The students were already sitting in the classroom when Lina got in, and a hush fell in the room as Lina walked to the blackboard and wrote the name of the class, the Gods and Mazoku Lords, on the board. "As I explained yesterday, this will be one of three classes that I teach, the other two being Black Magic and Battle Tactics. And while these may seem like disparate subjects, they are intimately connected. While you can practice Black Magic without knowledge of the Mazoku Lords, your knowledge will only be surface deep and you won't be able to invent new spells, and invention is something you need to be able to do in the field. No Black Magic user worth their salt doesn't have a good working knowledge of the Mazoku lords, especially as that is where we draw our power from…Yes, Owen?"

"I'm a swordsman. Why do I have to bother learning about magic?"

"Because if you're going to be fighting Mazoku, then you need to be aware of the spells that the magic users in the group will use. And this will also come in handy for defending yourself from rogue magic users. If you can identify the chant they are using, you can figure out which spell they will cast and can better defend against it. Finally, there are swords that work by holding and releasing magic spells."

Owen seemed satisfied, but Kara raised her hand, "But isn't it evil to channel power from a Mazoku?"

Lina smiled, "Suppose you found a discarded sword that a Mazoku lord wielded? Would you have any worries about using it? Just because you channel that power doesn't mean that you're doing something evil. But you do have to be smart about how you use these spells."

Kara looked unconvinced, "But does that energy damage you?"

"Black Magic users have been known to have long lifespans, so I'd say no. You hear a lot of myths, that women who use Black Magic can't get pregnant or whatever or that using Black Magic stunts your growth, but it's just baloney people spread to scare you into giving up your power."

"I hate to say it, ma'am, but you're not exactly a good example of a Black Magic user who grew to be…tall." Maeve said.

Lina's eyebrow twitched, but before she could say anything, Nerys said, "After the demons razed my town when the Dark Lord was reborn, I don't particularly care where the power to annihilate them comes from or how much it stunts my growth. I'm going to use every advantage I can to win and protect my people. I'm not going to dither about whether or not I won't grow another inch. Those of you who've been pampered and sheltered your whole life don't know what it's like to be out there when people are dying."

"I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with using Black Magic per se." Jean-Luc said, "But I do worry about using every advantage without regard for the consequences. Power like this must be tested and used carefully, or the consequences of our actions could be worse than what we're defending ourselves against."

"Which is what we'll be doing." Lina said, eager for the opportunity to get the topic back on track. "Educating you about the power you are wielding, when to use it and when to not. For instance, never cast a Dragon Slave unless you are in the middle of nowhere. But that's a topic for our Black Magic course. Today, we're talking about Shabranigdu and Ceiphied, and the battle between them that we are caught in."

Several students picked up their quills and looked at her expectantly. Lina then went and wrote the diagram with the Mazoku Lords on the board, and then the one with the Gods. "There are the names and rankings of the Mazoku Lords and the Gods. The Mazoku desire destruction and to end the world. They also feed off negative emotions and energy. Suffice to say, that they are our enemy."

"But how do we really know that?" Mara asked.

"Sweet Ceiphied." Nerys exclaimed in disgust.

"Really." Mara persisted, "What if the Gods have been lying to us or duping us?"

"Mara has a good point actually." Lina said, "Which is never be afraid to question your assumptions. That being said, who in here has met a Mazoku?"

Lina raised her hand. So did Nerys and a few others. "Those of you who haven't met a Mazoku, pay attention to those who have their hands raised, and then ask them about their experiences after class. Now, Mazoku want nothing more than to return the world to Chaos. They are very open and upfront about this goal and I have heard it from their mouths more times than I can count. If they succeed then everyone, myself included, will die, and that's not something I'm interested in. The Gods aren't exactly our allies, but they do want to see that the world continues to survive, thus ensuring my survival and making my decisions on who to fight with rather easy."

Lina said, "That said, there will be times when you find yourself making strange alliances to survive. I've even had to make an alliance with a Mazoku to survive. Eventually he stabbed me in the back, but I expected nothing less from him. I hope none of you ever find yourself in that situation, but remember, the choice is always to survive. That is what you must always fight for."

Kara raised her hand again, "But if the Mazoku are so evil, I still don't see how channeling power from them can be a good thing."

"Because it doesn't matter where the power comes from," Lina snapped, getting a little tired of her binary thinking, "What matters is your reasons for using it."

Kara put her hand down as Lina took a deep breath and continued, "Now, I can lecture about this chart, feed you the names of the Mazoku and Gods, but you likely already know all that and if not, then you can look it up. What I'm wondering is, how many of you know where we get this knowledge of them from?"

Indiana raised his hand, "The Claire Bible?"

"That is one source," Lina said as she added it to her increasingly crowded blackboard, and then to her surprise Indiana listed several more. Lina quickly added them and noted that someone knew his source material, "The Claire Bible is considered to be the gold star of source material. But genuine copies are rare, and frauds are plentiful. And your find could be anything from a spell that could help you defeat a powerful Mazoku, to the best chocolate chip recipe you've ever had. So if you find a manuscript, be careful and authenticate first."

Susan raised her hand as she asked, "But how do we tell a genuine copy from a fake?"

"Glad you asked." Lina said as she lifted the hand that held the chalk.

Lina was so glad when she saw Zel come in to the classroom. "And on that note we will wrap up for the day. Next week I want each of you to turn in an essay on how to spot a fake, and then we'll be examining actual documents and you will have to make a verdict of whether or not they are genuines or fakes. Now, go ahead and take a fifteen minute break and be sure to meet back on time. I wouldn't want to incite Duke Zelgadis' wrath by being late to your first class with him."

"How'd it go?" Zel asked as he put a load of books on the desk and Lina started erasing the chalkboard.

"Good." Lina said, "They're a bit more inquisitive than I expected, but it's really a good thing. I thought I'd just be droning on while they took notes, but they had all of these questions!"

She then leaned close and whispered, "But fortunately, nothing I couldn't answer!"

He laughed, "You sound as though you were worried."

"Just you wait!" Lina said, "It's almost your turn on the hot podium."

"Well, it's not like they would know if I didn't know the answer." Zelgadis said.

"Don't say that too loudly." Lina replied. "Or they might think you're bullshitting."

"Right. Well, you enjoy the rest of your afternoon."

"Bye!" Lina said.

Zelgadis wrote the name of the class, Potions, on the board as the students gradually started filtering back into the classroom. Before he could even begin, though, Ace had walked up and asked, "Hey, I hope this isn't too inappropriate, but you were a chimera, right?"

"Right," Zelgadis said.

"Well, how did you get your human body back?" she asked.

Zelgadis stared at her for a moment. "And how is this related to potions?"

"Well, I imagine that a potion would be involved at some point."

Zelgadis drummed his fingers on his arm. "Take a seat."

Ace tried to hide her look of disappointment as she sat down. Zelgadis considered her and remembered what was in her file. "You have a background in potions."

"Right." She said.

"Gotten into some trouble with them."

She blushed as everyone turned to stare at her, "I had good reasons for it."

People started whispering as Zelgadis continued, "Yes, considering that the sorcerer you targeted was creating chimeras, you did. So, who did he turn that you cared about?"

"My friend."

The room was silent for a moment, and then Zelgadis grabbed the chalk. "Getting my human body back, it's all connected with the skills that make you good at using magic and potions. You have to think outside the box for one thing. In general, when you think of separating chimeras, how would you approach it?"

Everyone was silent for a moment. Then Ace said, "Well, it would be like filtering the non-human parts out I suppose."

Many of the other students nodded. "That's the direction I took for a long time, and it was dead end after dead end. Suppose we had a pitcher of lemonade. Now break it down, what elements are in the pitcher that, combined, make lemonade?"

"Lemon juice, sugar and water." Honor jumped in.

"Now, suppose you just wanted to get water. How would you do that?"

Everyone was silent for a moment, and then Honor gasped, "Add more water?"

Zelgadis nodded, "Suppose you had a big pitcher. Eventually you can add enough water that the lemon juice and sugar won't be noticeable."

"But how do you add more humans without merging with a bunch of strange people?" Nerys asked, the disgust evident in her voice.

"By making a copy." Zelgadis explained.

"What's that?" Gomez asked.

"It's where you make a duplicate of yourself." Jean-Luc explained, "But how did you do that when your body had been so drastically altered?"

"The inside of my cheek still had unaltered human cells." Zelgadis explained. "I was able to take samples from those, make several copies of myself, and graft them onto my body. Now the amount of blow demon and rock golem are just trace amounts, and I am back to being human again."

There was the scratching sound of quill on parchment as people hurriedly took notes as Ace asked, "But where did that idea come to you from?"

"Sometimes when you are facing a challenging problem, you just have to tear up all of your research and start fresh and approach it from a different vantage point. Now, anymore questions about how I became human again?" No one raised their hand, but Zelgadis made a note to talk with Ace later about helping her friend, "Then, let's return to what I was originally planning to lecture on."

"How did it go?" Gourry asked as Lina walked into her room and sat down on the couch with him.

"Good. Though, I guess I was expecting a quiet classroom as they soaked in my wisdom. Instead they debated and discussed it."

"Is that bad?" he asked as he wrapped an arm around her.

"Not really. It was enlightening at the least." She said even as her brow knitted as she reflected on what they had asked and what she had said and wondered if she had been clear enough, and even if she had been correct to assure them that there would be no harm in channeling Black Magic spells. While she had confidently explained that Black Magic had no effect on a person's ability to procreate, the fact that the desired event had yet to occur had left her questioning her assurance. Still, it wasn't as though a lot of time had passed, and plenty of Black Magic sorceresses went on to have children.

"Hm." He said as he leaned in to nuzzle at her neck. "We have a few hours before dinner."

She smiled, "Someone is feeling amorous."

"I've never slept with a teacher before." He said. "The thought is turning me on."

She opened her eyes as she pulled away, "Is that a thing for you?"

He shrugged, "Is that bad?"

She chuckled as she started to kiss him, "No, but let's just say, I'm learning a lot today."

"My sister and I will both get inherit some special swords when we come of age." Adam explained as he ate. "It will magnify our power."

"What type of swords?" Gourry asked.

Adam shrugged, "They were bequeathed to Queen Carliena when she founded Zeferia and have been passed along ever since. They amplify the power you already have and make it stronger."

"Excuse me, ma'am." Jeeves said as he came in, "But this arrived for you."

"Thank you." Lina said as she took the missive and read it, "Wow."

"What?" Leia asked.

"There's a woman in Toft who just gave birth to a rabbit." Lina declared, and Adam burst into laughter. But then he looked at the adults in the room who were stoned faced and stopped.

"So it's begun." Amelia said sadly.

Adam looked confused, "So what's begun? How does a woman give birth to a rabbit?"

"Damn, I forgot he was here." Lina said. "Listen, Adam, what I say does not leave this room! It is top secret, and if you share this information with anyone it will have dire consequences. Understand?"

"Yes," Adam said as he straightened and looked serious.

Lina took a deep breath, "A Mazoku cursed the town of Toft so that the women there would give birth to rabbits. We thought it was just talk, but now it looks like it's happening. The town is being quarantined until we find a way to break the curse. We don't want mass panic spreading through the kingdom and pregnant women worrying themselves into stillbirths and miscarriages by spreading this."

Adam's blue eyes widened, "Right! I won't tell a soul. I won't even tell Adora."

Lina patted his arm, "Thank you."

As soon as dinner was over and Adam had left, Han asked as he burst out laughing, "Did you see the look on that kid's face?"

Everyone joined in on the laughter as Gourry said, "I do believe he bought it."

"It was so outlandish I didn't think he would." Zelgadis said, "I guess people will believe anything."

"We live in a strange world, and curses do exist. So do chimeras." Lina said, happy that her plan to determine which students could be trusted to protect a top secret spell like the Giga Slave versus those who would spill the beans was thus far going well. She had decided that during dinner she would plant a false and outlandish rumor and see which ones spread and which ones didn't. The ones who could keep the secret would be considered for training in Chaos Magic, while the ones who couldn't would be disqualified. "So why not?"

"And you're keeping track of which rumor you're giving to which student?" Leia said.

"Yes, Mom." Lina said, bristling a little. At first she had missed her mom so much she could let the snide reminders go unnoticed, but the more time they spent together, the more annoyed Lina got at her mother's inability to trust her to do her job. "You know I have been managing well on my own these last few years."

"There's no need to take that tone."

"It's been a long day." Gourry said, "I'm sure everyone wants some time to relax and prepare for tomorrow. But all in all, it was a successful opening day for the school, right?"

Lina patted his arm, "It was. Good work everyone! I do believe we are off to a good start!"

AN: I got the idea for how to cure Zelgadis from the English translations of the Slayers Radio dramas: slayerstransl8d . livejournal 2008 / 06 / 29 /

And to think of an outlandish rumor that wouldn't mimic something I also heard in a counseling session and parade something I was told in confidence for other's amusement, I had to think about famous hoaxes perpetuated through history, and the woman who convinced some doctors that she'd given birth to rabbits sprang to mind. There really is a sucker born every minute. Warning if you do look it up, the details are rather gross, gory and disturbing.

And congrats to Zoro50, who put in the hard work of figuring out who the students were based on! Hopefully I will get Zoro's request up by the end of May. The students are:

Ace: Ace/Dorothy, my favorite Doctor Who companion growing up.

Honor: Honor Harrington, Honor Harrington series by David Webber, check them out if you haven't!

Pippi: Pippi Longstocking! Who else has the stupid Pippi Longstocking song stuck in their head now?

Danielle: Danielle De Barbarac, Ever After, AKA Cinderella. My mom would always comment that Danielle was basically my teenager alter ego. She even walked in the same stubborn manner I did.

Kara, Dragonheart

Ripley, Ellen Ripley, does she really need an introduction?

Nerys, Kira Nerys, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Peter, Peter Pan

Owen, Owen Deathstalker, The Deathstalker series, loved these books in high school, not sure how I'd feel about them now

Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation. He's so awesome that my husband has a man crush on him.

Indiana Jones, Indiana Jones series

Clark Kent, Superman

Bruce Wayne, Batman

Gomez, Gomez Addams, The Addams Family

Jackie Chan, in many of his older works he just played a character named Jackie, so I hoped I wasn't stretching a bit with this one

Adam and Adora, He-Man and She-Ra!

Susan Ivanova and Marcus Cole, Babylon 5. Who doesn't love Ivanova?

Queen Maeve of Connaght and Cuchulain, showing off my Irish heritage and love of Irish mythology. Also, Morgan Llewelyn did some amazing novelizations of Irish myths when I was in high school. Red Branch was an incredible retelling of Cuchulain's adventures and his battles with Queen Maeve.