In the middle of a patch of concentrated sunlight sat an elderly woman. She was tall and elegant, dressed in a black robe and a shawl over her long white hair. Her eyes were pale and unfocused, so Lina knew that she was blind. On the woman's lap lay a figure swathed in white silk that was spotted dark crimson in some places.
"You must be the one my son spoke of." The lady smiled sadly as the sorceress drew near to her. "He said you would come today."
"Who are you?" Lina asked, sitting down carefully across from the woman. "Why are you here?"
"My name is Eko." She smiled again. "I am here because I live here. I have been here for many years. I was the mate of Alpha Ailus, who led the pack before the alpha before Maookami."
"Maookami is your son?" The redhead glanced down at the white covered figure.
"No." Eko shook her head slowly.
"But you said -- "
"Maookami is like a son to me, but no Alpha of our Pack has ever been born to the Pack." The elderly woman's hands tenderly stroked a ruddy spot on the silk. "The Alpha chooses an Outsider to lead the Pack, so that change may be brought into our world. Maookami... He loved the Pack deeply. He told me once that he never had a real family, not one that made him feel worth anything. The Pack loved him, though. Maookami is very clever, and very smart. He knows things about machines, about architecture and agriculture that no one in the Pack remembered. He brought us these things that revolutionized our simple world. We no longer had to hunt all day to eat a single meal, and no longer had to journey to the edge of the woods for water when everywhere else there is drought. It was Maookami who wanted the Pack to be safe and happy above all else. He was the one who decided to keep cattle and sheep."
"He almost killed my friend." Lina frowned.
"I gathered as much." Eko sighed. "He did it to drive you away, you know."
"I'm supposed to kill him." The sorceress drew her dagger. The elderly woman heard the weapon being unsheathed and clutched the silk wrapped body closer to her.
"No, I won't let you!" She screamed. "Haven't you done enough? You killed his family, all of them! Please let him go. He's been so hurt..."
"Eko..." A coarse and quiet voice grumbled. "Leave her alone. She is Lina Inverse. You can not change her mind."
"Maookami..." The blind woman whispered. "But, you chose her..."
"Leave it be." He grunted.
"Alpha, what about tonight?"
"Leave it be!" Eko stood up and left the room silently.
"Are you ready to die?" Lina stood as well, towering over Maookami.
"Why, Lina Inverse, do you so desire to see the extinction of my Pack?" He asked softly. Exhaustion and despair made his voice weary. "What did we ever do to you?"
"I never give up." She said firmly. "You challenged me."
"You could have left." He answered. "But then again, that is not your style, is it?"
"No, it's not."
"I did not want to die, Lina Inverse. I just wanted to be happy with my family. Do you not want the same?"
"It's none of your business."
"My Pack did not hurt anyone."
"Except us."
"You were trying to kill my Pack."
"I think I pretty much succeeded there."
"...You did. I did not want Tris to attack you last night. I knew they would die if they did."
"They did."
"You know... You still do not have to do this. You can still... become Pack Mate."
"Not likely to happen."
"I thought as much. It was worth a try."
"You offered to make me part of the Pack, but when Gourry and I got bit last night, neither of us became lycanthropes."
"My breed of lycanthrope can not force others into the Pack. Only the Alpha has that ability, because the Alpha is from the Outside."
"Oh."
"Lina?"
"What?"
"Since you are going to kill me, I want to ask something of you. Tonight a demon will rise and slaughter the villagers."
"What?!"
"This demon is where the power of my Pack came from. It is not pleased with my domestication of the Pack. Tonight it will come to this realm and massacre the people. Please... Destroy it before it kills them. I worked hard to make sure my Pack would never have to fight the villagers, but if the demon is released..."
"Why me?"
"You are Lina Inverse." Maookami's voice hinted at mirth. "You can destroy any demon. That is why it wants you..."
"Wants me for what?!" She yelled, losing her patience.
"It does not matter." He slowly rose to his feet. The white silk fell in heavy folds around him, hiding most of his figure. His arms were wrapped tightly in the material and what was visible of his chest was covered in ruddy stained bandages. The cloth covered his face in shadows, so dark that she couldn't even see the outline of his face.
"It does so matter!" She stomped her foot. "It's about me, isn't it?"
Slowly the white clad man nodded. "But not if you destroy the demon."
"I should kill you now, you flea-bitten pain in the ass."
"What is stopping you?" he asked softly. "You took away my family, Lina. Do you know what it is like to be hated all your life, then loved and cared for, only to have that taken away?"
"...Yes, I know." She answered quietly.
"Then you know how I feel; why are you stopping?"
"What about Eko?"
"Were you not going to kill her, too?"
"I..."
"Do not worry, Lina. Very few people will remember me. No one will know that I died. It will not make a difference anymore."
"You talk like someone I know..."
"You do not know me at all."
"It's probably for the best. Makes you easier to kill."
"Be careful when you destroy the demon." He turned away. "It is very old and very powerful. It can only be hurt by pure astral magic or physical attacks."
"It would be immune to my more powerful arsenal..." She muttered.
Maookami drew in a long, ragged breath. "My Pack is dead, Lina Inverse, and I do not believe I can ever return to my life before I became what I am. I have no place in this world anymore. Please kill me now and end my suffering. It is why you came here, is it not?"
"Yeah. That's why I'm here." She tightened her grip on the blade and closed her eyes for a moment. The white-garbed man's uneven breathing assaulted her ears with the obvious difficulty of such a simple action.
"It is okay, Lina. I am the antagonist here, do you not remember? It was my Pack who attacked you and your swordsman. It was I who wounded your shoulder. You are right to strike me dead as you did my Pack."
"Damn it, don't be so calm about this! Death is a very permanent thing! I hate it when people talk about their lives like they're worthless!" She yelled.
"I am not a person, Lina Inverse." He growled. "Humans deemed me to be a monster long before this day and ordered the death of my Pack. I have nothing to go back to, and nothing to look forward to. However precious life may be, it is worthless to me."
"Shit." The redhead flopped onto the grass in frustration.
"What?" Maookami asked, confused.
"I don't think I want to kill you anymore." She groaned. "You want to die so badly, but you're convincing me more and more not to do it when you try to convince me otherwise. Why do you have to be so damn smart?!"
"What does being smart have anything to do with being evil?" He snapped.
"If you're so evil, why do you want to die? Logically, you'd be trying to stay alive, not kick the bucket."
"I fail to see the importance of my intelligence in regards to my wish to be with my Pack again."
"Cepheid's wings! Arguing with you is just like arguing with Zelgadis!" She snorted.
"Who is Zelgadis?" Maookami asked quietly, almost fearfully. "Is he your mate?"
"What? No!" The sorceress protested. "Zel doesn't think of me like that. He's just someone I used to travel with. I haven't seen him in a couple years. He uses the same kind of argument techniques you do."
"There are techniques to arguing?" The white-garbed man sat down across from her. His voice reflected the tiniest hit of mirth.
"No! I mean, yes, I mean, aw damn it." She glared at him half-heartedly. "Go ahead, laugh, I can tell you want to."
Maookami chuckled quietly. "You said he does not think of you that way. Do you think of him that way?"
"That's none of your business!" She yelled.
"As you say." He said calmly. "So... are you going to kill me now?"
"Ye gods!" She sighed. "I thought we were off that topic."
"It is the reason you journeyed here, is it not?"
"Yeah, but..."
"But what?"
"I know this sounds silly, but you seem too human to kill now."
Maookami sighed in exasperation. "That is ridiculous"
"I know!" She groaned. "It's all your fault."
"Mine?!"
"Yes, yours!" Lina snapped. "You and those damn questions and those answers that were far too sentient to belong to anything evil..."
" 'Far too sentient?' " the lycanthrope snorted. "What are you implying?"
"Why else would you ask me to kill the demon for you? You're not a monster, Maookami, as much as I hate to admit it. You are remorseful and protective and caring and polite -- "
"I am not polite." He growled.
"Oh hush up you big sissy."