Lina awoke to find herself in a strange place. For the most part it looked like a normal forest, but when she had gone to sleep, she'd been in an inn in Sairaag. The leaves in the trees around her rustled ominously and a chill breeze swept her cloak to the side. Annoyed to find herself in a cold dark forest in the middle of the night, Lina yelled out at the top of her lungs, "Hey, isn't anybody here?! Where are you?!" under her breath Lina mumbled, "oooh, whoever brought me out here in the middle of the night is gonna regret it." With sharp fangs and an evil glint in her eyes, Lina plotted the demise of whoever had summoned her here.
A low rumbling growl from the bushes caught Lina's attention and she noticed some movement there.
"Oh, don't think you can just abduct me in the middle of the night and get away with it! FIREBALL!"
A rather large ball of fire engulfed the bush and it's occupant. When the fire cleared a rather charred wolf stood in the ash with it's yellow eyes open incredibly wide. It breathed a puff of smoke and fell over backwords onto the ground.
"That'll teach you to mess with Lina Inverse, Sorceress Supreme!"
Another wolf stepped out of the bushes looking a bit concerned over its fallen companion.
"Oh ho! Another one!" A bright ball of red light began to form in Lina's hands as she prepared for another fireball.
"No, wait!" exclaimed the wolf in fear. "We aren't the ones who summoned you h..." The second wolf was cut off as Lina "accidentally" threw the fireball at him before his sentence was complete.
"Sorry!" Lina cheerfully apologized as the second charred wolf lay twitching on the ground.
"You should get your facts straight before you go and attack folks," wheezed the second wolf as he pulled himself off from the ground.
"Heh heh..." laughed Lina nervously. "Sorry. Anyway where am I? I hope you'll excuse me, but I've never met a wolf who could speak before. (Excluding Dilgear, but he was a manbeast)."
The first wolf regained consciousness and struggled to his feet. "Well, you see, we are not natural wolves. We are actually quite human, but every night we are forced to take the shape of wolves. That's due to the strange nature of this enchanted island."
"We believe it may be a curse put onto the Island by BeastMaster Zelas," piped in the second wolf. "Soon the spell should take it's effect on you as well."
"Anyways," said the first wolf, "I believe introductions are in order. My name is Marsius and this is my son, Kiotos."
"My name's Lina. Lina Inverse."
"Pleased to meet you, Miss Lina," smiled Marsius. "We can forgive your earlier actions due to your confusion. Luckily, our wolf forms heal quickly."
Lina absently began to scratch her ear as Marsius continued talking on and on about the history of the island. Then her foot started to itch, she tried to ignore it but it just kept getting worse and worse. Lina stomped her other foot down on the itchy one and started to hop up and down in pain. "Ow ow ow!" The two wolves stared at her wide-eyed and sweatdropped simultaneously. Lina plopped down on the ground and yanked her boot off scratching the itch. "Ahhhh...sweet relief." Then the other foot started to itch and she had to scratch it as well. After that, Lina seemed to itch everywhere and she couldn't scratch enough.
"So it begins," Marsius observed. "Don't fight it Lina, if you fight it, it hurts more."
"What are you talking about? Ah ah itch itch itch!" Suddenly, the itching turned to pain and Lina rolled onto her side clutching her stomach as a wave of pure pain engulfed her. Several Mazoku gathered around for a weenie roast. Fur sprouted from Lina's skin and her eyes grew wide in terror.
"Please, Miss Lina, don't fight it," Kiotos whined.
A scream escaped Lina's lips as the pain increased 10 fold and the change took full effect. A small, red wolf lay whimpering where Lina had just stood.
Kiotos came up and nuzzled her gently with his muzzle. "It's okay...it's okay. It's all done now."
"Well, hello. Lina! I'd wondered where you went!" said a familiar voice, which belonged to a certain puple haired chummy looking Mazoku.
"Xelloss..." Lina growled with a demonic look in her eyes, "you're behind this aren't you?"
"Now now, Lina, why would I do such a thing?" Xelloss backed away slowly as Lina's eyebrow began that tell-tale spasmodic twitch.
"FIREBALL!"
Another chill breeze swept by as Xelloss formed a rather large sweatdrop.
"FIREBALL! FIREBALL! FIREBALL!" Lina yelled desperately.
Xelloss, Marsius, and Kiotos sweatdropped simultaneously.
"Oh, come on! Why is this happening to me AGAIN?"
"Oh dear, it appears that wolves can't use magic," mused Xelloss.
"Grrrrrr...Xelloss, you are gonna pay for this!" Lina approached Xelloss menacingly.
"What did I do?"
"What did you do? What did you do?! Just look at me."
Once again, Xelloss sweatdropped. "Errr...Lina, I didn't bring you here. I just noticed you were missing and went to find you."
"Oh? Just how did you find me so quickly?"
"Now that is a secret."
"Are you two done?" interrupted Kiotos. "We really should get back to the village and get some sleep. I'll take you to an inn or something."
Lina and Xelloss followed Kiotos and Marsius into the small village. Two electric blue eyes watched the small group from the shadows as they made their way to the hotel. "Well, this is the inn," Marsius commented as they arrived at a humble looking cottage complete with doggy door.
Lina face-faulted at the site of the doggy door. "Oh come on! You can't expect me to use that thing."
"Well, how else do you expect to get in?" asked Marsius as Xelloss sweatdropped again.
"After you, Lina," said Xelloss with an amused look on his face.
"Xelloss, you have to go through it too."
"Whatever do you mean, Lina?"
"Well, don't you think people will get suspicious if you aren't a wolf at night like everyone else?"
"Hmmm. I guess you do have a point there." Xelloss phazed out (Mazoku style) and in his place stood a purple wolf with a chummy smile.
Marsius and Kiotos stared at Xelloss with an expression of shock on their faces. Marsius shook his head and said to Lina, "Well, we really need to go home. It's very late. I'm sure you'll find this inn to be a very comfortable and affordable place."
"Thanks, Marsius," smiled Lina. "Come on Xelloss, let's get some sleep." Xelloss followed Lina through the doggy door only to get smacked in the butt by it as soon as he was through.
The two electric blue eyes in the shadows watched as Marsius and Kiotos disappeared into their home. "This isn't going to be as easy as I thought...that chummy priest is with her." A blue furred wolf stepped out of the shadows into the moonlight. "Good thing I made certain "arrangements" beforehand." He turned to the shadows where another pair of eyes peered out. This pair of eyes was red and the pupils were slits. "Do you think you can keep Xelloss busy while I go after Lina."
A wolf with fur as black as midnight poked his head into the light. He grinned evilly, baring sharp silver fangs. "No problem, Mr. Zelgadis. I've waited for this moment a long long time. I'm not going to let this opportunity slip through my claws."
"Good, then we strike tomorrow night after Lina is forced into her wolf body. She won't be able to use magic then," said Zelgadis-wolf as he turned back into the shadows.
The black wolf followed him, giving one backwards glance at the inn where Xelloss and Lina were sleeping. "I'll kill you, Xelloss, if it's the last thing I do."