Xellos suddenly closed his
eyes and slipped down the staff to his knees. "It
shouldn't...take...much longer." He laughed again,
still obviously in pain.
"Stop this now, Xellos!" Xelas demanded. "If you stop
now, I'll spare your little pet's life!"
"Lina's...nobody's pet," he spit the last word. "It
won't...take long...now."
"Oh what are you going to do?" Regin asked. "You've
got nearly limitless power, but you're already at the
limit of how much you can do at one time."
"So..re...wa...himit...su desu," Xellos smiled. He was
breathing heavily, and again that burning pain was
filling his body.
"XELLOS!!!" the named mazoku's smile ended as he heard
Lina's voice. He struggled to his feet and turned
around watching the approaching light of Zelgadis's Ra
Tilt. Regin and Xelas saw it two, Regin was suddenly
afraid and trying to break out of the fringe of
non-being bordering the Sailoon palace and Wolf Pack
Island. From Xelas, there was a kind of angry
resignation as the building spell came closer.
"LINA, DON'T COME IN!!!" Xelas smiled then from her
throne, there might be a way out after all.
"What's it going to be Xellos?" she asked. "Kill me or
save your little human lover, if you even have the
strength to do that."
Xellos gritted his teeth considering, the Ra Tilt
would follow the pure flow and open the barriers
temporarily, and Lina would follow behind. She would
be here when it finally struck the circle he was
standing in. That could not be allowed to happen.
Xellos pushed himself further, unaware until now that
he could channel so much power. He didn't plan on
living either way, so the pain didn't matter, only
keeping Xelas trapped here long enough for that Ra
Tilt to rip through the astral side of Wolf Pack
Island.
Xelas growled as she felt the bonds of the merger
reconnect from Xellos to the pure flow itself.
"No! Xellos, stop this now!!" she stood up and blasted
an stream of energy at her traitorous servant. It
merely swirled away, sucked into the pure flow about
him, she had known that would happen, but she was
desperate. "Stop now and I swear by L-sama that
nothing will happen to your family! I swear it!!"
Xellos tumbled from the pure flow to the floor, he had
succeeded. The merging of places and the lock in
depended on the flow rather than him now. Xelas saw
this and fired several more energy bolts at his prone
form, all swirling into the pure flow. Xellos climbed
up his staff onto his feet as the Ra Tilt finally
rounded the corner as a bloated crackling stream of
killing power.
It ripped through the region of non-being with Lina
rounding the hallway corner just behind it. Xelas
roared in impotent fury as she saw her betrayer dive
into and through the Ra Tilt spell. If the pure flow
hadn't taken him beyond the point of survival this was
sure to, but Xelas didn't consider that. She only saw
her general pushing the charging were-fox back as the
Ra Tilt ended in the pure flow circle.
"NOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed as the boundless
energy within exploded outwards in uncontained fury.
Xellos's merger died as the flow exploded, releasing
Regin from his private prison as a fringe of the
greater effect slammed into him and the two slayers.
Compared to the fury no doubt tearing through Wolf
Pack island, this was nothing. Regin felt his astral
side ripped from all the directions as he was thrown
against the remains of the wall.
It didn't even last a full second, the merger ended
and suddenly those still in Sailoon were spared the
destruction. All three remained still and unmoving for
a long moment, before any of them began to stir.

************************************************************************

Prophecy Fulfilled

Zelgadis and Amelia felt a ripple in the weave of
magic, and paused to look out a window. There was
nothing to see, whatever had happened had taken place
beyond the horizon. Gourry past the two wary
spellcasters disappearing around a bend in
"What was that?" Amelia asked as they started running
again. It had taken only one look out a window to
realize where Xellos and Lina probably were. "Gourry,
wait up! How are you going to find the tower?"
"I don't know what that was," Zelgadis admitted. "It
was big, very big."

***************

The first thing Lina was aware of as she blinked back
into the waking world was a weight settled atop of
her. Her senses were still confused, and she replayed
what had happened while blinking her eyes and clearing
her nasal passages. She had been chasing Zelgadis's Ra
Tilt, then she came up into what looked like another
throne room, Xellos jumping out of the Ra Tilt's tail
and pushing her back. Her eyes snapped open wide as
memory and her nose identified what...who was on top
of her.
"Xellos?" She sat up, lifting the mazoku as she did.
The mazoku didn't respond, he merely limply let Lina
settle him to the ground gently. Lina fearfully noted
the sweat streaked face and shallow breathing.
"Hold on," she said half-hysterically. She didn't
think he was awake, but she needed to say something.
"Just hold on, I'll go find Amelia, it'll be fine."
The were-fox started to stand letting him down gently.
She had forgotten about Regin.
Lina stood up and started running towards the downward
stairs, when suddenly she was suddenly moving much
faster than she had intended. She slammed into the
wall outside the demolished room and then dropped to
the ground trying to draw back in her breath.
"He's not dying first!" Regin shouted at the prone
were-fox. He punched downward with a energy shrouded
fist. Lina snapped up well before the mazoku's blow
landed.
"Why didn't you just throw me off the tower?" she
asked, noting that Regin didn't appear in very good
shape. The astral explosion left no physical marks,
but he smelled hurt and he was weaving dizzily.
"Don't insult my intelligence, the fall wouldn't kill
you," he gathered energy and released it. Lina dodged
again, and then charged to attack. Her opponent
released a blast much quicker this time and Lina only
barely dodged. The blast grazed her side, heating the
behir scales before continuing on into the wall. Her
armor may have spared her the blast's touch, but the
impact still threw her off balance. This time she did
go over the side, and catching the lip of the
devestated tower room as she past it.
"So why didn't you just fall?" Regin mocked as he
looked down at her.
"And leave you up here with my Xellos?" she snarled.
"You don't have to worry about him," Regin told her.
"If he's the first to die, the prophecy is fulfilled
and I'm doomed." He leaned over and held his palm in
her face where she could watch it gathering power.
"Xellos ISN'T dying," Lina snapped. Regin smiled and
then his eyes flew open in astonished surprise as he
flew over and past Lina into the open air. She climbed
up to the tower room and saw Xellos pointing out with
his staff and leaning heavily on one arm.
"Get away from her," he muttered before his arm gave
way and he fell limply again. Lina rushed forward and
set Xellos to lie on his back against the wall, he
settled with a trembling sigh.
Beyond Regin had gotten control of his descent and
swooped about rising slowly back to the tower.
"Xellos, don't worry, I'll get you to Amelia," she
picked up the half-conscious mazoku supporting him on
her shoulder and heading downstairs. "She'll heal you.
Everything will be fine."
"Lina....stop," Xellos whispered.
"There's no where to run, Inverse!" Regin roared
behind them.
"No, we have to get you to Amelia," Lina ignored the
other mazoku.
"Amelia...can't help," Xellos gasped, he wasn't
helping in their flight at all, Lina wasn't certain
that he could. She almost screamed for joy when she
saw Gourry coming up from below.
"Lina, Xellos, down!" the swordsman yelled, the
were-fox obliged and Gourry leaped over the pair of
them to intercept the enraged mazoku behind them. He
slashed out and took a hand as Regin rose them up in
instinctual defense.
"I don't care! Any of you is as good as the rest, just
as long as that fool doesn't dies first." He lashed
out with his remaining hand and missed the ducking
swordsman cleanly. Then Lina and Xellos passed around
a turn and they could only hear the battle.
"Even...even if she could heal...ma..zoku," Xellos
said. "There's....not enough ....left to heal." They
hit a landing and Lina could hear and smell Amelia
coming up along with Him.
"She's coming, Xellos," Lina ignored him, and sat down
at the landing, cradling his head in her lap. "It'll
be fine, she's coming." She frantically brushed the
sweat matted bangs from his face and rocked him
gently.
"It's...no use...." Lina leaned over him and wept.
"Why?" she asked through sobs. She faintly registered
the fact that the battle was getting closer. Xellos
smiled, his normal cheerful expression still strong on
his face, and reached up to brush one of her
black-furred ears, as he had done so often in the
recent past. The mazoku answered her question, and
though anybody else would have heard "Sore wa himitsu
desu," Lina recognized the words "because I love you."
Then Xellos's eyes, open for this last moment, glazed
over and the his hand dropped to ground below.
"NOOO!!!!!!!!!!!" Lina screamed as the amulet around
her neck finally shattered completely. The remains
slid off her neck as she desperately rocked the
cooling form she held in her arms. "YOU'RE NOT GOING
TO DIE!!! AMELIA!! AMELIA HELP!!!" Amelia and Him
rounded the corner to see this and halted again.
"He needs to be healed, Amelia, he needs to be
healed." Amelia leaned down and saw the sightless eyes
and the lack of breath.
"He's dead, Lina."
"Then he needs to be ressurrected."
"He's mazoku, it can't be done." Lina snapped a glare
up at the chimera.
"This is your fault! It was your spell!" Regin and
Gourry appeared above her and she whipped around to
look at them. The swordsman was holding his ground
well considering the power of even this severely
wounded mazoku.
Lina set Xellos's body gently to the ground and stood
up. She released the straps on her armor, letting it
clatter to the ground around her. She snarled at
Zelgadis once before charging up the stairs.
If she could hold this form in the day, why not
another. Why couldn't she take the form of something
bigger, stronger.. Something more given to the wild
vengence she wanted to take on the true architect of
all of this. Zelgadis and Amelia watched amazed as
Lina grew and shifted into the Fourth Aspect.
The mazoku finally managed to blast Gourry away, and
the swordsman landed in a pained pile on the landing
below. He found an enraged lycanthrope in his path and
tried to back away. A clawed hand whipped down and
across his abdomen, widening a slim cut obviously
given by Gourry's blast blade. He tried to conjure
enough energy to teleport and failed, suffering for
the failure by the loss of leg to the lycanthrope's
jaws.
Amelia rose from checking Gourry and ascertaining that
he was more or less okay, he just had to clear his
head a little. Then she walked forward.
"Come on," she shouted to Zelgadis, who was staring at
Xellos's body.
"There's nothing that can be done?" he asked
guilt-filled.
"Not for him, but we can kill Reginald," Amelia
reminded him, trying to pull him back to the situation
at hand. Zelgadis nodded grimmly and looked up at the
one-sided battle between exhausted mazoku and enraged
were-fox.
"Elmekia Lance!!" both shouted together, and let fly
twin streaks of power that struck Regin full in the
chest, blowing him upward.
"I can't fail!!!" he shouted as Lina pounced on him
and ripped the mazoku's head off. Lina whirled and
snarled at the chimera below, enraged at him. She
glanced at Amelia once and then let go of the Fourth
Aspect.
"Its over," Lina said wearily. Then she glared at
Zelgadis.

=====
"Caffeinated Kender? What's that, a berserk spell?" -
Tribble, Kender Warrior of the Celestial Kingdom
"God has to have a sense of humor, it's the only explanation for sex." - my father
"I have to write a how-to paper for class, so I'm writing a paper on how to be psuedo-evil." - my brother

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