Luna Inverse straightened her skirt and turned a small iron key, there was a small click and the restaurant was locked for the night. Gerofme Chou, head cook, champion butcher and owner of Chou's Steak n' Ale, had entrusted her to lock the place up for the night as he had started to feel very tired. Luna could hardly blame the man for feeling a little tired, he was still ruling his restaurant with an iron skillet at the ripe old age of ninety. Gerofme lived in a brick cottage behind the restaurant with his daughter, her husband and their two children—both cute little mites not even ten years old. The old cook was quite the character, and not all that bad of a fellow to work for.
Luna turned and walked down a darkened path, heading towards her cottage on the outskirts of town, enjoying the cool night air as it gently wafted among the swaths of vineyards that encircled the town. It was late spring, and the sounds of the crickets chirruping filled the air. Animals paid no heed to Luna, as the presence of Cepheid reassured them and calmed their doubts; this human was accompanied by the presence of something they found comfortable—like the scent of their burrows and nest. Luna felt the Shinzoku stir as what remained of Cepheid's conscience happily felt the world through her senses, amalgating them temporarily so that he—for the Dragon god is more or less male, might see into the night. The side effect was that Luna felt more, saw more, and heard more when the Dragon god chose to ride her senses. The feeling was indescribable. Sometimes the elder Inverse thought that the Dragon god simply enjoyed being as weakened as he was now, so that he might be part of the world and not an outsider. The Dragon god was enjoying the evening, and so was Luna.
Still in her waitress uniform, she finally reached the locked door of her cottage and reached for the lock. Cepheid let out the mental equivalent of a cry of alarm, he had heard something. Luna turned and listened to the night. One by one, the cheerful chirrups of the crickets died down, and a tense atmosphere hung over the clearing. In the darkened woods, Luna was not surprised to see at least forty gleaming pairs of eyes. The waitress made a show of looking fearful, and then stepped away from the door to her cottage. "Whoever it is, you might as well come out now."
There was a shuffling of lumbering feet and no less then thirty trolls stepped out of the forest, accompanied by four beast-men, five Brau demons, and a nasty looking fellow in the garb of a court jester whose poise marked him a sorcerer. Luna felt Cepheid's reassuring presence take on a hint of disdain for those who would dare threaten his knight. The hook nosed jester-sorcerer opened his mouth, "Are you the one they call Inverse?"
Luna smiled sweetly to the man, "Why yes, I believe I am. Is there a problem?" The Jester opened and shut his mouth. How could someone this…ordinary looking, be such a threat that he had been paid nearly a king's ransom in gold to kill her. And isn't the demure heroine supposed to be trembling with fright when confronted with insurmountable odds? Something was not right. Nevertheless, as Luna turned to go and unlock her front door, the Jester proceeded to make the last mistake he'd ever make.
"Fire Ball!"
The ball of white hot fire struck Luna just as her back was turned, and did little more then completely ruin her waitress's uniform. Annoyed, covered in soot, and now scantily clad, Luna picked up a stick and turned around to face the Jester. He found himself unable to meet the gaze of slightly singed, and extremely pissed off Knight of Cepheid as her eyes seemed to blaze with an unnatural fire. "And just who do you think I am?" Luna spoke in a voice that was the near equivalent of a dragon's roar.
The Jester felt a bit cocky, he had managed to wound her pride. Surely he could do more now, and then go down in history as the man who slew Lina Inverse. The Jester shouted to his cohorts, "Kill the bitch Lina Inverse!" At that, all thirty trolls, four beastmen, and five Brau demons charged the elder Inverse.
At this point they promptly learned why Luna only had a part time job as a waitress. The crimson armor of the Cepheid Knight snapped into being around her, and the stick she had been holding morphed into a wickedly sharp broadsword. The first troll to reach Luna had the honor of being backhanded. It flew like a child's doll, thrown in a fit of infantile rage, and crashed into a tree. Luna grabbed a troll's fist that had been swinging at her, and proceeded to break every single bone in it, impaling the troll on a nearby pine tree as merely an afterthought. A few thundering kicks to the backs of their necks, and the beast-men were instantly slain as their spines were shattered.
The Brau demons fared no better. A single swing of Luna's god-wrought blade, and the might of Cepheid snapped the spirits of the Brau demons like burnt straw.
No less then half a minute after the fight—although it would be better to call it a slaughter--began the Jester found himself standing alone in the clearing. Thirty trolls and five Brau demons lay motionless, the trolls neatly decapitated or ripped to pieces to prevent their regeneration. Still in the armor of Cepheid, she walked up to the trembling sorcerer, noting with distaste that he had soiled himself. She gave him that same waitress smile, "Now tell me, why do you think I'm Lina Inverse?"
He gave no answer and babbled incoherently. Luna frowned and last thing the Jester ever saw was the movement of her lips as they spoke the incantation of a spell.
"Chaotic Disintegrate!"