Disclaimer: This is a nonprofit fictional story, a FanFiction based on Ken Akamatsu's Negima. I do not own Negima, or most of the other characters included in this work, excepting where it is stated in the author's notes. It is not intended or presented for any commercial profit or personal gain; it is simply a story written for personal fulfillment and presented for public enjoyment, and as an honest homage to the fine story conceived and written by Ken Akamatsu, as well as all the other (innumerable) works that find place herein (and their authors).

Chapter Seven: Gruesome! The Terrible Obsidian Star!

Lina tapped her finger on the café table. Her emotion, almost surprisingly, was anxious, but simply from a desire to get going and getting doing, rather than any degree of nervousness or fear. Xellos had assured her that his spell would keep her from being recognized by anyone except for their more powerful enemies, so she wouldn't have to worry about any run-of-the-mill bounty hunters or local law enforcement and could enjoy her meals and such in peace. However, she was now stuck here, waiting for Xellos to finish his 'errands' so that he could finish leading her to this 'magical doctor' who could undo the seal.

Is this guy really that reliable? I mean, magical seals are so expensive because they work. That someone could come up with a counteragent for it easily…. She sighed. Of course, my life is pretty much hanging on the truth of these rumors. I'm making some progress on unlocking it myself, but with the Obsidian Star dogging us every step of the way, I won't last long at all without my usual firepower….

"I'm sorry for the wait, Miss Lina. Here I am!"

He didn't arrive via teleportation or any other magical means, making his entirely mundane stealth all the more impressive and unnerving as he seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Lina just managed to hide her jump and scowled as she put her hands on the table and pushed herself to her feet. "About time," she growled. "Finally finished your 'errands'? Can we get going now?"

"Yes, yes, let me introduce…." Xellos stopped and looked around, a mildly puzzled look on his face. "Oh…where did she go? Ah, there she is…."

A figure approached, and upon the sight of her Lina started far more distinctly than she had at Xellos' appearance, and at the same time her heart sank. The figure, approaching erratically, was burdened by several large shopping bags that she carried in her arms, obscuring her face entirely and most of her torso (and explaining her rather chaotic wandering), but her outfit was so distinctive and recognizable to the girl that even the small portion of her that was visible left no doubt in Lina's mind as to who this new arrival was.

"Mister Xellos, I told you to walk more slowly!" the woman complained. "I can't see where I'm going like this…."

"Well, I did offer to help carry them…" the mysterious priest reminded her.

"Oh, tut. As gentlemanly as your offer was, I prefer to handle some things myself." She set the bags down, finally revealing herself to the camera. The woman was tall and almost perfectly built, muscular but slender, and far better endowed than Lina. Her hair was dark, blue-black, and long, and her skin was perfect—and what skin their was. This woman obviously believed in the philosophy of 'if you've got it, flaunt it', and she was dressed to kill—herself in cold weather, at least. She was dressed, obstensibly, as a mage, and had a great wide black cape with heavy shoulder pads, and the rest of her clothing combined was composed of less cloth than this, perhaps best defined as nothing more than a kind of bikini. Her hands and gloves were covered by gloves and boots, so they, at least, were protected from the elements….

This dress, that voice…all were quite familiar to Lina Inverse. And the woman's face lit up with recognition as she caught sight of the smaller girl, and her features twisted up in a mocking smile. "Why, Lina! How good to see you again! I didn't know that you were the one Mister Xellos was helping out here…."

"Naga the Serpent," Lina sighed. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Oh?" Xellos looked between the two. "Well! I didn't know that you two were acquainted…."

"The hell you didn't," Lina replied scathingly. "C'mon, now. What's this about, Xellos?"

"Well, since you're without your powers, I just figured I could call on an old friend to help protect you," Xellos explained.

Lina grabbed Xellos by the collar and pulled him in close so she could hiss at him, "Don't try that 'harmless and innocent priest' routine on me, you fake. You're telling me a greater lord of the mazoku is incapable of providing protection? Don't take me for an idiot…."

"It's more a question of attention than protection," Xellos insisted placatingly. "I can't show too much of myself, you know, for various reasons…."

"Whatever," Lina sighed, releasing her captive and stalking away. Naga was placing her packages into a rather small coin purse. "Well, I can't look a gift horse in the mouth right now. Fine. Can we just get going already?"

8-8-8

Zelgadis found Gourry to be an amiable companion. Gourry certainly had a certain amount of empty-headedness, but he did not have any particularly odious habits arising from his stupidity. Lina could find Gourry exasperating because she liked to talk and flaunt her intelligence and knowledge, and the complete sieve of Gourry, unable to retain any of the wisdom she imparted, frustrated her to no end. Zelgadis, however, was quiet, and Gourry was amiably quiet as well, and, despite his mental deficiencies, showed great intelligence and instincts in all martial situations, from watches at night to tactics and even combat planning on those instances when battle could be foreseen.

This became apparent because, as Xellos and Zelgadis had originally hoped when they planned to split up this way, Dilgear was still leading the attacks against them and, to his mind, getting revenge against Zelgadis was more important than actually pursuing Lina Inverse, and so far Horius had not yet deigned to reign the wolfman in and change his mind. Perhaps he was not even keeping tabs on the matter that closely.

So they traveled, and even Gourry was led to wonder on Lina's condition in all of this….

8-8-8

Lina reluctantly explained her whole story to Naga while they journeyed, relating her trials against the Obsidian Star and how now Xellos was leading her to a magical doctor, 'Runan', who supposedly had a method of removing magic seals.

Naga, for her part, regaled Xellos with tales of her and Lina's earlier adventures. They were a pair of adventurous sorceresses who had met up early in their careers and shared a few adventures. They were not friends—Lina, for her part, seemed to strongly dislike Naga, for obvious reasons, while Naga, to Lina's disgust, claimed they were rivals—but they knew how to work together, and accomplished some impressive adventures together.

Naga, while a self-styled sorceress who favored ice magic, was actually trained as a priestess and was more skilled with traditional white magic. Lina was, though she would never admit it, curious about the origins of Naga's training, but the older girl would never confess to her past outside of being an adventurer. Her bearing and arrogance combined with a surprisingly soft heart, however, suggested not-quite-adjusted runaway nobility.

Lina would not consider her two-day journey into the mountains in search of the reclusive mage a pleasant one, but it was not unbearable. Naga enjoyed flaunting her assets and such around Lina, teasing her constantly, but it was a minor inconvenience and one that Lina was admittedly used to. And while Naga's laugh was something that grated constantly on her nerves, at the very least she was not a crazed megalomaniac delusional princess worshipping a fake demon who was constantly trying to curse Lina. And Lina wasn't sure why that thought suddenly came into her head….

And so they finally came to their first sign of life not far from the supposed location of the doctor. They were ascending a mountain path, the rock on their right and a cliff face on their left, and came upon a larger flat area with a tree overlooking the cliff. A small child in an orange dress with pink hair in pigtails was climbing this tree and now, her legs and one arm wrapped around it as she lay on it, braving a branch that was dangling dangerously over said cliff. Her other hand was reaching for a bright flower budding on the end of the branch….

"Ah, this scenario seems remarkably, dangerously cliché, doesn't it?" Xellos asked cheerfully.

On cue, the branch suddenly broke, and the girl began to topple off the cliff….

"Levita—." Lina cut her spell off in despair as she remembered her seal, but Naga reacted just as quickly, casting the spell herself and swooping in to catch the little girl.

"Oh! Thank you!" the girl said cheerfully as Naga alighted back upon the ground and set her down.

"You're welcome, little girl," Naga replied. "But, wasn't that a bit dangerous? You shouldn't take such risks, you know…."

"But I had to get the Alcetta flower!" the girl declared, pointing at the flower she had just managed to grab and still held in her other hand. She spoke in such a manner that her exclamation points were clearly audible, each intonation and syllable almost exaggeratingly and dramatically excited and upbeat.

Lina sighed and scratched her head as she joined the pair with Xellos flanking her. "Of course you did. Well, at least you're safe this time. In any case, you must live around here, right? Do you know the magic doctor, Runan?"

"Runan?" The girl blinked in surprise. "Oh! Of course I do! Why do you want to see Runan, the magic doctor!?"

"This girl has happened to lose her magical powers," Naga said with relish, pointing at Lina. "Well, to be exact, she's been hit by a Magic Seal Cube. We've heard that Runan can undo this enchantment."

"Oh! Of course! Runan can definitely help you, and he lives right near here! Follow me!"

She began to stomp away, radiating pride and authority, and led the group a short distance to another, even wider plateau some ways more up the mountain. There, more centralized and with many different types of trees and little gardens set up around it, was a quaint little wooden cottage with a thatched roof. It was two stories tall, and to the surprise of the visitors, most of the bottom floor seemed to be a simple magic laboratory, with many vials and books on shelves that covered all four walls and a cauldron in the room's center. To the further surprise of her guests, the little girl immediately put on an apron and began to busy herself about the process of preparing the lab, bringing out a book and pulling down various jars and mixing them all up in the cauldron (after lighting a fire underneath).

"Um…what are you doing?" Lina finally asked, nervous about the answer.

"I'm preparing your medicine!" the girl declared. "My name's Kira. Runan the magic doctor was my grandfather! But he passed away a few months ago, so now it's my job to take care of it! I studied with him a long time, so I know my stuff!"

"Er…really. And…how old are you, exactly?"

"I'm six! But in a month, I'll be seven!" She turned her full attention back to the cauldron, pouring a few more vials into the mix and wrestling a pole heavier than she was into it. "Gotta stir it well now!"

She then pulled the staff out of the potion, and the bottom of it melted off and dripped back in. Lina's heart was sinking further with every second of this.

Naga, for her part, was trying to hold in her laughter. "Well…I'm sorry, Lina. I guess there's not much of a chance at a cure here…."

Xellos was inspecting the mess while Kira let it simmer, wandering off to prepare tea for her guests. "Actually, Miss Lina, I believe that this potion is in order. It should work."

"Are you serious?" Lina demanded incredulously, but Xellos, while a trickster and facetious, had his serious moments, and longtime harassment had given Lina the trick of spotting them. She sighed. "Well, I hope so. She wandered over to an anteroom and sat down on a soft chair with a harrumph, waiting for the dubious concoction to finish.

Naga wandered over to inspect the thing herself. She bent low over the pot, and the fumes caught her nostrils and caused her to cough and sputter. "O-oh…" she moaned. She reached out with a hand as she staggered…and caught hold of a shelf, but in the process knocked over a bottle. The cap popped out, and the contents poured down into the mixture. Naga, spotting this, picked up the bottle and inspected it. The bottle had no label and no distinctive marks…save for the white skull-and-crossbones that adorned the face of the purple glass. "Oops…" the sorceress muttered.

The mix was bubbling as usual for a few seconds, then the purple gloop suddenly turned red and almost instantly afterward exploded.

Quite literally, in this case. The cauldron and its mixture turned the entire house into a disaster zone, and moments later its four occupants were lying amidst the rubble.

"W-what was that!?" Lina demanded, picking herself out of the chaos, having not spotted Naga's gaff. "What happened!? Did something go wrong?"

"No!" Kira insisted as Xellos retrieved her safely from the mess. She spotted the offending bottle—still in the hand of Naga, which was connected to the arm of Naga, which was still connected to the body of Naga, but which was still buried under rubble. "Oh no!" Kira cried, snatching it up. "Of course it would explode if you poured this in it."

Lina's temper flared at the sight and realization. The anger throbbed inside of her as Naga slowly, blearily, finally emerged. "Na-GA!" Lina howled in rage.

"Eh!? I-it was an accident, honest! I didn't mean to…."

"That…was…my…one…shot…at…a…cure!" Lina seethed, shaking the girl.

Suddenly an echoing, disembodied laugh broke through the air. "Having trouble, Lina Inverse?" A being materialized—a creature with muscular blue skin, clawed hands, a tight face with curved, sharp teeth on the outside of its mouth, and no lower half. "I see you've sought some way of unsealing your magic, but it seems your attempt has blown up in your face. Now, will you return quietly to Master Horius, or will I get to enjoy myself first…?"

"What's that?" Naga demanded, readying herself. "A mazoku?"

"No…not quite," Lina sighed. "That would be one of the Obsidian Star's monsters, an 'Obsidian Knight' or something. What wonderful timing…."

8-8-8

Gourry and Zelgadis surveyed the force arrayed against them. "Still haven't run out of minions, Dilgear?" Zelgadis demanded.

"Ha! My forces granted to me by Master Horius are as great as the sands of the sea! Fight all you want, even you will eventually be overwhelmed." He laughed his barking laugh. "And don't expect any reinforcements. I may be tracking you, but Master Horius has already sent a powerful minion after Lina Inverse. She will be dealt with long before she finds a way to unseal her magic…."

"Ha," Gourry laughed. "You don't know Lina…or how stubborn she can be. There's no way you'll find a way to stop her."

"Regardless, we won't be relying on her help," Zelgadis added, drawing his sword. "We'll take care of you ourselves, long before she rejoins us."

"Is that so!? Get 'em, boys!"

And the forces moved to clash….

8-8-8

"Well then!" Naga declared. "Since Lina Inverse is still impotent, it is up to I, the premiere sorceress Naga the Serpent, to defeat this embodiment of evil! En garde, you beast! Freeze Arrow!"

Naga, following her dramatic speech, unleashed her spell at the half-figure floating in the air above it. It sprouted wings from its back and used them to block the ice missiles. "So…Lina Inverse has a new friend to back her up…she'll make an entertaining plaything." It flourished its wings and a score of small, round, bat-winged creatures with large mouths, two small taloned legs and no other visible features appeared in the air around it. "I am Skurge, and these are the Sweeps. Please, entertain us before you die…."

The creatures opened their mouths and began to spit fireballs at both Naga and Lina. The sorceresses escaped in separate directions, fleeing the attacks. Both attempted, with varying degrees of success, to retaliate against the creatures.

Most of the flock soon abandoned Lina…and Skurge went after her himself. "Come, now, Lina Inverse…Master Horius would like to bring you back alive, but in extreme circumstances, your corpse would do. The more I play with you, the bigger chance there is of…an accident…."

"Elmekia Lance!" Lina's most reliable anti-demon incantation, however, was as ineffective as the rest of her spells.

"Oh no! They're both in big trouble!" Kira declared, watching from behind a barrier of rubble next to Xellos. "Shouldn't you help them out!?"

"Hrmm…well…." Xellos surveyed the scene and sighed. Naga was holding her own against the Sweeps, but was unable to lend any assistance to Lina, who, of course, still being sealed, couldn't conjure any magic with enough power to even wound the monster attacking her, hurling lances of dark of light. "I really shouldn't be making a big spectacle of myself…now, more than ever. I had hoped Miss Naga would be enough, but I didn't expect such a powerful foe finding us so quickly with those two serving as a distraction…." He shook his head. "Well, I guess it can't be helped. I don't have a choice." And he vanished.

Lina stumbled, but to her surprise Naga leaped above her, blocking Skurge's black lance with a bolt of white energy. She posed and pointed at the monster. "That's enough, you fiend! I am your opponent now!"

"Naga, you idiot!" Lina scolded her. "You dealt with the bats, good, but this guy's out of your league! Just get out of her! He's only after me!"

"A sorceress who fights for love and justice can't abandon her rival when she's in trouble," Naga said with her usual good-natured arrogance. "Don't worry, I'll vanquish this monster and…."

Skurge pointed with a closed 'hand' and opened it, and an explosion of dark energy erupted just in front of the pair, throwing them both backwards. As they struggled to pick themselves up, Skurge skipped through space to close with them again. "Well done, pest," he congratulated the sorceress. "But now you've just given me another toy to play with. Give me some good screams before you die…."

He released another black lance…and it vanished against a barrier as Xellos suddenly appeared, hovering over the pair.

"What!?" Skurge gasped as power from the priest began to wash out. "W-what are you!? N-no…you…you can't be…what are you doing here!?"

Wordlessly, Xellos put his hands to his torso, his right just above his left, forming a line of the four similar pendants he wore around his neck, waist, and each wrist. All four orbs glowed bright red as he began to chant, "O Lords of Darkness of the Four Worlds, grant unto me all the powers you possess…." Then he planted the butt of his staff on the air at his feet, as if he were striking his staff on the ground. "Blast Bomb!"

A massive globe of energy erupted, appearing around Xellos and the two women and rolling outward, disintegrating the screaming Skurge as it passed over him. Seconds later, there was no trace of the pseudo-demon.

The two sorceresses stared in awe at Xellos as he turned back towards them, settling onto the ground, his cape flapping dramatically.

"Xellos…" Lina began before he could speak. Then she pointed at him and burst out, "Sell me those talismans!"

"Eh!?" Xellos did a face-vault. "Not even a 'thank you' for that…?"

"Fine, thanks, but more importantly, those talismans! The ones around your wrist, the one around your waist, and the one you're wearing around your neck. You used that incantation to activate them and use them as a magic-booster. So, give them to me! I'll give you one thousand juls for them!"

"Now, look here…I can't just sell these. They're priceless artifacts, given to me by the great mage Lei Magnus a long time ago…."

"Fine! Five thousand juls!"

"Maybe if you offered five million," Xellos offered with a sigh.

"Okay! Deal!"

Xellos blinked. "Huh?"

Lina, quick as lightning, had her cloak off and laid it out on the ground. From various magic pockets she produced a variety of knickknacks and began to count them off. "A pound and a half of crushed golden achrymal. Four leaves of the Oldain Mana Tree. Three Lightstaves. And one elixir of youth. Sell all that, and you could easily get five million juls."

Even Xellos was taken aback by the scope of treasures that Lina had accumulated over her adventures and now presented to him—rare and valuable magic items. Still, he was hesitant. "S-still, I can't…."

"Sell them already!"

About a minute later Lina was finally strapping the last of the medallions in place. "There we go," she sighed, looking at them. "Well, the cure was wrecked, but this should help. With this I should be able to work it off more quickly…."

"What are you talking about?" Naga asked as she dug through the rubble. "What good will that booster do you?"

"You know how magic seals work, don't you?" Lina said, concentrating on her magic.

"Of course," Naga replied easily. "Magic is received and expelled through pores in the body generally referred to as 'mana slots'. A magic seal stops up those slots and prevents mana from exiting or leaving the body."

"That's right!" agreed Kira, who was helping Naga in her digging. "Mana is absorbed from the air and gathered in the body in the mana organs, and mana flows through the body by the mana circuits! But when sealed, mana can't get out!"

"Right," Lina continued. "It's possible to fight that seal by forcing magic against the seal. The seal works because it's adaptive and smart, and acts…kind of like a lock. If part of it is broken through, it rebuilds that connection by drawing energy from the whole, but it has to weaken other parts in order to rebuild the lock. So, fighting off the seal is like working a kind of puzzle, finding which parts of the seal have grown weaker before they rebuild their strength.

"Of course, there's a limit to how much magic you use at once to work against the seal. The 'bucket capacity', I call it—the amount of mana you can gather from your reservoir at any one moment is like a bucket you use to scoop water out of a pool…and while 'bucket capacity' can vary, there's never enough difference for a mortal to overpower a seal through brute force. But these talismans…the 'Demon Blood Talismans' aren't a mere mana battery, they increase a mage's bucket capacity—they are a powerful magic amplification tool. By increasing my bucket capacity four to five times, I can batter my way through the seal more easily…."

"Ah, all well and good…oh!" Naga suddenly pulled a charred and worn-looking book from the rubble and held it up. "Here it is! I spotted this just before the…accident. It looks like an ancient book of spells…."

Lina snatched it up and looked it over. "This isn't a book of spells…this is a copy of the Claire Bible manuscript!"

"Ah, the Claire Bible," Xellos noted with pleasure. "The word 'Bible', of course, deriving itself from the ancient Latin for 'books', the Claire Bible manuscript is a compilation of the magic writings of the renowned ancient Archmage, Modell Claire…."

Lina was looking through the book. Kain's grown by leaps and bounds already since he graduated from the university, mostly because of the Obsidian Star. Having seen them first hand, I have to admit…even if I get my power back in full, I need to take a step forward if I want to stand up to them. These talismans are a nice start. If this is a genuine copy of the Claire Bible, I should be able to find something in here….

"What's this...? The Lord of Nightmares…."

She had an audience—the other three were gathered around her, reading (or at least looking) over her shoulder, but she hardly paid them any attention, her eyes devouring the knowledge of the spell before her eyes.

And as I turn this page, I'll learn to cast this spell, the 'Ragna Blade...'

She turned the page…and finished reading.

"Did your grandfather use this book, Kira?" Lina asked the little girl.

"Oh, yes! Sometimes! Not much, because it's very important and powerful, but on difficult cases he'd use it!"

"Hmm…." Lina looked at the book thoughtfully. "If a magical doctor used this, it might also have something that could cure Zelgadis…."

Suddenly Naga grabbed the book and tried to pry it out of Lina's hands. "Well, all very nice, but let me have it at it now! I found it, after all!"

"Hey! Wait your turn! There's something else I have to check…."

Xellos sighed inwardly as the two girls wrestled over the book. Well, even if they are allies, it will be troublesome if either of those girls learns too much from that book….

He snapped his fingers, and the book suddenly burst into flames. Both girls yelped and dropped the book, and before they could recover enough senses to try and extinguish the fire, the tome had already been reduced to ash.

"Oh dear!" Xellos declared with a laugh. "Old magical tomes can be quite unstable…it seems the heat of the explosion and the stress of your fight and magical power proved too much for it. But…you did gain something useful from it, Miss Lina?"

Lina glared at Xellos for a second, suspecting his involvement in the sudden disposal of the book, but dropped the scowl with a sigh. "Yeah," she said. "One more weapon to protect myself with, at least. We'll see how useful it is. Now we better get back to Gourry and Zelgadis as soon as possible."

"And then what?" Naga asked. "Are you really sure those talismans alone will do enough for restoring your power?"

"Well, I should try a test…." She concentrated, not evoking the full power of the talismans through incantation but merely mentally focusing power from them and drawing it into her mana circuits. "Levitation!" She floated up into the air several feet.

"Hey, there we go!" she declared triumphantly. "Okay, good to go!"

Then suddenly she faltered and began to drop like a stone. She hit the ground before her magic kicked in again, and actually bounced back up to float into the air with a curse. "Well, still a bit unsteady…."

"And what's our goal after reuniting with our comrades?" Xellos offered, nobly passing on remarking on the slip.

Lina settled back onto the ground and said, "Kain's just passed along his plan globally, telling everyone to gather at Orimus. That's all well and good, but having Horius hound us every step of the way is going to be a problem. First thing we do is take the fight to Horius and put a stop to him…."

8-8-8

The last of the trolls fell to Gourry's and Zelgadis' swords. Dilgear stared at them in shock and panic. "A-all of them!? And we didn't even get any screen time to show them!?"

"I guess it's the end of the line, Dilgear," Zelgadis said, stalking forward.

Dilgear hurried backward and fell over…revealing two new figures that we have not seen in a while. "R-Rodimus! Zolf!" Dilgear scrabbled at their feet. "S-so, you've finally shown up! H-help me out here!"

The two regarded him stoically. Then Rodimus stabbed Dilgear with the spike on his halberd and speared him into a nearby rock.

"W-what!?" Dilgear gasped as Rodimus backed away. "A-are you betraying me and Master Horius!?"

"We never worked for Horius," Zolf declared flatly, blasting Dilgear with a spell. "We have always followed Master Zelgadis."

The flaming arrows released by the mage pinned Dilgear to the rock. "Y-you…just wait until I come back to life!" And then his body sagged and went still.

The two turned their attention to their proclaimed master, and Zolf kneeled. "My lord…you ran off without telling us. We've been searching for you for a long time. Why didn't you take us with you?"

"We are still your loyal soldiers," Rodimus agreed, taking a knee next to his companion. "We will fight any enemy you choose, whether that enemy is Lina Inverse, or Horius and his Obsidian Star."

Zelgadis gave a grunt and sheathed his sword. "Sorry about leaving. I wasn't sure what I was getting into by turning on Horius and didn't want to get you involved if I didn't have to. But since you're here…I suppose I'll have to accept your help again. First, I'd better tell you about our plans…."

The pair listened as Zelgadis laid out the situation. "So, Lina Inverse is looking for a cure to the seal you put on her in the first place," Zolf noted. "Somewhat ironic. Can she really find a magic that will eliminate the seal?"

"Who knows?" Zelgadis replied noncommittally. "She's talented enough that it won't make much of a difference—she'll have it off before too long anyway, but the biggest drawback is that, until we know for certain that she's at full power, she can't be relied upon against our immediate enemy, Horius."

"That is unfortunate," Rodimus agreed. "We could really use her help right now—Zolf and I learned where Horius' lair is, and he's sequestered himself there now. Supposedly, he's preparing some major magic ritual."

"He might or might not be more vulnerable during this ritual," Zolf added. "However, now would be the best time to attack him, before he completes his ritual. If he's a magic scientist specializing in making chimeras, he could be building a more powerful servant as we speak."

Zelgadis considered this in silence for several seconds, then nodded. "…Yes. I would prefer to have all our allies together, but you're absolutely right—I'd rather eliminate a threat before it manifests than gamble on Lina being powerful enough to help us destroy it afterwards. We'll go there. Lina and that Xellos figure should be able to track us down if they've finished their errand." He turned to the blond swordsman behind him, who had been taking all this in with his usual amiable implacability. "Is that all right with you, Gourry?"

"Huh? Well, sure…I really don't understand much more about it anyway. We can't just sit around and wait for Lina forever, though, right?"

And so the four men began their journey to the dragon's den….

8-8-8

Xellos lifted his staff and incanted the tracking spell. "Hmm…they're on the move. They've picked up a pair of allies as well, it seems. They've changed directions. I think they're moving into Horius' sanctuary…."

"So Zelgadis got the same idea I did," Lina noted. "Well, we better get moving…I have a bad feeling about this. We'll have to hurry if we want to arrive in time to head out. Ray Wing!"

She took off into the air—still somewhat unsteadily—and Xellos and Naga quickly hurried after her.

8-8-8

The large egg pulsed, the veins running through its surface writhing and changing direction. Horius stared at it with pleasure. "Marvelous," he muttered. "A master piece. With this we may have finally surpassed Eminus and his 'children'. And to think, this is only two of them…."

"Well, don't count your chickens before they hatch," Kalovus advised him. "While both the Marble and the Shapesphere have remarkable powers, we don't yet know how they will affect your transmutations. And even with this success, I would not celebrate our greatness after using a crutch like this…."

"Whatever. The proof will come soon enough." He sighed. "Can't I keep them for just a little bit longer? I could make so many more…."

"His Highness is growing impatient," Kalovus replied, pocketing the two smalls orbs. "Along with the Always One, they are the three artifacts necessary to build our world here. If we can master them, we would not need the Crystal Princess, or the land of Takamori."

"Does that mean you're about to abandon your pursuit of the little priestess?"

Kalovus shook his head. "No, no, of course not. We need every edge we can get, after all. Complacency and arrogant assumptions were what cost us in our last attempt. I will continue to hunt the girl, regardless of her guardian and his abilities…as I assume you will continue to hunt Lockeheart's son?"

Horius merely smiled in reply. Kalovus turned and began to walk away, vanishing in the act.

"Of course it will be not like last time," Horius murmured. "This time, we will prepare…for every contingency."

8-8-8

Zelgadis surveyed the scene. "An old temple of the Glabados Church," he murmured. "No big surprise…one of the things Kalan Lockeheart did was reveal that the Glabados Church was a front for the Obsidian Star. We thought all traces of them had vanished, but….

"Well, here goes nothing. Let's go."

They descended from their overlook into the little glade where the temple sat. It had been abandoned for twenty years, and showed the signs. The front doors were wide open…almost invitingly.

And, as they silently entered, weapons drawn, they entered a pillared entry hall. Braziers flamed to life in sequence as they entered. At the end of the doors opened to reveal a chapel, also lit by braziers…and at the head of the chapel, in place of a usual stand or altar, was an enormous egg, red, and thrumming with energy. "What…is that?" Zolf demanded, half in fear and half in awe at the sight.

"My treasure," replied the voice of Horius from above and behind them. He was up on a balcony above them. "Well, Zolf, Rodimus, Zelgadis…how good of you to come and see me again. You've chosen a wonderful time to come and visit…."

"That's it?" Zelgadis demanded, turning his attention to the man above them. "No threats, no questioning our loyalty, no declarations of how we'll pay for turning on you?"

Horius shrugged. "Why should I? You'll all be dead soon enough anyway. Behold my masterpiece!"

Horius raised his hand and the egg suddenly began to emit a great red light. Then it burst open, cracking apart in sinewy fashion, and a creature emerged from it. The beast was constructed halfway between a humanoid and a quadruped animal, with red skin draped around a semi-upright frame. Baleful golden eyes gazed at the four intruders.

"Behold my greatest creation!" Horius declared unnecessarily. "Equal parts magical beast and mazoku infused with power from our star. Appreciate it…because it's the last thing you'll ever see."

Zolf scoffed and stepped towards the monster as it rose up and began stretch as it climbed out of its broken shell. "This is your masterpiece?" he said derisively. "It certainly looks intimidating, but there's no magical power in at all. We're not the same group of foolish humans you pushed around twenty years ago. We're strong." He cupped his hands and began to chant. "Darkness beyond twilight, Crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried in the stream of time. In thy great name I pledge myself to darkness. Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess! Dragon Slave!"

Zelgadis blanched and Gourry jumped to safety as Zolf unleashed the spell; above on the balcony, Horius merely smiled. The creature looked up and reached out a hand. The massive stream of red-black chaos energy was sucked into its hand, and vanished. Then an orb of that same color appeared before the still-outstretched claw, pulsing and growing. Zolf could only stare in shock.

"No! Zolf, get out of there!" Rodimus ran forward and took hold of his companion and began to flee. In vain—the creature unleashed the same energy from Zolf's Dragon Slave, and the ensuing explosion engulfed the two men, leaving nothing behind.

Zelgadis, emerging scathed and blackened from wreckage near the edge of the explosive radius, stared in shock at the vacancy. "Zolf…Rodimus…."

Gourry burst out of his own pile of rubble and stuttered, "W-what was that!?"

Horius laughed. "How do you like that? Don't underestimate my pet. It is a perfect tool to entrap and defeat Kain Lockeheart for me—a creature that is a void of mana, that takes it all in and unleashes it back upon the user. Behold the power of Aldanis—with it here, even the toys of Eminus are obsolete. Now, my dear pet…kill those two next…."

The pair readied their swords as the beast howled and leapt at them….

"Elmekia Lance!"

"Freeze Arrow!"

White and ice-blue magic missiles flew through the air towards the leaping beast, knocking it from the air but doing little apparent damage. The eyes turned to the pair of sorceresses in the doorway.

"Zelgadis…Gourry. Sorry we're late!" Lina declared.

"Lina!" Gourry called back. "You've got your powers back?"

"And who's your friend?" Zelgadis inquired somewhat suspiciously.

"Never mind that!" Lina stared down the monster Aldanis, which was pacing back and forth, observing her. "So, this is some kind of chimera made by Horius, huh? Just let me at it!"

"No, wait!" Gourry yelped.

"FIRE-BALL!" Heedless of Gourry's warning, Lina tossed her signature spell at the beast. It raised a claw and sucked in the spell, then returned it to Lina.

"Huh!? Wha…!" Lina dodged aside as the fireball headed towards her…and burst in a rather mild explosion.

Zelgadis blinked at the tiny crater. "Your…powers aren't completely returned yet, are they?"

"Shut up!" Lina shouted back angrily. "What's with that thing anyway?"

"Horius said it's a void of mana that sends back whatever spells you cast at it," Gourry answered.

The room stared at him in shock for several seconds. "How…remarkably well-remembered," Lina offered. "Well…."

"If magic isn't effective, we'll have to rely on muscle." So declaring, Zelgadis drew his sword. "Astral Vine!" His sword glowed red and, Gourry leaping up beside him with the Sword of Light, he attacked the monster.

Zelgadis and Gourry brought their swords down upon a shield that flashed to incandescent life a few feet away from the monster. It crossed its arms and then whipped them out, throwing them away with an explosion from the shield. It jumped after Zelgadis, landing right in from of him a mere moment after the man managed to recover. A swipe of its claw sent Zelgadis flying, crashing into the wall.

Gourry leapt in again and again found his sword blocked by the shield. He managed to dodge back away from Aldanis' counterattack. He dueled futilely with it while Lina looked on in horror and Naga made herself useful by hurrying to Zelgadis' side to apply healing magic to him.

Above, Horius laughed. "Well, how is he? He's still in his infant stage, but still, his power is impressive…so, what will you do? If you surrender to me, Lina Inverse, I may find goodness enough in my heart to spare your friends…."

Lina shot a glare up at him, then focused her gaze on the monster again. Not fully developed…as I watch it, I can get a feel for its power. Any spell I cast would be absorbed, up to and including a Dragon Slave…but….

There's one thing I can do…but…can I fully control it?

…All I can do is try….

"Gourry, back off!"

Gourry, surprised, jumped back.

Zelgadis had returned to consciousness and his feet and readied himself again. "You got some sort of trick up your sleeve, Lina?"

"One thing I can try." She began to stride forward. Aldanis regarded her carefully as she approached. She put her amulets in position, lining them up as she had seen Xellos do and called on their power. "Lords of Darkness of the Four Worlds, grant unto me all the power you possess….

"Lord of the Dreams that Terrify, Sword of Cold and Darkness, free yourself from the heavens' bonds and become one with my soul, one with my body and let us walk the path of destruction together. Power that can smash even the souls of the gods! Ragna Blade!"

Lina reached deep inside herself to draw out the energy, called on everything she had, opened the portal inside herself to connect with a world of chaos far beyond this dimension, and summoned that darkness into her hand. She felt her body shudder under the force of mana flowing through the circuits in her body and could almost feel every magic slot in her body convulse as that magic slammed against it, fighting to escape….

Finally an enormous black blade manifested in her hands. Still, to call it a blade was generous; the giant weapon convulsed and twitched, unable to maintain a proper shape.

Horius stared in shock. "W-what is…!?"

Aldanis regarded Lina, and held its ground as she came at it with the weapon. The black blade met and briefly struggled with its shield before it burst, and then it raised its claws before the weapon, but the warping energy ignored the calls of the monster. The blackness cleaved into it, cut through it, sliced it in twain, and the two halves disintegrated amidst a terrible scream.

Lina panted as her blade faded away. Then, with a gasp, she vomited blood out of her mouth and collapsed to her knees. With a cry, Gourry hurried to her side.

Zelgadis turned his attention to Horius, who was staring down at the scene with open-mouthed disbelief. "Well, your pet's gone, Horius. Now, it's your turn!"

Horius blanched and put up a shield as Zelgadis released a fireball at him. Zelgadis followed his spell in and leapt onto to the balcony. He swung his sword in, which Horius also blocked. An explosion threw Zelgadis back, but as Horius attempted to prepare a new defense, a small explosion burst through his chest, just below his heart.

Horius gasped and slowly turned his head in shock to look behind him. Xellos floated in the air just behind him, smiling mockingly. "Oh, I'm sorry! Did I surprise you, Mr. Obsidian Star?" Xellos ever-closed eyes opened, revealing a dangerous and vicious look that was forever hidden behind his humble smile.

"Y-you…who are…!?" Then he spat blood and collapsed to the ground.

"Xellos!"

Lina coughed and glanced up at the man. "I was wondering where you'd gotten to," she muttered.

"Oh, hello everyone! It seems I got lost on the way here!" Xellos said conversationally, turning his attention from the mortally-wounded mage.

Zelgadis hopped back onto the balcony and stared down at the man. "Not dead yet, are you? I hope not…because I still have questions for you…."

Horius gritted his teeth. "N-not…not like this…I won't…die like this!"

Suddenly darkness erupted around him. Xellos and Zelgadis were both forced back by the black cloud, and could only watch as Horius' body disintegrated into black and joined the darkness. Then it geysered into the air, smashing through the roof and disappearing into the sky.

The group stared after him. "Is he…dead?" Gourry asked.

"Hmm…who knows?" Xellos muttered. "He was something…not quite human, but not a real demon, of any type, either. In any case, he shouldn't be a bother for us again." Xellos stared up through the broken roof.

8-8-8

They spent the night camped in that old temple, and set on their journeys the next morning. Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis and Xellos set their sights towards the old capital of Orimus, while Naga declined to continue journeying with them—a decision that was not to Lina's displeasure.

"It was fun hanging with you again, but the kind of thing you're mixed up in is a little too much for me," she explained. "I prefer a little less risk and a little more reward in my jobs. Still, I wish you the best of luck!"

With the sun rising behind them, they stared out in the direction of their destination. "The Obsidian Star," she muttered. "They're better-hidden, but seemingly more powerful than they were before. You're right about one thing, Zel—we need allies if we're going to put a stop to them. Kain, and all his students…and somehow we'll have to find a way to recruit the powers of the world to our side, too. All of this has to be found in the old capital of Orimus." She glanced over at him. "Your best lead was taken…you're still hanging on?"

"While Horius was my best chance of finding a cure, it's not the only one," Zelgadis declared. "Evidence shows the Obsidian Star has more masters of chimeras in its ranks. Besides which, I owe them for using me. C'mon…we'd better quit standing around and get moving

And so their journey continued….

8-8-8

Author's Note: Character Introduction: Xellos, the Roguish Priest

So! We've fought through and completed Lina's individual arc. The next we'll really see her will be at the eventual gathering in Orimus. She has her party put together—the usual four, minus Amelia, plus Xellos. As I mentioned, I already have trouble fitting all the kingdoms I've got into this magic world, and Amelia's kingdom of Seyruun was particularly large and powerful and influential, so it's a bit late in the game to throw it in. Also, Amelia's character is perhaps a bit too overblown to add to this already bloated cast. Gourry, Zelgadis, and even Xellos are rather more low-key.

I did have her sister, however. Naga the Serpent is actually also a princess of Seyruun, and although that kingdom itself doesn't exist, it still makes good background for her and was alluded to in the chapter. Even so, changing her to minor nobility run away from home doesn't actually do much to her non-existent background, since Naga's part never actually involves that kingdom. Like Lina's sister, the whole status of Naga as Seyruun's princess and Amelia's sister never is more than a footnote—Naga and Amelia never meet in the series, novels or anime, for instance.

This part began as the continuation of the 'Lina Loses Her Powers' mini-arc from Slayers NEXT. However, the person accompanying Lina and Xellos is originally Martina, princess of Zona, whose kingdom was destroyed by Lina in the first episode of that series. She spends the rest of NEXT hunting Lina with a vendetta. She's amusing, but since I haven't had any place for a Martina to appear, there was no reason or point in bringing her in. Instead, introducing Naga, Lina's constant companion from most of the Slayers movies, was a great way to create a small amount of background for her. Naga was a minor companion I was never fond of, an annoying character, but was a reasonable enough piece to drop in to be useful here.

Again, I made minor adjustments based on that change. I don't know the original reason Xellos recruited Martina before taking Lina to the magic doctor Runan—probably just for the amusement of watching her attempt revenge on the powerless sorceress. Here, the reason is obstensibly to help provide protection, since Xellos doesn't like to use his powers in the open too much and draw attention to himself. While Martina originally sabotaged Lina's cure, Naga, while competitive, isn't THAT evil to her, but she can be klutzy and incompetent at the wrong times, hence her knocking the evil formula in to destroy it makes sense. So Xellos is forced to use his powers to vanquish the monster sent after Lina here, and Lina 'buys' the magic Demon's Blood Talismans off of Xellos. I can't remember the exact items she sells, so I came up with some of my own, but the price was that exorbitant—Lina is actually a very successful, wealthy sorceress…and a bit of a miser, at least one who fights every price she can, despite her inclination towards comforts and especially good food.

Then I just adjusted the rest of the adventure to fit in with Horius. I feel kind of bad about Zolf and Rodimus dying in such a pathetic fashion and becoming footnotes, but they similarly died thus in the original Slayers series. Since I introduced them, I had to wrap them up, and they just weren't cool or important enough to keep, especially in this bloated cast….

Horius is gone, mostly for good…that's all I can say on the subject. Kalovus and Kai will likewise meet their fates in the upcoming chapters, leaving to a change of status for certain parts of the Obsidian Star….

_Xellos the Roguish Priest has many names and titles, depending on the translation and adaptation of the work in question (novels or anime). He serves the Greater Beast Zelas Metallium, one of the five greatest demons of Slayers mythos. I better give a brief rundown of that: the creator of pretty much all things in the Slayers Universe is the Lord of Nightmares, from whom both the divine race, Shinzoku, and the demon race, Mazoku, were born. Four of her children became the greatest 'monsters', the progenitors of the race of mazoku: Ruby-Eyed Shabrinigdo, Dark Star Dugradigdu, Chaotic Blue and Death Fog. Each 'rules', or at least seeks to rule, a different plane or world—the Demon's Blood Talismans refer to, and actually are composed of power from, all four of these (hence the four rulers of the four worlds). Incidentally, although all illustrations in the novels and all through the anime all four are shown to be red, in the final novel author Hajime Kanzaka suddenly declares that they are white, black, blue, and red, one color per talisman and per lord and world, and it becomes a serious plot aspect as Lina breaks each talisman in turn to invoke a Dragon Slave-caliber spell composed of that lord's energy. In any case, Ruby-Eyed Shabrinigdo was the lord of the world that the Slayers series takes place on, and he had five lieutenants under him: Hellmaster Fibrizo, Chaos Dragon Gaav (or Gaav, the Demon-Dragon King in English), Greater Beast Zelas Metallium, Dynast Grausherra, and Deep Sea Dolphin (as you can tell, Hajime is the kind of Japanese author that will pick any cool-sounding English name without realizing how stupid it might actually sound to English speakers). Each of these five lords of chaos had a general and a priest, their ultimate servants, equal in power to each other. Zelas, however, pooled all of that power into a single figure: Xellos, who became her general AND priest, and thus is the most powerful demon of the Slayers universe apart from those five (and, of course, the four lords). This is especially true because, 1,000 years before the series takes place, in the War of the Monsters' Fall (as it is called in English), most of the five lords lost most of their generals and priests in battle against the shinzoku. THAT is how powerful Xellos actually is….

This universe of mine, constructed for this patchwork fanfic, assumes a similar but not so precise demon pantheon. Beings of 'chaos' such as the Lord of Nightmares have no actual bearing on mortal worlds—rather, the Lord of Nightmare's children and creations were simply the demonic and 'heavenly' planes, who seek to interfere for various reasons in the worlds of mortals, as Alyssa explained back in Part 5. In this case, with this expanded knowledge I've recently gleaned from studying the Slayers' universe, I can note that there are four great universes of demons, and one of the them, with Ruby-Eyed Shabrinigdo as its Lord, 'borders' Arcanus Myrror enough for demons to be drawn to it (and, of course, it's opposite side, this earth). And from the Lord of Nightmares there was also born a more 'divine' race of demon-like beings who similarly draw nourishment and power from positive emotions and feelings, similar to the 'astrars' (nearly identical, in fact) that I introduced during the Magiverse. This shinzoku, however, will not appear in MSK…well, not in force.

In any case, Xellos is an amusing character, at least in the anime. In the novels, he is supposedly more dark and sinister, and Lina and co. fear him a lot more, as he shows a lot more of his true mazoku side. However, this Xellos adopts the more amusing and well-known persona from the anime, where he is mostly mischievous and humorous, tricking the party and sometimes threatening them but rarely going out of his way to go against them. In this universe, he has, as he explained before to Lina and Kain, various reasons to support them, as his master and her kinsfolk generally do not approve of the world the Obsidian Star is trying to create. Xellos is a demon, and draws sustenance and pleasure from tasting human emotions of fear, hate, and the rest, but, like most magical creatures who dwell among them, he has adapted some significant human traits from his proximity, and has come to really like humans. Frustration, a rather minor flaw and negative emotion, is what he tends to enjoy the most, and so he likes to be a prankster and trickster as he goes about pretending to be a simple, humble (but roguish) priest.

As another aside, I should note that, in this expanded universe, there are other demons, demon 'princes', of power equivalent to Hellmaster Fibrizo and his peers, but who did not actively seek to support Shabrinigdo. Alyssa, for instance, would actually be one of these. There are perhaps a dozen more like her, and a successively greater amount as you go down a power-level 'tier' among the mazoku. This little side note, among other things, gives me just cause to introduce more demons at my whim from other anime or my own imagination if the situation warrants it.

Now then, the Slayers' chapter is finished, so we will move on to conclude Inuyasha….