Firefly Magic presents...

Another Weird Anime Fanfic Production

Written by Jru

Slayers: Reality

AKA Last Quest

Part III: Reflection

Timeline: After Slayers Try

Quick notes before we start: eh... looks embarrased I did it again, didn't I? Sorry it took so long... T.T Here's the last chapter. It's the last chapter because it actually ends here. Hopefully you will like it. Hopefully, it was also worth the wait...

Last chapter...

There was no actual incantation for the spell. There was no ballad, no sonnet, no excerpt of blank verse that accompanied the spell. As far as L-sama was concerned, if you needed the crutch of words to help you focus, then maybe you weren't up to trying her more complex spells. The room was silent as all the viewers stared at the glow of the lines of chalk, as if fire had started on one line and was now running through the rest of the marks, giving forth its golden glow.

"Is Lina asleep?" asked Gourry to Sylphiel as he watched Lina sitting cross-legged in her circle, her face oddly calm and worry-free. Usually, when Lina cast lots of magic, she had on a violent face, full of strength and spirit that seemed to shout. Now, she was just... quiet.

"No, Gourry-dear," said Sylphiel softly. Amelia had turned to look at them and had put a finger to her lips getting across quite clearly that they were to remain as silent as possible. "Miss Lina is concentrating on magic. So that Zelgadis can become human." She tried to speak as clearly as possible so that Gourry wouldn't be confused any more and that way, not ask questions.

"Ah. Cool," said Gourry.

Lina grumbled to herself as the spell took its form around Zelgadis. It was going so painstakingly slow... the glow had barely begun to cover Zelgadis' fingertips. She assumed that whatever the light covered would be changed. But there was the rest of his body left!

'Dang,... this is going to take forever...' she told herself. Lina, being Lina, did not like that. Her type of spells allowed for concentration, that was a given. However, the spell itself would come quickly. Like her fireball! Think the incantation to herself, summon up the energy, throw it out. Bam! Just like that! Or like her Dragon Slave. It was quick, easy (well, not too easy) and to the point. None of this sitting around waiting for gold light to... she opened her eyes a fraction. The light had now covered one of Zelgadis' wrists. Yay. Not. At this rate, she was going to fall asleep casting the spell...

She looked at the magic she was gathering. She knew there was a way to make it quicker. There was definitely a way to make this more magically efficient. It was like a puzzle, a challenge someone had thrown before her. And she, Lina Inverse, Sorceress Supreme, was good at defeating challenges. Her shut eyes tightened in concentration as she studied the magic she was using. So deep in thought she was that she totally forgot what type of magic she was dealing with. All her worries and fears of having to handle Nightmare magic flew out the window as she smiled and started to play with the spell a bit, changing a nuance here, raising the force here, twisting the order of the casting... She was in her own world, a world where she understood everything. A world where she could see how magic worked. A world she deeply loved to be in. Her world. Her magic.

"What's happening now?" whispered Gourry into Sylphiel's ear. She smiled to herself and tried to make her leaning into him not as obvious as she too puzzled what was happening before them. Amelia was looking worriedly at Zelgadis and with good cause. The magic Lina had been generating was working, they could feel that. But it had been so slow, so torturously slow. Watching molasses being poured into another bottle was more exciting, and she had done that many times in the kitchen. However, the magic around the castor and the castee had suddenly surged and she saw the spell go from being slower than molasses to actually a respectable speed for a body transmutation. That is... it was faster. Period.

"I don't know, Gourry," she said softly. Lina was smiling softly and Sylphiel couldn't find it in herself to worry while the spell caster looked so peaceful. "The spell seems to be reacting faster. But Lina looks like she's in control so I wouldn't worry."

"So Lina's making all those pretty lights? Very neat." said Gourry and he resumed to watch the light show.

...and then all you have to do is fix this, turn this around.... watch the inflection... there. done...

Lina smiled.

With a great and final flash of light that covered the whole room, Lina finished the spell. Her last thoughts before her unfocused eyes slid shut was that she wouldn't even be able to see the final product of her greatest feat of curative magic. With that, she swayed a few times, to the right, left, right again, and then promptly fainted backwards.

There was shouting and screaming in the room and panic broke out. In the other circle, smoke and light still poured out of a radiant sphere that encompassed Zelgadis's form. Amelia felt herself torn in two trying to figure out whether she should go run to Lina or run to Zelgadis. However, Gourry quickly made her decision for her.

"Go check on Zelgadis!" he said as he pushed the two girls to the sphere. "I'll check on Lina!" Amelia nodded and ran to see if there was anything wrong. Sylphiel ran to the windows and quickly opened them to shoo out the smoke and haze that seemed to have filled the room. Slowly the smoke cleared and Sylphiel dimly saw Amelia's vague form silhouetted against the diminishing glow of Zelgadis's figure. The light soon stopped shining, and her eyes stopped hurting as they had before. She could hear Amelia's gasp, coupled with hers as Gourry looked up to see what was the matter. All three of their eyes were trained on the one still inside the receiving side of the spell.

"Mr...Zelgadis...." started Amelia. She broke out into a huge grin as tears threatened to leave her sparkling eyes. "You're... you're..."

The figure moved slowly, as if unsure if he were asleep or awake. His eyes were closed as if afraid to see what was outside, and in a way, he was. Slowly, he opened his eyes. And just as slowly, he brought his hands up to his face.

"I'm... I'm..." he stammered, trying to collect his thoughts. His eyes widened at the sight before him. "I'm..."

"You're human, Zelgadis!" cried Amelia as she hugged him in a flying tackle.

Lina had been put upstairs into the room she was staying in. The young sorceress seemed to have spent herself performing the magic, and despite the excitement of Sylphiel's and Amelia's squealing, Lina did not wake.

"She'll be fine," said Sylphiel after Gourry had placed her in her bed. Zelgadis stood beside Gourry, hesitantly fingering his new skin while Amelia beamed from her place beside him. She was proud to be part of this team. And she was the one who had found the scroll and the spell in the first place! She was so happy, so proud, so ecstatic. And Mr. Zelgadis hadn't minded the hug. In fact, in a rare act of kindness, he had hugged back. For a bit anyway. "She's just exhausted."

"Are you sure, Sylphiel?" asked Zelgadis. His respect for Lina Inverse had gone sky-rocketing during the whole spell casting. He had felt the massive amount of magic she had generated and so carefully and expertly channeled onto him despite the fact that she was more comfortable destroying everything in sight rather than healing. He really needed to thank her. However, waking up a tired Lina would probably result in a cranky Inverse that would have no qualms in bashing him. And worse now, since he didn't have his tough stone skin to protect him. No, he had real skin. Real flesh colored, soft... Skin with which he could feel and be felt. Hair that moved with his body motion instead of staying... rock-still.

"She just needs to sleep. And I'm sure that she'll be extremely hungry when she wakes up," said Sylphiel. "She used up a lot of energy in the spell and it has momentarily depleted her of strength. Sleep is all she needs."

"Are you sure?" asked Gourry. He hovered around the bed, nervously tucking the blanket in here and smoothing out a wrinkle over there. Lina seemed to be resting peacefully on the bed, her slow breathing reassuring him that she was not facing danger.

"Yes, I'm sure," said Sylphiel. Her smile seemed strained for a bit before it calmed down a bit. Yes, even she was a bit worried about Lina, but her healer talents let her know that Lina was in no immediate danger. However, seeing that her companions were still worried, it was time for drastic measures. She had to get their minds off Lina so that they could leave her in peace to recuperate. "How about you all help me make supper. Like I said, Lina is going to be famished! We can even prepare a celebration for Mr. Zelgadis!"

The other three nodded.

"You're so smart, Sylphiel," said Amelia. "Of course Lina is going to be hungry. She always is, and this time, it's going to be even worse than usual." With that, Sylphiel closed the door and the three left Lina in peace.

Xellos smiled to himself as he looked at the dozing form of Lina Inverse on the bed before him. Fools that the others were, they had just left her here, almost as if they had forgotten his presence. Oh wait, they just did. Which was good, since it made everything so much easier.

They shouldn't have just left her all by herself. There was no one to help her now. And there would be no one to fight against him. With a smile, he carefully put away the mirror he had so carefully swiped after the spell had been cast into his pocket and arranged a grid of magic lines over her body carefully. His work done, he settled himself on a chair and waited for his prey to awake. Once she was up, the fun would start. And once he was through with her, Zelas-sama would be definitely more than satisfied with her pet.

Lina felt consciousness slowly creep back to her as she relaxed on the warm bed she was laid in. Concentrating on her surroundings, she assumed this had been the bed she had slept in last night, the unique fragrance of the wood reaching up to greet her. The covers were familiar also, as was the particular shape of the pillow her head rested on.

She gave a sigh as she let herself rest on the bed. She remembered with clear vividness what had happened. She had thought the spell went too slow, as Zelgadis' change seemed to creep up his skin inches at a time. So she had... seen... how the magic worked and had somehow changed the magic lines. She had been able to focus the magic, to control it, to wield it as if she had been born to use it. It had been exhilarating, that was to be sure. It had been downright scary, she now thought, as she remembered with how much ease the manipulation of Nightmare magic had come to her. She remembered her vow to never touch Nightmare magic again, yet she found herself almost wishing she hadn't been so rash. Surely, there was some good use, right? After all, that one tantalizing moment full of power had filled her with such elation. Black magic had never given her that feeling before, nor had white or shaman.

'No,' she thought to herself. 'Be firm. No more,... it still scares me. No more Nightmare magic, no more chaos, and no more L-sama, Inverse! Be strong!' This inward statement of truth, this resolution that came over her strengthened her resolve and she finally found herself relaxing. She would be fine. No more worries, no more stress, because from now on, she would never ever have to see L-sama again.

That having been decided, she sunk back into the covers as she thought of Zelgadis. She hadn't even been given a chance to see her work before her body decided to shut down on her. So how did he look like now? She wondered which look Amelia preferred: the chimera or the human? She should get up now, and offer them her congratulations. After all, after such a magnificent transformation, they were probably having a party down there, right? Besides, her nose was telling her that another marvelous Sylphiel Culinerary Creation was on its way. With a smile, she told herself that it was about time she got up. And with that, she did.

Or at least, she tried to. Covers that had once seemed so light and comforting suddenly became heavy and imposing and gave her the feeling of being held down by an amazing amount of weight.

"What in the world..." came out of her mouth as she popped open her eyes and found herself staring into amethyst eyes that smirked at her. Lina did the only she could think of at the present moment on finding someone invading her personal space. "FIREBALL!" she shouted, but found her hands unmovable and found no familiar feeling of magic anywhere near her persona, except for.... she froze. It was magic that was holding her down, was it not? And with that, Lina Inverse began to panic.

Xellos found himself chuckling. A calm Lina waking up from a deep faint hadn't been in his plan, but had actually ended up adding a lot more to the pathos of the scene. Here was Lina-chan, resting on her comfortable bed, just to realize when she tried to get up, that she couldn't. He made a sad face with puppy eyes before he broke out with a smirk. Such delicious contrast. Such tangible irony. And here, she had just noticed that she couldn't cast not even the smallest of a fireball. The anger in her eyes was thrilling and the small hint of panic that began was tantalizing, teasing him to keep on.

"Lina-chan," he said, watching her shoulders tense and her eyes snap wide open. "It's so nice of you to finally wake up. I was starting to wonder when you would do so, you know?" He walked over to the bed and leaned over so that Lina could see only him as he blocked out her sight of the rest of the room. Lina struggled beneath him as she tried to break the magical bonds that had her chained to the bed. "Now, now, don't panic Lina. We should be done soon and you will not have to worry about this again. Now, do stop struggling, it's quite useless to get free."

"What did you do, you bastard?" asked Lina as she still tried to move.

"I just tied you down magically, Lina-chan." said Xellos as he smiled, as if here were a small kid on Christmas Eve, ready to open presents. "Can't you tell?"

"Tied....?" asked Lina as she froze.

"Yes... tied..." said Xellos, savoring the feel of the word. "As in you can't move. You can't escape, and you couldn't even scratch the itch on your wrist if you had one. That type of tied."

"Since... when?" asked Lina as she felt his words sinking into her. Her magic wasn't working, and her movements had been easily restricted.

"Since they left you here and forgot all about you..." said Xellos trying to look sadly at her but failing miserably as the corners of his mouth turned up in a smile.

"Not that, baka. Since when could you do this?" growled Lina. "Did Zelas send you to trick us?"

"Oh, this little trick?" asked Xellos in a bored tone of voice. "I've always been able to do it."

"What?" asked Lina, looking surprised. She pulled at her bonds one more time. 'Keep level headed, Inverse. You've gotten out of stickier situations before. Just stay cool and collected and get as much information as you can from him while he's in a talkative mood.' For indeed, she was almost surprised that Xellos was even telling her this much. "Why didn't you use it before?"

"It's so boring when you know exactly what someone will do because they obey your every order, Lina-chan." said Xellos as he leaned in closer to her. "It's so much more fun when you manipulate them without strings. Let them fall from their own mistakes and assumptions, don't you think so? After all... to control them like how I'm controlling you now,..." He snapped his fingers and Lina found her arm lifting up to hold Xellos' hand. "...is like playing with dolls. Entertaining at first, but not quite enough for the master puppeteer like me."

Lina swallowed hard as she watched her left hand act naturally, curl and curve, clench and straighten as Xellos smiled at her. If Xellos could have done this all along, and had not.... but that begged the question of why now? Why her? Oh... and the most important question, obviously. What in the world was happening?

"You're nervous... it's quite lovely." said Xellos suddenly as Lina's hand went up to curl around his cheek. Lina's eyes widened and she tried to yank her wayward hand away. To her dismay, Xellos still had firm control of her and from the look in his eyes... She found herself shivering as she saw the intensity in his gaze.

"Let me go, Xellos," she said, hoping her voice did not sound as worried as she was feeling.

"Such bravery," he murmured into the palm of her hand as he momentarily closed his eyes. "Yes.... did you know, Lina-chan, that your feelings are most exquisite? For example... now... you try to put up a brave front, knowing how much I love to feel fear. Yet not even that hides it from me. In fact,... it makes your fear even more tangible."

"Fear, don't make me laugh, Xellos..." said Lina as she put a laugh into her sentence. Dang it... she had to try harder...

"And yet you do fear, Lina-chan, and with good reason." said Xellos. He smiled lazily at her and winked. "After all, there is something terrifying, morbidly awful, about finding yourself at the mercy of another. To know that despite your wishes and your self control, despite what you want... all that will happen is what I wish. And you can't stop it." He moved her hand so that it was nuzzling his neck, and he murmured appreciatively as Lina found her hand giving him a neck rub. "Ah... that hits the spot, Lina-chan! You're so good at this!"

"You know I'm not..." started Lina but Xellos just waved his forefinger at her.

"You may think so, but the fact of the matter is, it's your hand that is pleasuring me." whispered Xellos in such a way as to state the most basic belief.

"But you're the one who is controlling it!" said Lina angrily.

"Ah,... anger. I was wondering when that one would show up." said Xellos. With another wave of his hand, he raised her left arm so that it reached up in such a way as to seem that Lina had her arms around his neck in a more than friendly manner. He leaned over her, floating above her in a restful pose, facing her completely. Lina's eyes widened as she took in their new situation and hurriedly tried to pull her arms away from Xellos.

For a moment, her left arm moved and she found her heart leaping with hope. However, that soon crumbled away as she watched her hand, once so familiar to her, act as if it were not her own. She saw her own fingers curl on their own, carefully stroking his chest.

"Ah... that one was delicious." said Xellos as he leaned into her touch. "Hope giving way to despair. Always one to arouse one's hunger for even more." With a lazy smile, he shifted them so that Lina was sitting comfortably on his lap as he leaned against the headboard. "You sure know how to rile up a Mazoku, Lina-chan." He whispered huskily in her ear as his hands tightened against her and ran his fingers through her hair.

"I mean it, Xellos, let me go!"

"Or else what, you'll scream?" asked Xellos. He gave a small laugh. "That's so cliche, Lina. Damsel in Distress screams and shouts for help. Not going to work. If you think about it, compared to controlling your every movement, soundproofing a room is nothing to a being such as myself. Go ahead. Scream if you want to. It'll actually be fun if you do."

Lina resolutely shut her mouth. She didn't know how good his controlling spell was, but if he was able to control her like this, he may even be able to control her voice. Dang it! Besides, she strained her ears but try as she might, she currently could not hear anything else beyond the room. It was like being trapped in a different reality, apart from everyone and far from help. If she wanted to get out of this mess, she'd have to do it on her own.

"I'll take your word for it," said Lina as she maintained her cool exterior. She just had to bluff it, pretend she knew that it would all be OK. Confidence... she was the indomitable Lina Inverse.

Xellos frowned slightly as he watched Lina ponder her situation. She was too composed for his liking. He would definitely prefer it if Lina did a little more fear, a bit of angst, some despair and a lot of hope becoming ashes type of feeling. That would be very nice. So, time to do what Mazoku do best.

"Do you know, Lina?" he asked as he placed his chin on her shoulder. "You're famous in the Mazoku realm."

"No kidding," said Lina. "After all, I did kill of a bunch of you. Wouldn't that be more like infamous?"

"Do you know, Lina?" he asked again, using repetition to add mystery to his words. "...exactly how famous you are?"

Lina tried not to shudder when he put his arms around her waist.

"Do you know..." he asked into her ear. "...exactly how many Mazoku wish they could own you? Brag to the others saying that they had their way with you? Experience the pride of being the one to have broken Lina Inverse?" Lina froze. She definitely did NOT like the direction this conversation was going.

"Do you know..." he asked once more. He could feel it. Her first stirrings of panic. Like a tease, it encouraged him to coax it into all out fear. "...how many Mazoku have begged Beastmaster for permission to touch you?"

Lina gulped. This was NOT looking good.

"Do you know..." he asked one last time. "...how many times even I begged for the honor of taking your body?" He breathed into her ear and he could feel the tense fear that coursed through her being. "Of being the one to take you and claim you and make you mine?" He nipped her earlobe and she gave a shuddering gasp. "No, you wouldn't know, would you, Lina Inverse?"

He took a hand and used it to gently turn Lina's head around so that she s facing him. His touch was light and she felt her neck move of her own olition in a slow way, easing out the seconds that seemed to become ears to Lina's sense of time.

No, no, no, no, no...' she thought to herself as his purple hair me into view and finally, his slitted gaze. He brought her face closer to her, so achingly close. Her mind reached out for her magic, any spell, whether it be as simple as a light spell or as destructive as her Dragon Slave. She just needed one at her fingertips to get him off of her. Her mind was working overdrive as spells flew before her eyes. None of them would have worked... except...

She had Nightmare magic. But she had sworn never to use it again. She had told herself that never again would she open up this one drawer in the room of her spells. But if there was a type of magic that Xellos couldn't counter, it was this... L-sama's magic.

'Please, L-sama.... this is the last time I'll use your magic.... but help me!' she thought to herself. Not even Xellos' magic should be able to stand to L-sama's Nightmare attacks, right? Her eyes widened as his lips seemed to draw closer and closer to hers. She tried backing up, leaning her head back, but to no avail. Chaotic thoughts swirled through her mind as she saw his hands move up from the corner of her vision.

'You want to hold me? Mock the sanctity of a kiss by making it look like you enjoy it? Like I enjoy it?' Her mind reached out for her magic like a person might reach out for a book on the shelf behind her. She knew exactly where it was, and how it felt. She just had to get her mind's arm there and.... there,... she had it. Thank L-sama... this would be the last time, she swore.

"Get away from me!" she shouted out to him and with that, she pushed against him, trying to form a magical aura to shield him from her. To her amazement, it worked.

Xellos' eyes widened in amazement as he felt a force almost physically push him back. His grip on the mirror that he had begun to draw out of his cloak tightened so as not to drop it and he quickly put it back. Quickly he tightened his spell on Lina. He inwardly cursed, knowing that since Lina knew she could penetrate his defenses, she would not hesitate in making use of the fact.

"That was not nice, Lina-chan!" he said as his smile got bigger. His eyes closed on reflex and had he been anyone else, the growing smile would not have chilled Lina so much.

"Well tough," said Lina, energy and strength coming back into her voice. "You can't hold down the untamable Lina Inverse. You should know that better than anyone else!" She quickly began gathering the waves of Nightmare magic that she found in her. Part of her was thrilled. The pure energy that was found was intoxicating. More so than she ever had realized. For a brief moment, she forgot about the dangers of wielding Nightmare magic.

Xellos almost cursed out loud. Lina had closed her eyes, her face a study of ecstasy as she prepared to set herself free. This was not good. He had to get her to open her eyes and he had to be quick. Either that, or he had to slow her down. Or he had to distract her.

'Well... hopefully, Zellas will forgive me,' he thought to himself and he chuckled.

"You're too ingenious for your own good, Lina Inverse." he said out loud. Mentally, he added, 'But not ingenious enough.'

With one hand gently holding her chin he tilted it up and placed his lips on hers. Just because Lina had managed to find an escape route out of his spell didn't mean that there weren't any other ways to force her movements.

Lina's thought process slowed to an amazingly quick halt. All thoughts of magic left her mind and her hands stopped gathering the power as her brain took in the sensations of being thoroughly and deeply kissed.

To Xellos' credit, he was good at distracting the opponent. He knew what techniques to use and he knew how to apply them. A normal kiss would not have silenced Lina Inverse. A quick one would have caused her to fume endlessly and gather even more energy. A simple kiss would definitely not do. To get past her defenses, to cause a mental shutdown, to force her to forget about magic, something that was so deeply ingrained into her,... it was a difficult task. But Xellos was a good kisser. And he knew it. And he knew that Lina now knew it.

Her body was still rigid and in shock. But she wasn't struggling. He slowed down a bit, tried to finish the kiss as romantically as a Mazoku was able to and drew away. Her eyes blinked rapidly before they focused on his grin.

"You... you.... you just..." started Lina. He grinned. Perfect. Loss of speech, loss of thought, loss of reaction...

"Sorry, Lina. No time for chit chat." he said. With that, he reached into his pocket, placed the mirror before her eyes and quickly activated the spell.

Lina's eyes hurriedly shut, but to no avail. She cursed inwardly as she felt L-sama's magic from the mirror begin again, this time on her.

"Darn you, Xellos, you planned all of this, didn't you!" she said. He relaxed his magical and physical hold on her and Lina finally found herself with freedom to move. She shoved him away forcefully and tried to block out the magic that was reaching out to her. She could almost see its tendrils coming from the mirror, several wispy auras circling around her and soaking into her.

"Nothing personal, Lina," said Xellos as he prepared himself for the fireworks. "Not that I wouldn't mind taking it a bit further, but orders are orders. Maybe after this, Zelas will let us play."

They were summoning her. Her time in this prison was over. She was free to go. Free... free from this mortal shell. Free to show her true power instead of acting like a tall hunching giant in a room of short people. She could go... With a tinkling laugh, she reached out for her powers and drew them around her. She enveloped herself in her magic, like a small kid might burrow under a warm comforter during winter. She was back and now, with no mortal body that locked her in, she left. Humanity was interesting, but not even those interesting feelings stood a chance as her memories of her Astral Plane came back.

Xellos had to close his eyes tight as the power suddenly exploded in the room. His hair flew back from him and his clothes ruffled in the arcane wind that had surrounded Lina Inverse. He was surprised, to say the least. He couldn't remember right off the top of his head when the last time he had been this surprised was. Maybe it was that time... no... it wasn't. Cause he remembered at least opening his eyes when she had... Whatever. He just hadn't been this surprised in a long time.

Lina was screaming. He could hear that. Good thing he had sound-proofed the door. Had her companions heard her, they would have burst in on him. And while it was a little too late for them to do anything, it would distract him from what truly mattered: Lina Inverse.

Lina had been shocked when he had placed the mirror into her face. But it had worked. She had looked and it was too late for her. Sure, down there, when performing Zelgadis's spell, it had taken her a few cute circles and stars drawn with chalk. However, he was a Mazoku, and Mazoku didn't use... chalk. For one, it left his fingers dirty and L-sama knew how much he hated getting them contaminated. No, Mazoku didn't use chalk. Besides, in this case, he had Beastmaster's back up and could quite easily activate the 'on-switch' of the spell. It's great cheating when you're a Mazoku...

Her eyes were most interesting to watch. Eyes that had been shut tight with determination were now open and staring in an unseeing manner at him. He watched himself reflect in pools of blood red that flickered between it's normal color and speckled gold. Her mouth was opened lightly, looking oh so tempting and her expression of one trying to find eternity in themselves. Lost, blank and totally out of focus.

Yes,... he was going to get at her secret, that was for sure. And Beastmaster would be extremely proud of him. Oh so proud...

His thoughts were interrupted as he noticed that Lina's eyes had lost their blankness. In his one moment of contemplation, he had missed the change in her eyes, going from ruby red to molten gold. He frowned at that. Gold colored eyes were lovely, but they didn't suit her at all. They reminded him too much of that one time when Lina had been fighting Phibrizo.

"Trickster Priest Xellos..." said Lina. Her voice was strangely melodic and calm. He hadn't expected such an in-control voice from her.

"Lina?" he asked. Her hair was different too, he noticed as he slowly took in her details. It was still red, but there was a golden shimmer in it before that he hadn't noticed. It made her already full red hair look stunningly beautiful. Her yellow eyes kept on looking at him with such a serious look that he knew that this wasn't Lina he was talking to anymore. Hm... interesting... so Zelas had been right after all.

She stared at him in silence. No, this couldn't be Lina. After all, Lina wasn't this submissive. Actually, Lina wasn't acting submissive. Her very silence evoked a strong presence and feeling of power that Xellos had never ever felt before. It was more real and overpowering than even Beastmaster's presence. He had a bad feeling about this.

At his question, 'Lina' almost seemed to smile. Not in the cheery way that Lina smiled after beating up bandits, nor in the wicked way while she was planning the demise of the fried chicken before her. It was a smile so unlike her that looked even more out of place considering the fact that NO ONE looked at Xellos in a condescending way.

"Lina...." she said. Another smile. "Almost, but not quite."

"Who are you?" he asked. This was it. This was the part that Beastmaster was after.

"You really want to know?" she smiled. "Zelas really wants to know, does she?"

Xellos didn't know how to answer that question. He hadn't exactly planned on how he was going to interrogate Lina after the Mirror incident. He had expected.... something different. His plan on capturing Lina unawares had popped out of nowhere and now... well... he'd just have to wing it.

"Your presence has been summoned by the will of Beastmaster Zelas," he said smoothly. "You may of course, appeal to have the decision revoked, but really, Zelas would not like that." The Lina figure looked down condescendingly at the Mazoku from her floating position. Her own Lord and Master was but a thought away from her and she already knew her duties, her obligations and the response that was fitting of a being such as herself.

It only took a flick of her hand, a small waving gesture, but it was enough to send him flying back and hitting the wall of the room they were in. He shook his head and smirked at her.

"I see that part of you is Lina-ish..." he said. "Very well. I guess I can't play nicely with you now, can I?" He stood up and reached for the staff he always had hidden on him. Another blast pushed him back against the wall again, this time with such force that he saw something drop from his cloak and shatter onto the wooden floor. A flash of light later and the unconscious form of Andreys appeared on the floor.

"So that is where the keeper of the mirror was," she said to herself. She then proceeded to unlock the door and remove the sound-proofing that Xellos had placed on the room. "I shall now take my leave. Good-bye, Priest of Beastmaster."

"Don't think you can leave that easily," said Xellos as he teleported out of sight and behind her. "If you think I'm going to let you escape that easily..."

"You can do nothing to me, Trickster Priest," she said coldly as she smoothly turned around, ducked the blow from his staff and pushed him hard against the door of the room, his head banging against the doorpost.

"Don't be so sure of that," he said as he launched a volley of spells at her. She smiled impishly at his delusions of grandeur. He seriously thought he could defeat her. Of course, he also seemed to think that she acted like the Lina character she had been hiding in all these eons.

"After quite a few years of being asleep, I guess it's not that bad of an idea to play a bit," she said with a smile. Her hand swept all the spells away from her, causing them to hit the walls and blow holes into them. "If you must... come and try to get me."

Downstairs, everyone had looked up when the first explosions were heard.

"What was that?" asked Amelia, her blue eyes worried.

"I don't know..." said Zelgadis.

"Lina's upstairs!" shouted Gourry, as he stood up from the table and unsheathed his sword. "We have to go protect her."

"Yes, Mr. Gourry!" shouted Amelia as she pushed back her chair.

Zelgadis found himself joining the group as they ran upstairs although part of him wondered, as a human now... what could he do to help? However, he owed her..... he would do his best.

They rounded the corner and burst into Lina's room. The walls were in shambles, barely holding the ceiling up. The floor had holes into it also, and smoke and fire added the finishing touches to the room that held two people fighting.

"Lina!" shouted Gourry as he stumbled into the room.

"Look! That's Mr. Andreys!" shouted Sylphiel.

Amelia and Zelgadis found themselves casting a quick 'Levitate' to bring Andreys out of the room and therefore, to safety. Gourry had frozen on seeing Lina.

"What's wrong, Mr. Gourry?" asked Sylphiel. She looked at the direction Gourry was staring at.

"That's...Lina?" asked Zelgadis as he also looked up. The roof blew up and rained brick, straw and wood down on them.

"That's not Lina..." said Gourry quietly, his eyes afraid.

"Not?" asked Amelia.

"Look at her eyes..." he said. "It's just like last time... with...."

"Phibrizzio.... and... with L-sama..." said Zelgadis.

"You don't mean...?" started Amelia, horror creeping into her voice.

A powerful blast from the red haired figure sent her opponent flying out of the room into the sky.

"And... wasn't that Xellos?" asked Zelgadis.

"Purple haired dude? Yes..." said Gourry.

Xellos teleported into the room and sent out black cones of magic surrounding Lina as they crackled with energy and magic. Lina teleported out of the circle just as the cones merged into one on the spot that Lina used to have been. Appearing right behind Xellos, she grabbed his staff and pulled it back towards her, causing the staff to lie against Xellos' throat.

"You will never be able to defeat me, Trickster Priest, never..." she said. With that, she gathered an enormous amount of power to her that everyone in the room could feel and brought it down on Xellos' head before she released him from her. The brilliant white light covered his form and suddenly shrunk into a crystal clear pebble of light with a purple flame dancing in the middle. She looked down at her spectators and sensing no hostile intentions from them, she floated towards them. As she neared them, she absentmindedly fused the crystal into the brilliant red orb that decorated the staff of the Priest.

She could recognize them. Or rather, her counter part recognized them and had trusted them in her past life. There was that short haired princess and beside her stood a slightly taller man with a pale complexion and dark hair that almost gleamed bluish. On the other side of the princess stood the slightly taller priestess with purple hair and to her other side stood the tallest of them all. Her flight pattern almost wavered at the onslaught of emotions that seeing his worried blue eyes set of deep within her. But it was miniscule and seeing their reactions, or lack of, they hadn't noticed it. It had been a thing of the past and she paid it no mind. It was something for humans to worry about and now that she was free from humanity, she didn't have to deal with it.

"Lina?" asked the tall blond headed one. A voice inside her placed the face and gave it a name. Gourry. Gourry Gabriev, wielder of the Sword of Light. Jellyfish brains also, said the voice ruefully.

"No." she said simply as she landed gracefully before them.

"You look like her," continued Gourry.

"I was her." she said.

"Where is she, then?" asked the shortest of the lot. Amelia. Amelia Wil Tesla de Seyruun. Princess Amelia Wil Tesla de Seyruun, said a voice inside of her. I wanted to marry a rich prince and become a princess... said the voice inside her again. She shook her head. It seemed as if the switch in control was not as complete as she would have liked it, but that would be dealt with when the time was right.

"She is gone," she said plainly. That's going to freak them out...

"Explain 'gone'," said the other man. Zelgadis. I think. Yes... Zelgadis Greyweirs. Think? Oh yes... he used to be a chimera. I turned him human you know. There was a touch of pride in her voice. Anyway... tell them. They deserve to know. They are MY friends after all, and in a small and weird way, your friends also.

"The entity you once knew as Lina Inverse was just a made up identity in which I was placed into by the Lord of Nightmares to balance the world when the Demons, Dragons and Humans were led into chaos." she said simply. Oh sure, that is going to put them at ease. The figure sighed. She had no need for a running commentary of everything she said and thought.

"Lina... but that can't be true!" said Gourry. Gourry... I'm so sorry...

"It is."

"No! It can't be! What have you done with Lina, you monster?!" shouted Gourry. Only Sylphiel placing a calming hand on Gourry was able to restrain him from leaping at her.

"Lina is gone." she said. Liar! I'm right here. You will be gone soon. But I'm still here. Not for long. How long, then?

"You are really...." started Sylphiel. She felt tears gathering in her eyes. This was just like last time, against Phibrizzio... but she could feel it. This time, it was more complete than before. Before, Gourry had been able to break it. Or at least, L-sama had allowed it to be broken. But now...

"You could almost say, I'm the real Lina," said the figure.

"Lies!" said Gourry. He glared at the figure. "You're not Lina."

"No, but I'm who Lina really was," she said. Gourry...

"What happened?" asked Zelgadis after a quite moment thinking. "We heard fighting, and Andreys was here after disappearing on us. Xellos was here too, but you..."

The figure hesitated. Dang you! You just ruined my life and broke theirs. Tell them! Who am I to tell them what happened? They are but mere mortals. So am I! No, you're not. Tell them, dang you! You owe it to them. You owe it to me.

"Xellos used the Mirror of Reality on the entity known as Lina Inverse to see who she really was. Even the Dragons and Mazoku knew that Lina Inverse could not be real. The Trickster Priest was sent by Beastmaster to find out her true identity and in doing so, set me free." Happy now? It could have been better, but not bad either, I guess.

"Stop calling her an entity. She's real," said Gourry angrily.

"She was real. She is no more," she said. "Any more questions?" That was a harsh way of putting it. Couldn't you have said it softer? For him, at least....

"How can we get her back?" asked Amelia. Amelia...

"There must be a way," said Zelgadis. "If you were inside Lina all this time, then chances are that Lina is somewhere inside of you." You're so smart, Zel!

"Is there a way that we could use the mirror again?" asked Sylphiel.

"No," she said. "The mirror shows who I really am, and I am who I am. Lina was a mask, a disguise, a.."

"Stop it!" shouted Gourry as he rushed forward and drew his sword. Lina just turned and looked him, and Gourry found himself stopping the decent at the last minute. Tears crept into his eyes as he looked at her face. It was different enough that he wanted to attack her. It was similar enough that he'd rather stab himself first than hurt her physically.

Let me go... just a little. Let me talk to them,... No. Just a little bit. I need to talk to them. To talk now would indicate your existence and would cause even more harm for you would give them false hope. ....please?... No.

"My Lord summons me, and I must go." she said. Hearing nothing from them, she turned back and flew out of the building. Goodbye. "Goodbye."

There were soft sounds of crying behind her. Something in her twisted. So strong was the pain that she almost stumbled but she corrected herself and vanished. As she flew further away, the pain began to lessen. Not lessen as in it was easier to bear. It just began to fade.

Goodbye...

She had her butterfly back. So it was done. And with the least amount of damage and optimal effect.

Ceipheed was asleep but his Knight was active. Zelas was awake, as were a few other Mazoku lords to a lesser degree, but they had no Knight or Priest. The humans were hurt, but they were human and knew how to deal with mortality.

There was no more need to send out her butterfly anymore, not until things stopped working again. But she was ready for next time. In a small private bubble, her own essence slept in peaceful oblivion, ready to be called forth when the time called for it.

It all worked out. It always did, for her.

fin

Author's Notes: ducks behind a table Don't kill me? This part was so hard to write! wails Yes, it ended on a sad note. Over the past year I've found out I like angst and sadness and I guess that sort of transferred into my writing. So there it is.

Thank you to all of you who reviewed for the past chapters. Special thanks to Kaeru Shisho for encouraging me to write and for reminding me that I still hadn't finished writing it. I hope you weren't let down by the ending.

Much love,

Jru

December 2004