A/N: Hey, everyone! Thanks to those who follow and those who review. Here's chapter 2 of The Path of Destruction!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers, though this is an AU.

Chapter 02: The Office of Doom

Lina continues to stare at Zelgadis even as he turns away and gets out of the car.

How did he know that? she wonders silently. And where did that last remark come from? He's only known me for a day...heck, even less! But yet...She shakes her head and unbuckles her seat belt, following his example in getting out of the car and entering the house.

"So, Zelgadis," she starts to say, "how long have you lived here?"

"All my life," comes his reply.

"Really? Where are your parents?"

Zelgadis flinches and remains silent. Lina's eyes widen as she whispers, "Zelgadis...they didn't...abandon you, did they?"

Silence.

"I'm so sorry; I shouldn't have asked."

He glances at her for just a second, his expression stoic. "So you wanted to see why all the teachers seem so afraid?" It's more of a statement than a question, but Lina nods.

Zelgadis slowly reaches a hand up to his hood, hesitating for a split second before pulling it and his scarf down in one movement.

Lina stares at him for a few moments, taking in his appearance. His hair is spiked and blue, but that isn't the surprising part. He has small, dark grey stones under and above his eyes, at the edges of his jaw, and on his chin. His skin is pale blue, almost periwinkle, and Lina now notices that his eyes are peculiarly diamond-shaped, inhuman.

"I know I'm a freak, but do you have to stare that long?"

In the silence after his question, Lina realizes that she took almost five minutes staring at him. She then says calmly, "You're not a freak. I think you look cool, just...different."

"'Different' is an understatement," he growls quietly, anger flashing in his eyes as he clenches his fists. As he calms down, Zelgadis sighs and says, "Go pick a room. There should be three, and they're all color-themed. Mine is the one with the closed door. Stay out of it."

Lina nods and walks quietly away.


After picking a room with distinct red colors ranging from blazing crimson to an almost-but-not-quite-pink, Lina sits on the bed and boots up her laptop. She logs on and goes onto the Internet to sign into her e-mail account.

Lina puts on her glasses and begins to type.

'Today was a rather strange day. I'm staying in someone's house while I'm looking for my own apartment. His name is Zelgadis. Zelgadis' house isn't too bad; it's small and cozy, great for one or two people. I can tell that he knows how to cook just from the smell of dinner coming from the kitchen. It smells like pasta or something. But he's really strange, like he thinks that no one will accept him for who he really is. His life so far seems pretty sad. Apparently, his parents abandoned him two years ago, and he...well, I'm just saying that he really needs someone in his life to cheer him up, and I'm going to help him with that.

I miss you, Mom, but I have a feeling Zelgadis needs me more than I need you.

Love, Lina.'

Lina clicks 'Send' and sits there for a second, waiting for a reply and checking the clock. It's almost 6:30. Just as the redhead is about to close her laptop and head over to the kitchen, her page reloads and shows that she got a reply from her mom.

'Lina, I'm glad to hear from you already. Please show Zelgadis that he needs to open up his eyes to right now, not the past. I'm sorry to hear about him, but I'm also happy that you found an opportunity to help someone.

Miss you too, Mom.'

Lina didn't expect a reply. Her mother has never replied to any of her e-mails since she left almost a month ago, falling asleep on train cars and planes in her path across the country. Lina smiles slightly and logs off, heading into the kitchen.


After dinner, Zelgadis heads off down the hall into his own room. He collapses onto the bed, as a teenager generally would after a long day, and mutters, "She'll eat me out of house and home."

To his dismay, he has discovered that Lina can eat a truckload of food without even getting full.

"Lucky for me, I stocked up on extra supplies just in case Gourry showed up, but now I'll need to double it," Zelgadis sighs. "At least there was a decent amount of money in my bank account. I'll just have to..."

No. He cuts himself off with a gasp. I can't believe I was even considering I could borrow from...no!

Zelgadis sits up and shakes his head numbly. "I can't. Not after what he did. I can't even consider borrowing from that...that wicked viper!"

He stands back up and begins pacing, unconsciously resting his thumb on his chin as he does so.

"Whatever the case, I need to look into Lina. Her aura..." Zelgadis shakes his head slightly. "It commands power. It is power. She must not know yet, but whatever the case, it's dangerous to go around with so much power. I wonder why no one has noticed until now? Surely Xellos would have been following her around wherever she went. I'm certain that he and Filia are involved in this somehow..." He exits his room and heads down to his library. All of his computers and books are there, and he should be able to find something about her.

A webpage shows up just as he finishes typing her name, but...

Wikipedia?

Zelgadis reads aloud. "'Lina Inverse is the daughter of Joseph and Josephine Inverse...' Well, that's ironic. '...She is well known for having a fiery temper. Most people have insisted that she's a sorceress and even uploaded videos with special effects to try to convince people. Lina has a single sister named Luna, who is a waitress at the Inverse Restaurant, where her family works alone. The restaurant is rated five stars by even Rezo...'" Zelgadis cuts off for a few seconds as he hears Lina calling his name from...the living room.

Okay, good. Not from the hallway. Zelgadis heads upstairs and into the living room, not bothering to close his page. "What is it, Lina?


"What are we going to do?"

"We'll wait, Xellos. We can't let the other side win."

"Of course."


The next morning, as Zelgadis pulls into his parking space with a sleepy Lina in the passenger's seat, the redhead glances around and blinks her eyes open, becoming alert. The first thing she notices is the large crowd of girls just inside the glass doors.

"Hey, what's that all about?" she asks.

"You got here just in time for the Valentine's Day dance," Zelgadis says. "This year, for once, the girls ask the guys."

"Have you ever gone with anyone?"

"No."

Zelgadis gets out of the car and walks casually into the school building. Lina stares at him for a second before following suit.


Lina stalks up to Filia that day, glowing crimson in anger.

"Filia."

The blonde looks up and disappears to the other side of the room, sticking Xellos in front of her. "Y-yes, Lina?" she stutters.

"You were spreading more rumors?" the redhead assumes in a deadly calm voice.

Filia glances from side to side before pointing to Amelia, who's throwing her lunch away and starting to exit the lunch room. "It was her, Lina! Amelia did it!"

"Lina, it was Filia," Amelia says cheerfully, undaunted by the furious redhead.

Lina points her glare back at Filia and suddenly yells, "WHAT'S WRONG IN THAT PRETTY LITTLE HEAD OF YOURS? ZELGADIS AND I ARE NOT DATING!"

Filia giggles, "You really think I'm pretty?" oblivious to the rest of it until her brain adjusts. "L-Lina, I swear, I didn't mean any harm! I owed Xellos a favor—"

"I don't care! Do you have any idea how DEAD you are right now? Wait, you owed Xellos something?"

"Y-yeah."

Lina turns her flaming glare to the purple-haired meat shield.

"Xellos," she growls, suddenly deadly calm again, "you're a dead man."


After multiple punches, a kick where the sun don't shine, a cannonball to the face, and repeated Fireballs, Lina starts to calm down, and Xellos is sent, twitching, to the nearest hospital.

Filia, Amelia, and Sylphiel crowd in Lina's shadow, Filia with a pen and paper.

"Wow, Lina," Amelia exclaims. "You got a new record! Filia has only ever sent Xellos to the emergency room, and she has a mace!"

"Well, I have a cannon and a bazooka," Lina brags haughtily, pointing towards her Weapons of Doom.

Their eyes shine with stars...until the intercom comes on.

"Lina Inverse, please report to the principal's office. I repeat, Lina Inverse, please report to the principal's office."

The entire school is now staring at Lina and making 'ward evil' signs.

"Um, Filia? What's so bad about being called to the office?" she asks in a small voice.

Sylphiel takes Lina's hand and leads her out of the cafeteria. "Lina, there have been a total of seven kids called to the office. One of them was an exchange student from Taforashia. He was the president's son, Pokota, and Amelia's boyfriend. None of those seven kids were ever seen again."

Lina stares uneasily at the looming door before her as Sylphiel stops next to it. "We'll miss you, Lina," she says, flashing a peace sign and running back to the cafeteria.

The redhead glances from the retreating figure to the huge door and finally sighs, opening it to reveal a pitch black room with a very evil-looking secretary.

"Welcome, Lina Inverse," the secretary says.

Suddenly the lights turn on to reveal a very pink, very sparkly room full of flying pink kittens. Seven huge piles of pink bunnies are scattered about the room.

"So how do you like it?" the secretary asks cheerfully, stepping out from behind the counter to reveal that she is wearing a hot pink uniform...and flying pink kittens.

Lina's face turns from ghostly white to a sickly green.

"Oh, no! That color is hideous! Try pink. With sparkles!"

The green-faced redhead looks around wildly to throw up in the nearest wastebasket, because she just so happens to hate pink and anything to do with it.

"So...why did you call me here?" Lina asks quietly, still hurling her very sad pancakes into the dying wastebasket.

"We just wanted you to fill out these papers, but we had to call you here because our usual mailman died yesterday," the secretary says even more cheerfully than Amelia. She hands Lina a short stack of papers and adds, "You can leave now."

Lina is gone before the secretary can finish.


"LINA! YOU'RE ALIVE!" the welcoming committee cries cheerfully.

"Aw, it's nothing..." Lina waves a hand dismissively. She taps her chin for a second before thinking to say, "Oh, and I found those seven kids."

"Really?" Sylphiel asks.

"What happened to them?" Amelia wails in distress.

Lina sniffles, clasping her hands to Amelia's. "Only...only the bones were left."

From an isolated section of the room, Zelgadis smirks, seeing right through it. Lina glances at him and mouths in horror, her face green all over again, "Flying pink kittens."

Unseen, Zelgadis also turns green and almost throws up.