OOC: completely random joke, but I just had to include it.

Kopii points at a wavering chalk line on the ground that is drawn down a building on one side of the road, across the street, and up the side of the building opposite and shouts, "REZO! You see this line?"

Rezo looks bored, "Yeah? So?"

Eris stares, "..." brow twitching.

Kopii folds his arms with a scowl, "this is MY side of hell, and that's YOUR side. You just stay on your side and I'll stay on MY side."

Eris rolls her eyes, "Whatever, idiot."

Rezo gapes, "Hey! You can't do that!"

Kopii smirks, "Can too!"

Rezo points at the line and argues, "That's not even an equal half you gave us!"

Kopii sticks his tongue out and taunts, "Nyaah-nyahh! The line's already drawn, and you can't do any better!"

Rezo stomps a foot and shouts, "FINE! You just stay on your Loser side, and OUR side will be the FUN side of Hell!"

Eris lifts a finger to object, "um... Lord Rezo..." she is thoroughly ignored, however.

Kopii shouts, "Nuh-uh! THIS is the FUN side! Yours is the Loser side!"

Rezo does a dance, "You can keep your side! This side's FUN! See? Wheee! I'm having so much FUN!"

Eris stares... and finally shakes her head and goes off to play a game of solitaire... ALONE. Away from those two.

Kopii pouts and stalks off to sulk, "Liar! Mine's the Fun side!"

Aloria clears her throat, "This random Madagascar reference was brought to you by my mom and dad's incredibly weird sense of humor. Now, on with the fic."

"Sylphiel!"

She was ...warm... too warm, and someone was shaking her roughly, shouting...

"Sylphiel! Wake up! Damn it! Syl!"

The shock of a slap across her face brought the shrine maiden's eyes open, and she stared up at Lina in confusion. "Syl! Get up!" Lina insisted urgently, "Rasmus needs your help! I can't cast anything strong enough to bring him back!"

Eyes widening, she struggled to sit up, but Sylphiel felt drained of energy and found the very idea of getting to action nearly too much. Thankfully Gourry was there to pull her to her feet and she didn't have far to go.

Four stumbling steps was all it took, but by the time she'd gotten halfway, her eyes had located her destination. The sight brought tears to her eyes, and weakly, she sank to her knees beside the body. Sylphiel could barely recognize him- there was blood in an inch deep puddle around him, and a gaping hole through his chest and shoulder partially crushed- the Mazoku had been thorough in its work. His face was blood-splattered, but clearly wore an expression of... consternation touched with annoyance.

"H-how long..." Sylphiel hiccupped, trying to retain some form of calm, but there was little she could do about the tears leaking from her hold.

Lina shook her head, crouched beside Sylphiel in the mud, "Ten, maybe fifteen minutes- but everyone else is alive again! I don't understand why he's not. Honestly, I never knew the Hope's Diamond would ... or could produce a miracle quite so widespread..."

"Flagoon- was the one that brought them back," Sylphiel explained, feeling hopeless as she stared at the inert body. "Oh Flagoon- what do I do! This... I can't Heal this in time!" she hiccupped again and sobbed for air.

The Holy Tree's spirit and power still hung in the air- a palpable presence that Sylphiel knew would fade in time without a physical anchor. Lina shook her head, "Syl!" she insisted, "Stop panicking."

He isn't answering me, were Flagoon's words, which Sylphiel more felt than heard. Heal his body while I call his soul, shrine maiden. He is savable, don't lose hope yet.

Scrubbing tears from her eyes as towns people watched in silent awe- she belatedly realized they were there and had been there the whole time- not one even scratched though their clothes were bloody and torn. Concentrate! Flagoon insisted, They don't need you, Rasmus does.

Hiccupping again, Sylphiel lifted her hands and began trying to concentrate enough to cast a Recovery spell, but in her heart, she knew how little good it would do with someone already dead. Around her, she could feel the power of Flagoon drifting away- fading, and Sylphiel sobbed again, "Rasmus- come back!" she whispered, her spell succeeding in reversing the physical damage he'd accumulated through the fight, but how could it ever be enough? Too much time had passed, there was no way to call him back now!

Keep hope! Flagoon insisted faintly.

Rasmus staggered onwards, weighed down by grief, wallowing in his misery, and he didn't even have Flagoon there to tell him he was being stupid, even if it would have made him mad, it would have given him reason to quit being so stupid. But as it was, Rasmus knew he was stupid and it was only making him feel worse rather than wanting to reach towards making the situation any better. "Flagoon... Sylphiel... Please help me!" he whispered.

Finally, unable to see the point of moving on any further, he dropped to his knees and rolled onto his back to stare up at the black sky and the smoke above. The buildings burned without end, leaving him no way into them- nowhere to go but back to Eris and Rezo or onwards down the endless road that disappeared into the smoke and likely went on forever.

What was the point of this place? Was it just the fact that he was here and not there- with Sylphiel and Lina and Gourry- that made it Hell? Or was it the fact that he was here with only Eris and Rezo for company? Probably, it was both.

Closing his eyes, Rasmus replayed the last week he'd spent alive- showing himself the few memories he possessed of his happy times. They all included Sylphiel.

Feeling as if he were stabbed in the gut, he rolled over and curled into a ball, sobbing, wishing that he could cast the Giga Slave on himself and be done with it. "I learned... I learned what I did wrong- I started trying to make up for it! I had a plan too! I swear I'll save three lives for every one that I took that night! Six for the children! Just send me back to do it!"

Curling even more tightly, Rasmus sobbed harder, "Cephied! Why? Why was I created? Was it just to suffer?"

Abruptly, he rolled to his feet and screamed in fury, overcome with the mad desire to tear something apart- to destroy. Reaching inside himself, he grasped his inner power to fling it at the uncaring buildings around him- but hesitated briefly.

"Throwing power around in a temper tantrum won't help," Rasmus whispered, finally admitting the truth to himself and let the power he'd drawn go back to its natural configurations. Covering his face with his hands, he scrubbed his eyes with his palms, "Sylphiel would be disappointed in me if I did throw a tantrum like that."

I'm glad you've recognized that. Now, quit being stupid and come to me. There's work that must be done still.

Dropping his hands, Rasmus lifted his head, staring around for the source of that voice. Turning to look down the street- the way he'd been headed to begin with, he lifted his eyes past the roofs of the burning buildings. Flagoon stood there- proudly waving its branches at him.

Yes. This way! Come quickly, there isn't much time.

Grabbing his robes, Rasmus hiked them up and began running towards his salvation. Around him, the buildings wavered- the fire went out, and abruptly, Rasmus found himself in a grassy area beneath Flagoon's main trunk.

"Rasmus!" a voice called, even as the Holy Tree dropped vines from its branches above and twined around the copy.

Partially turning, Ras looked back to find Rezo, and Eris, standing at the edge of the clearing. Shrugging, all the copy could say was, "Maybe third time's the charm."

In return, Rezo smile faintly, "I hope... and I hope we don't meet again for a very long time. Live well, Rasmus."

By then, Flagoon had a firm hold on him, and he could feel the Holy Tree blending itself with his soul once more, filling the emptiness Rasmus hadn't known he felt. This might hurt a bit, Flagoon murmured to him.

A little pain for big rewards is worth it. I want to see Sylphiel again.

Pain- incredible pain stabbed through him, and Rasmus refused to scream. Instead, he gripped Flagoon- and... something else- someone else. Darkness lifted from his vision, there were people all around that should have been dead, had been dead. Though he couldn't hear them at first, they were shouting, and hugging each other even as Rasmus's breath caught and he coughed hard to rid his lungs of congealing blood. The smell of Sylphiel's hair with the odor of smoke and blood hit him then, and he realized she was clutching him- even as he clutched her.

Alas, that was all he had time to realize before exhaustion and pain caught up with him again, and darkness swiftly abducted him to place in sleep's tender care.

OOC:

Rezo sneaks closer and says to his pouting clone, "You know, there's room for one more on the Fun side..."