A/N: *_* No reviewers?  Aww….Come on, I know you're there.  *Sigh* Fine.  Don't review.  I'll take your silence as unexpressed appreciation.

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers, or anything else that isn't mine to own.

The Inner Depths of the Mind

            The Slayers were all so mesmerized by the movements of the box, that they didn't take notice of the mysterious person's leave, nor that of her twin, who had left before her.

            As their eyes were glued to the box, Val experimentally snuffed a small ball of magical fire at the box.  Once charred, the box abruptly stopped moving and all was still.  Unconsciously, they all drew in their breaths and held it in suspense.  Then, out of the blue, Lina cautiously asked, "Hey, do you hear something?"

            It was so quiet, you could hear a feather drop (very loud echo).  Everyone but Zel replied a negative; be it verbal or simply a shaking of the head.  However, with his supernatural hearing, Zel heard it too.

            "I hear it.  It sounds like a voice.  A female human voice."  At the same time, Lina and Zel concluded, "Whispering for 'Help'."

            They hurried to the box and immediately tried to take it apart.  Luna, Val, and Angelina, walked towards it at a calm pace.  The rest were being met by a slight problem; every time they so much as tried to touch the box, they were sent back at least ten feet by some sort of invisible barrier.  By the time the late trio reached the vicinity of the box, everybody else was on their way back from being hurled.  However, every time someone was knocked to the ground, the voice became louder, but sounded more pained.

            Luna decided to step up to the plate.  Taking a step forward, barely an inch from touching the box, Luna spoke in a low voice, in a sort of deadpan soothing tone.  "Liona?  Liona-chan, can you hear me?  Don't be afraid.  We're here to help you.  Let down your barrier so we can be in a better position to assist you."

            There was momentary silence.  Then, from the inner walls of the box, came a small voice.  "No…No, I c-can't let you see me.  I don't deserve to be seen by you."

            Despite this, Luna knew that the barrier was weakening.  Firmly, she put her hand through the barrier to touch the box.  In the same "soothing" voice, she continued, "What makes you say that?  It's not true.  You have just a much a right as anyone else to be seen.  So let us see you.  Your mom and dad are here, too, you know.  They've missed you a lot since you've been gone."

            As if just remembering, the voice came clear as a crystal, "Mommy!"

            In response, Lina answered, taking a leaf out of Luna's book and also using a soothing voice, "Yes, I'm here.  Daddy is too.  We really have missed you, Liona.  Please let us see you."

            As the conversation went on, the voice became more and more distinct as Liona's own voice.  Unfortunately, something triggered the immediate reinforcement of the barrier.  Luna skidded back on her heels, only allowing herself to be thrown back only a few feet.

            "No.  After what I did, I don't deserve to see the light; I don't deserve to see anyone.  Especially you Mommy.  I hate myself.  I hate what I was forced to do.  I hate even more the reason why I had to do it."

            Gourry broke in, in his usual clueless, carefree manner.  "Whoa, whoa, wait a minute.  Slow down there.  What did you do that is making you think this way?  It's not good for your health, you know."

            There was a short pause, but it was too short to absorb the impact of the next reply.  "Good.  I deserve to die."

            Surprisingly, Val went for a bit of reverse psychology; it didn't exactly have a good impact.  "You stupid runt.  Why can't you just answer a straight question straight?  We were all worried for you, you know.  We wouldn't have chased you halfway across the continent if we didn't."

            Immediately, there was a collective word in a disapproving tone, "/Val!/"

            To which he snorted, "What?"

            A sound of sniffling was added to the contents of the box.  They all turned back to the problem at hand, awaiting Liona's reply.

            This too, was surprising.  "Y-you were?  I mean, you did?  I don't remember…"

            Lina tried again.  "Then, why don't you come on out, and tell us what you /do/ remember?"

            "I-I can't."  Lina was about to ask 'Why Not', but Liona continued to say, "I don't know how to.  I think I forgot it."

            There were collective sweatdrops all around.  Zel suggested, "Maybe we can help stir your memory.  First, though, do you know who put up this box? If you do, maybe that's the key to opening it."

            "Umm…..I think I was the one who erected this box.  The thing is, I had some help, and it was a long time ago."

            Suddenly, Blake remarked, "Hey!  There are hinges on the floor behind this box!"

            To which Liona immediately replied, "OH YEAH!  There's a trap door underneath this!"

            Luna asked, "Would you be so kind as to open it and come out?"

            Another pause.  "I can't."

            Gourry inquired, "Why not?"

            Angelina answered with another question.  "Liona dear, are your hands free?"

            There was a pause where iron chains could be heard rattling, as well as sounds of struggling.  When it stopped, Liona replied, "No.  My feet and waist aren't either.  And there's this metal collar chaining my wrists, ankles, waist, and neck to this door."

            It took a few seconds to process the full extent of Liona's words, but it clicked.

            Lina's outraged voice reverberated, "Door?!  You mean there's been an actual door here the whole time?!"

            Moment of silence.  Liona's small voice verified, "Yes?"

            Lina sighed.  In a low voice she asked to herself, "Why must you follow so much in your father's footsteps?  Geez, I feel like I have a migraine."

            Val interrupted, "What are you waiting for?  Just open the dumb door already, then."

            Blake soon asked, "How?"

            Liona offered, "There's no handles on either the trap door or the actual door, so you might as well just make one."

            "How- Oh." Lina stopped herself, as she realized it.  "Make one, huh?  Alright, let's see if magic works.  Brace yourself Liona!  Flare Arrow!"

            The arrows of fire went through the side of the box.  Seconds later, Liona was howling in pain.  "Mommy!  That HURTS!"

            Lina cringed slightly.  "Sorry, I was just trying to help."

            Liona ruefully continued, "I should have told you this before, but I just now remembered; magic goes into the box, but it makes no impact /on/ the box.  Try using Daddy's sword."

             "Eh?  But I don't know where you are in the box; what if I hurt you."

            "Don't worry!  As dumb as it might sound, I can't die even if you kill me.  But just to help you out, I can hear Blake the best, so I'm against his side of the box."

            "Okay…" Gourry reached for his sword and grasped at air.  In surprise, Gourry looked around for his sword.  Finally he exclaimed, "It's gone!"

            Luna intervened.  "I believe you left your sword next to the bed in Lina's room."

            Gourry was immediately downcast.

            Liona was full of suggestions.  "Try Blake's sword then."

            They all looked towards him, and he took that as his cue to unsheathe his sword.  They were all very astonished when they saw the crackling black light of the blade.  Losing no time, Blake attacked the vacant half of the box, splitting it open.  From there, the box completely collapsed and melted into the floor, leaving Liona, still in her young form, face-down on the ground.  With her small cape draping her body as her strawberry-blonde hair did the same with her face, Liona was straining to stand up.  From the way her back moved, it could be inferred that she was breathing hard.

            Slowly, ever so slowly, Liona looked up.  As it so happens, the first image she saw was Zel, still dressed in a bunny costume.  Her eyes immediately lit up with undying happiness and admiration.  Quick as greased lightning, Liona sprang up and almost choked Zel as she gave him a hug.  Caught by surprise at first, Zel awkwardly patted her on the back.  When she broke away, she seemed to be on the edge of bursting out in laughter.  Instead, she opted to go into a fit of giggles.

            Jokingly, she stepped back and bowed and greeted, "Hello.  Nice to meet you, Zelga-bunny-chan!"

            A stressmark instantly appeared on Zel's forehead.  Val interrupted, "Hey, that reminds me, Liona, do /you/ know how to reverse these 'transformations'?"

            Liona looked around at them all.  Innocently, she asked back, "Why?  You don't like them?  I think they're cute."

            Gourry, once again made an occasionally bright deduction.  Slamming his fist into his open palm, he remarked, "Oh!  Now I get it!"

            "Get what?"

            "All these changes- This is how /Liona/-chan sees us!  This /is/ her mind right?"

            Then, it dawned on the others as well.  Zel added, "It must be from all the stories she's been told.  If I remember correctly, Lina always referred to herself as the 'beautiful sorcery genius' and that's what she looks like now.  Liona must have heard how Gourry was Lina's protector during their travels, and that put the image of a knight in shining armor into her head.  Angelina, well, I think it's from both her name and how she acts.  Val is an ancient dragon that looks old; a sort of misinterpretation of 'ancient' I guess.  I don't know about Luna or Blake.  How did she get the bunny costume for me though?  I've only worn it once, and Liona definitely wasn't there."

            Liona held up her pointer finger and grinned as she answered, "Amy told me the story about the haunted doll tower place a while back when she was visiting."

            "Who's 'Amy'?"

            "The Queen of Saillune."

            "Oh!  Amelia.  Wait.  Amelia told you that story?!"

            "Yes…"

            Lina did some quick calculations.  "Wait a minute.  The last time Amelia visited us was…on your 8th birthday.  You remember a story since back then?!"

            Liona blinked slowly.  "I can remember stories since I was /two/.  It's everything else that gives me problems."

            Sweatdrops made their appearance once more.

            Angelina offered, "What about your weapon of choice?"

            "Oh, you mean my whip?"  Liona unlatched her whip handle and held it in front of her.  "She told me a story about how to use it when I was little, so it's easy to remember."

            "Who's she?"

            Pause.  "I don't remember."

            As Luna rubbed a throbbing temple, she asked, "Can you just reverse it anyway?"

            "Reverse what?"

            "Our transformations!  Change us back to the way we were before."

            Liona put a finger contemplatively to her lower lip.  "But I don't remember what you looked like before.  This is how I always see you."

            "You aren't /serious/?"

            "Sure I am.  I mean what I say.  Visualizing helps me remember things.  I remember your names by the nicknames that I call you.  …  You didn't know that?"

            "It seems that you don't know a lot about Liona, hm?"

            The mysterious newcomer's voice was back.  They looked around to find the owner of that taunting voice.  She appeared directly behind Liona, but she seemed to have changed her form to one of a child, like Liona.  Grinning happily, she tugged at Liona's hand and excitedly suggested, "Come on, Liona-chan!  Let's play together!"

            Being naïve to the troubles, Liona happily followed.  They could only watch as the girl led Liona straight through the wall.  They were about to attempt going after her, when another copy of the girl, but this one was fully-grown.  She smiled ear to ear as she held up a hand in greeting.

            "We meet again.  My, my, my.  What a coincidence, no?"

            Lina exclaimed, "What are you talking about?!  We're still in the same place and we just met a few minutes ago!"

            She held up a finger as she pointed out, "Actually, in the outside world, a few hours have passed already.  It's past dawn now.  Liona's mind works /very/ slowly."

            Lina shouted her reply, "Who are you to say such a thing?!"

            The girl winked as she verified, "Well, it's true, isn't it?"

            Lina quieted down and settled for a low, steady growl, added to her murderous glare.

            Luna held up an arm in front of Lina to stop her.  She firmly declared, "State your name and purpose."

            The girl feinted surprise.  "My name?  You want to know /my/ name?  Hmmmmm… Well…  I /suppose/…"

            Lina snarled, "Just spit it out already."

            She stuck her tongue out at Lina before choosing to answer.  "Fine.  Have it your way.  My name is … Ma…  Well, you can just call me 'Ma'.  Or Akuma if you prefer."

            Lina furrowed her brows.  "Akuma?  As in 'Devil'?"

            In a rather carefree, sarcastic tone, she answered, "Oh is /that/ what it means?  I had /no/ idea!  Hmm…Well, call me whatever you want.  Names really aren't all that important to me anyway.  So?  Wanna play a game with me?"

            "You've /got/ to be kidding me!  Who would play a game at a time like this?"

            'Akuma' smiled as she floated up into the air.  "Me, and you'll soon join me."

            Instantly Akuma split into ten chibis.  All smirking each one went to their destination.  One went to Luna, Lina, Gourry, Zel, Blake, Angelina, and two went to Val.  The other two went over and sat on the edge of the platform, swinging their legs and chatting as they watched the scene unfold before them.

            Val and Lina were trying to fend off their copies by attempting to barbecue them while they clung and pulled at their hair.  Luna, Gourry, and Blake went after theirs with swords (Gourry would have if he had his with him, so he opted for just running around and around the room with a chibi in his hair).  As for Angelina, she remained completely motionless in a meditative standing position.  Try as her chibi might, she could not go through the barrier that Angelina had conjured through the concentration of her mind.

            Meanwhile, the other two were laughing and giggling at the scenes.

            "Hahaha…These guys are complete idiots!"

            "Yeah, really!  They really need to catch a serious clue, huh?"

            "Totally!  Liona's smarter than them!"

            "What do you expect?  She's a total bookworm!"

            "That's not the problem; she just has impeccable luck."

            "She wouldn't be a problem if /someone/ had just watched her."

            "Are you implying that it's /my/ fault?"

            "Whose else could it be?  Certainly not me!"

            "Oh just shut up!  We have a job to do.  We shouldn't be arguing amongst ourselves."

            "But I'm bored…"

            "Want to hold a contest?"

            "What kind of contest?"

            "Whoever wins their charge over first wins."

            "Wait a minute- one of them's not here!  That isn't fair!"

            "All's fair in love and war."

            "Contests aren't supposed to be wars."

            "Hmm…I suppose you're right.  Oh well, agreed?"

            "Heck no!  Change the rules or I'm not playing."

            "What rules?  I didn't say anything about rules."

            "Fine, let me choose a different target then."

            "Go ahead, but I want a new one too then.  I pick Lina.  Who do you want?"

            "Awww…I wanted her.  Okay…I'll choose… that one!"

            "Which one?"

            "The one I'm pointing at."

            "It's impolite to point you know."

            "So?  Nobody has to know."

            "Good point.  Ah, I see who you mean.  Zel right?"

            "Yup.  Okay what's the goal?"

            "Um…The first one to bring them over the edge of sanity wins."

            "Wait a minute; if either one goes insane, Liona won't be happy."

            "I didn't say they had to be insane, just not /sane/."

            "It means the same thing!"

            "Does not!"

            "Does too!"

            "):[p"

            ":B"

            "No fair!"

            "Yes fair!"

            "Let's have them decide."

            "You're even dumber than that blonde over there!  Can't you see they have their hands full?"

            "Boo you…Let's call off Cice and Dee then."

            "Fine.  Your call."  *Blows Whistle*

            The Chibis "playing" with Lina and Zel stopped and stood at attention.  The second commander chibi stood up and telepathically sent a retreat signal to them.  The two cadets saluted, swirled into a ball, and floated through the air into the other chibi's body.  The 2nd in command chibi grew a little so that she looked like a preteen of about 13 or so.  She winked at her comrade and flew off to greet the now unoccupied visitors.  "Do your stuff."

            Once the slightly older chibi grabbed their attention, the other chibi set to work.  In her miniature palm, she summoned a small red orb.  As the glowing faded, the orb changed shape until the overall glow stopped to reveal a pulsing small version of a human brain.  Watching Lina, the chibi experimentally poked the brain with her left index finger.  The brain acted something like a squishy toy and reformed after the chibi let go.

            When the brain felt the pressure, Lina clutched her head with both of her hands.  She felt like she was just recovering from a serious bump on the head.  Seeing this, Zel tried to go to her side, but the other chibi's taunting stopped him.  "What's wrong, Zelly?  You can't even take care of a little tyke like me?"

            Anger having already mounted within Zel, he lashed out with an attack.  "Fireball!  Why should I take care of you?  I don't even know you."

            The chibi laughed as she pranced out of the fireball's line of attack, and laughed even more as Zel maneuvered it so that it would chase her around like a missile.  "Oh, I didn't mean it /that/ way.  I only meant that someone as dense as you could never /defeat/ someone like me.  That's all I meant by it, really.  No need to get so mad about it."

            Angrily, he growled, "And how is that any better?  What kind of fighter /wouldn't/ be offended by that?  *Shadow Snap*"

            Again, the chibi dodged the spell with boundless mirth.  She answered nonchalantly, "Any fighter that doesn't care what other people think.  Duh!"

            Zel was beyond irritated now.  Maybe the words alone wouldn't have done it, but that combined with her attitude made him go over the edge, which was actually pretty surprising.  He normally didn't lose his cool, but there was something about the little copy that made him do just that.  Perhaps it was her remarkable likeness to Lina, if not in both looks and personality.  As the chibi continued to daunt and taunt him, Zel realized that the girl in front of him was the very replica of every possible bad thing about Lina added to an array of sarcastic comments and minus anything that remotely seemed "good".  To add to the list, she was probably younger than Liona, and yet at least twice as bad.  Yes, she truly was…a demon's spawn.

            Meanwhile, the other chibi displayed distant, non-verbal, but twice-as-bad torture to Lina.  It seemed, that the brain model in her hand acted like a voodoo doll; injuring or paining whosever brain it represented.  Unfortunately, the one currently in her hand, was Lina's.

            If Lina thought the mounting pain she felt from the ever present poking was bad, it was nothing compared to what she felt next.  From her pocket, the chibi paused from poking the brain to take out a long, thin, golden needle.  Her eyes glinted maliciously as her whole expression mirrored that look.  Lina, still recovering from the aftershocks of having her brain poked, was unprepared for what was to come next.  With deft skill, the chibi pierced and picked the brain model with amazing ease and attention.  As Lina screamed out in pain, the chibi gave a lasting smirk.  As soon as she heard the faintest of clicks, she wavered and disappeared into nothingness.

            Upon seeing this in the corner of her eye, the chibi entertaining herself with Zel, stopped her fun to call back the other chibis.  By her command, they merged into one.  When the person fully formed, they found themselves looking into the murderous glare…of a mazoku.

A/N:  So….How do you like it?  My other chapters seemed rather short, so I thought I'd make this one a bit longer.  If you review, perhaps I'll even share with you what the chibis were doing – what their motives were and whatnot.  But you have to review before I post my next chapter!  Ciao!