Author's Note: A random piece that came to me while working on Rewrite the Stars. Anime-centric with manga info woven in.

Timeline: Anime Season I, end of Part I

Tightrope

The whole issue with Rezo the Red Priest was unexpected, and blindsided the Demon Lords more than any of them wished to admit. The emergency meeting, which began at some point after the second seventh of Shabranigdo regenerated, was nothing short of chaos.

The four united lords sat around a table, watching the scene unfold on a huge magical sphere above them, while the remaining Generals and Priests stood behind their respective lords. It was carnage, really, watching Shabranigdo emerge from Rezo, and it was delightful. The desire for the end of the world was palatable and delicious, and to make it even better, there was also a thread of hilarity in the room - because a band of fragile humans was stupidly standing up to the seventh resurrected piece. What idiots!

They wouldn't survive, that much was absolutely certain. Dynast had made the point several times, with Sherra wholeheartedly agreeing with him and Norst smirking horribly, Dolphin humming in approval, and Huraker and Riksfalto nudging each other and pointing up at the humans while shaking with silent laughter. The humans' plight only added to their excitement. Not only would the world end; a band of pathetic creatures would die in vain! It was too rich.

But Xellos remained completely still and kept his face utterly mask-like. In all honesty, he was getting edgy. For one thing, the band of fragile little humans wasn't dead yet, and that was really starting to bother him. He knew all three humans peripherally, despite the fact that he hadn't followed any of them personally. He had done basic research on each, simply because they were slightly above average and connected to other powerful individuals. The chimera Zelgadis was a great-grandson to the Red Priest himself, and was fairly skilled at Shamistic Magic. The Gabriev family had been tracked for some time because they possessed Gorun Nova, and despite the fact that Gourry was dense as a rock, he was an extremely skilled swordsman. As for the teenaged sorceress Lina Inverse - she was only on Xellos's radar because she was the younger sister of a hated enemy.

But despite all of that, even talented magic users shouldn't have lasted this long against a seventh of the Demon King. Thirty or forty seconds at most... but not this long.

The fact that the humans weren't dead yet was bothering his master, too - he could tell. She was frowning up at the unfolding scene with narrowed eyes and her arms crossed. But in her case, it wasn't just the still-alive humans that had Lord Beastmaster seething. There had been plenty of accusations thrown about in the past fifteen minutes, which wasn't remotely surprising but was highly annoying.

Dynast openly blamed Zelas and Xellos for not realizing that Rezo possessed a seventh of Shabranigdo, and claimed that Xellos should have figured out that Rezo's soul sealed part of the Demon King long before this moment. His main motive for this brazen statement was to try and make Xellos look bad, while elevating his own, lesser-skilled servants.

Zelas coldly reminded her brother that Xellos wasn't the only mazoku servant roaming the world and neither of Dynast's two pathetic replacement subordinates had figured it out, nor had Dolphin's servants. Not to mention, Xellos had far more important duties to carry out - like destroying Claire Bible manuscripts. Throw in the fact that Rezo was a powerful White Magic user, which monsters typically shunned, as well as the fact that the Mage had kept the Demon King so well concealed and for so long, and it was practically impossible for anyone to have guessed this was going to happen.

Dynast complained bitterly that Zelas was just making excuses. At that point, a fight would have broken out between the two, had Fibrizo not stepped in told Dynast to shut the fuck up before Hellmaster lost his temper.

Xellos didn't react to any of this bait. For starters, it wouldn't solve any problems. Secondly, Lord Beastmaster wasn't angry at him because it hadn't been something he'd been specifically assigned to investigate. And thirdly, he was too intrigued by the battle they were watching to put much stock into Dynast's typical rants. At any moment, the world would be reverted to Chaos again, for Rezo had swallowed the Philosopher's Stone and Shabranigdo would be fully reborn, all seven pieces would unite together...

And then, the unthinkable happened.

No one expected the human girl named Lina to start casting Chaos Magic.

Dolphin gasped and nearly dropped her cup. "That spell...!"

"I didn't think any humans knew that spell!" Dynast yelled, turning his attention back to Zelas. "The only place they could find that spell is from the Claire Bible or a forbidden manuscript! I thought Xellos was destroying manuscripts and sealing entrances!"

Xellos had actually opened his eyes in horror to watch as the Giga Slave gathered menacingly above the girl and the Sword of Light. He stammered, "I am!" at the same time Zelas snapped, "He is!"

How had he missed this? How had he missed a manuscript that contained information on Chaos Magic? How had he missed that this girl had found it and learned it?

"Then how does she know this spell?" Dynast shouted.

"You could have set Norst to look for manuscripts too," Zelas yelled back furiously. "But no, you've been too busy playing a little lap dog to Lei Magnus - !"

"Shut up, both of you!" Fibrizo yelled. "There is no possible way the human girl can control it, so it doesn't matter! The world will still be reverted to chaos! This is fantastic!" He looked elated and sucked in a long breath of anticipation, his eyes cat-like.

But while Fibrizo, Dolphin, and Dynast all looked excited at the prospect of the world reverting to Chaos, Xellos watched the scene with growing unease. The girl was slight and small... there shouldn't be any way for her to control the spell... but... he had a bad feeling about it.

Unfortunately, he was right. If no one had expected her to use Chaos Magic, they absolutely had not expected her to control Chaos Magic.

Xellos gaped in shock as the little sorceress used a Giga Slave and Gorun Nova to defeat the Demon King, and actually felt a spike of sheer terror when it worked.

What the actual hell? How had he messed up so badly as to let something like this happen? He would absolutely be punished for something this horrible...

The Demon Lords held their breath collectively, clearly waiting for the spell to go awry and destroy the world... but when it didn't, they were all left staring in confusion and horror at the anticlimactic aftermath. And just like that, the seventh of Shabrinigdo was gone and the whole thing was over. Silence fell over the group, heavy and oppressive. The world had not reverted to Chaos, and any hopes they held for that actuality faded quickly into ash.

A human girl had destroyed part of the Demon King. Neither Ceifeed nor Ragradia had succeeded in that. It was... unimaginable.

"What... what just happened?" Sherra whispered, staring up at the magical sphere that showed the events in real-time.

No one said anything for a long moment, until Fibrizo narrowed his eyes and muttered thoughtfully, "She didn't lose control of the spell."

Dolphin shuddered, gasped for breath, and clutched at her chest. "A mere human teenager, able to control Chaos Magic? Able to destroy a piece of the Demon King? I can't even! That shouldn't be possible!"

"There must be some mistake." Dynast looked murderous. "It doesn't make sense...!"

"There is no mistake." Fibrizo was still gazing up at the magic projection, but Xellos noted he did not look furious like Dynast or terrified like Dolphin. In fact, he looked rather... intrigued.

Great. Whenever Lord Hellmaster looked like that, it always signaled a plan hatching...

Or else, he was debating how best to punish Xellos for allowing anyone to get their hands on such a dangerous manuscript...

And I deserve it, he thought with panic. There was no way to convince Hellmaster otherwise that he could see. He had royally fucked up.

"We should kill her," Dynast announced coldly to the group, gathering his wits about him again. "Now, while she's too weak to defend herself. The Giga Slave used all of her magical powers. Xellos - !"

"Why Xellos?" Sherra practically shrieked. "Why not me, master? I can kill her!"

"Because Xellos is far more talented than you are, you little twit," Zelas muttered under her breath, "and your master knows it."

"Shut the fuck up, Zelas," Dynast snarled. "No one asked you!"

"You're the one randomly volunteering my subordinate to go kill a girl, who just killed a seventh of Shabranigdo!" Zelas spat dangerously, her hackles going back to reveal extremely sharp teeth. "You're hoping she'll kill him, too! That's you're real objective, isn't it? I've already told you - I will not allow you to use him, and this is exactly why, damn it!"

Fibrizo interrupted, still looking up at the band of humans on the projection. "Enough. The human girl is not to be killed. Yet."

Everyone turned and stared at him. He had a curious smile playing about his lips, as though he were greatly amused.

"Come again?" Dolphin asked, glancing at him over her teacup.

Fibrizo tilted his head and ran a finger along his chin in thought. "I... have an idea. I just need to... work out the kinks in my head. No one is to kill her yet. Though I believe I will need to borrow Xellos."

Xellos kept his expression completely masked and said nothing, but inwardly, he cringed in annoyance. The biggest problem since the Kōma War was that Fibrizo and Dynast had lost their original Priests and Generals. Zelas had flat-out refused to loan Xellos to Dynast for any reason, which had nearly caused an all-out war between the two on more than one occasion. Mostly because it also meant Dynast was forced to create replacements for his lost subordinates, thus draining his power yet again. His own damn fault, Zelas insisted, and she was right. Xellos had worked hard to stay alive through the Kōma War, had earned high praise from Lei Magnus-Shabranigdo, and his master wasn't in a mood to lose her only servant to one of Dynast's convoluted, hair-brained ideas.

However, she had far less leverage to deny Fibrizo the use of Xellos. Fibrizo was the most powerful of the five Demon Lords and held this little fact over his siblings constantly. He had refused to create new subordinates after the Kōma War in an effort to maintain his power. If he wanted to borrow Xellos, there was little Zelas could do to stop him, and nothing Xellos could do except exploit loopholes. But he was good at that, and it was the only thought that gave him comfort now.

"Why not me? I want to serve you too, Lord Hellmaster! I haven't screwed up and let some silly human girl get a Claire Bible manuscript with information about Chaos Magic, after all!" Sherra demanded angrily, overstepping her boundaries yet again as she was apt to do.

Fibrizo gave her an evil smile. "Either learn to hold your tongue," he said placidly, "or I will remove it for you."

Her eyes widened and she stepped back into place behind Dynast, who looked infuriated at her interruption. She'd catch it later, for sure - Dynast didn't suffer fools lightly, and though he had created Sherra, he never seemed quite as fond of her as she of him. It was nothing like the relationship Xellos had with his master at any rate, and they all knew it.

"What is your plan?" Zelas interrupted, keeping her voice even as she turned her wolfish eyes to Fibrizo.

"It's actually a good thing the girl learned the spell. No need to worry - I'm not upset at Xellos. Because, you see, with a Giga Slave, there is always the possibility of a miscast," Fibrizo replied evilly. "All I need to do is set events in motion to get her to cast the spell, preferably in an emotional state that would cause her to lose her concentration. I'll need information on how to exploit her emotions. Xellos is good at that sort of thing. And while I'm at it, we can see if we can destroy the insufferable traitor, too."

Xellos still said nothing. The Demon Lords had been desiring Garv's death for centuries now - ever since he had refused to rejoin them and work with them on their agenda to revert the world to Chaos. His human side was clearly affecting his brain, and Hellmaster had clearly had enough. But dragging Garv into a plot to get a human teenager to cast the Giga Slave for Hellmaster Fibrizo was fraught with numerous complications, and Xellos didn't relish the idea of being involved. Maybe this was his punishment, after all...

"For starters, who is this little human sorceress?" Fibrizo asked curiously, looking around the table.

No one answered. Dolphin merely looked down into her tea, while Huraker and Riksfalto shifted uneasily. Dynast shrugged, Sherra refused to speak out of terror of losing her tongue, and Norst looked at his fingernails. None of them knew.

"Anyone?" Fibrizo asked lightly - but everyone heard the dangerous warning behind his voice, the accusation that no one knew information on the human girl able to cast Chaos Magic? The accusation that they had all missed her in the sea of humans, somehow? Which was definitely unacceptable.

Shit. He was going to have to speak whether he wanted to or not. He would have to go about it damned carefully, though. He knew very little information, and he was already on thin ice as it was with Dynast (pun intended.) Fibrizo was unbalanced; there was no telling how he would react to the intel, even if he claimed he wasn't angry at Xellos for missing a manuscript.

Xellos coughed slightly and felt everyone's eyes swivel to him. Reluctantly, he admitted, "Her name is Lina Inverse."

"Thank you, General Obvious. We all know that," Dynast snapped.

Xellos kept his face mask-like. "Then you may recall," he said, with a bite of a sneer in his tone, "you've heard the name Inverse before. She is the younger sister of the current Knight of Ceifeed."

He felt the collective tension spike throughout the room, saw Dolphin's fingers clench angrily around her cup and Dynast's fist tighten against the table, saw the irritation and anger in the other Generals' and Priests' eyes. No one liked to talk about blatant enemies. Only Zelas and Fibrizo remained unfazed.

"So..." Fibrizo leaned back thoughtfully. "The younger sister of a powerful foe. Does she possess any of Ceifeed's power? Surely not, or we would have paid far more attention to her before now." Again, a hint of accusation - the possibility that Xellos had tracked Luna Inverse but not Lina Inverse hung in the air.

"No, she does not possess any of Ceifeed's power, or I would have investigated her further long before this," Xellos replied smoothly and carefully. Hell's bells, it was like walking a fucking tightrope above a pit of deadly magic without a safety net. "The most I know about her is that she earned top marks within the Sorcery Guilds. She was awarded a color at a very young age... If I recall correctly, I believe she was only twelve, or so. But I truly had no idea she knew of Chaos Magic."

"A Color Mage? You're telling us you didn't investigate a Color Mage?" Riksfalto cut him off in sheer disbelief. "Honest to hell, Xellos, what idiot doesn't investigate a Color Mage?"

"No one asked you," Fibrizo snapped, which shut Dolphin's subordinate up immediately. "Because apparently you didn't investigate her either, now did you? At least Xellos knows who she is, which is more than I can say for the rest of our remaining Priests and Generals..."

The accusation hung as heavily as the seventh of Shabranigdo's death. Riksfalto flushed and grit her teeth, but didn't open her mouth again.

"Hmm." Fibrizo sat back, gazing up at the magical projection, which was quite boring now that Shabranigdo was gone. "She's quite young for a Color Mage. That means she must have extraordinary powers that none of us realized. Xellos - since you've investigated her a little already, track her specifically for a while and report back to me. Secretly, of course. Don't reveal yourself or get involved in anything. Just follow her from the astral plane and get a read on her personality, her companions. I'd also like to know if she's romantically involved with either the chimera or the swordsman."

Xellos didn't move, but glanced warily at Lord Beastmaster. She knew he was waiting for permission, and she finally nodded her head once.

"As he said, Xellos," she murmured. She didn't add be careful, but he knew she thought it. The fact that Hellmaster and Dynast had lost their original Generals and Priests both elated and worried Lord Beastmaster. She was thrilled her General-Priest had survived so long, because it gave her leverage, but she knew how dangerous it was for him to get involved in something like this. She had no desire to lose him, when she had put so much into his creation and power.

He bowed politely and vanished without another word. Thank hell it got him out of that conference and out of a punishment. It would be a wonder if Sherra could keep her fucking mouth shut after Xellos received such an important mission, despite the fact that he had missed that Rezo had been a carrier or that Lina could cast Chaos Magic, and that he had apparently not tracked an important manuscript. He suspected that, the second he left, Dynast very likely blew up, and would probably start fighting with Lord Beastmaster again. Stupid sibling rivalries. He was damned glad Zelas had not created two monster subordinates; he wouldn't have liked competing with another. Sherra and Norst were prime examples of how that could go south fast. Even Huraker and Riksfalto didn't get along as well as they should, and hell knew that Dynast and Zelas were always at odds. Never mind Garv and his two idiot subordinates.

Once out in the world, he took a deep breath of air and gazed up at the place where Shabranigdo had regenerated for only a brief time. The entire landscape was dead. That was the power of Chaos. That was the power a young girl held in her hands.

Xellos's eyes flashed open. He would not fail this time.