A/N:

And you all thought I was dead! HAH! Not so! My muse (and my Beta) had merely run away, but now at least my muse has returned! I donít know how long this will last (though I've warned him that if he runs off again, I'll track him down and kill him if he doesn't help me finish this gods-damned story!), but I'm writing as much as fast as I can. Like I said above, though, my Beta has deserted me, so please bear with any typos my proofing has missed.

Disclaimer: As ever, I don't own Slayers. Don't own much of anything, fer that matter!

Chapter 18

Four hours later, they were no closer to a workable plan to defeat Koutero, and everyone was becoming rapidly frustrated. The humans and Faith were seated in a circle around the remains of the ashes from their fire the night before. Filia was pacing the outskirts of the clearing, clutching Val to her chest, rocking him slightly. Xellos was floating cross-legged at the opposite side of the clearing from Filia, a thoughtful mask in place.

"Ok, let's go over the facts again," Zelgadis said, and was met by a general groan, which he ignored. "One: Koutero is a Mazoku of equal or greater power than Xellos. Two: he has the ability to tap into our minds, which he uses to find and trigger thoughts of the most terrible thing we could imagine."

"Three: he requires a reasonable degree of concentration to maintain control over our minds; possibly because there are so many of us," Lina added.

"Four: he still has control of my cave," Faith said with a sigh. Raven put a comforting hand on her friends' shoulder, and Faith managed a small smile.

"Hang on a second," Lina said suddenly, her eyes lighting up, "That cave of yours is a major power source, right? So Koutero is probably using it to boost his own power. Let's assume that's how he was able to incapacitate all of us at once. If we can break his connection to the cave, we'd stand a much better chance."

"Not only does that take a lot of assumptions into account; but unfortunately, to break his connection, we'd probably have to be in range of his attack. Which brings us back to square one," Zelgadis said. Amelia gave him her patented 'don't be so gloomy' look.

"Well, what is his range, anyway?" Lina wondered.

"Well, the energy of the cave itself stays within the boundaries of the cave," Faith replied. "So, theoretically speaking, if we're outside the moth of the cave, we should be safe. Not taking into account how much Koutero's own power range is."

"So if he tries to extend his abilities beyond the boundary of the cave, then he'll lose the boost the cave gives him?" Amelia asked, seemingly unconvinced.

"I believe so, yes," Faith mused. "The cave has... I guess you could call it a skin, a filter. It won't allow its own energy piggybacked out, and it can be selective as to what it allows in. That's how it can stay so well hidden, go unnoticed."

"I don't suppose anyone thinks we could lure him out of the cave?" Zelgadis said. His friends looked thoughtful, but finally everyone wound up shaking their head.

"He's quite comfortable where he is, and he knows that at least Faith will have to come back to him," Xellos said.

"Do you think you could use your link to the cave to get in, maybe break the link to Koutero, without going INTO the cave?" Lina asked Faith. The half-breed was about to reply, but Xellos cut in.

"As long as Koutero can keep his concentration, it is unlikely that Faith would be able to defeat him in a battle of wills for control of the cave," Xellos said.

"And what if he's distracted?" Lina demanded of the Mazoku. Xellos pondered the question for a moment before responding.

"Then she stands a chance; but it's still only a chance," he said. "It depends on how distracted he is, and how powerful the girl's mind really is. She might still need assistance." Lina rubbed her hands together, a wicked glint in her eye.

"Oh, I think I can manage a reasonable distraction," the sorceress said, an evil grin spreading across her face.

"Without destroying the cave, Lina-san," Amelia said, tapping her foot slightly as she gave the older woman a scolding look. Lina's face fell for a moment, but she immediately put the grin back on.

"I think between all of us, we'll come up with something that will just do the trick," Lina reassured Amelia. "How about it, Faith? Think you can handle a battle of minds with Koutero?" Faith looked around at the faces of the people in the clearing, and wondered for a moment how she had suddenly gained so much responsibility. For a moment, she wished she really was a child again, with her parents there to guide her.

"I don't know; but I'm sure going to try," she said, her eyes glinting with growing determination. "I'll be damned if I let my parents down," she added in a whisper.

"Good!" Lina exclaimed, not seeming to have heard Faith's last comment, "We should go as soon as everybody is rested. Is everybody rested?" The sorceress looked around eagerly, tapping her foot impatiently, as if willing her companions back to full strength. Having a decently formulated plan prepared, she was suddenly very eager to get moving. She wanted to get this Koutero. No one messed with Lina Inverse, Sorcery Genius, and lived to tell the tale. Everyone in the clearing looked around at each other. They all seemed to be recovering from their ordeal nicely; though Amelia would occasionally shiver slightly, and Filia and Xellos had been noticeably keeping as far away from each other as they possibly could. The dragon priestess, who had been quiet for a while, suddenly grew very agitated.

"Now hang on one second!" Filia exclaimed, "You don't think I'm going back there, do you? I need to get Val somewhere safe. I'm not bringing him back anywhere near that Mazoku!"

"Filia-chan, I have a feeling Faith-chan will need your help against Koutero," Xellos said, his usual grin just slightly more devious than normal. "Would you like me to bring the little darling back to his beastly nursemaids?" Without waiting for a response, both Xellos and Val disappeared from view.

"NAMA-" was all Lina and party heard before Filia likewise vanished. Zelgadis sighed and shook his head. Faith rubbed her temple.

"They'll be back," she said.

"Should we wait for them?" Amelia asked, a concerned look spread across her face.

"Why bother, they'll find us no matter where we are," Lina retorted. She was still chomping at the bit, eager to face off with Koutero again. A rumble was heard from across the clearing, and all eyes turned to Gourry, who wore a thoughtful expression.

"I think," he said, as if to make an extremely important announcement, "That we should eat." Several groans were heard from around the clearing, but several more grumbles were heard as well from irritated stomachs.

"Maybe that's not such a bad idea after all," Lina mused, rubbing her stomach idly, pondering where to get enough food to satiate herself. Faith and Raven weren't about to complain. Both girls were still exhausted from the ordeal. Though Faith was eager to retake her cave from the monster who had invaded it, she knew she would need to rest before she could attempt it.

"Oi, mina-san!" a cheerful voice chirped from above their heads. They looked up to see a

familiar purple-framed face grinning down at them. Xellos waved, then pointed to a pile of breads, cakes, and meats that had somehow joined them in the clearing. Lina and Gourry both gave strange shrieks of joy as they raced forward to devour what they could. The others followed close behind, wanting to make sure that they got at least SOMETHING to eat.

"Where did you get this, Xellos?" Amelia asked around a mouthful of chicken. The Mazoku didn't need to answer, though, as a golden blond blur streaked out of the sky, dive bomb fashion, shrieking.

"How dare you raid my pantry, namagomi!"

"Is that what we're going to be calling it now, are we?"

The group on the ground paused in their munching to stare momentarily at the purple and yellow fireworks show that was now taking place above their heads. Then, almost as one, they shrugged and continued with their meal.

Gourry was the first to let lose a great yawn after the food had nearly disappeared. They had each pulled aside some to save for the morning. They seemed to have reached a silent consensus to sleep and let their minds and bodies rest and recuperate before heading back tomorrow.

"But we leave before first light!" Lina announced in her no-nonsense tone. With that, she abruptly put hear head down and was almost immediately snoring. Gourry smiled gently and tucked the redhead's cape around her for warmth, then quietly settled down next to her. One by one, the rest followed suit, until only Zelgadis, keeping first watch, Xellos and Filia were awake. Xellos flashed his cheeriest grin towards Filia.

"You should get some rest as well, Filia-chan," he said, already know exactly how the dragon would respond.

"You think I'd trust you to stand watch? You think I'd trust you to be anywhere NEAR me while I'M sleeping?" Xellos's grin widened.

"And why do you think I haven't already been near you while you've slept?" Filia's face turned bright red, though it wasn't clear if it was due to rage or embarrassment. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but it seemed that she had no idea how to respond to his comment, at least not without waking the rest of the slumbering crew. She settled for standing up and stiffly stalking over to the furthest point of the clearing away from Xellos. For his part, Xellos simply stretched out, leaned against a tree, and sighed. Lina and her group weren't the only ones who had been well fed this evening.

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End Notes: I'm still writing, but I wanted to get this poor chapter up. I hope someone out there has the patience to actually look at this monstrosity!