When Lina and Gourry got to the foot of the stairs the next morning, the ground floor was already a swell of activity as children ran to and from the dining hall. Gourry was completely unperturbed as he waved as they went to their own dining room, and his eyes seemed to dance merrily as though he was enjoying all of the turbulence. They walked by a girl with dark hair and her face smudged with ashes from reading by the fireplace. She looked up at Lina, and held the book up apologetically, "I hope it's okay. I took it from the library."

Lina shrugged, "As long as you bring it back. What's your name?"

"Danielle."

Lina looked at what she was reading, "Take it with a grain of salt, but it's a nice story."

"Thank you. Do you have any recommendations?"

"Hm," Lina said, and then she named a few books in a similar vein. As soon as she had finished, a young boy collided with her, and then looked at her in fear as he realized who he had just run into. "S-sorry, ma'am!"

Lina shook her head, "What's your name, kid?"

"Jean-Luc."

"Be careful where you're going."

"Right. Thanks." He said, and then he went running to the student's dining room, and Lina continued with Gourry to theirs. When they got there, Zel and Amelia were already eating. They greeted each other as they sat down and Amelia asked, "So, are you ready for your first day?"

"You bet!" Lina said as she loaded her plate with pancakes.

"You're not worried about that girl showing you up?" Zelgadis asked chidingly.

"Maeve?" Lina asked, "Well, she is the daughter of some bigwig in the Zefiel City Sorcerer's Guild and is descended from the Eternal Queen."

"What?" Gourry asked.

"The Eternal Queen is old." Lina said, "No one knows how old exactly, but over a century. She has many descendants, none of whom have a real chance of inheriting any time soon."

"Wow." Zelgadis said. "Is this an effect of Ragradia?"

"As far as we know. Maeve is either a great-great granddaughter, or a great-great-great granddaughter. And she's not the only one attending this school descended from the Eternal Queen."

"Who else?" Amelia asked.

Lina thought for a moment, "Adam and Adora. And Owen, for that matter. I'm not sure if he's a direct descendant or a cousin or great nephew or something like that, but he's the only son of a nobleman."

Han and Leia came in then, with Leia musing loudly, "How on earth am I going to remember all of their names?"

They talked amicably until breakfast was over and it was time to go to the sparring fields. Lina and Gourry left with Zelgadis as Amelia, and as soon as she had opened the door to the dining room she found herself face to face with a young girl with light brown hair. "Sorry." The girl said. "I just need to talk to you before we go down to spar."

Lina frowned, "What's up?"

"It's just, I go by Ace. And I don't want anyone knowing what my real name is. So if you do a roll call or whatever I don't want you yelling out my real name."

Lina folded her arms, feeling slightly amused as she tried to figure out which name it was and wishing that she could send Ace away for a moment so she could place a bet with Gourry and Zelgadis. "What's your real name then?"

Pippi. I'd bet a bag of gold coins on Pippi.

Ace looked behind her to make sure no one was watching and then whispered, "Dorothy."

Glad I didn't make that bet! Lina thought to herself as the girl quickly continued, "Please just call me Ace. Everyone else does, and if people find out I have a stupid name like Dorothy I'd never hear the end of it!"

"What's so bad about Dorothy?" Zelgadis asked.

"It's fine if you're into frills and lace and all that. But that's not me." Ace said.

"Alright then, Ace, I'll make a note of it. With a name like Ace, though, you'd better be able to back it."

"I will," Ace said as she relaxed a little, "Just wait till you see what I can do. Anyway, thanks. See you in a bit."

As soon as she left, another student, a boy, came up to them, "Hey, can I ask you something before we go out?"

"What?" Lina said.

The boy looked behind him and said, "Don't call me Henry at roll call, call me Indiana."

"Indiana?" Lina repeated as she shook her head and wondered how many kids would come up and beg for them not to use their given names. "How did you come up with that?"

He smiled at them charmingly, "That's a long story. Another time perhaps. Just remember, not Henry, Indiana!"

"Bye, Indiana." Gourry said.

"Perhaps we should ask if anyone else has any last minute name changes." Lina said as she shook her head.

"I understand." Zelgadis said, "People always found creative and new ways to butcher my name, and other kids were good at teasing me for it. There were times I wanted to just say my name was Bob and be done with it."

"Speaking of," a young, intense looking boy said as he came up to them, "I'm Cuchulain. Coo-hoo-lin."

"Cuchulain." Zelgadis repeated.

Cuchulain nodded, "Thanks."

"Looks like we have a bit in common." Zelgadis said, and Lina's fears that he would be to cold and distant for the kids eased.

"Well, those of us with strange names are in a special club."

"Right. Now get going."

Cuchulain scampered ahead with the other children as they got outside and headed towards the sparring fields. Amelia's carriage was already waiting to take her to Zefiel City. "Good luck!" she said as walked hand in hand with Zelgadis to it while Lina and Gourry continued towards the fields.

Most of the kids were already waiting at the fields when they got there. Maeve was standing confident, practicing her chants under her breath as she waited. Beside her a young boy with black hair who had gotten a practice sword out was doing his warm ups, and Lina had to shake her head. He was so comfortable with the sword he practically looked as though he was dancing, though as far as Lina could tell his technique was solid. "He is actually very skilled." Lina commented.

"That's not a style I see often." Gourry replied. "Hey kid, what's your name?"

"Gomez." He said with flourish, a manic look in his black eyes as he stood to attention and then bowed to Lina as he grabbed her hand and kissed it. "It is good to meet you, my lady."

Lina had to suppress a giggle as she playfully smacked him on the head, "Tone it down a notch. And remember I'm married."

"And may I be as happily wedded as you are one day." He replied.

"Who instructed you until now?" Gourry asked.

As Gomez answered him, Lina looked around and started counting as Zelgadis joined them. It looked as though they were missing two kids. "They have two minutes, and then they're doing extra laps." Lina muttered to Zelgadis as her parents joined them.

"Take note of the kids already going through their warm ups versus those who aren't." Han muttered just loud enough to be heard, and almost guiltily those who were mulling around found something to do.

Lina smiled as bit as the last two students joined them. Then she yelled, "Good morning! And welcome to your first day of school. Now I know that my sister and her scouts decided that you are good enough to be here, but I need to see for myself what makes you good enough."

A boy, probably the youngest one there and dressed from head to toe in green, shot his hand up in the air as he blurted out, "So does that mean that you don't trust your sister's judgment?"

Lina raised her eyebrow and considered him as she hoped to buy time to think of an answer. "What's your name?"

"Peter."

"If I'm going to teach you, then I need to know your strengths and limitations and see them for myself." Lina turned her attention to the rest of the students. "Any other questions?"

To Lina's great relief, no one stirred. Lina looked at Maeve, "Then you're up."

Maeve took a deep breath and stepped forward, and Lina had to admit that if nothing else, the girl had poise. And though she was young, the last thing Lina needed was to have her ass handed to her on her first day of teaching, and if there was one thing Lina herself had proven, it was that being young was not an obstacle to taking down someone powerful. "You know the rules." Lina said, and Maeve nodded.

Because of the lethal nature of many spells, only ones that caused minimal damage such as Burst Rondo and Dil Brand could be used in spars. Fireballs were out. But people could get very creative in their attempt to beat their opponent.

Lina motioned that she was ready, and Maeve wasted little time to cast, "Dil Brand!"

Lina dodged easily, but the resultant dirt and dust the spell kicked up did put her at a slight disadvantage. Overall it was a smart spell to start with because it did impair vision and hearing even if the idea to start with a Dil Brand was a rather predictable move. Lina started chanting her own spell as she kept an ear out, and nearly miscast her spell in her confusion over whether or not she was hearing correctly. "Bogardic Elm." Lina quickly finished, and Maeve cried out as the ground below her turned into a swamp and she sank to her knees.

Her hand brushed the swampy ground and she cried out in disgust as she let the spell die. Lina cast a levitation spell and gave her a hand. "You're going to have to get used to getting dirty. A mazoku isn't going to care and won't give you time to get scrubbed up before they kill you. Whatever you do, don't stop casting that spell."

Maeve nodded, and Lina cast another spell to reverse it and helped Maeve out. The she looked at her. "What was that you were chanting? I've never heard anything like it."

"Holy Magic." Maeve stated.

"What?" Zelgadis exclaimed. "I know dragons can cast it, but humans can't!"

"After the barrier fell my father found that he could." Maeve explained, "There were some ancient scrolls in the archive that he cared for filled with spells no one could cast. After the barrier fell he decided to give it a try and they worked. He taught a few to me, but I'm still a bit hit or miss."

"With practice you will get more consistent, so long as you don't stop chanting." Lina said, and then she backed away a bit. "I'm not going to dodge. Hit me with it."

"Lina!" Gourry said.

"It won't hurt her." Maeve said.

Gourry still looked mildly alarmed, but Lina nodded, and Maeve started chanting and then said, "Ray Freeze."

A gold road seemed to reach to her and lock her in place. Lina struggled against it for a few minutes and then exhaled, "Well, you caught me. I'm impressed."

Maeve smiled as she canceled the spell. Lina dusted her hands, "One thing I want everyone here to understand. There are new discoveries in magic all the time, and we have to continually seek new knowledge to stay on the top of our game. Which is another way of saying, Maeve, you're presenting a topic on Holy Magic in two weeks."

Maeve's eyes widened as she wondered if she was being rewarded or punished, "Right!"

"Meanwhile, Ray Freeze!" Lina grinned as the energy shot from her and encompassed Maeve, and then she quickly found she could encompass more than one person, and she wasted little time in grabbing a few other students with it. "How did you do that?" Peter asked.

"What?" Lina asked.

"Cast the spell when no one taught you?"

Lina shrugged as she canceled the spell, "I just have to hear a chant once to have it memorized. It's a gift."

Peter's mouth dropped as the other students started murmuring, and Lina smiled to herself, sufficiently convinced that she had proven her reputation. "Right then." Lina said as she looked at her roster, "Any volunteers to go next, or should I just go down the roster?"

A young girl raised her hand, "I'll go."

"What's your name, then?" Lina said.

"Ripley."

Lina recognized the surname of one of her students. "You just go by Ripley?"

"I do."

"Alright, show us what you've got."

Lina dusted her hands and exhaled in relief as Jackie laid down his practice sword and went to stand with the others. Finally they had gotten through all twenty-two of the students. While none of the others had delivered the bombshell that Maeve had, several, such as Marcus and Jackie, had styles that were incredibly rare and unique that had thoroughly piqued Gourry's interest. And a few, such as Pippi and Clark, were uncommonly physically strong.

"Now," Lina said commandingly, "We still have an hour before lunch. Go ahead and run four laps around the manor grounds."

Owen and a few of the others scoffed. "What does running have to do with slaying Mazoku?"

Lina raised her eyebrow as Zelgadis said, "Sometimes being able to run is the difference between staying alive and dying."

"But we would die with honor." Cuchulain said.

Lina smiled wryly, "And that will be a great comfort to the people who suffer because you failed to protect them by refusing to take a tactical retreat until you can regroup and gain the advantage."

"But if we fight for a worthy, noble cause…" Kara, a flaming haired peasant in tattered clothing began.

"Mazoku believe that they are fighting for a worthy, noble cause." Lina said, "It means nothing on the battlefield. When you're out there you fight to stay alive and that's that."

Some of the students looked at her as though she was making sound sense, while others looked as though she was crazy. A few looked to be thinking it over. "At any rate," Gourry said, "You'd better start running. The sooner you finish, the sooner you can have lunch."

Lina smiled as that sent them off and running. Gourry wrapped his arm around her as they watched them. "Well, that was interesting."

"You'd think with all of my experience that they would just accept what I say. I mean, I know what I'm talking about."

"Considering I raised you," Leia said as she put a hand on Lina's shoulder, "Excuse me while I have a nice, long laugh."

Hey!" Lina said.

"I'll join her." Han added with a smile.

"You planted a seed." Gourry said. "Sometimes an idea, especially when it's very different from what you've heard all your life, takes a while to grow."

"That's deep." Lina said.

"We'll have to keep an eye on Owen." Zelgadis said. "And the other ones who are angry. Mara, Nerys."

"People who are angry that young usually have good reasons to be." Han said, "And they need someone to show them how to grow beyond it. This will be a good place for them."

"I'm more concerned with the ones like Susan and Bruce." Leia said, "Neither of them wanted to be noticed and seemed so sad."

"Well, Bruce was orphaned, and that would be devastating for anyone." Lina said, "Nothing really stood out about Susan's background though."

"Susan seems to have a sense of duty and very capable." Zelgadis said, "I still say be careful with Owen. He's got a chip on his shoulder and seems more interested in playing around than learning. And with a background like his he's used to getting what he wants and not having to respect limits. He could challenge us."

"You have a point. I've known a lot of kids like him." Gourry said. "Still, after all we've dealt with, he's nothing we can't handle."

AN: In interviews, Hajime Kanzaka has stated that with the barrier down humans can now do Holy Magic again, but they likely wouldn't realize it for some time or be able to translate it from dragon to human for a few centuries. I decided to take some liberties so they would recover that knowledge a bit faster than HK anticipated :-)

OK, I think I got all of the student names in there. One person is in the lead having identified all five from the previous chapter! Theme is badass characters I grew up with, so really books/tv shows/movies before 2000, and the first one to guess all 22 gets to make a fanfic request! And yeah, some of these are gimmes, others are a bit more obscure, but none should be too difficult.