Lina: *Twitch twitch* And?  Why did you kill me?

A/N:  Eh?  Did you want to stay alive?

Lina: Of course!  What do you think I am, a martyr?

A/N: . . . Well, you /did/ agree to it. . .

Lina: I had no say in the matter!  YOU forced me to!

A/N: Hmm…. You don't won't to become stronger?

Lina: Not if I have to DIE!

A/N: Oh come now.  You didn't die.  Your soul was just separated from your body and then your body was destroyed.

Lina: And that's different how?

A/N: Well, theoretically speaking, you /could/ come back, but you'd have to obtain another body first.  And then you'd have to use a certain spell, but to use that spell, you need to either have someone else cast it or go to L-sama and learn it yourself.  And considering that the only other people who could possibly help you is your sister, Kollina, or Angelina, two of which who do only what L-sama tells them and the other strikes fear into your heart, your chances are slim to none, I'd say.

Lina:  *Stare* What are you talking about?

A/N: *Sigh* Never mind.  Just read and be happy.

Lina: How can I be happy when I'm DEAD?!

A/N: Don't worry, I'll bring her back later… eventually.  Lina's my favorite female Slayers character, I wouldn't just kill her in one of MY stories.  The sequel is definitely going to go through some changes, but I hope it's for the better.  Umm…. Please review?

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of anything I don't own. ^_~

Zephilia!  A Visit to Lina's Hometown!

            Gourry, Amelia, and Zel walked around Zephilia (Lina's hometown not the whole kingdom).  After a while of walking and looking, Amelia asked, "Um…Gourry-san?"

            "Hm?"

            "How exactly are we supposed to find Luna-san?"

            Gourry stopped in his tracks while he thought…or at least, he /tried/ to think.  Finally, he shrugged and said, "I remember visiting here two years ago, but I forgot where it is."

            Zel and Amelia sighed.  Leave it to Gourry to forget something like this.  Upon finding themselves in the marketplace, Amelia suggested, "Why don't we ask somebody?  Luna's bound to be well known here."

            Zel muttered under his breath, "If not her, Lina sure will be."

            Moments later, they came out of a wine-seller shop with three bottles of complimentary Zephillian wine and the piece of information they needed: Luna was a waitress at the Royale Restaurant and directions on how to get there from where they were.

Following the map, the three travelers arrived in front of the Royale Restaurant. . . just as the sun was setting (they kept being sidetracked by carriages, carts, and wagons along with the fact that Zephilia had grown to be a very big "town").  With an uneasy breath, the incomplete Slayers walked in the open front door.  Even though the place was dimmed and slightly stuffy (regardless of the fact that the door was wide open), the place was alive with laughter, chatter, gossip, and the aroma and sound of food being prepared in the kitchen.  Several tables were set up around the perimeter and in the middle.  On the far side, there appeared to be a pub of sorts and the doors to the kitchen were just to the right of it.  A young girl in uniform noticed them and walked towards them, stopping by a small table on the way.  She bowed just before she greeted them.  "Welcome to the Royale Restaurant.  Would you like a table for three?"

            Gourry's stomach suddenly growled, but Zel answered before he could intervene.  "Yes, but we'd like to see a Luna Inverse as well."

            At the mention of her name, the hostess turned slightly blue with dread but nodded as she led them to an empty table in the corner.  Quite solemnly the hostess gave each of them a menu before turning to go to the kitchen.  "I'll tell Luna-san."

            Amelia watched the hostess with slight interest.  "Why do I get the feeling that Luna isn't exactly the most well-liked person around here?"

            Zel said in a low-voice while he checked the beverage section, "Probably because she isn't.  After all, if Lina's scared of her, she must be something /really/ worth being scared of.  They sure have a lot of drinks here.  Hey!  Ten different kinds of coffee!  Which one should I choose … Maybe I should sample all of them."

            "I think you'd be quite satisfied with any of them.  Oh and how /is/ my /dear/ little sister these days?"

            Zel and Amelia jumped in surprise at the sudden ghastly voice.  Gourry would have too if he wasn't absorbed in the ten-page menu or used to Luna's creepy movement.

            Standing by their table, adorned in a purple waitress uniform with a white apron (of sorts) over it, was a tall female whose violet bangs covered her eyes completely.  A waitress known by many things including the Knight of Celphieed, Lina's older sister, Waitress from He**, or simply, Luna Inverse.

            After regaining his usual composure, Zel informed her, "That's what we came to talk about.  Can you sit and talk?"

            "I take a break in 15 minutes.  Wait till then."  Flipping a notepad coolly out of her front pocket, she asked them, "What do you want to order?"

            Gourry finally noticed her and cheerfully said, completely unaffected by her tone of seriousness, "I'll have two number 5's, three number 26's and one of number 7 please.  Oh, and how are you, Luna?"

            Luna grumbled something under her breath as she scribbled Gourry's order onto the notepad.  She turned her head to Amelia (her eyes are covered by her bangs), making Amelia involuntarily shudder before giving Luna her order.  Luna silently wrote that down as well before turning to Zel.  Zel considered his choices carefully before finally deciding to order a sample of each of the coffee blends and a small platter of Zephilian Zucchini Special (^_^).

            Luna seemed to watch Zel while she wrote down the order, but said nothing as she nodded and walked into the kitchen.

            Once the kitchen door closed, Zel and Amelia both let out a huge breath that they hadn't realized they were holding in.  Gourry's attention was all ready captivated by the sea of jellyfish currently "plaguing" his mind, so he paid no heed to anything around him.

            Zel and Amelia on the other hand, were curious to see what the restaurant was like, so they looked around at the customers.  To say they were surprised may or may not have been an understatement.

            At least half of the customers were "normal", be it merchants, tourists, or farmers, but the rest varied greatly.  There were mysterious hooded figures, muscular boneheads also known as bandits (^o~), a werewolf here and there, quite a few drunk men at the bar, beautiful women that seemed to resemble banshee… Apparently any being that could pay was allowed here.  Before Zel and Amelia could brood over this any longer, Luna brought the "appetizers".  There were two plates for Gourry, one for Amelia, and two cups of coffee for Zel.  Amelia wondered to herself how Luna could possibly carry so many dishes at once without spilling anything.  Before she could ask, Luna wordlessly moved on and started handing other customers their orders.  Gourry was already gobbling up his food and Zel was marveling at the exquisite perfection of the wine-spiked coffee (-_-° don't ask me) and the unique taste to the "Snow-frosted coffee" (it's really ice cappuccino).

            Fifteen minutes since they met Luna, she sat down opposite Zel, next to Gourry.  While counting up her "tips", she asked in a dead-calm voice, "What is you wanted to speak to me about?"

            Gourry suddenly remembered why they were here and bowed his head down in solemn sadness.  "Li-Lina died today.  In an arranged match."

            Luna suddenly stopped counting and looked at Gourry.  They couldn't see her eyes, but she had a disbelieving frown on her face.  She turned to the door and said, "What are you talking about?  She's right. . . there."

            The Slayers suddenly looked towards the door and saw what they imagined to be Lina (it was really Kollina, but they couldn't tell the difference since her eyes were closed, hiding the dark black hues), walking into the restaurant.  Gourry suddenly jumped up and exclaimed across the room, "Lina!"

            Kollina heard Gourry and started to walk towards them with a soft smile.  The hostess stopped her to ask if she wanted a table for one, and she pointed to the table across the aisle from Luna and co.

            "I want that seat.  If you please."

            "Yes, ma'am.  Right this way."

            Kollina wordlessly followed the hostess to the table and sat down.  She simply asked for a cup of cool Zephilian wine, which was the first clue that she wasn't really Lina.  After the hostess left, Kollina turned toward Luna, with the same sinisterly soft smile.

            "It's been a long time.  How are you, Luna-san?  Gourry, sit down already."

            Luna apparently didn't like Kollina. She growled lowly as she hissed, "What are /you/ doing here?"

            Kollina only smiled and ignored her question as she stated, "Gourry, I think Liona is waking up."

            "Really?" Gourry unhooked Liona from the carry bag on his back and cradled her in front of him.  Her hair had turned back to normal, and her clothes had changed as well.  Slowly, Liona's eyes twitched before she slowly opened them, blinked, and looked up with her big, cerulean-blue eyes.  Liona hoisted herself up so that she could look around.  The first thing that caught her eyes was Luna.  Her first instinct was to grab on, and say her traditional, "Hello," but the moment Liona felt Luna's aura (it was /really/ noticeable, it's not as if Liona did this on a regular basis) she felt a bit, unenthused.  Feeling that with her father being close by, nothing /too/ bad could happen, Liona tried anyway.  This train of thought lasted but an instant, so nobody really noticed.

            With her usual cheekiness, Liona charged at lightning speed, but Luna caught on and caught her before she could complete the voyage (-_- Sure…Whatever…)  Luna's index finger and thumb clasped the neck of Liona's small cape, and Luna "looked" at her in astonished bewilderment.  "Who the heck is this pipsqeak?"

            Liona's face retorted with half-spirited rage at the namecalling, but as she was in no place to retaliate, she could only listen to the conversations around her.

            Gourry answered proudly, "That's Liona, Lina's and my daughter. ^_^ You don't remember? '_' (?)"

            Luna scoffed lightly.  "Oh I remember her alright.  But it's been two years; she's changed, a bit.

            Kollina laughed softly as she thought, "More than you may ever know."

            Luna suddenly turned to Kollina.  "Again, I ask, what are you doing here?"

            Kollina smile was ever-present. "The same reason they are, I suppose."

            Luna's unseen-but-felt glare fell on Zel and Amelia.  They immediately came down with a case of "stagefright" and couldn't utter a single syllable.  Thus, that left the clueless Gourry to tell Luna.

            "Umm… We were wondering if you would take in Liona."

            Before Gourry could explain further, Luna abruptly asked, "Why?"

            Zel started to sweat, which was highly unusual, but then again, this was a person that /Lina/ was scared of, so it when without saying.  He gulped nervously and explained, "Lina doesn't believe that Gourry can continue traveling and take care of Liona at the same time."

            Replying in a steady, firm, and nonchalant tone, Luna asked, "Why not Gourry-san's family?

            Amelia was even more nervous than Zel, so Kollina chose to reply for her.  "It appears that Lina wanted Liona to learn as much as she possibly could without her, so naturally she chose the place where /she/ learned everything."

            Luna seemed to consider this.  Suddenly, she stood up and said, "Fine.  Bring her upstairs.  I'll deal with her later.  Don't wake up Mother though.  She's asleep on the bed.  You're welcome to stay the night, but you'll have to share a few rooms.  My break is over now.  Either pay and leave, or stay and order more."

            Zel and Amelia were all too eager to leave immediately.  Amelia paid for the meal and they went outside.  Zel and Amelia led the troupe, closely followed by Kollina and Gourry holding Liona.  Apparently, Gourry still hadn't caught on to the fact that Kollina wasn't Lina brought back to life.

            As they went into the alley next to the restaurant to go up to the cozy home above, Gourry talked to Kollina in an amazed sort of way.

            "Oi, Lina.  I thought you died back there.  How come you're still alive?"

            Kollina's soft laugh rang through the empty alley.  She ran up the steps in front of them, teleported in front of Zel and Amelia, and turned as she smirked and said, "That is – a secret."

            She teleported again, and they didn't see her until they, or rather, she opened the door after the long black staircase.  She let them in quietly, gesturing to keep quiet.  They left their boots near the door as they walked into the quiet living room.  Under a window was a long sofa adjacent to another leather couch that bordered a wall.  Between the two was a wooden coffee table which presumably completed the "parlor" area.  They followed Kollina as she turned the corner, all the while tiptoeing silently upon carpet floors.  She led them to a room and closed the door behind them.  The Slayers were surprised at what they saw – a blur of pinks, reds, and dragons.

            It was a /really/ girlish room with clean pink wallpaper, blood-red carpeting, and basic furniture – a bed, two night tables, a dresser and vanity mirror, a closet, a trunk, and two large bookcases.  The bed had a mahogany red finish along with pink sheets and pillows, deep red blankets, and a foot-long, blue-green dragon plushie lying on top of the neatly made bed.  The night tables were made of a matching set of mahogany wood, topped with black velvet, white-fringed doilies, and a old-fashioned lamp on one and a small stack of books on the other.  The vanity mirror/dresser was made of a light pink, off-white marble, complete with golden handles.  The small closet was a lighter shade of pink, but pink nonetheless.  Finally, the long, mahogany trunk had a brass lock on it and was engraved with several beautiful jewels.  On top of the trunk was a whole set of dragon plushies with a few of each color; Red dragons, black dragons, lake dragons, gold dragons, ancient dragons, Diem dragons (in the far north), and even one plushie that was pure white and resembled an angel.  On either side of the trunk was a mahogany bookcase piled haphazardly with books of all sizes and colors.

            The Slayers were speechless with awe as they looked around the room.  As Zel and Amelia wondered whose room it could possibly be, Gourry suddenly remembered something from his last visit.  Just after Kollina cast a silence spell around the room (so sounds couldn't leak out), Gourry exclaimed, "I know!  This must be Lina's room!"

            If the other Slayers had been expecting him to answer, that definitely wasn't it.  Both of them exclaimed back, "This is LINA'S room?!"

            They simultaneously looked at each other, blushed, and looked away again.  Zel added as he looked around again, "I never would have imagined Lina's room to look like this.  It's so.. /girly/."

            Kollina frowned.  In a low murmur, she retorted, "Lina would be sure to resent that remark."

            Gourry didn't hear her as he said, "On my last visit with Lina, there was a room that said, 'Keep out or face a Dragon Slave' on it, so I didn't dare go near it.  When I asked Lina what was in there, she'd blush and change the subject.  I guess this is what was in that room."

            As Amelia looked at the room, she murmured, "Eh… I think it's cute.  But I can understand why Lina would never let anyone know about it – It'd completely destroy her image.  Who would have thought that the Dragon Spooker actually loved dragons and the Enemy of all Who Live has a pink bedroom."

Liona giggled and jumped out of Gourry's arms onto the bed.  She grabbed the black dragon plushie off the bed and hugged it as she flopped up and down on the bed with glee.

Gourry watched Liona as he asked no one in particular, "Do you think it's okay if we look around here?"

Kollina smiled.  "I'm sure it'll be just fine."  Kollina sat at the foot of the bed as she watched Liona as well.  Gourry soon joined her as Amelia roamed to the closed closet and Zel to the bookcases.

Amelia thought a moment before opening the closet door wide open.  As soon as she did, however, she was hit dead-on by what appeared to be a fireball.  Blowing out a puff of smoke, Amelia said, "Lina-san booby-trapped her closet door," before collapsing onto the floor.  Kollina grinned and told her, "Only Lina knows the code to open the door without getting fireballed."

As Amelia slowly got up, she asked, "Oh? What is it?"

Kollina answered matter-of-factly, "Hide behind the door as you open it."

Amelia facefaulted and Zel sweatdropped from across the room.  Amelia said slowly, "That's not a code – anybody could figure that out."

"You didn't."

Amelia was quiet and suddenly turned to look inside the closet.  On the floor and on the top shelf was a bunch of boxes labeled, "LINA'S STUFF!! FRAGILE!! DO NOT TOUCH!"  Amelia was rather surprised by the outfits.  It was so neat that Amelia assumed that Luna came in after Lina left and cleaned and organized all of her clothes.  It was divided by type (shirt, pants, cape, cloak), then by color (black, pink, red, yellow), and finally by size.  Needless to say, it was /very/ organized and neat.

Zel was intrigued by the titles of some of the books, and first decided to look in one called, "Cures for Every Occasion."  Obviously, he thought it had his cure in it.  He looked at the index, and under "C" found to his surprise, a whole section on Chimeras.  He eagerly turned to the first page of that section but was surprised when he found it blank.  As he flipped the pages a little more, he found that all of them were blank except for the heading on the top and the page numbers on the bottom.

Frustrated, Zel asked Kollina, "Hey, what's up with these books?  They have an index to blank pages!"

Kollina only had to consider it for a second before she answered, "Oh that?  Lina must have put a protection spell on her books so that nobody else could read them but her."

"Well, how did she do it?"

"Simple.  If you put the medallion next to the blue jewel on the cover, all the information is revealed."

"What med- Liona!  Hey kid!  Come over here."

In his excitement of finally getting his cure, his politeness was temporarily forgotten, but Liona was too interested in the book on the night table.  Still hugging the dragon, she had opened it with the medallion and was looking at it with bewildered surprise.  When Zel looked at it from above her, he, too, was surprised.  Though "words' were clearly written in black ink on all of the pages, the words were in an entirely different language, not to mention in horrible handwriting.

Liona was starting to get teary eyed.  When Gourry worriedly asked what was wrong, her slurred speech was impossible to understand.  However, Kollina walked over and picked up Liona before seating her on her lap while she sat on the bed.  She softly put her hands over Liona's and gently asked, "You can't read it yet, right?  You want to know what it says?"

Liona nodded.  Zel sat on a chair next to the bookcase, and Amelia climbed onto the bed from the closet as if it were storytelling time.  Gourry, however, remained at the foot of the bed, seemingly lost in thought as something clicked inside his brains.

Kollina turned the page back once saying that they should begin at the beginning of the entry.  With a wink, Kollina told them that this was Lina's day journal.  Clearing her throat, Kollina began.

"Day 12 Novembre            Weather: Sunny and Clear

            Today was exhausting.  After onee-san woke me up at dawn to help pick grapes, she made me wash dishes for eating some of the grapes for breakfast.  I have a feeling that she would have put me on dish duty even if I /hadn't/ eaten any of them, though.  I finally finished the dishes at noontime, but Luna wouldn't let me rest.  She told me to go down to the wine cellar and restock the Zephilian wine in the Royale's pub.  Can you believe it?  She made me carry up two full kegs of wine!  On my second trip down, I noticed a large whole in the wall where several stone bricks should have been behind the place where the second keg had been.  I put down the keg and crouched down to look at what was on the other side.  A bright light was coming from the other end, and my interest was peaked.  I crawled through the narrow tunnel.  Normal people wouldn't have been able to fit, but I'm still young and small.  It was at times like these that I appreciated my small stature.  I was very surprised at what I found on the other side.  It was a complete underground library!  Speechless with wonderment, I browsed through the bookshelves with interest.  Near the back, I found a black book titled, "Forbidden Spells of Chaos".  Of course, my curiosity won over my common sense.  Knowing that if I was gone too long, onee-san would notice, so I hurriedly hid the book inside my cape and went back to the wall.  I crawled back to the other side and covered the hole with another keg.  I then picked up the second keg and started going back up the steps.

            As the saying goes, "Curiosity killed the cat."  Thankfully, I'm not a cat, but I might as well have been.  Onee-san was at the top of the stairs and was glaring down at me when I reached her.  Her bangs covered her eyes, but I could still tell that she was irritated with me.  Obviously, she asked what took me so long.  I answered that I had fallen down and the keg rolled away, and I tried to clean it up with magic.  I told her that I was successful but it took a while.  Thus, she obviously didn't believe me.  But before she could interrogate me, a customer hailed her for the bill. Onee-san knows that family punishment is important, but that's second to her job.  With a last menacing look, she told me to get a good night's sleep because I would have to help crush grapes tomorrow morning, before she swiftly went to hand the customer his bill.  I took this as a good chance with bad side effects, but I hurriedly ran up to my room and hid it in my trunk.  I promised myself that I'd look at it when I had the chance.  It's nighttime now, so I think I'll open it. . . Uh oh!  Onee-san's coming to check on me!  Light's out!

Sincerely,

Lina Inverse, 9"

            The room was quiet as they speculated this.  Gourry suddenly asked, "You aren't Lina, are you?"

            Amelia and Zel sweatdropped at this.  Kollina asked, "What makes you say that?"

            "Well, Lina would never read her journal to us, let alone let us in her bedroom."

            Kollina sighed and closed the book, keeping her finger on the page.  "No, I /am/ Lina Inverse, but not the same one you married.  I'm the one you also know as Korin and Kollina."

            Amelia and Zel had already figured out who Kollina really was, but this statement shocked them.  Amelia asked timidly, "There's more than /one/ Lina Inverse?"

            Kollina smiled.  "Of course.  It's tradition for red haired females in the Inverse family to be named that.  For some reason, there have only been about ten Lina's in the last 5000 years.  I was the first.  L-sama just added to my name to form my new one.  She combined the first half of "Mazoku" to form "Mazolina".  Angelina was like an angel in comparison to us, so she was renamed Angelina.  I don't know about the others much though.  L-sama never let me go out unless it was under her orders.  Though, she's only interested in people with the names of Lina Inverse."
            Gourry asked, "Then why does she want Liona?"

            "First, she thinks Liona is a very special child and wants to adopt her as her own.  I think I told you that before.  Second, 'Liona' is only 'Lina' with an 'o' in the middle.  Trust me, it's the same."

            Zel quietly wondered, "Why are you telling us this?"

            Kollina closed her eyes as she answered, "'cause Amelia-san asked.  Plus, I've lived so long, I don't care if L-sama punishes me anymore.  I'll be happy the day she finally kills me."

            The room grew silent once more.  Upon noticing this, Kollina hurriedly asked with a smile, "Forget what I said.  Do you want me to continue reading?"

            Liona clapped her hands happily and said, "More! More!"

            The others were quiet, but Kollina took this as a "yes".  She cleared her throat again, turned the page, and began once more.

*****              *****              *****              *****              *****              *****              *****              *****              *****              *****

Meanwhile… In the Desert of Destruction… In Hellmaster's domain … Shielded from passing on to the next world . . . was Lina Inverse beginning to fill out her registration form.

Moments earlier, Angelina had led her to a small desk with a piece of paper and a feather ink pen beside it.  As Lina seated herself on the comfy leather chair, she looked at the piece of parchment.  In bold red letters at the top, it read, "L-sama's Admission's Form".  Just below it in smaller letters, was, "Written by Angelina, Supreme Healer and Secretary to L-sama (Next line) Taken by:"

Taking the pen, Lina assumed that that was the first line to start with.  Next to Taken by, she wrote her name.  Next, she looked at the rest of the paper.  The first few lines were understandable, but as she looked further and further down, it got more and more stranger and personal.

YOUR WORLD

Reigning Dark Lord of Home Plane:

Reigning God of Home Plane:

Plane #:

Current State of Plane (Circle One): Completely totaled wasteland                     Prospering place controlled by dragons                        Temp. Peace Between Races               I don't know

YOU

Full Name:

Date of Birth:

Place of Birth:

Relatives (List with Ages):

Current Age:

Age on date of birth (^_^ hehe):
Years of Travel:

List any and all nicknames (in order from date of receiving):

Circle one: Single            Married            Married w/kid             Plan to die single

Love Interest (Can be more than one):

Fears (List):

Pet Peeves (List):
Likes (List):

. . .

            Lina sweatdropped at the questions, but answered them anyway.  When she finished with it, Angelina smiled and pointed a magical finger at it.  The part she had filled out was cleared and replaced by another page of the strange survey.  Somehow, Lina had a feeling that this would take awhile.  A lingering part of her mind wondered how Gourry and the others were faring.  Knowing that they would have to tell her family eventually, and knowing Luna, they would probably end up helping her around the restaurant. . .

A/N: Hmm… Looks like I'll have to break up the visit into separate chapters.  Darn.

Lina: What's up with these stupid questions?! 'Age on Date of Birth'?!  What kind of question is /that/?!

A/N: *Wink* It's to make sure that people like Gourry don't pass into the Sea of Chaos.

Lina: . . . Hey, is there good food in the Sea of Chaos?

Kollina: *Eye twitching slightly* I don't think you should eat too much of anything when you get up there.

Lina: WHAT!?!?! Can't..Eat…Lots…of…….. …. …. Food? NOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Kollina: Well, I'm not saying you /can't/

Lina: *Eyes light up hopefully*

Kollina:…but the only thing besides spirits is chaotic energy, L-sama, and magic.  You /really/ shouldn't eat those things.  I do, however, recommend the chaos chamomile tea. ^_^ It's simply scrumptious.

Lina: TEA?!?!?! Wahahahh…..

A/N: ^_^ Hehe.  What?  You want Lina to come back?   Hm… Alright, but it'll come at a price.  First, pay me in advance with a review!  ^_^ THEN, we'll see…