The Legend of Inverse

Chapter: 1

Legend's Rebirth

Time for the sequel to Smiling Jack.

A/N: Been having a few inspiration issues and to top it off been too caught up in watching Code Geass...you'll have to forgive me for the long break.

The town of Pine Grove was small. Pine Grove was just another little town enveloped in the mystique of the false idea that nothing wrong could happen to anyone that lived here. Nothing bad happened here, it was the perfect place to live, and raise a family. From the lackadaisical farms on the outskirts of the town to the slow paced downtown this town was not the epicenter of happening. Everyone in this quaint little town knew each other and knew of all the events that went on from day to day. It was no surprise then that the whole town knew that there was a stranger in their midst as soon as the black SUV hit the town limit.

The black vehicle rolled down the street slowly towards the diner known as Thelma's. Its windows were tinted thus leaving the town in mystery about the identity of the driver. The vehicle finally parked in the diner parking lot before it the engine stopped and the door opened. From the driver's door came a young woman of no older than twenty-three with a petite body and bright red hair. Her hair seemed to be the only thing colorful about the young woman because she was decked out, head to toe, in black. Her t-shirt was black and was complimented with a black, leather skirt. She wore black, leather, knuckle gloves over her hands and her eyes were kept from the world by a pair of sunglasses. The black boots on her feet were made of worn leather that seemed to have been beat up or had been worn for many years. The woman moved towards the dinner with a lethargic stride as if she did not care what was happening around her. 'Another town, another place I can never live,' she thought as she entered the dinner.

As she entered the commotion of the dinner stopped as the town's members that populated the restaurant stopped to look at this stranger. As she entered the dinner she removed her sunglasses to reveal bright, blood-red eyes. The bags under her eyes conveyed the sense that she was tired and worn, but her eyes let off a feeling of a wild animal. Her eyes seemed wild, as if constantly shifting in paranoia about the other people in the dinner. She moved to a booth on the far end before sitting down and waiting. After a few minutes of observing the stranger the townsfolk went back to their business. It was not there problem and the stranger would more than likely head on after eating. After a few more minutes a waitress approached the woman before asking, "What will you be having?"

The woman pointed at a few items on the menu before saying, "Double the amount and I'd like a coffee...black."

To say the least the waitress was in shock that such a petite woman could think that she could eat so much. The waitress quickly retreated to place the order. After a moment the waitress delivered the coffee before quickly moving away from the stranger. The woman sighed before thinking, 'Well, at least she gave me my coffee before running off.'

She looked into the black recess of the coffee while thinking on her life so far. 'To think I had a nice life ahead of me. I was a teacher in a nice community and all that was destroyed in one night,' she thought before taking a sip of the coffee.

As she savored the taste of the coffee she heard in the back of her mind, 'You should have had a better taste in houses then.'

She snarled for all to hear before saying in her mind, 'It was not my fault that it was dirt cheap...and not to mention I have a feeling Xellos had that part planned out too. One of these days I'm going to find something you care about.'

The other voice was silent to her mental rant. She looked around the dinner to see some people staring. She paid them no attention as she waited for her contact. She had come to this green acres want to be town for a reason. She had been contacted to take care of a problem and she was not happy that the client was running late. After another few minutes a young man approached her table before asking, "Are you Lina Inverse?"

She looked at him before saying, "That's me."

The young man in front of her looked to be about twenty with blue eyes and brown hair. He was a little taller than Lina with the same slender build. He looked at Lina before saying, "I'm glad you are here. We have a problem that only someone of your...expertise can take."

Lina smirked before saying, "Well, what am I up against here?"

The young man looked around before saying, "I can't discuss it here. Just let me pay for you meal and then we'll talk once we are back at my family's home."

Lina smiled as the first bit of her order came to the table. "I'll take you up on that," she said before joking, "Hope you're rich."

"Well, I guess his family is rich," Lina thought as she drove into the driveway of a large mansion. The front yard was precisely kept and a beautiful shade of green to the point of almost looking blue. Towards the front of the house was a fountain that greeted all visitors to the place. As Lina parked her black SUV in front of the mansion she took another look for good measure. It was a large victorian home with two levels. Lina got out of the vehicle and walked towards the front doors. "Some place you've got here," Lina replied as her employer joined her.

Gordon, as Lina had learned was the name of her employer, shrugged before replying, "You get used to it."

Lina followed Gordon inside and to a large study. Lina sat down in a large lounge chair and waited as Gordon went to fetch his father. Lina looked around the study to see many books on the shelves. She smirked as she thought, 'You know I had a nice house like this once...but someone had to ruin it.'

Lina just sat with no response to her mental jab before sighing and letting out, "You're no fun at all."

"Who's no fun," came a female voice from the other side of the room.

Lina turned quickly and went for her gun, forgetting that she was not armed, and grabbed nothing but air. Standing in front of Lina was a young woman that looked to be a little older than Lina. Lina relaxed before saying, "Oh, you must be a member of the family."

The woman shook her head and said, "No, I'm here for the same reason you are."

Lina cocked an eyebrow at the woman as she took her new rival in full. The woman was about the same height as Lina with long blonde hair and sapphire, blue eyes. She was dressed in a white suit with a long, flowing, white robe over the whole thing. The robe was white with gold embroidery around the neck and sleeves that made a great contrast over the white cloth it was on. The woman wore a gold cross over her chest and seemed to be one of great faith. After Lina finished she smirked before saying, "So I have a rival."

The woman nodded before saying, "And, I've finally met Lina Inverse the famed supernatural hunter. Though I do have one question...why is your name in the underground Mrs. Lovett?"

Lina smirked before saying, "Well, there are two answers. The first, because I was found in a costume dressed as Mrs. Lovett when I began this career. The second, because Mrs. Lovett, some would say, was the true control behind the demon barber...and I have a few parallels in that area."

The woman looked confused at the second answer before shaking it off and saying, "Well, I'm Filia Ul Copt. Though we are rivals at the moment it is nice to meet you Lina or should I say Mrs. Lovett."

Lina's eyes widened a bit before replying, "So you are the fabled White Lady...and here I thought you were a bit of a legend."

Filia smirked before saying, "Nope. I'm a real person...We both have gathered grand stories around us and our careers. My family comes from a long line of hunters but you are new to the game...what started you on this path?"

Lina looked at Filia before smirking and saying, "I don't think you want to know."

Filia looked at the young girl before saying, "You have to have a reason and, "before walking forward," No one just becomes a hunter for no reason."

Lina stood up and stared down the woman. She smirked, an action that seemed to carry a hint of wildness about it, before replying, "I stared into madness and survived...We'll leave it at that."

Filia was about to reply but Lina turned on her heel and walked out saying, "When Gordon comes back tell him I'm in the garden."

Lina sat on a granite bench outside the house. The bench was situated in the middle of a well groomed flower garden behind the house. 'Jeez, she's a nosy one,' Lina thought as she kicked here feet back and forth in a small fit of childishness.

A laugh came from her mind before the very male voice replied, 'Don't want another hunter to figure you out.'

Lina clenched her teeth before sending back, 'Now you pipe up. You always wait until I'm in the worst moods.'

There was a small chuckle before he replied, 'Of course what fun would it be if I didn't choose the best times?'

Lina ground her teeth to keep herself from screaming out loud at the man in her head. She had become a recluse because of what she was holding back from the world. The only way she kept herself from turning into something like Zelgadis she became a hunter of all things supernatural. 'Hunt down something not human, kill it anyway possible, and then move on to the next problem…it's worked well so far,' Lina thought to herself.

'So far…but how long until you begin to get restless? How long until you are to the point that all you want is to hunt and it doesn't matter what it is as long as it is alive,' came the male voice again.

Lina sighed as she heard the argument and thought, 'If it gets to that point then I'll make sure to make an appointment to eat a bullet.'

The other voice paused for a second before replying, 'Tisk, Tisk…I was thought you would be more fun than that. You disappoint me.'

"Well, sorry but I'm not all of us feel great when it comes to the idea of being mass murderers," Lina huffed out loud.

"Miss Inverse who are you talking to," came the voice of Gordon from behind her.

Lina spun before smiling and saying, "Oh…no one…just myself."

Gordon cocked an eye at the strange hunter before shrugging, "My father is ready to speak with you and Miss Ul Copt."

Lina stood up before looping her arm around Gordon's and saying, "Well, lead the way."

Gordon escorted Lina towards the main study as she finished the fight in her head, 'Like I was saying I would rather die than become like you.'

From somewhere within Lina's mind came a laugh and the voice of Zelgadis replied, 'We shall see…We shall see.'

Disclaimer: Any characters or ideas from The Slayers do not belong to me. I am not selling this material, just writing for the heck of it as I go.

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