Chaos Ascendant

Chapter One

Lina Inverse was loving life. She’d managed to get back to that ‘All you can eat for a Silver Piece’ restaurant, and was making good on the deal. She still had a few months before she could go check on the Dragon Cuisine that Ashford was cooking for her, but that was okay. She could deal with that. She’d been all over the world, giving more credentials to the theory that Lina Inverse was everywhere. She’d been in and out of the Barrier cities, watched as Amelia and Zelgadis had parted ways, gone flying over Mipross and watched as Gourry became reacquainted with his family, snuck a visit to Saillune and seen Amelia was at home… She’d kept quiet track of them over the years, and they were all, more or less, happy. Therefore, she was happy.

The owner of the restaurant, however, was not happy, nor was he dealing well with Lina. He’d been out six times in the past fifteen minutes, asking her if she’d possibly had enough. Each time, Lina had sent him back into the kitchen with a request for more food.

She was just finishing another plate of food when the manager fell to his knees beside her, hands raised in supplication. “Please… I’ll give you your silver back. Just… go away.” He opened his hands to reveal her silver coin.

Now, Lina wasn’t an idiot. And while she wasn’t necessarily evil, she had a high set of morals. And included in those morals was to never pass up a free meal. So, mostly fed and feeling magnanimous, she stood up, happily plucked the coin from the owner’s hands, and bounced out of the restaurant.

Stomach full and coin back in purse, she paused in the street to look around. “Hm… It’s quiet around here…”

Long ago, Lina had discovered that quiet didn’t necessarily mean good, and her magic senses were confirming this. Something was going on, and it was enough to get her attention. Someone nearby was casting a spell… and she knew the caster. In fact… she gave it a half a thought, and the world around her twisted insanely.

When the spell dispersed, the target was annihilated. The caster scowled in irritation as he looked at the scorch marks in the ground. He hadn’t cast the spell that strongly. All he’d wanted to do was scare the guy into revealing the location of his current employer’s stolen property. Now he’d have to find a new lead and start all over. But why had his magic been amplified so?

There was a sudden sound behind him, and he spun, firing off another fireball, only realizing who had walked up behind him after the sphere of deadly fire had left his hands. Before he had a chance to hope that it wouldn’t do the same type of damage to the arrival as it had to his slightly unintended victim, the fireball simply fizzled in a manner most reminiscent of Sylphiel’s spells.

“Man, Zel… do you always fireball first and ask questions later?” Lina smirked, waving the remnants of the spell out of the air with her hand.

“You’re one to talk, popping in and out like Xellos,” he shot back, folding his arms and looking at her. She’d gone back to her old pink and black outfit, he noticed, most likely to differentiate herself a bit from her elder almost-mirror-image Kira Inverse. In fact… at first look, Lina didn’t seem a bit different than he’d seen her last… and it had been over two years since he’d seen her.

She reached up and tossed her hair with her hand, an old gesture that he’d learned was simply a habit, and didn’t mean anything. Once, a long time ago, he’d thought perhaps that she was trying to make herself seem attractive to him. But then he’d met Martina, who’d fawned on everything male, including Xellos and, amusingly enough, Hellmaster. “Yeah, well… I haven’t had to fireball anyone in ages, and at least I don’t pop in right beside you like that fruitcake.” she said airily.

“Lina…” he started, thinking it over. “Have you noticed anything strange around here? Like magic being amplified by something?” He hadn’t even noticed that she was still talking about how good she’d been lately, ticking a list off on her fingers of things that she could have done, but hadn’t.

“Er…? Amplified?” Lina paused in her iteration of wholesomeness and blinked. “Um…” Her eyes flickered for a moment, flecks of gold shooting through the crimson before fading back into the crimson as she cast her mind about for magical trails, impressions and various other things that she as the Chaos Knight would be able to sense.

Zelgadis shivered slightly, wondering just how much Lina had changed in the past two years. Indeed, now that he really looked at her, he saw some subtle differences. Her stance was slightly different, more secure. The sword that had always been at her waist was gone, and the metal surrounding the Talismans was golden now. He opened his mind to look at the magical aura that surrounded her, and for a moment, became mind-blinded by the golden glow of Chaos. Oh yes, Lina had most definitely grown into being the Chaos Knight. He absently wondered what she was capable of if she gave it more than half a thought. Shaking his head as he re-raised the mental barrier, he cleared his vision of the swirls and eddies of Chaos.

She shrugged, looking back at him, aware that he’d looked at her aura. He hadn’t reacted except to shake his head slightly, so she figured he hadn’t gotten hurt. “I don’t sense anything strange, Zelgadis. Well… that is…” She tilted her head and looked behind the chimera. “Nothing except that shadow right there. It’s not what your average person would call… normal.”

Zelgadis spun to see a dark shadow standing before him, as tangible and real as Lina herself. Instinctively, he put his hand on the hilt of his sword, but as something began to emerge from the shadow, he stepped back in surprise. Lina’s hand suddenly resting on his shoulder stayed any further action.

The figure that stepped out of the shadow was a familiar one, and both he and Lina blinked in surprise. “Anya! Zel… its Kira’s companion! Anya, what is it?”

Shades weren’t known for speech, and Anya was certainly no exception. When she opened her mouth, only because Zelgadis was a chimera and Lina was the Chaos Knight did they actually catch the word that the Shade whispered: Danger.

“Danger? Who is in danger? Anya, tell me!” Lina said, stepping in front of Zelgadis. “Is Kira in trouble?”

The Shade withdrew on herself, and Zelgadis felt a chill settle onto his stone skin. Shades couldn’t travel, as far as he knew. Not without a lot of power backing them up. And Shades were fed by Chaos or Black Magic. Lina had said that she hadn’t felt anything… but his black magic spell had been amplified, and now Anya had sought them out with a warning of danger. “Lina… it has to be Kira. That’s the only thing that makes sense. The Black Magic seems stronger, as if…”

Zelgadis’ voice broke off as Anya suddenly vanished, slipping into the shadow and pulling it in after her, as if she were frightened by something. Lina spun around, and grabbed Zelgadis with the amplified strength of the Chaos Knight, moving him behind her before he could even realize what it was that she had done. Crimson eyes shimmering with gold locked with crimson eyes filled with a cold fire, and the word fell into the silence. “Kira.”