Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers

"LINA YOU IDIOT!!" Tatsuko snapped. Lina ignored her as she carried on walking to school. Tatsuko hadn't stopped yelling at her since she woke up this morning. Actually Tatsuko had been the one to wake Lina up with a series of curses. Lina hadn't really done much but ignore her the whole time as if she wasn't there. When Lina had got up she simply but on a plain white turtle neck and a pair of blue jeans. She didn't bother brushing her hair properly and left her headband behind. She carried her backpack in her hand instead of on her back and she walked slowly off to school. Why was she going though? Probably to try and get the feel that she was living a normal life, but with Tatsuko's constant yelling she had a hard time with that, so she just pretended like she wasn't there.

She walked into the school slowly not noticing a girl look over at her with a surprised look. The Laia watched her go into the school by a tree before running off towards the Fountain where her friends were sitting. They looked up at her when she came over and smiled.

"Hey Laia, what's up?" Asked the one girl who's name was Marlena.

"It's Lina. She's back." Laia said. A look of surprise still over her face.

"Hold up! What!?" Ruuma asked.

"But the crisis isn't even over yet. What's she doing back on earth?!" Selena asked.

"I don't know." Laia responded. Marlena sighed and looked over at them.

"It's not like we can do anything. Lina doesn't know about us and isn't supposed to know untill afterwards." She said.

"We decided that! It's not a rule!" Selena snapped.

"Well what do you want to do then?" Marlena asked. The three girls got quiet and Marlena sighed, "See. There really isn't anything we can do. Lina must have a reason though for comming back." The others nodded in agreement. Marlena sighed and sat there for a moment before lighting up.

"Forget what I just said! I wanna meet Tatsuko!" She said jumping up and running off. The others watched her dumbfounded for a moment before running after her.

Lunch time had arrived and Lina was sitting outside in the garden with her bento-box lunch out infront of her. She had gotten quite a few stares today and a bunch of teachers asking her questions as to where she had been and where the others are. Of course she simply ignored them and left though most girls followed her around demanding to know where Gourry was untill she turned around and snapped at them. That was also how she managed to shut Tatsuko up. At the bigenning of lunch Lina flipped out at her and told her not to say another word or she'd find a way to rid her from her body. That got Tatsuko quiet in no time letting Lina eat in quiet. At least that was the plan. At that moment four girls she knew, but hadn't talked to before came running towards her. Marlena being in the front.

"There she is! There she is!" She cried out before jumping at them. Lina braced herself for the impact but then looked over in surprise as Marlena glomped Tatsuko. Tatsuko's eyes widened and she got really stiff.

"She's so cool!" Marlena yelled.

"Uh...excuse me?" Lina asked a little shocked by what was going on. Can Marlena see Tatsuko?

"Hi Lina." Marlena said looking up at her and loosening her grip on Tatsuko. Tatsuko took that oportunity to push her away. Marlena looked at her and pouted before looking back up at Lina and smiling. Lina looked down at her still a little confused about what was going on.

"You can...see her?" She asked. Marlena nodded.

"My family has a strange connection with dragons. I can usually see them when other people can't." She explained.

"And you can touch them too. Oh great." Tatsuko muttered, rolling her eyes. Lina and Marlena laughed at this.

"What'd she say?" Laia asked.

"Oh nothing." Lina said waving it off with her hand.

"So...how come you guys know of her?" Lina asked.

"Oh simple, we're connected to this crisis the same way you are." Ruuma said.

"Of course we only help protect the earth." Selena chirped in, "Such is the duty for the weaker worriors."

"Hey!" Marelna yelled in defense. Lina just laughed.

"You know," Tatsuko said, "This is the first time I've heard you laugh since Sylphiel kissed Gourry...oops sorry!" Lina looked down as a grim expression crossed over her face. Marlena looked at the two in confusion.

"Lina...what's she mean?" She asked.

"What? What did she say?" Laia asked again. Lina got silent and Marlena simply shrugged her shoulders. After a while Lina spoke up.

"Gourry...Gourry is the reincarnation of Yurikawa, you know that, right?" Lina asked. The four of them nodded and Lina continued, "Well Sylphiel and I both share one half of Kasuga's soul...I saw Sylphiel and Gourry kissing and I guess I lost it from there." Tears started to form in Lina's eyes again as she continued, "I can't compete with someone like Sylphiel. She's everything I'm not. She's pretty, she sweet and kind, she isn't violent, not to mention she has the better figure. Who's to say he wont choose her over me...after that happens everything goes downhill from there."

"Wow..." Laia muttered.

"So...you really are in love with Gourry?" Selena asked. Lina looked at her a little surprised by her question.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I mean is the rumor about the two of you correct?" Selena asked. Lina turned bright red at this.

"Rumor!! You mean people actually talk about us!?" She shrieked.

"Uh..well...yes.." Ruuma stuttered. Lina turned even redder at this as she let out a shriek. Some of the surrounding students looked over at them in surprise before going on about their own business.

"They talk about us!? What do they do, place bets to see when we'll get together!?" Lina yelled.

"Uh..umm...ehehehe." Marlena and the others laughed nervously at this making Lina blush even more furiously. Tatsuko laughed at her embarassment.

"Aww c'mon Lina. It ain't that bad." She teased.

"Yes it is!" Lina snapped, "I'm living in a nightmare! Somebody wake me up!"

"Get a grip will you!" Tatsuko snapped.

"Make me, pig head!" Lina snapped back.

"I'm a pig head! You're the one who's nose looks like a pig!"

"You take that back Dragon!"

"Make me, Flat cheast!"

"What!?" Lina looked infuriated at Tatsuko. Marlena watched the two argue and sighed.

"So what's going on?" Laia asked.

"Believe me, you dont wanna know." Marlena responded. Unknown to them, Mazenda watched them from the sky. A smirk appeared over her lips as she watched this.

"So Marlena can see Tatsuko, huh?" Her smile soon turned into a smirk, "I better destroy her quickly...at least in my standerds." She dissapeared. Lina and Tatsuko were still arguing, when Mazenda appeared and grabbed Lina by the neck pushing her against the tree. Lina didn't have time to react as this happened. The others gasped and some of the other school kids showed up, wide eyed at what was happening.

"Lina!" Tatsuko yelled out. Lina grasped ahold of Mazenda's hand and struggled to look over at her. She could tell that they were abouv the ground and heard the excited chatter of the croud around them.

"Who...Who are you?" She managed to ask. Mazenda smirked ot her.

"Does it matter? You're going to die here anyway." She said in response, her grip on Lina's neck tightening. Lina groaned slightly and tried to breath in more air, having little success. Her face turned slightly and she let out a small cry. Mazenda's crazy smile grew wider...untill she spotted somthing on Lina's forhead. Her eyes widened at the mark andshe unconciously loosened her grip on Lina's neck. Lina didn't waist any time as she quickly fired off a spell, unfortunatly it missed as Mazenda let her go at the same time. She glared at Lina who landed not so gracefully on the ground. Marlena, Selena and Ruuma all ran to check on her, since Tatsuko was already at her side. Laia looked up at Mazenda, frozen to her spot.

"That mark..." Mazenda whispered.

"What about it?" Lina asked, having finaly regained her breath, "It's my birth mark! What's it to you!?" Mazenda looked at her, her eyes narrowed. She doesn't know? She woundered, Doesn't she know what her birth mark acually means? Lina glared at her while Mazenda's gaze never left her forhead. Ruuma looked over at Lina.

"Let me see you're birth mark." She demanded. Lina looked at her on confusion before lifting up her bangs allowing the two dots that acted as her birth mark to show. Ruuma's eyes widened slightly.

"The mark of the Lord of Darkness..." She breathed. Lina looked at her funny before breaking into a smirk.

"That's it!" She yelled.

"What's it?" Selena asked.

"The Lord of Darkness, The Mother of all things, The sword of Chaos." Lina's words echoed through the groups heads.

"You can use that spell..." Marlena asked.

"Of course she can!" Mazenda cut in making the others look over at her, "All she is is her pawn. She has the ability to use her power, but I wont let that happen." Mazenda summoned a ball of energy into her hands before releasing it at the group. Laia, finaly spapping out of her trance, ran over to them just as the ball of energy was about to reach them. The bystanders eyes widened when they realized what was going on and some people let out a shriek as the blast hit the group. When the blast died down the others gasped again at what they saw. Laia stood there, arms outstreached with a wind barrier surounding them. she had managed to sheild them from the blast with just a wind barrier. Mazenda glared at them.

"I wont loose! I wont be like Kanzeil and loose to a bunch of little weaklings like yourself. Lina smirked.

"Weaklings huh?" She asked, "Well this weakling is about to destroy you." With that, she started chanting her spell.

And I have to end here. Sorry for the long wait, I arrived to my new house at the beggining of Feb and then my comps wont allow me to log on, and I have 2. So my updates wont be as frequent I'm at school right now.

anyway R&R please.