Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks and/or Slayers

A Person's Nature

It had been very quiet as Piper sat in the kitchen by herself. Least to say she didn't feel all that great after what she had seen that day. While investigating some disappearances on a terra, she, along with the Storm Hawks and some others, came across a hidden lab. They went inside, trying to find some sort of clue. But they didn't expect to come across what they saw in there.

The sight of it was horrific. There were near-lifeless bodies with crystals embedded in them. Much to their luck, they also had found a person there and had managed to capture him. Then, they brought him to the local Sky Knight squadron who would be interrogating him. But even then, Piper still felt unnerved. She never thought that crystals could be capable of such horror.

As her head stewed in these thoughts, she snapped back when she heard the door open. Looking over, she saw Lina Inverse walking in with a yawn. She herself had taken notice of the other girl and said, "Hey, sneaking a late-night snack too?"

"… Help yourself." She motioned her hand over to the fridge, which she made a dart towards. Watching her take almost everything out, Piper let out a sigh. In all honesty, she had found frustration with the self-proclaimed Sorceress Genius. She practically had an ego as big as Finn's. Granted, she had the power to back it up, but it was very destructive, almost decimating an entire terra. Added to how careless and selfish she acted, she found her to be intolerable.

She then stared off elsewhere, her mind going back to what happened that day. Lina, after getting a sizable meal, took notice of this. "Let me guess, still mulling over what you saw?" Piper perked her head up before giving a slight nod after a while. Letting out her own sigh, she set her food down on the table before sitting herself. "Look, you can either talk about it or not. But continuing to dwell on it won't be good in the long run."

There was a long silence between the two as she remained still in her chair. Raising an eyebrow, Lina just shrugged and went on to eating. She managed to get a few bites before Piper slammed her hands on the table and stood up.

"How could he?!" she exclaimed, her voice almost cracking. "Like I'm not sure what he was trying to do. But trying to use people in such an abhorrent way?! Besides, crystals are supposed to help people! Make their lives better! That wasn't helping! It was cruel and perverted!"

"… And I supposed you would rather be fine if it were Master Cyclonis doing it, huh?" Lina said, causing Piper to cringe. While the man doing the experiments seemed to have no allegiance, a part of her wanted it to be a Cyclonian plot. At least that would make sense. But she also knew that it would've been wrong for her to do so as there wasn't any evidence to prove so.

After a while, she glanced over at her, clutching her arm. "Lina… How can you do it? Cast Black Magic, I mean."

The question itself caused her to perk up as she began to think it over. "Well, I can't say there isn't caution to casting some spells and such. But I don't think it's that big of an influence. If anything, it's most likely a balance between yourself and the powers you choose to wield."

"But that's just magic itself, right?" she said, almost shaking. "I always thought that crystals weren't as capable of such agony, but those people- They looked so lifeless! What if crystals aren't as good as I thought?! What if there's a danger to them that no one has ever considered?! What if-?!"

Before she could continue, Lina walked over to her and embraced her tightly. After which, she spoke up, "Listen… Magic and Crystals, they're only tools. And like any tool, people can use them regardless of whether they're good or evil." She then looked Piper straight in the eye with a somber look. "Piper, you are smart, and you know what's right and wrong to a fault. If you use those things with your crystals, I'm sure that you won't be like that man or Master Cyclonis."

She stood there, stunned and getting a light blush on her face. As long as she knew her, she couldn't imagine Lina saying something like that. But it did feel comforting. After a while, she smiled before saying, "Thanks… I think I needed to hear that."

"No problem!" She patted her on the back before going back to her food. Then after grabbing it, she took her leave as Piper watched. She thought about the sorceress, thinking about how attractive she was. She still had those personality traits that made her cringe. But there was also something admirable about those as well.

So, Piper spent the rest of the night awake. This time, she was thinking over what Lina had said.

Author's Notes:

Hey all! MSCK here with a double update! This time with two short fics I did for Slayers Rarepair Week!

The first one is based on the Heart-to-Heart Prompt where I had Lina and Piper talk about crystals and magic stuff. One of the things that I wish the Storm Hawks show had was exploring the darker side of crystals. I guess we kinda got that with the Binding, but I kinda have issues with that (mostly on how late it was introduce). Anyway, part of that fun is thinking of those darker aspects with crystals (Slayers is a big influence in that, especially with the novels), and how Piper would react to such adverse practices.

This pretty much brings me to what I think her relationship with Lina would be like. I imagine their first meeting would be like frustration on Piper's part because she almost has the same personality as Finn's, if not worse. But over time, she would see her better qualities and realize that she is good in her own right. She'd still get annoyed over her more selfish tendencies, though that is to be expected.

Anyway, check out the next chapter as it is one of my favorites to write so far.

Please Read and Review!