Man, when DeviantArt gets ugly, it gets ugly. I should really stick to fanfiction. Sorry for breaking my own three-day rule. College gets in the way.

Something I should mention. Due to...uh...a joke that's gotten way out of hand, my name on my e-mail shows up as "Miroku McHoushi." So, uh, if it looks like Miroku is e-mailing you, don't worry, that's just me.

-Xoni Newcomer - Don't worry, Xellos isn't just sitting idly by. He has his own plans. ;) I'm glad you're enjoying it. Did you get my e-mail? I hope it helped!
-Gerao-A- Are there three of you or am I losing my mind? To any or all of you, I'm glad you like it, and here is fancy update!
-Klutz82 - I love Lina and Gourry too. And yeah, Zel needs to learn to admit things to himself. Also, steals "o"'s, so don't worry about it. :)
-Cookie - Hell yeah he does. Don't worry, they'll start.... soon....
-Lost Complex - Ack, I'm sorry, I don't know the fic you're talking about, but I've been out of the Slayers fanfiction world for a while now. I'm glad you like this story too!
-HoushiLover - Ma cherie. Some of Dynast's plans will become clear here.
-Hoshi-chan1 - Then all is going according to plan!

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Part IV- A Place Out of Joint

"Confusion swirls inside my head, contradictions of my life scream from the emptiness within, echoing over and over. Soft, delicate tears slowly roll down my cheeks... But what are these? Such poor representatives for what I feel inside."
-Unknown

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Cold.

That was the first word she remembered.

Cold. And then came "hard."

Cold and hard, she thought. Ice. The ground.

"Dark" followed soon after. It was very, very dark wherever she was, but as a moan came from a seemingly impossible distance away, the blackness began to lessen. Her eyes were opening, she realized, and the moaning sound came from her own throat.

Blinking slowly as her eyes re-adjusted, Amelia made the sound cease, watching as her body appeared before her. More precisely, her hand was revealed. Her left hand was right in front of her face, and when she concentrated hard enough, she found she could move her fingers. They felt heavy and slightly numb, but they still worked.

The hand moved, palm down against the frozen ground. On her other side, another hand did the same thing, and she managed to push herself up. As soon as she did, her skull screamed out at her, a sickening bolt of agony ripping through it again. The princess immediately dropped down again, gritting her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut until the horrible feeling passed. Once gone, she tried to sit up again, succeeding in pushing herself up so that her weight rested on her right thigh. This done, she made a self-assessment.

Amelia was in her white party dress. Her tiara was slipping down and much of her hair had fallen out of its bun, tickling the back of her neck. And it was freezing. After rubbing her arms a moment to generate heat, she reached up and pulled her crown off, wincing as she grazed a fresh bump on her temple. Setting the piece on the floor in front of her, she took a moment to steady herself again, then decided to understand her surroundings. She raised her head, and her mouth promptly fell open.

She was in the middle of one of the largest, darkest rooms she'd ever seen. Although she could make out a wall and steps leading up to a chair in front of her, to both sides enormous pillars of black ice stretched to a ceiling that was unimaginably high. On each pillar was a small torch, all burning with gas-blue flames. They offered barely enough illumination for her to see herself and what seemed to be her shadow, but it was hard to tell due to the floor being so very black.

What seemed to be the most frightening revelation was the fact that she could sense no astral form here. This place, this unreal room, was on earth. But where in the world could something like this exist?

"...drop her like that?"

A voice. A female voice. It cut through the silence like a sharp knife, and the princess jumped a little, then turned to see two forms a few feet behind her.

"I couldn't help it." A male voice, smile audible, replied to his companion. "I've been carrying her so long; my arms must've given out. And it wasn't really dropping her. I just set her down with less dignity and comfort than I could have."

"If you damaged her in any way, Master will-she's awake."

Amelia swallowed hard as the two forms stepped closer. Grau and Grou, now in their gray robes of the dark priesthood looked down at her unfeelingly. Then Grau smiled.

"Good day, princess. Did you have a nice nap?"

Danger and fear surged within Amelia as she spoke, and her mind supplied the memory of the strange woman's hand on her wrist, squeezing it, as her partner held her shoulders.

"Where am I?"she inquired, her voice barely a squeak.

"Home."Grou supplied, cocking his head to one side. She noticed he was holding that dreadful sword again, and shuddered.

"Right."Amelia shut her eyes and nodded slowly. "The north."

Carefully, she tried to stand up, but the surface beneath her was so slippery that her legs gave out right away. Grau surveyed without offering to help, and Grou snickered a little.

"You'll get used to that. You'll have to."

Now Amelia felt something new take hold of her. They were laughing at her. These people had lied to her, hurt her, and now they were laughing at her. A hero of justice was not going to stand for something like this.

"I don't know what you're talking about."Amelia brought out her best court tone. "I demand that you take me back to Seyruun at once or-"

"Or what?"

The voice that suddenly filled the room sent violent shivers down her spine. Only barely noticing that the two priests had each dropped to a knee, Amelia looked around again, feeling the blood drain from her face. A shadow had risen against the wall where the throne was placed, darker than everything else around it. But it wasn't an ordinary shadow; no, it was the most impossible shadow she'd ever seen. It shifted and moved the way the hideous sword had, and as she watched it seemed to reach towards her, blurring, twisting, dancing evilly... until it condensed into the form of a young man.

He didn't look much older than Zelgadis, but there were many years and a great deal of maliciousness in the gray eyes that flashed beneath his dark bangs. Moving effortlessly across the ice, he carried himself with an air of great superiority, and Amelia shrank back as he came closer, both from that aura and the sudden drop in temperature that came with him. As he stood before her he smirked, but there was no good humor behind the action.

"Princess Amelia Wil Tesla de Seyruun."Dynast dropped a short, mocking bow. "It's an honor to finally meet you."

Dumbly, she stared at him. He was very handsome, but there was something so...impossibly wrong about him. He raised an eyebrow, then offered his hand. She stared at that too, completely baffled as to what to make of this man.

"Take it. Stand up."

Still uncertain, but faced with no other course of action, Amelia took his blue-gloved hand and pulled herself to her feet. She slipped a little, but hands were suddenly on her, making sure she didn't fall in the master's presence. The menacing gray eyes slicked over her as he let go.

"I thought you'd be a little taller."Dynast folded his arms across his chest. "But you'll do." When she didn't respond even to that, he sighed, exasperated. "And I was prepared for a big justice speech. My, you're disappointing."

"What?" it spilled out accidentally; she'd really meant to say something more intelligent.

"So you can speak. Good."the gray seemed to burn with an inner fire. "You had me worried. I was afraid you'd gone mute since I last checked on you."

"Who...?" Through the lingering pain, she cursed her brain for supplying her with only these stupid one-word sentences.

"Oh, right. Where are my manners?" reaching forward, he placed his fingertips on her jawbone, and turned her face this way and that, studying her further. "I am Dynast Grausherra, Supreme King of the North, and companion to-"

Dynast...Supreme King...Those three words were enough to get Amelia's mind back on track and running through information at a high speed. Dynast...Dynast Bras...Supreme King with the frozen soul...Mazoku. One of the trusted minions of-

"Shabranigdo."she whispered, saying the name for him.

"You remember then." the Dark Lord gave her a lopsided grin. "That makes things a lot easier."

Everything that was Amelia, Defender of Justice, suddenly kicked into action. Biting back the pain inside her, she wrenched her head away and skidded back a step. Grau and Grou made motions to grab her, but Dynast, not fazed at all, merely said "Don't bother." He moved close again. "It's good to see you're back to yourself. I was starting to think that I had the wrong girl."

"What are you talking about?!" she asked as she moved back another step, fighting for her footing.

"If you'd give me a moment, I'd explain."

"Villains have no right to explain!"she struck a triumphant pose and pointed at him; the action comforted her a great deal, and she was finally beginning to feel like herself. "I know what you are, Grausherra-san. And I demand that you either make your point quickly and take me home or face the wrath of Lina Inverse and..."

Dynast looked at her a moment, then started to laugh.

"You have no idea how far from Seyruun you are, do you?"

"Uh..."Amelia's hand wavered a moment, but soon it was right back up where it had been before. "That doesn't matter! You'll get me home, or-"

"And Lina Inverse?"the grin was now vicious and dark. "She has no idea where you are! What makes you think she'd come for you before I-"

"Lina-san is a true Hero of Justice, and if you think that she would abandon-"

"-Before I do something like this!" his grin vanishing, Dynast snapped his fingers.

She was on the ground in an instant, lightning strikes of pure agony shooting through her. She cried out and curled into a ball, wishing for anything in the world to stop this...this... Before she could come up with a suitable description, it was gone, leaving her gasping.

"I was really hoping I wouldn't have to do that, but knowing you, I should had been expecting it."

Amelia raised her head and glared at him through the tears that had welled up.

"What...are you...talking about?"

"Are you willing to let me talk now? Wonderful." Dynast's smug grin returned. "Admittedly Princess, you've probably never even considered me except when someone uses one of my spells. And that's fine. I prefer to be left alone. But I know you. I've been watching you since you met up with Lina Inverse, and I must say, your...abilities attracted me immediately."

"I..."

"Let me finish. Yes, Lina Inverse is much more powerful than you are, but you have to understand that she just won't do for what I have in mind. It's not really even your magic that I want you for, but more because of the potential you haven't yet exercised. You see, I'm without my general right now. My previous one was killed, and as a price for her failure, I chose not to resurrect her. I've been looking for someone to fill her place, and I came to the conclusion that you were going to be it."

"I'll never be a Mazoku."she declared firmly, despite her general feeling of weakness.

"Wait," he held up a hand and locked his eyes with hers. "Hear me out. I figured you would feel this way. And even though I know how much you dislike weapons, I sent Grau and Grou in hopes that perhaps seeing Dolgofar would change your mind. I know you like power, even if it is dark. After all, you spent so much energy trying to learn the Dragon Slave..." he knelt down in front of her. "You have a lot of energy, Princess, and recently, much of it has been channeled into dark feelings. You're relatively unaware of this, of course, but I've been observing you through your whole ordeal. I know that man you love hurt you. I know you feel betrayed not only by him, but by the lords of your kingdom, and your own father. You've been keeping everything inside for a long while now, and whether you like it or not, you have a dark side that's been continually growing." His face was very close to hers. "I know that if you harnessed that power, you could be a great help to the Mazoku race. Now, what do you say?"

"Life. Is. Wonderful."

Dynast recoiled sharply, then with a glare, snapped his fingers again. Once more she was over come by torture, and it lasted longer this time before it ceased, leaving her a sobbing pile on the floor.

"You have no idea what I'm offering you." taking the sword from Grou, he unsheathed it and pointed it at her face, mere inches from her nose. "This sword is greater than any spell you've ever learned, and yet you'll throw it away."

"I won't be a Mazoku!"she cried again, scooting away from it. She grit her teeth, expecting the pain to return and destroy her, but to her surprise, Dynast merely shrugged and slid the sword back into its scabbard.

"I knew this would be difficult, but I didn't know you'd be so irritating."he tossed his head a little, then scowled. "It seems you also don't know the things I'm capable of doing to you to get what I want. But," he paused to smooth his tunic. "I'm a fair man. I'll give you a bit of a break."

Amelia found herself being hoisted to her feet, Grau and Grou on either arm once more.

"Let go of me!"she struggled against them to no avail. "LET GO! RAY-WING!"

The sound of her voice bounced through the hall but nothing happened. Her eyes widened as she repeated the spell again and again, each time yielding no success.

"What you have to understand, Princess,"Dynast gave her a look that might have been handsome if not for the obvious spitefulness contained within it. "Is that when I said I know you, I meant it. I know you, the way you'll try to escape. Don't even try; you'll fail miserably."

"No, I-"

"Enough." he waved his hand and spun around, starting to walk away. "Take her to the room." He took a moment to turn and walk backwards, eyes piercing points of light as he began to sink into the darkness. "I'll give you a while to think it over. Give me the right answer, or I'll take what I want on my terms."

Without further ado, Amelia was dragged down a corridor, kicking and shrieking the whole way. Dynast watched with a smirk. She had so much energy and life. Breaking her was going to be fun.

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Thrust into a room suddenly, Amelia stumbled and fell, sliding a little short ways on the slick floor. She looked over her shoulder to see the door closing, and standing up quickly, lunged for it. But she was too late, and it closed with a heavy sound as she landed against the black wood. Not willing to give up, she pushed at it and pounded on it.

"Let me out of here!"

Stepping back, she aimed her palms at it.

"DAMU BRAS!"

The spell crashed into the door, but it didn't budge. As she examined it, she found it wasn't even vaguely scratched. It was shut and she was trapped.

Dropping to her knees, she clenched her fists in her skirts and tried to hold back the sobs that were rising again in her chest. Crying wasn't going to help now. She needed to calm down and think.

Lina. What would Lina do in a time like this? She wouldn't cry about it, that was for sure. No, she'd try a spell. The Dragon Slave, probably, and if that didn't work, she'd Ragna Blade her way out. And she'd do it without getting over-emotional.

Except, Amelia considered bitterly, Lina had never taught her the Dragon Slave, and there was no way she could pull off a dark spell like the Ragna Blade without losing control of it. That option was out, as was the possibility of using her own spells; it had already been proven that her magic had no affect here.

So what else was left?

"Find a door, or another exit," Lina would say. Right, she told herself. Rising slowly so as not to skid again, she took a look around.

The room was as dark as the other had been, lit only by the same blue torches she'd seen before. There was little furnishing at all save for a large bed in the center of the room. The sheets looked to be a kind of dark satin, and to go and lay her sore body on it was a very tempting thought. But if she did, she might fall asleep, and then she'd lose her chance.

Turning a little more, her heart jumped suddenly as she realized that some of the peculiar-shaped shadows along the farthest wall were caused by thick drapes. Drapes meant a window, and a window meant a way out! Hiking up her skirts, she made her way over as swiftly as she dared, and tore open the thick curtains excitedly. That emotion turned to horror in a flash as she saw what was outside the room.

White. Miles and miles and miles of white ground, white snow whirling through the air, white mountains of jagged ice tearing at the stormy sky. Reaching a hand toward the glass pane, she brushed it with her fingertips and drew back- it was so cold it burned her. As she stared out, she could hear the wind pick up until it became a roar, slapping hard chunks of frozen water at the window as if trying to break in.

Amelia felt herself draw a shaking breath as she recalled something else. Dynast was the one called on for the Dynast Bras spell. Another spell called on the Supreme King with the frozen soul- the Dynast Breath. They both came from the same person, and he, in turn, came from...

"The frozen north. Of course."she couldn't even hear the words as she spoke them, but their meaning went straight to her heart.

So that's where she was. That's what he'd meant by her being farther than she imagined from Seyruun. It was several months' journey from her home to the edge of the continent, not to mention the vast amount of water that had to be crossed. Moving numbly back to the bed, she sat down, eyes still focused out the window.

Her hand fell on something next to her, and she pulled it back quickly, finally tearing her eyes from the storm to see what it was. It was the awful sword they kept forcing on her...What was it doing here?! With a small cry she struck it off the bed, and it clattered loudly to the floor. Amelia gripped the sheets where it had lain tightly for a moment before everything inside her collapsed and she began to sob again.

What the hell was she doing here? She had nowhere near the magical abilities of Lina! And that...that thing! That thing that didn't deserve to exist! That black object that taunted her even now on the ground. She never touched swords. She never touched swords! She hated them! How did Dynast expect her to wield one when she'd sworn never to hold one in combat? How could he make her that offer, to turn a heart so dedicated to justice into pure evil? How could he have been so stupid as to have picked her?

But as she curled up on the sheets, she had to stop and amend her last thought. No, he wasn't stupid. He was brilliant. He was completely right about her having been in a dark mood-it had been the blackest she'd ever felt. He'd perfectly planned out what spells she might use - as well as which ones she didn't know- and blocked her from casting them. And he'd brought her here to this place, this god-forsaken place, from which there was no real escape. She knew a solo Ray-Wing would never carry her through the storm; she'd die out there in the snow, where no one would ever find her. Not that anyone would ever find her anyway. Hundreds, maybe thousands of miles from home? Nobody would think to look here in a million years. She was as good as dead.

Amelia cried until there were no tears left in her body, no way on earth she could have managed to sob one more time, and then she crawled under the sheets, pulling them tightly around her. She was exhausted, and now it didn't really matter whether she slept or not.

Completely alone, she tried to comfort herself with thoughts of how she and her friends had overcome worse situations than this before. There was always some way. There had to be something she could do. She couldn't lose hope yet.

For a moment, her mind drifted to Zelgadis, and she imagined waking up from this nightmare enclosed in his arms. Then, feeling the familiar pain clench within, she shoved his image aside and let the void of sleep embrace her instead.