"Riinnaa? Rina? Hey Rina wake up!"

My eyelids felt heavy as I protested opening them, the whaling voice in my ear sounded like that damn jellyfish brains. What now he's gotten so forgetful that he can't remember my name right? Asshole. I pulled together the strength to open my lazy eyes, once I saw the blonde hair I pulled him into a headlock. "What the hell, Gourry! You don't have to shout into my ear you know!"

"Ow ow Rina dammit that hurts!" he protested, actually grabbing my arms firmly and yanking my grip off him. "What's your problem?! And what the hell did you just call me?"

What the hell? Gourry usually didn't have the brains to fight one of my assaults, let alone retort in that tone of voice. Also he must be tripping if he doesn't remember his own name…

But it all hit me the minute my eyes had fully focused, looking right at the face of the man that was restraining me. His facial features were similar to Gourry, but a more serious tone to them. But, his hair wasn't blonde. It was jet black and only about mid-length, his armor looked extremely old.

"Huh?" I blinked twice, looking at the stranger with Gourry's face.

"Geez sis what happened, you have a nightmare or something? Why else did you call me some strange name?" he asked, rubbing his head. "It's me, Guady."

Guady? SIS?! My expression just went completely blank until I realized what was going on. The spell had worked, I was in my past life… How did I know this? Well the body I was in sure didn't feel like my own, as my hands were unconsciously running across my… My…. E-CUP BREASTS?! WHAT THE FUCK?! SO MUCH FOR EVOLUTION HOW THE HELL DID I LOSE THESE AND WHO CAN I KILL TO KEEP THEM?!

"Geez you really must be tired this morning Rina…." The man, Guady, ran his fingers through his hair. "But I guess it's to be expected since you came back so late last night."

"Unnn, yeah." I replied, taking note of where I was since things were starting to come into focus. I was in a bedroom, in violet nightclothes. "Sorry… B-bro." I stammered a bit, feels weird calling what my best guess is Gourry's past life my brother.

He rubbed my head in response. "Just be glad I'm the one that woke you up and not Hawke, she'd probably punish you for calling her the wrong name."

Hawke? Who's Hawke? "Errr yeah, you're right." I waved my hand carelessly.

"Alright sis, see you downstairs for breakfast." Guady said, heading out the door.

I slowly crawled out of the bed, stretching out my muscles as I yawned. I stood up and looked into the mirror for the first time to see what I looked like in this life.

…. For being the same age, I looked totally different. Not only did I have much better breasts, my height was much better. I was just around 5'7, my waist slim and everything seemed perfectly portioned. My hair was a more crimson color, the color reminded me of the color of blood. My hair was also just a bit longer too, I mean hell another half a foot longer and I'd be stepping on it! The only familiar thing I saw were my ruby eyes, I guess they just reflected me having the same soul maybe?

I scanned the bedroom until I found some sort of broach inside one of the cabinets. It was an amethyst jewel set inside a blue ribbon, with a note attached to it. 'I hope this is adequate to your request. I thought the color would remind you of me, my lovely Rina Inverse. Wear it when I see you today.' What the hell? There was no name at the end of the note, so was this from an admirer or something else? I figured out Rina was my past life's name as that's what Guady called me. But I still had the last name Inverse? I guess I was a great ancestor in a previous life. The question was, just how far back into the past was I?

I twisted my mouth, tossing the broach to the side for now as I headed for the window, opening it and looking out into the sky…. And that's when I gasped.

The sky was painted with gold and black, my eyes widened as I was seeing thousands of dragons flying in the sky. I knew right then already how far back in time I had to be in order to see that, before the War of the Monster's Fall, or at least during it. Because after the final events of the war when the Mazoku Barrier was placed, most of those dragons were wiped out. My best guess was this might be around the third phase of the war, since that's when the dragons were around the most, due to lesser demons and other creatures wreaking havoc while Phibrizzo was trying to unleash the piece of ol' Ruby Eye Shabranigdo inside the legendary sorcerer Lei Magnus. My theory was further confirmed when I saw a pack of dragons attack a few lesser demons roaming the city and attacking the humans. So in other words, I've gone back in time over a thousand years!

I rubbed my head, trying to figure this out. I guess it would make sense my soul was around at this time, no wonder Phibrizzo knew who I was and must had sighted me back in this time. Maybe back then I refused to do what he wanted and he cursed me? … No, I doubt he'd put that kind of time limit on himself, as Xelloss pointed out he had to hurry to get me to cast it the last time, which ended in his demise. So was it the gods in fear of me helping Phibrizzo? Or was it one of the other Mazoku Lords, because I turned against them? This was so confusing…

My eyes strayed back to the broach. Obviously Rina was working with someone, as this was their token of appreciation... Maybe if I put it on, the person whom gave it to her would say something and I could get some clues from that. I decided to look into the closet and figure out what the hell I was wearing when it dawned on me what women would wear in this age… Dresses!

I grumbled. Sure wearing a nice dress was good at a fancy meal or event, but not everyday! I groaned and picked out the simplest looking dress I could find, a red dress that matched my hair and looked like everyday clothes. I put it on and clipped the broach on my right side. I did notice an outfit in the closet though that appealed to my taste. It was a yellow shirt with runes across it along with trousers that looked like men's. There were shoulder guards as well along with a sword. I chuckled to myself, I guess some things don't change, I still liked adventure even in this life. But it looked like I had to sneak out of the house to get it.

I scrambled downstairs the minute I heard my stomach growl, immediately finding the breakfast table which the only ones seated where Guady and another woman. That must be Hawke.

"Hey there." I said, taking a seat and immediately began to chow down. Suddenly a firm hand grabbed my wrist.

"Don't just 'Hey there' with me sis." The woman hissed. She had short brown hair and teal eyes. Her dress was a tan color, and she had a scowl on her face as she spoke. "Where were you last night?"

I shivered at her tone. "Ummm… Well…" Great. The problem here was I really didn't know where the hell Rina had been last night. How was I gonna cover this one up? "Y-you know me." I choose to say.

"You saw him again, didn't you?" she snarled, slowly releasing her grip. "Why do you keep doing this Rina, don't you know how dangerous it is to associate with one of his kind?"

My eyebrows furrowed at that. "Oh?" I chose to ignore her, eating away at the food.

"Hawke has a point Rina, we're just worried about you." Guady said, who unlike Gourry wasn't going insane at the food. He seemed sharper too than Gourry, so I guess evolution wasn't kind to him either. "I mean you're not a little kid anymore, but if mom and dad were alive I'd bet they say something…"

So their parents were dead huh? Sounds like these two raised Rina for a while. "Can't you guys trust my judgment?" I asked, not really having a clue what they were talking about. Maybe the mysterious person that gave her the broach?

"It's not that they are concerned about, Miss Rina." A wind chime voice came from behind me. "It's just you seem too friendly with him with the war going on."

I turned my head to see who was talking, and my jaw dropped. The woman before me was quite tall with blonde hair and blue eyes, her ears were pointed that looked like she was an elf. She looked so much like her later incarnation I nearly shouted her name when I saw her – It was Filia.

"Some say the same about you two though." Guady brought up. "Lia here is an elven apprentice to Milgasia which at first the dragons were staying out of this war."

So Filia was an elf in her past life? Huh. Well now that's interesting.

"The dragons are on our side, Guady." Hawke shook her head. "The only reason I haven't fully locked Rina into her room and throw away the key is because at least she's helping arrange meetings between them. Both sides have already lost a lot, and finding out what the hell that blasted Hellmaster is after causing all this could end it sooner. After all didn't that one lord already lose a priest?"

"Dynast." Lia spoke up. "They say that once the war started the lords all created these priests and generals to represent themselves. I think not all the lords agree with what Hellmaster is doing, why else do they keep meeting with the dragon race?"

"Which usually breaks out into a fight." Hawke shook her head. "Which reminds me, we need to go see Milgasia today Rina." She stood up.

"Now?" I asked, slowly getting onto my feet.

"Yes, now." Hawke glared at me, she then turned to Lia. "Lock up the minute we leave. There's been a lot of lesser demons around."

"Alright, just becareful going out there." Lia said with a worried expression.

"Tell Milgasia we said hi." Guady said.

I walked with Hawke in silence, mostly dodging the many demons that roamed the streets. So we were off to see Milgasia huh? Be interesting to see him again - a lot younger at that. My thoughts just continued to race until I realized where we were. This was the same village I ran into Phibrizzo just before the Kataart Mountains! After a while I knew the path we were on, walking up the mountain as suddenly Hawke came to a halt.

A large Golden Dragon moved through the sky and eventually landed in front of us, glowing as he took the shape of a man with blonde hair. It was Milgasia alright, but he looked a hell of a lot younger, almost like a teenager look. Guess a thousand years does age a dragon after a while…

"I'm glad you made it, Milgasia." Hawke said with a smile.

"Of course, let's head over here out of sight." Milgasia lead us to a corner, away from the sight of all the dragons flying overhead. "So where is he? Or was he just pulling your leg when he said what he did?"

Hawke just glanced at me, who shrugged. "Well he said he'd be-"

"My, my, my, you thought I had stood you up?" a familiar voice echoed just before a strange, cone-like object appeared onto our plane and took a shape I very much recognized. The purple haired priest before us bowed once, a smile on his lips. "I don't know if you recall from our last meeting but I am Xelloss, the representative of Lord Beastmaster."

A geyser of water appeared next to him, a Mazoku in blue priest robes stepped out with a smile, she had aqua colored hair. "And I am Huraker, one of the representatives of Lord Deep Sea Dolphin."

"Well at least you both came, so out with it monsters." Milgasia spoke sharply. "Tell me why I should listen to you, and what you want to offer in this time that we are at war."

"Quite simple." Xelloss held up a forefinger. "We want you to surrender that key sorcerer you're holding that you only allow to battle lately on the sidelines due to his injury."

"Our lords wish to speak with him, or rather Hellmaster does but he'll go at any means to get him." Huraker shrugged her shoulders. "Lord Dolphin and Lord Zelas wish to avoid more conflict and loss in numbers than we already have."

"What do you people want with Lei Magnus?" Milgasia growled.

I took in a sharp gasp. Looks like I was right on the theory of what time period I was in. And no wonder Xelloss and Milgasia knew each other, but not in the hostile way. They had negotiated before! Hmmm, so I guess Zelas and Dolphin didn't agree with all of Phibrizzo's plans, they must had figured if they just get Lei and force Ruby Eye out of him, their task is done without wasting their energies by losing more followers.

"I'm afraid that is a secret." Xelloss winked. "You see, that's the problem with being middle management, our bosses do not tell us why we are given orders, just to do them."

"We chose to act through these humans as we knew you'd never answer a call from us directly." Huraker brought up. "They knew you and knew of your position with the Water Dragon King, who holds Lei in a place we can't access due to her powers."

Milgasia's brow furrowed. "Why do you think I'd just hand him over to the likes of you?"

"Because you want this war over, after all it's cost your people and the humans." Xelloss said, waving his forefinger. "We Mazoku can just keep creating more followers, where as you people will run out eventually."

"We're only asking for one human's life in exchange for thousands." Huraker smirked at him. "Even you people are for the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

Milgasia's hand twitched, I got the feeling he didn't like this arrangement. Not that I blame him, since I knew who Lei was. Giving him to the Mazoku is giving them their lord who will break free and try to destroy the world. Though I can't see why my past self would go along with this, I mean sure sacrifice this guy and the war is over, but really? It just doesn't make any sense… Granted my past self obviously didn't know what was sleeping inside Lei…

Suddenly when I looked up, I could have sworn I saw Xelloss wink at me. What the hell? Don't tell me he was the one that talked to me and Hawke to arrange this meeting? Did I have him as a useful item in my past life too, and that's what Hawke meant by the person I'm too friendly with but shouldn't be?

"I will speak to Ragradia about it, but I cannot say she will agree." Milgasia finally said.

"I'm not so sure about that, after all I heard a nasty rumor recently that a flock of Ancient Dragons were wiped out by Vrabazard's Golden Dragons, do you know anything about it?" Xelloss asked with a coy smile.

That's right, I remember Valgaav saying he met Gaav shortly after the War of the Monster's Fall. It probably took years for the goldens to wipe out all the Ancient Dragons, so around now is the time they're beginning… Because they might be worried the Ancient Dragons will side with the Mazoku since they won't fight in this war.

Milgasia turned back and glared at Xelloss. "No, I don't." he replied sharply. I could tell by the look in his eyes… Yeah, he knew. And he didn't like it either.

"Very well then, our message has been left so with that we will take our leave." Huraker said, vanishing suddenly.

Xelloss took a moment to smile at me once more. "I thank you again, Miss Rina and Miss Hawke." He then vanished.

"Are you ok Milgasia?" Hawke asked.

"I'll be fine." He replied. "I can see why you girls wanted us to meet in a non-hostile manner."

"I'm still not fine with sacrificing one man for everyone." Hawke growled. "But like Rina pointed out to me, at the rate the war is going you guys just might lose, and they'll get him anyway then. Still…"

Hmmm, so Hawke wasn't for the deal. But why was Rina?

"Rina why don't you head back home for now?" Hawke asked, turning to me. "I want to go with Milgasia and tell Ragradia my thoughts on this too."

"Alright." I said, nodding my head. I knew I had to play out the events of the day or else I risked compromising the future. I headed down the mountain and towards the village…. That's when it hit me…. How the hell do I find my house?!