Kazumi: Thank God, I'm FINALLY getting around to this, and it's been really long too; oh well XP. Anyhow, I'm glad that I'm getting good reviews for this story so I'd really appreciate it, 'kay thanks! So I hope you like this chapter…oh, DISCLAIMER! - I don't own Slayers; not no way, not no how. Enjoy!

'Text' - Thoughts

"Text" - Spell chanting

"TEXT" - Spell casting

Text/Text/Text - Word emphasis

Appearance of the Purple-People Eater

"…Yeah, I'll drive naked through the park, and run the stop sign in the dark – Christ she makes this look a helluva lot easier on the show." Taylor muttered to herself as she set her makeshift fishing pole back in the water beside her sock less feet. "And it really doesn't help that the flippin' fish are smarter here than they are back ho–OOWWWWCH!!" The teen screamed as she jerked her left foot out of the cool stream, glaring poisonously at the large bass that was latched onto her big toe. "As well as with homicidal …well, at least I caught it." She sighed, yanking the fish off of her foot and put it with the few others beside her.

It had been three weeks since the Twentieth-century teenager had arrived, so to speak, in the unfamiliar territory; three weeks since she had civilization, and three weeks of constant barrages of bandit attacks, of which she thought were both tiresome and irritating. Apparently, as she heard from some of the beaten muggers she encountered, news about the Band of Eldohras got around quickly through the gangs by the means of the remaining members of the Great Dragons Bane. Her only response to that was, "I should've fired off a second shot."

That was four days ago, when she was still on the road.

Now, she traveled by woodland as to keep the bands of robbers off her trail. Taylor may have been from the modern world, but she did have a few tricks up her sleeve that helped keep her trail hidden from tips she got from the Discovery Channel. In the back of her mind though, she knew the peace of being hidden wouldn't last long.

From what she had been told by the prince Gaven, the ring had been made during the War of the Monsters Fall, lost for some time after that, and was then found by his many-many times over Great Grandfather and protected for thousands of years since then by the dead spirits of the Nakajoumi's for the fear of it being used for evil. Knowing this, she figured that it wouldn't take long for a darker species of person that existed there to get wind of the going-ons. Once that happened, it would all be over.

'What the hell, until then I'll just make the most of it.' Taylor thought to herself. 'Not that I couldn't probably take them, I just don't want to. …who am I kidding?! ME up against a MAZOKU …I wouldn't stand a chance at winning! Let alone coming out of it alive…' Glancing down at her right hand, she looked at the band encircling her finger with utter distaste. "God damn stupid piece of scrap metal, I swear – ugh, whatever." Turning back to the stream in front of her, she rebaited her line and set it back in the water. "Here fishy fishy fishy! Come and get some nice, tasty gruuub! God that sounded so corny."

"Oh, screw it… … here fishy fishy fis–OWOWOWOWOW!!" Meanwhile, just a few meters away in a tree, a well hidden figure smiled slyly as they watched the teen curse loudly below from their vantage point. With the sun quickly setting in the distance, it would not be long until they would come out of hiding.

Not long at all.

Half an hour later, Taylor sighed contently as she finished off the last of the last of the fish; stretching her arms and collapsing backwards onto the cool ground. She had just got through setting up what most people wouldn't call a campsite, but with limited supplies it was the best she could do. The weather got a tad colder at night so she had to make due with some blankets she 'found' and a light jacket from her backpack that she was currently wearing. Now, after eating her fill of dish, she could let herself relax just a bit before completing the usual camp. "Hoo boy, that was… okay… I wish I could eat something else though – like chicken! Or steak! Fish just tastes weird…" Licking her lips, her mind began to wander off to other, more tantalizing, if not completely unhealthy, food.

Popeye's…

Arby's…

T.G.I. Friday's–

"AAARRRGGGHHHH!! This SUCKS! I want good foooood! A lifetime of fish is not going to cut it!" The high schooler howled in desperation as her gaze drifted upwards, glaring hatefully at the crystal clear night sky. "I hate you… I hate you sooo much…" During the past week, between running from bandits and trying not to get herself into anymore trouble than she was in already, the young girl had got down to questioning the why's and how's of the situation that she was unwillingly in.

So far; nothing, but she did know one thing. People in this world did have some inkling as to what had happened. See exhibit A - Burnt remains of various old maps and directions of which she had 'obtained' from the robbers that told them of the cave she came out of and descriptions of the ring she now wore. With that in mind, she came to an ultimate conclusion.

If someone knew about what had happened, and was supplying information to others, then there must be a way to reverse the accident out there somewhere.

Along with getting the Band of Eldohras off of her finger.

Not that she minded the power that the ring gave her; she loved the feeling of supernatural heat that gathered in her hands when she defended herself on occasion, and flying was the biggest high when there was time to do it. Even though it tired her out after she had done a few big spells at first, the teenager started to slowly get better and better at wielding the foreign energy and was now able to go a while without getting weary. It's just the fact of being constantly targeted was an incredibly uncomfortable feeling; one that she desperately wanted to get rid of.

'So, two things to do so I can get back home.' Taylor thought decisively. 'Get rid of the ring, and definitely find a way out of this backwards dimension. And I will find a way to do those things, even if I have to go though hell and high water to do so!!'

Moments later, she would deeply regret those spoken words.

It was only when she got up to complete her unfinished work when she noticed that something was seriously off in the area around her. The forest hadn't gone quiet or anything of that sort, but it just felt wrong. Like the air had changed somehow.

'There's something here… or someone.' Scanning the tree line as quickly as she could, Taylor soon found herself in a troubling situation as she could not see anyone or thing to speak of. 'And they know that I know that they're here. Crap. Okay… you wanna play hard ball buster? Fine. We'll play hard ball.' Smirking at the underbrush, she brought herself into a calm, defensive stance. "Whoever you are, you're pretty good at hiding; I wonder if you can still stay cool when you're camouflage is burning up around you." As she summoned the hot energy into her palm, the girl kept her eye out for any suspicious movement; there was none. "I'm gonna count to five. One… two… three… four… Okay, that's it, FIV-" Just as she was about to play pyromaniac with the surrounding brush, a small, white flag attached to a tree branch popped out of a bush on her immediate right and waved at her passively. '…huh?'

"Now, now, there's no need to do that. I'm coming out peacefully." A peppy voice called out to her from within the plant's interior. Almost instantly, Taylor caught familiarity in the tone as the speaker made their way out of the bushes.

'Oh gods, I know that voice-!' Her chest tightened at the scene before her, trying as hard as she could to keep her emotions in check as her fears were realized and the peace she was just beginning to enjoy was shattered. Unbeknown to her, both hands unconsciously went into her jacket pockets as casually as possible.

The one who had emerged from the forest looked to be an older teenage boy, around her age or so, with short, purple hair and a face that seemed to never have stopped smiling for a very long time. He was dressed in odd apparel, to her standards; a dark cape with a small red and yellow design going around his shoulders, a vanilla colored long-sleeved shirt, white gloved, and pants the same shade as the cape together with tan shoes. Around his neck was a strange metal ornament; silver with three red circular gems. Along with that, he carried a strange wooden staff that split at the top and curved inwards, holding in place a large, red orb, and had a simple satchel that was slung to one side of his waist. "Hello there! I do apologize if I scared you, Miss." he said cheerfully.

'You can't be serious - you can't be effing serious! Not Xellos, anything but Xellos! What the hell do I do now?! Um…play stupid!' She mentally smacked herself while struggling to calm herself down. 'Yeah RIGHT, like that's any help at all! Thrice damned mazoku and their thrice damned panicked feeling sensors…' After a few minutes of staring, Taylor finally spoke; her voice set in an impassive, determined tone. "Who are you, and what is your business here?" she demanded.

"Hm, how rude." The not-so stranger pouted, causing a little sweat-drop to form on Taylor's forehead. A second later, the grin was back. "I'm just a traveler that's passing through. Though I wasn't expecting to be threatened with a fire spell; that really surprised me, you know!"

"Uh-huh," She replied skeptically, playing along with her story. "In that case, you wouldn't mind if I accused you of being a bandit gang member?"

"Me? Surely you must be joking," Xellos laughed it off, waving his hands defensively. As he stepped closer to the camp, he pointed to himself. "Is my face really that scary?" The teenager held back a sharp retort that would've without a doubt landed her in hot water and settled for nibbling discretely on her tongue.

"No, I guess not."

"Why would you think such a thing?" The sixteen year old sighed and kept her ground as Xellos stopped just a few feet in front of her.

"I guess it's nothing, but I just keep getting into scrapes with those type of people for a while now. 's like they're following me or something." Exhaling heavily, the brown-haired teen sat down on a nearby log. "So, what did you say your name was again?"

Giving a short chuckle, the mazoku did a small, hand-sweeping bow from where he stood. "I am Xellos, the Mysterious Priest, and you are?"

"Taylor Bryant, nice to meet you," she replied dully. They weren't even past the introductions yet and already she had a feeling of eminent demise creeping up behind her. It made it even worse when she knew to expect it. "…Xellos the Mysterious Priest, eh?"

"That's correct." Quirking an eyebrow at the abrupt response, she continued.

"You call yourself the Mysterious Priest? That sounds a bit fishy, don't you think?" Said Mysterious Priest just shrugged and continued to smile as the intensity of the situation began to build up bit by bit within her own mind. 'God, does this guy have any OTHER facial expressions than the I-just-got-laid-and-it-was-GOOD look?' "Okay, okay; next question, o' Mysterious One." Taylor said after she had gestured to a small boulder a little parallel to her own 'chair' with her left hand, quickly returning it to the confines of her jacket, the infamous underling of Beast Master Zelas soon took his given seat across from her, his constant visage never once faltering. 'Guess not…' "I mean if you don't mind the interrogation-"

"Oh no, not at all! But if I may ask," the mazoku interjected, cracking one slitted eye open ever so slightly, not even enough to see his pupil. "Why all the suspicion?"

Desperately trying to ignore how creepy the person in front of her looked, she replied, "First of all, I don't know you, so I have to make sure that I won't be in danger from you being here. I'm just being careful is all." The teenager threw back. "That's what I was taught back home; be careful around strangers. I'm only following that rule." Ignoring the tug of homesickness at the words 'back home', Taylor stretched her legs as she took a minute to take a closer look at the man sitting in front of her. '…zeesh, can't read this guy at all, can I? Funny, I always thought I could do that pretty well… Then again, the only people I've read are HUMAN. This guy… doesn't count…' "Next question. What brings you out here and to my campsite specifically?"

"Hm? Didn't I already-"

"And could you please try not to lie to me mister Xellos," Taylor cut in, finally satisfied that she was able to return an obnoxious grin to their owner; not that it seemed to even faze him. "I'm not stupid enough to fall for that old 'I'm just a traveler passing through' line. That, and I believe that your next words out of your mouth are going to a load of BS." Needless to say, she wasn't very happy when the big, stupid grin of his didn't disappear.

It only worsened.

"I'll try not to, little Taylor."

'You did NOT just call me LITTLE!!' The brunette fumed, only causing the monster to smile even more.

"But, as I was saying and I do mean it, I am truly just passing through. This is a shortcut that I took on my way to take care of some business. I saw your campfire and came to check it out," he replied with the typical sneer

"Really?" She asked nonchalantly. Unfortunately, even though Taylor kept up an emotionless mask, she couldn't keep her heart from jumping into her throat at the hidden coldness in his words and her finger the magical band encircled from twitching in her pocket. 'Shit, knew it…' "What kind of business?" Milliseconds after the sentence fell from her lips, she wished that she could grab them and forcefully stuff them back inside as the anticipated result came just as quickly.

"That is…a secret!" The priest declared taking his usual stance, making the universal motion for silence with his left hand while turning the everlasting grin up five times the normal amount, along with the annoyance that came along with it. However, it was lowered momentarily when the young teen fell off her seat in exasperation - in perfect timing with the situation. "Eh? Are you alright?"

"Fine, it's nothing, really!" She replied frantically. 'Only I just COMPLETELY set myself up for that!! Jeez! I should've known that was coming… Gab would be so laughing at me right now dammit.' The high schooler momentarily thought of a friend from home that often talked with her about the fiction she was currently living in. "A secret, huh?" Taylor continued after she had fully regained herself. "What, you can't give me a hint or anything?"

"Well…"Xellos said thoughtfully while he stared off to the side, "it's just a small recovery job. Nothing that can't be easily taken care of."

She twitched. She couldn't "Huh, interesting." 'Perfect, juuuust perfect! The crazy wolf lady couldn't have sent anyone ELSE but this cracked up joker?' The brunette thought cryptically, struggling to keep herself from showing any signs of worry. 'It's always me, isn't it? Not trying to be self-centered or anything, but all the bad stuff just somehow finds its way to me. First the space-beam, then the ring – even though that one's kinda my fault – ANYWAY! Then there were the bandits, and now himof all the people in this world. …God must hate me or something.'

"Umm…Pardon my asking, little Taylor -"

'I really am going to kill him.'

"- but are you alright?" The voice of the purple haired boy that was far older than he looked asked. For some peculiar reason it sounded awfully close when he did so. Upon opening her eyes in curiosity, she found out why.

Regrettably so.

"EEEEEEEK!!" The teenager fell off of her seat with a piercing squeak like a stepped on mouse as she, quite literally, found herself face-to-face with the purple-haired troublemaker. Taking on a murderous look, Taylor glowered at him from her position on the ground behind the log she had previously been sitting on. "…Xellos…"

"Ah! I am so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you like that!" The monster quickly apologized. Taylor noted that that was already the second time that evening that he had apologized for his actions without meaning a word of it, nor even regretting it. "Do you need a hand?" He queried from above her, voice laced with fake concern. Shaking her head soundly, she pushed past his outstretched hand as she got back to her feet, making damn sure that he didn't see her hands as she put them back into her jacket. Falling backwards was a mistake; falling back onto her hands made it only worse.

"No thanks… I'm good," Taylor responded quietly through gritted teeth, taking her seat again; soon followed in suit by Xellos who sat back down as well, one leg out and one pulled in so as he could rest his elbow on it. 'I must not let this guy piss me off – dammit, he is REALLY making this hard!' "Alright, I think I'm done with the questions-" For now, she thought "-and since you still have to take care of whatever business you set out to, I guess we'll part ways here." As the young girl started to stand up, an abrupt raised hand stopped her in mid-stretch.

"Actually," Xellos chimed, "I was thinking that I could ask a couple of questions of you, if you don't mind…"

"Oh no," she laughed nervously. "It's only fair, you know, since I gave you the fifth-degree too." 'Oh… shmuck…' This, she hadn't planned for, even though some tiny part of her knew to expect this kind of afterward interrogation.

"Of course! Now then," folding his hands into what Taylor knew as the contagious Gendou Pose, the mazoku opened both his eyes. This time, enough so that both of the very reptilian purple irises could be seen and caused a very uncomfortable feeling in the pit of someone's stomach. "You said before that you were being chased by a few outlaws-"

"A FEW?!"

"-many outlaws," Xellos hurriedly corrected himself as the girl in front of him looked ready to strangle him with his very cape in her pent up frustration. "What I am curious about is why exactly you are being chased. After all, a young girl such as yourself couldn't have possibly have every bandit gang within the vicinity after her for no real reason, now could you?" As the last words were uttered, the slowly growing tension that gathered among the two went through the roof. Taylor's ring-bearing digit twitched again while she swallowed some of the spit that had been accumulating in the back of her mouth. Gathering her nerves, she took a deep breath and gave the monster a weak smile.

"Well, if you don't mind me saying so," she sighed, "that was a stupid question."

"Why's that?" came the puzzled reply. Leaning towards the person across from her, Taylor's smile quickly turned into a large, sneaky smirk as she mentally put together a haphazard plan.

"It's because… that's something we both know the answer to."

After a few minutes of the dead silence that had taken over the small clearing, it was interrupted by Xellos who began to rub the back of his head sheepishly, laughing timidly. "My, my, my! You know quite a bit about it, don't you?"

"Likewise for you, I'm sure…" With that soft spoken response, the demon unleashed a grin on par with the teen, inducing a sinister stare-down between them. A second later a loud cry of "RA TILT!!" split the silence, followed by a blinding light and an incredible blast that made short work of the campfire and campsite, making loose dirt take to the air and cover the entire area with a large dust cloud. After most of it had settled, and she had regained visibility, Taylor stood defensively in the center of the cleared area, rapidly scanning the area for the dark assailant. 'Where are you…?!' "Xellos, you sneaky bastard, get out here! I know you're still there!!"

"Quite the genius, aren't you?"

'Behind me?!' "Yo–gaack!" Before she could finish her sentence, an arm snaked around her neck while the other grabbed her arms and twisted them behind her back effortlessly; off to her left the sound of wood clattering to the ground met her ears. "OWW! Dammit, I could… really do w-without the… s-sarcasm and… the choking!"

"Now, settle down," the demon wickedly murmured by her ear, which greatly disturbed her along with another feeling that she refused to even acknowledge. "Remember? I said that my business would be over quite quickly." Nonetheless, the hold on her neck lessened enough for her to breathe properly again. "So, how did you discover that something was up?"

"Simple Watson," Taylor declared, chuckling at the odd look she saw appear out of the corner of her eye. "I knew that sooner or later, one of you people would come and find me. With this stupid thing's reputation, it was pretty much bound to happen sometime." 'I was just praying that it wouldn't be soon!'

"'You people'?" Xellos questioned curiously.

"Come off it already," she groaned, rolling her eyes. "Like I said before, you know it and I know it – you're a mazoku." Wincing at the pain beginning to blossom in her shoulders and elbows, she shifted a bit so that it dulled the ache.

"Does that mean that you knew that when we were talking all this time, little Taylor?" He inquired again

"Call me that again and I'll set off a fricking Dragon Slave, I seriously do not care if I get incinerated, as long as I take you along with me."

"Taylor. Now, as for my question."

'God, this guy asks a lot of questions. Hell, I didn't even ask this many…at least, I don't think so.' Taylor rolled her eyes, "I wasn't really sure about it until you told me that you had business in this area. From there, I was just going off of a guess; I was right though, wasn't I?" She let the question hang, positive that it wasn't going to be answered.

"Ah, I see…" As the silence began to resurface, the teenager tilted her head to the side so that she could barely see the purple-haired boy and asked the expected question.

"So… what's your plan now?"

"As I said before, it is a recovery job," he replied, still smiling. "I'll just be taking the Band of Eldohras and then leave you to whatever you were doing." Not two seconds after completing his sentence, the girl he had in a choke hold suddenly burst into deafening, uncontrollable laughter. "Ehhh? What's so funny?"

"Just take it?!" The sixteen year old crowed, "Good luck there, buddy! This thing doesn't come off, trust me – I've tried damn near EVERYTHING!!" Behind her, a truly confused expression came over Xellos' visage, his grip loosening as the corners of his mouth twitched comically. Noticing this, the girl took her chance to escape by elbowing the monster hard in his ribcage and scurrying away to a safe distance. Facing the hunched over Xellos, she held out her arm, palm facing outwards and bearing the ring, in preparation for a spell if needed be. It was pointless to hide it now.

"W-what do you mean 'it doesn't come off'?" Xellos forced out, holding his rapidly healing abdomen.

"I know it's really overused, but did I stutter? You really do ask a lot of questions, even more so than I did… So, what? Nobody on your side told you that?" Taylor stated bluntly.

"No…" As his words trailed off, in the back of his mind Xellos thought back to when he was first given the assignment. He was stunned to recall that he hadn't received any current details except for 'a female, human child is carrying it through the forest of Zerphian, a place dangerously close to the outskirts of some nearby villages, to which he was surprised she made it to at all within three weeks. That, and the haunting yet comforting beam of his master. "I don't believe so…"

"God, you are misinformed for a mazoku, and this thing was made during The War of the Monster's Fall!!" She made an unintelligible noise under her breath while pinching the bridge of her nose with her left hand for a moment before pointing to the odd piece in her finger. "Okay, look. Just so you know, and this was told to me by its Nakajoumi guardian so don't get snippy, but he said that, an i-quote, "When the Ring of Power is worn by a person it becomes attached to them for the rest of their lives, even going as far as passing with them into the next life so that it can stay with them until the end of time. It was originally designed so that others couldn't use it once the wearer put it on" un-quote." 'Wow, seems that everyone has been saying that lately…'

"Oh." To her evil-persona's delight, Xellos' mouth dropped open in shock but after a few minutes of her silent, mental laughter, she abruptly noticed that the malevolent gaze that he had acquired before was back in full force; and was enough to send a horrible chill shooting down her spine. "Are you sure that you tried everything, Taylor?"

'Shizz, what's with the look?' "Yeah, everything that wouldn't, you know, injure me badly; I'm not THAT crazy-" 'Wait just a cotton-pickin' minute!' "Ohhhhh no. No, no, no, NO!" The teenager cried aghast, shaking her hands frantically out in front of her as she realized what the purple-haired being was hinting to. "Don't you dare even think about it!!"

"But I thought you said that you tried everything?"

"I'm not cutting my damn finger off!!" Taylor screamed in paranoid defense, traces of fear becoming noticeable in her voice. With a twisted leer, Xellos moved forward like a falcon stalking a mouse towards the young girl. "You – you crazy-assed jerk!"

"Yes, well, come on now." He spoke, no longer with a happy manner. "Shall we get this over with?"

"BURST FLARE!!" As a fiery explosion rocked the clearing, a silhouette could be seen dashing away into the trees, away from the flames and the attacker. Taylor panted as she ran through the underbrush. 'Aaaand, I'm running! AGAIN! That took a little out of me, two big spells almost right after another. I'm actually glad I'm getting used to it, even if it is a stupid ring. But I can't stop or I'm screwed, I hate this!'

"You know, if you made it easier on yourself this would be over much quicker."

"AAUUGH!" Jerking her head back to face the offender, who she found flying beside her, Taylor tripped on an outstretched root, sending her sprawling face-first into the dirt. Not a second later, a pair of feet pressed down against her body; one on her left elbow and one in the middle of her back as her right arm was lifted straight up, gripped roughly at the wrist. "Owwww…!" 'I really hate this!' And as if someone standing on her with all of their weight wasn't bad enough, the distinct sound of a blade being drawn out of a sheath reached her ears. Eyes widening, she started struggling as much as she could to get the mazoku off of her, but stopped as the heel of the boot ground itself into her lower back. "AH! FU-"

"Don't struggle. If you do I might miss." Xellos said snarkily from above her.

"Wouldn't you?!" She shouted again,frightened tears threatening to escape from the corners of her eyes. She was breaking, after she had tried so hard not to let it show before in front of the double-crosser. "You're about to mutilate my hand – MY DOMINANT HAND!" She froze as the feeling of cold, sharp metal pressed against her ring finger, just below the band. Shutting her eyes as tightly as she could, the teenager bit into her lip in preparation for the oncoming pain.

But it never came. The only sensation that she felt was a peculiar cold tingle around her captured hand that she did not recognize.

"…uh…?" 'What – what the hell?' "Xellos?" She asked weakly.

"Yes?" he replied, his voice taking on a strange, tentative tone that Taylor had never heard from him before.

"What did you do now?" There was a pause, where only the wind going through the leaves could be heard, before the pressure on her back and left arm vanished. Looking up from the ground, she noticed her companion crouching down in front of her, still holding onto her wrist, the ornate knife in the other hand poised and ready. "What?" Taylor asked again with an equal quizzical stare that mirrored the mazoku's.

"Did you do anything to it?"

"No." Taylor glanced at him suspiciously, raising an eyebrow. "Why? What happened? Are you gonna answer?" As fast as it appeared, the confused look vanished as the false smile returned with a vengeance. 'Oh God - its baaack!'

"Well, it seems that there's a teensy dilemma in my plan of obtaining that ring of yours." He said with a strained smirk.

'O rly?' The girl thought to herself sarcastically. "And why's that? Or are you trying to bullshit me to catch me by surprise, again? If you are, I'm so not falling for it."

"I'm not, really I'm not." Rising to her knees, Taylor leaned in close to the monster, giving him a scrupulous evil eye while he protested in self-defense. "I'm not!"

"Okay," she continued hesitantly as a bad feeling in her gut began to surface. "…so, what's this 'dilemma' of which you speak of?" 'I have a fateful feeling that I shouldn't have said that…'

"This." Still holding onto her wrist, Xellos slammed it into the ground, plunging the knife down towards her hand with an unnatural speed; one that she had no hope of stopping.

'Too fast!' She mentally cried, watching almost in slow motion as the blade closed in. 'Damn!' At the moment of immediate impact, she shut her eyes shut once more in anticipation-

Ping.

'Wait… 'Ping'?' Upon opening her eyes cluelessly, Taylor was astonished to find that instead of a mutilated hand, that a small, blue orb surrounded the entirety of her right hand. "What the-?"

"A barrier." The purple-haired boy sighed as he released her hand, tucking the dagger back into his bag. "I believe that it's supposed to keep others from taking the Band of Eldohras from you." He sighed again as the girl blinked blankly a few times before sinking onto the ground with a loud groan. "Haaa…what a disappointment – hm? Is there something the matter?" Xellos asked at the face that the girl was making.

She sent him a poisonous glare from her level. "What do YOU think?! I mean other than scaring the piss out of me for the rest of eternity, I'm now stuck with this thing on my fricking finger for the rest of my natural – and unnatural life! My whole life is going to be me on the run from bandits and crazy sorcerers and astral beings that are damn near impossible to beat – how do you think I'm feeling?!" Taylor cried into the dirt. "Even trying to cut my finger off won't work, this sucks royally…" After weeping into the ground for a few moments, Taylor rolled onto her back, wiping the fluids from her face, and stared wearily into the face of the still crouching Xellos. "…sorry about that…"

"Not a problem," he returned as he stood up. "It seems that we're both having a bad day."

"You said it brother," the girl glowered, standing as well. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence and quiet stares, she sighed. "So what are you… what are you going to do now? I mean, you obviously can't retrieve the ring…"

"My orders were to obtain the Ring of Power by any means necessary." Xellos stated as he gained a very human stance of hopelessness before returning again with the silly grin. "I suppose that I'll just have to stick around with you until I get it."

It took a few moments for the sixteen year old to run the sentence through her brain enough times to be sure that he was being entirely serious. "…wait – WHAT?!" Taylor shouted in outrage, her mouth dropping open in shock. "That's what you think! Oh nuh-uh man! No WAY in hell am I letting you tag along on this-" 'Ohsnap.'

"On what exactly?" the monster asked curiously. Flustered at the blatant question, the brunette struggled to find an answer that didn't include the fact that she was not of his world, or any other world in that dimension. Doing so could result in him doing something very monster-like. Taylor shivered at the images her teen mind gave her. So she went with the easiest white-lie she could come up with to see if he would possibly go for it.

"Uhh… back home?"

"You're lost? Well, I'd be happy to help you find your way…" Sadly though, there was none.

'Dammit, that didn't work. I'm gonna have to tell him the truth, aren't I? Shit…' Taylor gave an aggravated sigh as she desperately willed herself not to pull out her hair out by the roots. "I'm…I'm trying to find a way to get back to home, and not the kind of home that you're thinking of." 'And to get this stupid thing off my finger – but you do not need to know that now DO YOU?' Glancing up at the at the monster priest for a minute second, she continued. "I'm not from here at all actually…originally I come from Roseburg Virginia, a state of the United States of America." As she watched the mazoku's face blanch slightly, Taylor cut in before he could say anything about it. "I wouldn't be very surprised if you haven't heard of it, that's because… because I've somehow been thrown from my world and into yours with that whole 'alignment of the planets with a touch of wacko magic energy beam' thing." She grumbled, pausing soon afterwards.

"…my, my. That's… interesting." Xellos replied slowly. "Another dimension you say, hm… quite interesting. I've never heard of such an instance before. That would explain how you came into possession of the ring first."

Taylor snorted indignantly, waving her hand dismissively. "Hey, not my fault I ended up in the same stupid cave. I call that a God damn plot device…" Suddenly, a look of abrupt realization crossed over the face of one such monster which made a small part of her consciousness start to worry again.

"So, before, when you said it was obvious as to who, and what, I was-" Her pupils turned into pinpoints as the reason for her previous worry dawned on her, "-were you saying that because of the feeling you were getting from my arrival, or that you already knew who I was when I first revealed myself?" He finished with a sly smirk.

"…eh?" 'Dude, seriously, why does he have to pick up onto things like that?!' Groaning, the teen's shoulders slumped at the familiar devastating feeling overwhelmed her. It wasn't as if the monster wouldn't have found out sooner or later if he choose to stick around, but she would've definitely preferred it to have been later. Much later. Without another moment's hesitation, Taylor nodded as she rubbed the back of her head out of embarrassed habit. "Heheh, yup…caught me red handed there didn't you Xel?" She gave a forced laugh, "Whoo-boy, this is uncomfortable. I suppose that you'd be wanting the details then?"

"You suppose right Taylor." He replied, shaking his finger at her mockingly as if he was scolding a misbehaved child. "It's not very nice to keep secrets like that from the people they're about."

"Not that you don't do that on a regular basis, but it's not really about you." She practically sweat-dropped, "it just includes you."

"…what do you mean by that exactly?"

'Dear God… give me strength.' Taylor sighed again. "Alright, let me give you the nutshell version, just to save time because SOMEBODY is getting us off of the subject of you traveling with me." Taking a deep breath and exhaling at the same speed, the young girl continued with her explanation. "I basically…read this story about an old acquaintance of yours, a certain red-headed sorceress that is-"

"Lina Inverse." Xellos stated.

"You got it, now quit interrupting. The story first starts at the time where she meets Gourry to the end when she and the gang, excluding you, beat Rezo/Shabranigdo. Then she and the gang meet up again, also excluding you and including Sylphiel, to beat Copy Rezo/Zanafar. Then a while later, it continues when she and Gourry meet up with Amelia and Zel and go looking for the Claire Bible Manuscripts – that's where you come in." She declared, pointing her finger forcefully at the purple-haired personage. "And we all know how that ends. 'Brizzo looses out to Nightmare-Lina and everything returns to relatively normal." In the back of her mind, an everlasting fluff moment made itself briefly known. She mentally gave a toothy smile. 'Oh if only they knew…'

"Something on your mind?" He asked with a tinge of disgust evident in his voice.

"Mm, nothing much." replied with an underlying giddy tone, singing 'Haaaappy feelings!!' to herself. "Can I go on?" Even though he still stared at her with his usual stone face, the teen could see a small, green coloration in his complexion. After a short nod and shrug, she started again. "M'kay. The last installment of the epic begins again when Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia, meet up with you again and Filia, for the first time, and completes itself with the end to the Darkstar incident where everyone separates for the last time, that the fans know of anyway." Taking in a deep breath to regain the oxygen she lost from saying the last sentence in one breath, Taylor collapsed back onto the tree trunk. "You got it now?" She asked, mentally groaning at how tired she had become.

"Yes, I believe so," he replied with an acknowledging head shake. "Would this perhaps be a popular story?"

"Only in some circles, I know that most of my friends know about it," She replied. "The story's pretty old for my generation so I'm not surprised that not a lot of people have heard of it."

"I see…one last question, if I may."

Taylor snorted, "Fine, but I'm not standing up for this." As if to further her point, she sat down in a crouch. "What is it?" She raised her eyebrow in curiosity as he strode over to copy her movement in squatting down on the balls of his feet, smiling ever still.

"Besides the 'main story line' that you have told me, what else did this tale of yours reveal?" Chuckling the first time that her guest made his appearance, she grinned ecstatically into Xellos' face.

"I am so glad you asked," The teenager chirped, startling the demon. "It 'revealed' that you, Zel, and Gourry look good in drag. Lina is deathly terrified of her big sister. Amelia's big sister is actually alive and strutting around in her dead mother's underwear. And you," she said sadistically, "are so very bothered by feelings of life and wonderfulness and love and joy and-" she was cut off suddenly by a gloved hand slapping itself over her mouth, which was grinning even under the circumstances.

"Alright, you have proved your point thoroughly," Xellos forced through gritted teeth. "You know much more than I thought you did."

"Meh, what are you gonna do." 'Okay, now then… jeez, I am so tired of doing this…' Getting back to her feet, she crossed her arms stubbornly while glaring at the mazoku in question. "Back to the little fact of getting you off of my back," she scowled, "can we please get this over with so I can get some sleep?"

"Yes I believe so," he nodded. "What do you want to talk about?" At this completely stone-faced remark, Taylor promptly face-faulted, a second before she grew an interesting shade of crimson from holding in a cry of total ire.

'Urge… to… kill… RISING!!' "You coming with me. You know, that whole issue of you following me all over the damned place – THAT'S what I want to talk about!!" She screamed, stomping over to Xellos with a look of utter loathing in her eyes.

"Ah, that." He plainly stated, too plainly for Taylor. She watched painfully as the monster thoughtfully put a finger to his chin, making thoughtful noises under his breath that seemed to last for hours until he responded in a disgustingly sweet voice, "I shall personally be escorting you on your journey."

Taylor stilled, locking her eyes hatefully onto the man as she tried to control her breathing into a calmer pattern. 'And here we go.' "No, you won't."

"Yes, I will."

"No you won't."

"Yes I wiiiill."

"No you won't God dammit!"

"I will unless the ring is in my possession."

"Well guess what – YOU'RE NOT GETTING IT!! So too damn bad for you!"

"Hmm, then I guess I'll be staying with you for a while." And for once, in a very, very long time, Taylor Bryant was struck utterly speechless. In either argument she lost out to the newcomer, and she had no smart comeback for it. A true no-win situation. Then agin, it had been that way from the beginning if she thought about it.

'If he wasn't so fricking – ARRRGHH!! Oh… screw it all… I'm tired of screaming at him…' So, in a surprising turn of events, Taylor sighed, hanging her head as she turned back in the direction of her campsite and muttered, "Fine, fine. You win," bitterly over her shoulder.

Blinking in astonishment at the sudden twist, Xellos began to slowly but steadily trail behind the teen as she walked back to where they had been previously. "Really?"

"Yeah, really, don't make me spell it out for you." She called back through the trees, "I'm too tired to deal with this anymore, and I still need to clean up my camp." 'That I destroyed… Gods…' "So, yeah, you can come with me. Just don't try to kill me anytime soon or I'll pump your head so full of disgustingly fluffy feelings that it will be fatall to be in the same room as me, got it?"

"A-absolutely," Xellos chimed warily. Picking up his fallen staff, the mysterious priest walked back to the clearing and what was left of the girl's campground along with his new companion. Once there, as Taylor started to pick up some of the debris that covered her fire, he stopped in front of her abruptly and announced that he had to briefly return to his master for a quick report about the situation, causing her to give a blank look that clearly conveyed her feelings of absolute irritation.

"You're going back." It was more of an accusation than a question.

"Guilty as charged."

"After that big argument over you leaving me the hell alone."

"I'll be back in the morning, not to worry."

"…whatever, I'll see you later." She sighed again, watching as the mazoku disappeared into thin air not a moment later. Then, she waited.

Two seconds.

Eleven seconds.

Twenty-five seconds.

Thirty-eight seconds.

Forty-three seconds.

Fifty-six seconds.

A minute went by before she was able to fully relax without expecting the purple-haired menace to jump out from behind her yelling "BOO!" Hell, at this point she would've gratefully settled for a "YOU'VE BEEN PUNKED!!" She slumped over as she sat down on the same tree stump as she had earlier from before the incident, running her hands through her hair as she very slowly exhaled, as if she had been holding in a stifled gasp when the demon had first showed. "Why?" Taylor softly asked herself, raising her eyes to the speckled sky. "I mean really, why… why the hell to I have to like this guy? Out of all the people in this dimension, why him…" The teenager moaned in exasperation. "And he had to be SO much more annoying in person, good lord. Well, at least he has his Japanese voice; that English version just sucks."

"Zelas-sama, I've returned with my report."

"Ah, come in…now, my Priest, what do you have for me concerning the Band of Eldohras?"

"Well, it seems that our information on the subject is not as accurate as we originally thought."

"Explain."

"As I've come to take note, once the band is in the possession of its owner and is worn by them, it… cannot be taken off."

"… … really now?"

"Yes, I have sufficient evidence to support this that was told to the current wearer by the Nakajoumi guardian that had been previously guarding it along with my own testimony. Also-"

"Also?"

"The new owner of the Ring of Power has told me a small fact about herself that I think you will find quite… fascinating."

"How so?"

"Taylor Bryant, as is her name, has confided in me the secret of her origins, which are out of this world if I do say so myself."

"Really my Priest, you have tempted me quite enough already."

"Yes Zelas-sama. She, incidentally enough, is not at all from 'around here', in fact she's not from any town, city, or state on this continent. She's from a completely different plane of existence altogether. And, not only that, but numerous tales from our dimension, that seems to be solely focused around one Lina Inverse and the three of her greatest adventures, are very well known by her people."

"Hmmm… well, well, that is, as you say, fascinating. Is that all?"

"To a certain extent, Zelas-sama. To be able to follow through with the mission you granted me, I acted on my own terms and have made it so that I will be traveling along with the girl as she hopes to find a way back to her home somewhere in our dimension and, I suspect, to secretly find a way to get rid of the ring."

"Quick thinking as usual I see, my dear Xellos. I want you to stay with this girl, keep an eye on her. I do not want any other to possess this power that we lost long ago."

"My, this feels like old times, does it not Zelas-sama?"

"Yes, it does."

"Well… I must be off if I am to make it back to by new friend by morning or she just might leave without me."

"Of course, happy trails." As Xellos once again flitted out of existence, Zelas the Beast-master leaned back onto a multitude of various colored cushions and pillows and gazed as a scene played out in a large, translucent pool of unidentifiable liquid within a metal bowl perched on a decorative stand; to which she had willed to come back into view once her faithful servant had left. Twirling a lone digit in the mysterious water, she looked onto a familiar campsite where a small figure slept blissfully against a tree trunk under a simple, large, brown cloth that clearly didn't belong to her. 'Hmm, most likely acquired it from an incapacitated ruffian.' The woman grinned as an earlier sight crossed her mind. "Oh, my dear, dear trickster… You have no idea at what you're really in for do you?" With an all-knowing smile, the mother of beasts lifted her eyes to the ceiling. "This will turn out to be a very interesting event indeed…"

The tips of sunlight had just started to stream through the tree-tops and faint sounds of unfamiliar bird calls tore her away from an odd lucent dream that she already couldn't remember. Lifting her head groggily, Taylor slowly began to become aware of her surroundings when suddenly- "Good morning Taylor!" Echoed in her ear. Quite loudly.

"RAAAWWWRRR!!" The peacefulness was shattered as a brown blur shot forward and tackled the maddening offender, putting him in a tight head lock. 'I – cannot – believe – this – guy It's six in the morning!!' "Alright bub, listen and listen good. I am not a morning person. At all. You do that again and I am going to REALLY hurt you. Are. We. Clear?"

"Cr-crystal."

"Okay then," releasing her grip on the mazoku, Taylor stood up and stretched as Xellos regained the lost oxygen. "…you good?"

"If you are referring to the talk I had with my master, yes, I believe we're good."

"Good… I've got food if you want some, sorry if it's not up to your standards."

"Not at all." So began Taylor's journey of epic proportions. By that time she could already tell that what lay ahead of her on her expedition in this new world with the guidance of a familiar, fiendish face, would be anything but easy; as clichéd as it sounded. Her first hurdle was over with, and she was glad for that. Taylor's little breakdown was probably the worst thing about it, besides almost praying she was in the Fullmetal Alchemist dimension instead so she could replace her hand. But even though the situation was looking up for now, she knew it wouldn't stay that way for long.

The constant sinking feeling in the pit of her gut would remind her of it every step of the way.

Kazumi: Holy moley that's a long chapter, Christ. But you'll have to excuse me for it. When I first wrote this, almost half a freaking YEAR ago, the shit hit the fan because of the VT shooting and it had a lot to do with my home town. We lost three alumni that graduated from the high school I'm going to; one who I met a couple of times, one who I seldom heard of, and one who I will not mention because I'm still so effing pissed off at him for making me feel horrible about telling people where I live at and go to school; I will NEVER forgive. Ever. Does anyone else notice that all the worst stuff happens on that particular week in April? Jeez…anywho, YYH is up next for its new chapter so watch for it; and always R&R. Ja ne minna-san!