Lina awoke the next day feeling slightly apprehensive, but she shrugged it off. If Xelos thought a silly prophecy was going to throw her off he was dead wrong.
Changing into her usual ensemble she went downstairs. Not too surprisingly she was the last one down.
"Move over, I wanna eat." she greeted Gourry.
After scarfing down five plates of food she finally noticed Zel just staring in a melancholy way at her. "Zel, I know you're usually not a happy kind of guy, but what's eating you?"
"You."
"Um...Zel, I haven't done anything lately, have I? I mean, yeah three days ago I killed a couple bandits and took their loot and lost it all in the river but besides that what have I done?"
"Been yourself."
Lina looked blankly at him. "Zel, do me a favor and stop acting like the sad version of Xelos, ok?"
That snapped him out of it.
After they were finished eating they walked out to do some sightseeing and job searching. Or at least, that's what they tried to do.
They were intercepted by a pair of golden haired beautiful people. "Lina Inverse?"
"Yeah, that's me. What do you want?"
They looked at her. "Come on out, Knight of Ceipheed."
Lina's face drained as she realized who they were referring to.
Sure enough, she stepped out from the shadows, a smile on her face.
"Bi-big sister..." Lina's eyes widened in terror, much to the group's surprise.
"Hello, Lina darling." Luna Inverse greeted.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!" Lina screamed, jumping and grabbing whoever was closest to her.
Somehow that person turned out to be Xelos, who looked surprised, to say the least. "Uh, Lina-chan, while I'm extremely flattered by the attention, there's work to be done..."
Lina pulled away from him slightly, looked at him, then promptly proceeded to cream him.
That done, she turned nervously back to her elder sister.
"Lina Inverse, You have been Chosen by Dragon Rights to take your sister's place in our hierarchy."
"Wha-?" Lina stared, startled, at her sister.
"I'm retiring from my job. You have the powers for it."
"But... you're more powerful than I could ever hope to be..."
"No... You're more powerful than I'll ever be." Luna smiled sadly at her sister.
Lina's eyes widened even more, comprehending. She glanced at the two Dragons, for now of course they were Dragons. They nodded.
Lina opened her mouth... and started muttering, her voice growing louder with each syllable. "Not me, not me, I don't want it, I don't want it, not me, not me, you're supposed to be it, not me, not me..."
The group stared at Lina, shocked. She looked and acted terrified. Xelos commented to Zel, "See what I mean?"
Zel nodded dumbly.
"Ne, Lina, calm down. Being the Knight of Ceipheed is good, right?"
Lina stopped screaming and looked wide-eyed at Amelia. "You don't know anything, do you?"
Luna watched her sister sadly. "I'm sorry, Lina. I tried to take your place, but..."
"Gourry, take Amelia away. Now." Zel's voice left no room for argument.
"Thanks, Zel." Lina said softly, her eyes still lost in despair. She looked at the Dragons. "So my magic levels have gone that far? I can destroy a whole town, pretty much, even without-" her voice caught, became quieter, "the Giga Slave?"
Zel and Xelos both looked surprised.
The Dragons and Luna nodded.
"Oh, L-sama..." Lina breathed. "I didn't know..."
"Um, Lina, if I may...?"
Lina nodded at Zel.
"What exactly does it mean to be the Knight of Ceipheed?"
Luna looked sad. "Well, the Dragon Rights state that the Dragons have a right to any human whose powers are deemed beyond the norm and indeed is the most powerful among them. It means losing your humanity, human life, human friends, everything. You are cut off, shut away in tiny, out of the way villages, coming out only when you are ordered to. Because you're the Knight of Ceipheed, you take direct orders from him..." she looked uncomfortable. "His orders to me were to keep an eye on Lina, since she had the potential even when she was a child to surpass me. And now she has."
"I'm not going." Lina said flatly. "You can kill me if you like, I'm not going. The only reason Luna here still recognizes me as family is because you never took her seriously as the Knight of Ceipheed, just a replacement for me until I grew to the point where it'd be profitable to use me."
The Dragons looked at her coldly. "Luna is no longer Knight of Ceipheed. You are. Accept that and come with us."
"Before you do that, may I ask you how much of 'The Prophecy' do you know?" Xelos asked, his face serious, his eyes narrowed.
The Dragons stiffened. "Mazoku Xelos Metallium," they recognized in unison.
One of them answered, "We know enough. She is to save the world. We shall help her."
"By caging her up and controlling her?"
The other Dragon bristled. "And what were you planning to do with her, if you know so much?"
Xelos thought that one out. "You don't know. You don't know 'The Prophecy.' Not in full, anyway. So my answer is, that's a secret."
Now both Dragons had murder in their eyes. "Mazoku," the first one said, "We shall save our race and hers. You have no need to concern yourself with this."
"Actually, he does." Zel put in. Lina swung around to ogle at Zel as if he'd grown another head. Actually, that was more likely that his sticking up for Xelos.
"Why, thank you for the vote of confidence, Zel-buddy." Xelos grinned. Then he turned back to smile insolently at the Dragons. "As usual, I do indeed have my own plans for Lina-chan. But you seem to represent the majority of the Dragon's opinions. Is that really all you know of the prophecy?"
The first Dragon paused."...We know that the Lord of Nightmares has chosen her, proved by the fact that she once possessed Lina to destroy one of your blasted Mazoku lords, and we know now that you Mazoku have some plans for her. Therefore, for everyone's sake we shall take her."
With that final word there was a blinding flash of light, and both the Dragons and Lina were gone.
Xelos let out a very un-smiling-trickster-priest-like curse. "While I was busy talking to Dragon #1, the other was casting a spell! I can't believe I did that!"
Zel grabbed Xelos' collar. "If they've done anything to Lina, I've already sworn to kill you."
"Zelgadis Greywers, I had no chance. I was being, if you'll not laugh and gloat too much, stupid." Zel looked incredulous, both at being called his full name by Xelos and hearing that same Xelos admit to a fault.
"Zel! Xelos!" Amelia and Gourry ran over. "We saw a bright flash of light from all the way across town! What happened?"
Gourry, for once being perceptive, asked, "Where's Lina?"
"I'll go get her." Xelos offered. "Zel-buddy, tell these two what happened, and make sure they understand. Got it?"
Zel glared at him. "And where do you think Lina is?"
"I don't think, I know. All I have to do is trace her Demonblood stones before they take them off her. Ciao!" Xelos faded out.
Zel cursed loudly, then proceeded to do his best with Amelia and Gourry.
Xelos arrived in the Temple of Ceipheed silently, hiding his aura as best he could. Normally he would have blasted his way in and made a big fuss of it, but that might make the Dragons think Lina was too troublesome to bother and kill her.
Something he admittedly did not want.
He slunk around in the shadows. Watching for his opportunity.
"Take off the Demonblood stones, Lina Inverse. Don instead the insignia of Ceipheed."
"No."
The Dragon looked surprised. She glanced at the two who had brought Lina in. "I thought you'd talked to her about this already."
"They kidnapped me."
"It's for the best." The she-Dragon soothed.
"For everyone but me."
"..." The she-Dragon had no argument for that.
Lina glared defiantly at her.
Xelos silently applauded her actions. No Mazoku could have done it better. She'd make a great Mazoku. Though, seeing how she deals with higher authorities, she'd probably turn us down too.
"Lina Inverse, you are the Chosen. You must comply. A Knight of Ceipheed may not have any connections outside the Dragonkin. That includes Mazoku. And don't throw the fact that your sister had a friendship with Beastmaster Zelas at me. Humans are bad enough, but that was really a poor choice of friends."
Lina was silent, then said coldly, "You Dragons claim to be Humanity's protectors, yet you seek to control us, treating us like inferior beings."
"It's for the best, Lina..." the she-Dragon soothed.
"Then why do you wish to control someone who is human and might be able to balance the scales so that Humanity can try to decide its own fate without you or the Mazoku interfering? Why won't you let us on an equal level with you?"
"Because you'd harm your poor weak bodies..." she soothed again.
Lina shot a look of pure disgust at her. "And you and the Mazoku get off without injuring yourselves or Humanity? Maybe I should try to turn all of you into humans. We may have wars, but we don't go around bugging your two races."
"Lina Inverse, I have been patient up to now. Remove those Stones of Demonblood or else!" The she-Dragon flared.
A well-timed bolt of black energy hit all three Dragons.
"Well, Lina-chan, how's it feel to be the Knight of Ceipheed?"
"Xelos, thanks for saving me, but shut up, please."
Xelos grinned as he landed at her side. "So, you want to talk to Ceipheed and see what he's got planned for you?"
"Wha-Are you crazy?"
"Nope. I do know of a way to talk to Ceipheed. Maybe you can convince him to get the Dragons to leave you alone." His smile widened. "Or I could take you back to the remains of your friends."
"What?"
"Inside this temple time is slow. As is the dimension Ceipheed is in, though maybe even a little slower still. But the second we leave, we'll be a few seconds too late to save your friends from the Dragons' standard operating procedures: They kill off the friends and relatives of the new Knight of Ceipheed... unless otherwise ordered by Ceipheed himself."
Lina eyed him warily. "And what do you get out of this?"
"Why, Lina-chan, I really don't know. I'll just call it a debt you owe me and we'll decide later, ne?"
Something in his eyes told her he already knew what he wanted from her, but she decided not to waste time. "Okay. Deal-" She got a glimpse of his wide smile before she landed in the middle of dark light.
:Knight of mine...:
Lina started, then found that no noise would come out of her mouth.
:Ne, Lina-chan, think what you want to say. You can't talk verbally in this dimension.: Xelos' amused voice reached her ears.
:SHUT UP!:
:Knight of mine, I do not like being ordered in such tones...:
:Er...I was more directing that at Xelos...:
:Xelos? The Trickster Priest General of Mazoku lord Zelas Metallium? My, you do have interesting friends. First your sister, now this...:
Lina was slightly surprised at the amused tone of the voice. :Uh, Ceipheed, you think you can call off the Dragons' attack on my friends?:
:Why?:
Lina waved her arms exasperatedly. :Because they're very important to me!:
:All of your companions?:
:Yes: There was a pause. For a moment Lina thought she'd done something wrong, and her friends would pay for it.
:Knight of mine, if I may say so without seeming too eccentric, you've got guts.:
:Eh?: Lina blinked.
A soft chuckle. :Knight of mine, your friends are safe. You are safe, too. Though I am not very used to having a human demand things of me... especially one friends with a Mazoku general.:
There was a soft giggle from Xelos.
:The Dragons do not know of the full prophecy. However, your Mazoku friend here does. While normally I would be considered crazy saying this, I'm going to give you one order and one order only: Trust Xelos.:
:WHAT???!!!!:
:That's an order. You are mine knight, Lina Inverse, practitioner of black magic. You are, if I'm not mistaken, someone even a dragon wouldn't mess with.:
Lina groaned.
A soft chuckle. :Yes, after 'The Prophecy' is fulfilled, I'm going to enjoy watching you. Very special, that you are... Now, go back to see your friends. And beware. The Dragons may deem it necessary to ignore my orders. By then you shall have become more able to face them.: A pause. Lina felt Xelos pulling her out of the dimension. Then Lina heard a very faint, :Good luck to both of you.:
They rematerialized in midair. "AAAAAA!" Lina screamed, holding on to Xelos for dear life. "Why'd you bring us back up here?"
"Odd..." Xelos let a rare frown cross his face. "Lina, cast Raywing."
"Wha-I need my hands to do that! I let go of you, I fall! Not to make it sound difficult or anything, but I've got this thing about falling that makes me unable to concentrate."
"Then I'll hold you until you're done casting it, all right?" he said patiently.
Lina reluctantly agreed.
Once she was done Xelos told her to wait in midair. After a few moments of seemingly random movements he came back, his face deadly serious. "That's... odd. Lina, where you are is exactly where that Temple was... but now... it's gone. And I know that the Knights of Ceipheed are Knighted in that Temple, but it seems as though... it was moved here for some reason or other."
Lina didn't like the frown. She was much more used to the stupid smile he had on usually. "Xelos, chill. I'm the one who's suddenly thrown into the middle of things-again, but that's beside the point-so shut up, smile, and nod. Okay?"
Xelos stared at her, then laughed. "Only you, Lina, only you!"
"Good, now you're your usual happy moronic demon self. Now let's go. And you're telling me the rest of 'The Prophecy', so I can figure out what to do next. Got it?" She headed off.
Xelos did what Lina told him. He shut up, smiled, and nodded.
"...Actually, don't do that. You look like Gourry when you do that."
His smile became strained. "Just what do you think of Gourry, anyway?"
"Him?" She paused. "He's dense, great with swords, a basically good guy even if he does make cracks about my figure..." She shrugged. "I dunno. Why?"
"Because you're always with him. I thought that when humans spend that much time together things... happen."
Lina laughed. "You're referring to a romantic partnership. Gourry's nice, but he's just a really good friend and a great companion besides."
"So why do you never leave him behind on your travels?"
Lina blinked. "'Cuz it's better to travel with someone I know than with someone I don't know. Though I gotta admit, at first I didn't want him following me around, but you get used to things."
"Yes, you do..."
Lina glanced at him. "Why are you suddenly all so concerned about me, anyway?"
"Ah, but that's a secret."