A/N: Ahh….I just love making up creatures, it's so fun!  I'd tell you who's featured in this chapter but I don't want to ruin the suspense… Ah well!  I'll keep you interested by telling you ahead of schedule!  First up, *Drumroll* VAL!!!  ^_^  In flashback mode, *Drumroll* Filia, Jillias, and Gravos! ^_^ My own creation, *Double drumroll* PIKU-PIKU-CHAN!!! (Piku for short)  ^_^  Last but not least, in Zephilia ….*Triple drumroll* LINA and Gourry!  YAY!!  Alright.  Have I convinced you to read on?  Really?  Okay!  I'll be back for more!

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers, or it's characters, but I do own Pikus and my OC's!

A Piku's Pet Peeve

            At the sudden shout, the lone figure up ahead stopped, and looked back.  His eyes popped open as wide as saucers when he saw a young girl suddenly fly through the air towards him with an extremely happy look on her face and outstretched arms in front of her.

            Extremely thrilled, Liona managed to hug him around the neck as she verified her nickname for him, "VEAL!!!"

            A giant stressmark appeared on the stylish aqua-green hair.  Hands clenched into fists at his side, a large grimace on his face, and his eyes closed, "Veal" almost shouted back, "It's VAL!"

            Liona let go and put her hands behind her back, rocking back and forth on her heels innocently.  "Whatever.  It's been a long time, /Veal/-chan."

            More stressmarks appeared on /Val's/ head, as well as a slight blush.  Shaking her shoulders back and forth, he comically attempted to drill into her head, "My – name – is – NOT – VEAL!  My – name – is – VAL!!"

            Liona's eyes started to swirl around with dizziness as Liona managed to get out, "You-re mak-ing me – feel –di-i-zzyyyyy, Val-cha-an."

            Val let go and crossed his arms around his chest stubbornly.  He muttered, "I guess that's better than /Veal/.  /Honestly/."

            Angelina and Blake caught up to Liona.  Val looked at them suspiciously.  While Blake glared back, Angelina calmly bowed and greeted, "Nice to meet you.  You are Valterria-san, correct?"  Val raised an eyebrow questioningly at Angelina, but nodded slowly.  Angelina continued, "Allow me to introduce myself.  I am known as Angelina.  We have never met, but Liona-chan has told me a great deal about you."

            Val raised his left hand to scratch the side of his head a little, slightly nervous from the formality.  "Just call me 'Val'." Val turned to look down at Liona.  Unlike her, his growth had not been stunted; in fact, he grew to his full height that he was before he was reborn.  Thus, he easily towered over Liona and Angelina.  "You're Liona, right?"

            Liona pouted.  She asked while on the verge of tears, "You forgot me already?!"

            Fearing that he was going to be met with the famous Liona waterworks, he quickly added, "Of- of course not!  I was just making sure 'cause you look cuter than when I last saw you! (I'm not going to say if Val was lying or not, I'll leave that up to you ^_^)"

            That single remark did the trick, because Liona's eyes sparkled with happiness as she looked up to Val.  "Reeeeeeeeeeeeeal – ly?"

            He gave her a kind of consoling smirk and said, "Yes, really."

            Liona bounced up and down happily while Val turned to Blake.  "And who are you?"

            Blake didn't know why, but he felt tested by Val's tone.  With a slight grimace, Blake growled, "Blake's the name.  What's it to you?"

            Val leaned back with a confident smile.  "Has Liona-chan given you a nickname yet?"

            Blake was completely taken off-guard by this.  He also leaned back and looked up as he thought about it.  With a shrug, Blake shook his head.

            Val let out a low scoff.  By pure experience alone, Val knew that Liona always gave nicknames to anyone she deemed a close friend.  If he didn't have a nickname, then…

            Liona suddenly bobbed her head in front of his face, which startled him into taking a step back.  "Hey, Val!"

            "What?"

            Liona was tugging his arm towards the direction they had been going.  "Come on!  I'm hungry!  Let's go eat!  Your treat!"

            "O- Wait a minute.  What makes you think I'm going to let you con me into buying you lunch?  Who /knows/ how big your appetite's gotten since your eighth birthday!"

            Liona let go and skipped a little ahead.  She held her hands behind her back and leaned forward a little with her big blue eyes looking up at him.  "Pretty please with a Zephilian grape on top?"

            At the word Zephilian, Val remembered why he had set out in the first place.

*Flashback*

            Val sat in his "mom's" storeroom, polishing an endless line of pots tediously along with Gravos and Jilias, who couldn't go ten minutes without dropping the pot they were currently polishing.  Luckily, Val had lightning reflexes and had always caught them before they broke.  Not long afterwards, Filia called them all in for an afternoon tea time.  Even though he was beginning to despise certain kinds of tea, Val had to admit that it was better than staying in the dank, dark storeroom.

            When Val walked into the kitchen, closely followed by his mom's two special helpers, Filia was looking through the mail, the table already set for four.  They wordlessly sat down, Val straight across from Filia, Jilias on her left, and Gravos on her right.  They continued their daily routine by adding enough sugar and honey to meet their individual preferences.  Val watched with one eye as Filia quizzically turned over a plain envelope, with only her name on the front.  Her eyes widened slightly at the name on the other side, and quickly fumbled to open the letter.

            He watched as her eyes quickly scanned the letter, widening with every few lines.  Filia then read it over again twice.  Normal people wouldn't notice, but as Val wasn't normal, he noticed that Filia had turned a shade whiter than usual.

            When he asked what was wrong in a deadpan sort of way, Filia just stared into space as she almost robotically said, "Luna-san sent a letter saying that Liona-chan ran away from home.  She wants me to tell you to find her and make sure she gets home safely.  Luna-san also said that Liona-chan should be around Seyruun by the time you get this…"

            Val asked incredulously, "Me?!  Why should I devote myself to something so meaningless?"

            "Luna-san said so."

            "What's it to me?"

            "Val…"  Filia's voice was beginning to get threatening.

            "What?"

            "You're going."

            "I don't wanna."

            Filia sighed.  She thought momentarily and decided to make an offer.  "Alright, Valterria Ul Copt."  Val gulped.  He hated it when she used his full name.  "You're old enough to take care of yourself now.  I'll make a deal with you.  If you can successfully escort Liona back to Zephilia, I'll let you go wherever you want, whenever you want.  How's that?"

            Val considered this carefully.  There were more good things than bad things about this deal, from the looks of it.  In a nonchalant tone, he asked, "What does Liona-chan look like now?  I haven't seen her for eight years now."

            Filia turned the letter over and saw a postscript.  She read it outloud, "'Liona looks almost exactly the same as the last time you saw her.  Don't ask.'"

            Val grudgingly stood up.  Jillias and Gravos excitedly asked, "Can we come?  Can we, can we?"

            Both dragons answered automatically, "No."  Filia added, "You two are to stay here and help me run my shop, under my supervision.  Val, are you leaving now?"

           Val turned and said, "Might as well, I'm going to have to go into double time if I'm going to get to Seyruun from here.  Overseas is probably the best way."

            Filia immediately stood up.  "You don't plan to /fly/ there, do you?"

            Though Filia couldn't see it, Val smirked.  "Why not?  It'll make things ten times faster than by boat or walking."

            Worriedly, Filia asked, "What if someone sees you?  You're the last of the Ancient Dragons you know."

            Val bit his lower lip as he grimaced.  "Do you want me to do this or not?  If someone sees me, I'll be gone before they even know it.  I'm leaving."

            Before Filia could say anything more, Val walked out the door.  A distant shutting of the front door could be heard, right before an expanding of wings.

*End Flashback*

            Val thought to himself, "I suppose it'll be easier if Liona's appeased.  One lunch won't hurt, I hope."

            Out loud, he gave in and said, "Oh alright.  Just this once though.  Where's the next town?"

            Angelina answered, "Approximately 2 1/5 kilometers following this path.  A distance equal to about 2200 meters to the town of Malum."

            Val had to admit that he was impressed by Angelina's apparent accuracy.  With a nod, he looked at Liona and smirked.  "Wanna race?"

            Liona lit up with glee.  "SURE!"

            Val started, "On your mark, get set, GO!"

            Liona flew into the distance, leaving a trail of smoke behind her.  Val easily expanded his wings and raced after her.  Angelina cast a Ray Wing, and with Blake, followed the racing duo.  In the end, Liona won, but only by about a few seconds.

            After contracting his wings, Val went with the others to find a suitable restaurant.  Val smirked once again when they stopped and went into a restaurant called, "All-You-Can-Eat Buffet For One Low Price!"

            It turned out that most of the town was pretty rich, so naturally a low price for them meant a high price for regular travelers.  Nevertheless, Val paid for it before they went to go find a place to sleep for the night.  As there were no inns in their price range after the costly meal, they debated camping out for the night outside of town.  That was when a kindly old lady walked up to them and inquired if they were travelers.  After receiving a collective nod, she asked them if they needed a place to sleep.  Again, they nodded.

            "In that case, how would you like to stay at my mansion?  I am going away for a little while, and I need someone to care for my little darlings and my shop."

            Liona innocently repeated, "'Little Darlings'?"

            The old lady clarified, "My little pets.  Will you accept?  I am willing to give you beds, food, and a job for a full seven days.  My only conditions are that you don't ruin my shop and make sure to feed my pets regularly."

            Liona's stomach growled hungrily and she piped up, "I'm all for it!"

            Angelina answered calmly, "I don't mind agreeing to it either."

            Val shrugged, "I guess."

            Blake declared, "I'm ready for a challenge!"

            The old lady smiled at their enthusiasm and gestured for them to follow her.

            Before long, they reached a huge mansion on top a large hill.  Black speared gates lined the property.  The old lady entered a code and they entered, the onyx gate automatically shutting behind them.  The loud creak of the front doors in the cold, silent night, sent shivers down their spines.  After walking through the front hall, they came across another door.  Upon opening it, the spacious room lit up with captured flames from lamps all along the walls and large crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.  Adjusting to the light, they found themselves in what appeared to be a child's indoor playground.  Organized in a hap-hazard sort of way was a wooden see-saw, a baby swing set, a large sand box, a long /grass/ box, several balls of all shapes, sizes, and colors, a long tunnel slide and a little pool filled with water.

            The old lady whistled like a master calling his dog, and called out, "Come out, come out, wherever you are, my pretties!  Mommy's got a little present for you all!"

            Instantly, a few dozen shadows appeared out of nowhere.  Cautiously, one of them stepped forward into the light, soon followed by the others.  They were small creatures, no bigger than the average kitten.  They looked like brown bunnies with the usual long ears, and fluffy white tail, but there was excessive white hair around their neck like a furry snow collar, and out of their ears.  Also, they had relatively small arms and legs, making them all the more cuddly and adorable.  Liona exclaimed, "They're SO cute!  What are they?  Can I hold one?"

            The old lady chuckled and took a smaller bag out of the bag she was carrying.  She started throwing little specks over the clump of small animals.  "You can try after I feed them their dinner.  These little animals are called "Piku"s.  I have 25 in all.  If you treat them right, they'll come to adore you back.  Alright, here, try holding this one.  His name is Paulo; he's the nicest of the lot."

            Liona carefully approached the Piku that the old lady pointed to.  He waddled a little closer, with his arms pointed towards his off-white chest.  The Piku tentatively sniffed the hand that Liona stretched out.  Carefully, Liona pet the Piku between its ears.  It purred in happiness.  Just as carefully, Liona picked up Paolo and held him in her arms as she continued to scratch his ears.  Paulo laid back in a lazy fashion, clearly enjoying the treatment.

            The others watched, starting to get curious.  As the old lady handed Val the bag of food, Angelina also kneeled down to stroke one.  The one she picked also sniffed her hand before allowing her to pet him.

"Here is a list of my inventory and prices for my shop, a map of the mansion, a week's supply of food for all of them, a book on the history of Pikus, and here's even a down payment for taking this offer."  Taking a step back, the old lady smiled at them, took another step back, and bid farewell to them rather quickly.  "Well, I must be going now.  I will be back exactly 7 nights from now.  Feel free to use anything in the mansion.  Ta-tah for now, my pretties!  Be nice for your guests!  Farewell!"

            With that, the old lady speedily ran backwards out the front door, out of town, and out of sight.  Val sighed and looked at the mass of brown and white.  He said in a rather disgusted tone, "We have to take care of these runts for a full seven days?" He mindlessly kicked the nearest one.  "Tch.  What a waste of time."

            Before anyone could stop them, all Pikus were upon him, including the one he had kicked.  The travelers now saw the red rage that clouded the Pikus small eyes, and the venomous carnivore teeth that they now bared.  In a matter of seconds, the Pikus had changed from cute and cuddly to ferociously dangerous.  For some reason, Blake had also become victim to the Pikus, but Angelina and Liona remained untouched.  Val and Blake fought to dodge, block, and divert the Pikus, before they resorted to running around and around the spacious room, with the Pikus quickly closing in on them, a few managing to bite their clothing and scratch their arms.  Liona and Angelina were unsure of how to help.

            Not a minute too soon, Liona came up with a solution.  She took out her flute again and began to play a mesmeric tune, not unlike the one she had used against Angelina during the tournament.  All motion stopped, creatures swayed, and fell to the floor with soft thumps.  Liona managed to catch Angelina, while Blake grudgingly caught Val by his small cape, and let him down slowly to the ground.  Blake looked across the room at Liona, a bewildered look on his face.

            His thoughts were spoken aloud at that moment.  "What happened?  What'd you do?"

            Liona softly answered, as Blake hauled Val over to her by his short cape, "It's a musical version of a sleeping spell.  It only affects creatures with an animal form.  I forgot that Val and Ange-chan were actually dragons."

            "DRAGONS?!?!"

            Liona quickly looked up and hissed, "Shhh!!  They may be asleep, but it won't take much to wake them.  Oh, and could you not drag Val-chan like that?  He'll get a big lump on his head!"

            Blake hunched his shoulders guiltily and looked down at Val.  He already had a big lump midst his aqua-green hair.  Val suddenly groaned and stirred, as did Angelina.  They both slowly sat up, with Val stroking his hair as he felt a big bump on it.  Val glared daggers at Blake before slowly getting up.  Liona helped Angelina up, before they all looked to the Pikus.  Surprisingly, despite their large ears, they had not been woken up by Blake's shout.  In a low whisper Blake asked to no one in particular, "What's up with those beasts?"

            Val crossed his arms over his chest and added, "Yeah, and why'd they only attack us and not you two?"

            Liona's eyes lit up as she read something in the book the old lady had left.  As she was sitting cross-legged on the floor, she gestured for them to move closer, which they obliged.  She hurriedly explained in a rather interested tone as she continued to read, "It says here that Pikus absolutely adore females, while they are absolutely disgusted by males.  A little music will put them to sleep, but a little music will also serve to wake them up.  Huh.  I guess Blake's shout wasn't considered music, huh?"

            Blake frowned and still slightly perturbed by the remark, asked, "Speaking of which, is what she said true?  You two are dragons?"

            Val and Angelina immediately looked at Liona, who in return sweated.  "Did I say that?  Hmm…it must have slipped out.  Whoops."  Liona furiously dug her nose into the book.  Angelina let out a sigh of hopelessness.  Val stood up and dragged Liona away from Blake and the Pikus.  Angelina followed.  Setting her down, Val hissed, "Things like that don't just slip out.  Just how long have you known him anyway?"

            Liona put a finger on her chin in thought.  She counted on her fingers.  "One…No.  Two nights, I think."

            Angelina furrowed a brow.  "That's it?  That would mean-You met him the same night that we left Saillune?"

            Liona considered this /very/ carefully.  "Yup!"

            Val let out an aggravated sigh.  "How much do you really know about him?  He could be an enemy or something.  He might be trying to /hurt/ you.  How can you trust him so easily?"

            "Well… he has this REALLY cool sword-"

            Val interrupted.  "That's all you're basing this on?!" 

            Liona sulked.  "You didn't let me finish."

            She continued, "-He has this really cool sword that looked just like my Daddy's, so I thought, if he had the same weapon as Daddy, then he /must/ be just as nice!"  Silence.  "I'm finished now."

            A stressmark appeared on Val's head.  "And again I ask, that's all you're basing this on?!"

            Angelina gestured to Val as she said, "Come now, calm down Val-san.  You have to understand, this is the daughter of Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev talking."

            As if to verify this, Liona suddenly jumped up and exclaimed, "FOOD!" Before running through another door that had been left ajar.  Val sighed again.  Angelina looked around and asked, "I wonder where Blake-san is…"

            At this, Val, too, looked around.  He sniffed the air.  "I smell food cooking.  Blake's probably in the kitchen or something.  Let's go."

            As they both stood up, Angelina replied back, "You go on ahead.  I'll join you momentarily.  I'm just going to tuck these little ones in for the night."

            Val muttered, "Your choice," before walking through the same doorway that Liona had.  Looking back at the Pikus, she eyed a large blanket folded underneath two long pillows near the grass box.  Catching a clue, Angelina swiftly set to work.

            Back in Zephilia, Lina vomited into a bucket beside her bed for the third time since dinner.  Gourry was on the other side of her bed wincing every time he heard her retch.  When Lina had recovered enough to wipe her mouth with a nearby napkin, and throw it into the bucket, she lied back down with a sigh.  Tentatively, Gourry asked, "Lina, are you okay?"

            Lina scowled at him.  "Do I /look/ okay?"

            Gourry winced again, but answered, "Sorry, sorry.  I was just worried about you, Lina."

            Lina's expression softened considerably, but she was still stubbornly glaring at Gourry.  Gourry noted this, but decided to ignore it for the greater good.  He wrung out the towel on Lina's forehead and replaced it.  Gourry picked a plain book off of the nightstand next to him and showed the cover to Lina.

            As her vision had become slightly blurred, Lina wearily asked, "What's that?"

            "Luna gave it to me.  She told me to read it to you sometime.  She even bookmarked a story!  Want to hear it?"

            Lina shrugged.  "I'm in no position to complain."

            Gourry took this as a 'yes'.  "Okay.  Lemme see if I can read this… Hey!  This book is in elvish!"

            Lina's eyebrows raised while her eyes remained peacefully shut.  "Elvish?  Can you read it?"

                        "I think so.  My grandma taught me how when I was in my teens.  Umm…  Here it is. Okay, I'm going to read it now.  Here goes:

            /Chapter 6: Mazoku Material

                        It is common knowledge that Mazoku must find a new Mazoku Lord should the current be killed at any time –/

            Lina interrupted, "I never heard of that."

            Gourry finished that sentence, "-at least, if you've been reading my books on Mazoku."

            Lina could only say, "Oh."

            "Can I continue?"

            "Please."

            /…  Normally, the Mazoku Lord's General or Priest would take the position, sharing the powers.  However, should neither the General nor the Priest be available, or more frankly, dead, than the Mazoku Lord's favorite shall be chosen among his followers.  If none of /them/ are available, then all high-ranking mazoku shall come together in a meeting to appoint a new Mazoku Lord.  Listed Below are the bare qualifications of an elected Mazoku Lord.

            -Candidate must be corrupted by their evil side

            -Candidate must be at least part mazoku, if not, become a mazoku

            -Candidate must have lived at least fifteen full human years

-Candidate must have killed at least one person – self may be included

-Candidate must have a motive for following the path to evil

-Candidate must show great strength and potential to be even more evil

            -Candidate must have linkage to previous Mazoku Lord

            -Candidate must have two close subordinates; if not already, know how to create them

            -Candidate must have at least one creature (i.e. human, dragon, rival) that they inexplicably despise

            -All other surviving Mazoku Lords must agree to take on this candidate

            If said candidate does not meet all of these requirements, they cannot be accepted.  However, if they wish, those who qualify with the first five requirements but are not accepted as the new Mazoku Lord are permitted to stay as the underlings of the new Mazoku Lord.

           Those who qualify to be elected will be seen by the Supreme Elector and chosen by Him/Her.  Until they are needed, the Supreme Elector's identity is kept secret.

            *End Chapter 6*/

                        Lina quietly contemplated this.  She smirked as she thought, 'I think I could qualify for one of those spots.  I don't think I've been /corrupted/ though…'  "Heh."

                        "What?"

                        "Nothing, I was just thinking…  I could become at least half a mazoku if I wanted to…"

                        Lina yawned.  Gourry cocked his head as he closed the book.  "What do you mean?  You aren't really considering it, are you?"

                        Lina assured him, "Of course not, but with those requirements, I think I'd almost qualify."

                        "What requirements?"

                        Lina frowned at him.  "Didn't you /just/ read the part about Mazoku Requirements?"

                        Gourry looked up at the ceiling in thought.  "I did?  Huh.  I never was able to understand books."

                        "If you couldn't understand it then how could you have just read it?!"

                        "Uhhh… I can read but I don't understand a single word I'm reading."

                        "Ugh.  That completely defeats the purpose of reading."

                        "Reading what?"

                        "Nevermind."

                        "Nevermind what?"

                        "Just forget it!"

                        "It's forgotten, it's forgotten!"

                        Lina sighed.  Silence followed.

                        "What was I supposed to forget?"

                        Lina groaned.

                        Half to herself, Lina asked, "Why do you ask so many dumb questions?"

                        "Grandma always said to never be afraid to ask questions!"

                        Lina glared at him again.  With another sigh, Lina rested her eyes again.

                        More silence followed.

                        Quietly, Gourry asked, "Oi, Lina?"

                        Slightly disgruntled, Lina asked back, "What?"

                        "You aren't really a mazoku are you?"

                        "What makes you think that?"

                        "I dunno…I think I remembered hearing it from somewhere…"

                        "If I am, which I highly doubt, that would mean Sis is too, which would mean that she wouldn't be able to be the Knight of Celphieed."

                        "Ehhhhhh….Hey, do you think Liona's alright?"

                        "I sure hope so.  I don't know what'd I'd do if something happened to her while I was in this state.  I'm putting my faith in Zel though."

                        Suddenly, from the open doorway, a small container came whirling at Lina's head.

A/N: La-di-da-di-da… You don't mind if I end here, right? ^_^  No?  Okay, then review and I'll continue.  Yes?  Okay, then review and tell me why you think so.  You don't care?  Well, review and tell me why you've been reading this far already.  Don't know?  Then just review and tell me to continue.  Sound easy?  Good.  Please Review! ^_^

            Oh yeah, um… the part about the whole Mazoku requirement thing…I wasn't planning to at first, but it sorta just popped into my head.  It probably has something to due with the fact that my teacher drilled the constitution into my head @_@  Well, See ya, or rather, Read ya!