A/N: I'm not too confident in my characterization of Salvatore Doni, but I think that it was allowable given his mercurial nature. That aside, In two chapters, the timeline should be more clear, relative to canon. This was mostly filler, but the next chapter is much less so.

About a week after she started her training, as Anya walked along a street, a shiver ran down her spine and she felt her senses sharpen. She felt like she was moving much too slowly, but she whipped around and saw a young man standing on the street behind her. He was dressed casually with jeans and an open button-down shirt with a t-shirt under it. The young man smiled without a care, his blond hair complemented by the darkness of the sunglasses that he wore atop his head. Despite his appearance, Anya felt completely intimidated. He carried an odd suitcase.

The man looked at her bemusedly. "Hey. I heard a heretic god was killed here. You're number eight, right?"

"N-number eight? Then you're a-" The eighth Campione realized just who she was talking to.

"Yeah. I'm your senior, Salvatore Doni. You're Anya Kokolova, right?"

"I-It's nice to meet you. What do you want?"

"Well, you killed a goddess of war, so I figured I'd take a look at you." He drew a sword from the bag, still smiling.

Anya got into a stance and, when the sword was swung, advanced past the sword's range. She threw a cross as his face.

Doni slipped his head to the side and brought his sword in, bringing the younger Campione into his range.

There was a flash of metal, and the next thing Anya knew, she was collapsed on the side of the street, the young man standing over her looking bored. She had small cuts on her sides and arms

He sighed. "I was looking forward to a duel, but you're so weak…"

Anya could tell that if she activated her Authority, the god slayer before her would do the same. She noticed a trash receptacle and, using all of her strength, tossed it at him, using it as a diversion.

She got to her feet and pieces of the receptacle flew back at her, shredded from the Campione's ridiculous swordplay. She loosed an explosion directly in front of her, destroying all of the debris. She back-stepped instinctively, and felt wind blow by her face. The young man must have been right in front of her through the flames! The mage queen chambered and released a kick in the other god slayer's direction.

Her thoughts stopped dead when she felt warm metal press against her throat. Salvatore Doni looked her right in the eyes as the flames went out. His palm pressed against her knee, blocking her kick as he held his sword against her. He frowned, disappointed. "I guess that's the best that I could expect from a kid. Get stronger by the next time we fight. I want to be able to go all out."

This was odd. Anya was sitting at tea with Salvatore Doni, the Campione that had just essentially beaten her up. It was in such a nice tea house too. The raspberry scones were delicious. The bits of fruit were masterfully cut and inserted and balanced perfectly with the quick bread. It was so perfect that the taste of both the fruit and the quick bread brought one another out instead of one overpowering the other. It was just so – And she was getting off track.

"So why did you want to fight me, Salvatore?"

"Eh, I felt like it."

Anya twitched in annoyance, but found that she couldn't dislike the guy. There was something about his free carelessness that seemed admirable.

"Anyway, you're new, but you didn't use your Authorities at all. Were you looking down on me?" He seemed to be pouting childishly.

"Huh? No, it's just that you're probably better at using you Authorities, so I didn't try to match mine against yours." Anya couldn't help but notice that Salvatore(when did she start using his given name?) was drinking his tea with perfect etiquette, despite his flightiness.

He refilled her cup and then his own. "Next time we fight, you should be stronger, so let's go all out. Officially, I won the first one." He spoke teasingly. "Oh! The next time you're in Japan, you should meet my good friend Godou. He's your direct senior Campione, so it should be fun!"

Anya nodded, smiling at his enthusiasm. "Okay. I might have a reason to go there."

Tea time ended and the pair went their separate ways. It was odd, but they seemed to get along fairly well.

Salvatore patted her on the head. "Well, see you later, Anya."

Anya flushed a little at the honest affection and murmured back. "Bye, Salvatore."

Salvatore Doni turned to leave, creating an atmosphere like that of a departing respected sibling. Well, until another man ran up to him. The other man wore a suit and glasses and looked like he was constantly straining his emotional endurance. "My king, please don't go off on your own to fight other Campione."

Salvatore sighed as he was lectured by the man.

The inspiring moment was fairly ruined at that point.

When Anya showed up for training, she worked even harder than normal on improving her fighting skills.

Tom was honestly surprised at the girl's enthusiasm, and asked why.

Anya smiled at him. "I have a rematch with someone!"

"A rematch?"

"Yeah! With Salvatore!"

Tom froze. "Wait, you mean Lord Salvatore Doni, the King of Swords?"

"Uh huh."

"So, you fought him and lost?"

Anya nodded. "That's why I have to get stronger. Next time I'm going to be able to fight him evenly."

Tom smiled kindly. "It is good to have a goal. Work even harder, then."

"Yes!"

She learned some of Thomas Kneip's magic focus, which was spirit evocation. He had her summon fire spirits before moving on to salamanders and even an afrit, which refused to take her seriously and was easily irritated. It turned out that while salamanders, sylphs, and basic elemental spirits were really helpful, afrits, djinn, dryads, and other higher spirits needed coercion. Aside from evocation, Tom taught her Cantus Bellax, the spell-song of battle, which increased the physical improvement that her magic gave her. She hadn't mastered it or the evocations yet.

Anya stared up at the large dog. It barked once. She wondered why she was here. The Cu Sith were incredibly dangerous, even for powerful mages. Anya was still in training, so she didn't really want to deal with one. The village that the Unseelie fae had invaded was full of innocent people and there had been rumors of innocent people being spirited away, so they had to be ousted. It was lucky that the people had been evacuated, letting her use as much power as was necessary.

She stood ready and spoke clearly. "You have no right to this territory! Leave this village! This is the order of the mage queen!" She felt no confidence in her order and felt a bit silly shouting at a dog, even if it was the size of a large bull.

The beast growled before barking a second time.

Anya identified the giant dog as an enemy and activated [Regalia of the War Goddess]. "I follow the divine law of just war and revel in it. In this sign I fight!" The divine sword was drawn from the regalia and Anya pointed it at the beast. "If you don't retreat, I will force you back!"

The dog lunged at the Campione.

Using her new training, Anya leapt backward and slashed at its nose, making the dog cry out and shuffle backward. The young mage pressed her advantage and cut one of its legs, making it limp away. She felt bad about hurting the creature, but she just needed it to leave, its faerie masters with it. Anya felt the air shake slightly, and dropped to the ground. An arrow flew over her and she turned to see an odd green man holding a bow. His body was gangly and the green seemed to be less of skin color and more of a fine layer of moss. He glared at her and nocked another arrow.

The dog growled and bit down at her.

Anya, feeling the second arrow fly, severed the dog's front legs completely before running to the fae man, diving under the arrow.

He jumped over the divine blade, throwing a kick at the Campione's face.

In two movements, Anya cut off the attacking leg and ran the faerie through.

He stared at her, eyes wide in shock and terror.

The dog roared.

Anya whipped around, pulling her sword before jerking to a stop. The faerie held her arm and the sword in his body. The dog pounced. Anya kicked the feet out from under the man, swinging him into the path of the dog.

The air vibrated wildly. The mage queen couldn't dodge anything from that position. "My Staff!" Anya used her staff to fly directly upward, the faerie on her arm being torn off by the Cu Sith and the sword knocked from her hand. The divine sword vanished. It was sealed until the next time the Authority was activated.

There was a huge burst of magic and she saw countless rounds of elf-shot slam into the place she'd just occupied. The issue wasn't the magic in the shots, but the very sharp arrowheads on them. Suddenly revealed to her sight was a large army of fae men and women, surrounded by large Cu Sith.

The Campione clambered on top of her staff and prepared to use the divine spear. She focused. "Know and Fear me! I am bloodshed! I am destruction! I am the very flames of the conflict of man!"

More arrows flew up at her, enough that she knew her physical defenses would be pierced even if the magic didn't affect her. Just before they hit, Anya activated the armor of her authority. The arrows slammed into her, but the armor of Bellona prevented any damage. She didn't even feel any impact from the elf-shots.

The Campione continued to draw her spear. "Fear me who has conquered the world! Fear me who has razed nations and sewn salt to their earth! Fall before me! Be destroyed!" The flames of destruction came out, covering the sky above the village and army. The flames howled like a pack of wolves. The spell words of the spear shaped the divine flames into a white hot, burning spear. She grasped it.

The faerie army began to retreat, running in a panic.

Anya refused to allow their escape. The faeries were going to kill the ordinary people of the village. She gritted her teeth in an uncharacteristic rage. Those people were under her protection! How dare these faeries think that they could harm her subjects! Her mind flashed back to a burned village and petrified mages. She arched her back and threw the spear down!

The divine spear of destruction pierced one of the Cu Sith, pinning it to the ground. The spear then exploded, wiping out the entire army, the village as well. The air shook with the boom and the nearby trees quaked violently from the force of the exploding spear.

Anya floated down. All that remained was scorched and glassed earth, cinders falling from the sky. Her goal was accomplished. This was the power of a god slaying queen, the power to wipe out an army in one move. She looked down at her hands, shaking a little.

Anya returned to the headquarters of the Guardians of the Veil. All of the agents inside avoided her gaze reverently.

Tom approached her. "I am glad to see that your first assignment went well, your highness."

"Why are you calling me-" Anya stopped mid-sentence, seeing the expression on the man's face.

He looked sad and a bit fearful. "The Black Prince was away on his own business, but he heard of your presence and encounter with Lord Salvatore Doni as well as your fight with that army of faeries. He wanted me to pass a message to you, your highness."

"Okay." Anya spoke evenly, but having spent so much time among magical spies, she immediately began doubting the man before her. It wasn't enough to make her treat him differently, but it made her pay closer attention to his speech and actions. England's Campione was known to be wise and powerful, but to have someone so close to her pass on a message was a bit suspicious.

"'I understand the necessity of displays of force, but please consider the livelihood of those you are protecting as well as the secrecy of magic. It is hard to conceal a pile of ashes where a village used to stand.'"

Anya looked down, setting her suspicions aside for a brief moment. She felt ashamed that she forgot to defend the village itself. She had only focused on defeating the faeries. She was too busy enjoying the combat to think about the destruction that her power caused. She would need to train even harder if she wanted to protect people without making huge mistakes like that one.

Tom called Anya into his office about another assignment. As usual, when he spoke of business, his face took on a hardness that normally wasn't seen. His normal kind smile was replaced by a careful blankness. "There have been a series of odd storms over Antalya Turkey."

The young girl cocked her head to the side. "That doesn't sound so bad."

"Normally, it wouldn't be an issue that we'd pay much attention to, but there were also large spikes of magical energy during the storms. Aside from that, rumors of odd rituals going on in the outskirts of the city in the middle of the night preceded the storms by about four weeks before those rumors suddenly stopped."

"What does that mean?"

"The amount of energy we've detected is far greater than that of mages or even higher spirits. Our contacts in Turkey have reported that they've seen a large snake in the countryside around Antalya during the storms. In the worst case scenario, it might be a storm god."

Anya frowned in thought. "Then the rituals would have been for summoning a god?"

Tom nodded. "That is very possible. Because we are assuming the worst case scenario, it would be best for you to accompany the agents that are being sent to investigate."

"Okay."

In the train station, the mage queen met with the other agents of the Guardians of the Veil. There was a young woman that appeared to be about sixteen. She was Elspeth Carnac, who specialized in artillery magic, destroying large targets and numerous opponents. There was also a man, Stephen Gibson. He looked to be about thirty. He specialized in barriers for directing humans away from incidents and concealing actions undertaken by agents of their organization. Last was Tom, who came to support Anya in the case that a heretic deity had appeared.

It was surprising how quickly they arrived in Istanbul before taking the bus into Antalya.

Anya was expecting the city to be covered in storm, but instead the sky was clear. It was clear that there was nothing for her to do, so the other agents went to investigate, learning of rumors and tracking residual magical energy.

Bored, the Campione went about to look at the city. As she walked around, she came upon a young bald man that was dressed oddly for a walk about the city.

He was wearing a green business suit without a tie. The collar was popped, making for a strange look that somehow seemed to fit his inhuman atmosphere. His eyes were snake-like, with a golden brown iris taking up most of the eye, leaving only the deep, round, pitch black pupil.

The extreme appearance wasn't what caught the mage queen's attention. Instead it was the sharpening of her senses and increase in heart rate that indicated the presence of a Campione or god. The atmosphere of the young man seemed to indicate the latter.

He looked right at her, his inhuman eyes seeming to glow in even in daylight. "Thou art a Rakshasa Rani… Dost thou wish to fight me?"

Anya couldn't help but ask. "Rakshasa Rani?"

"Dost thou not know thine own title, god slayer?"

"No, I didn't know." Anya was surprised that she could talk with a deity easily, despite all of her instincts telling her to tear him apart.

"This does not answer my question."

"I don't want to fight you right now."

The god nodded. "Yes, it would be best to have a fitting stage for combat rather than a cramped city street."

That…wasn't what Anya meant, so she began to interject. "Actua-"

"Therefore we shall meet just outside the city, to the north. I shall expect thee in two days' time." With that, he turned and disappeared in a burst of rain.