Lina looked out over the road that headed back towards Haiden’s Peak. Sure, the walking there wasn’t absolutely necessary anymore… but for one small fact: teleporting the whole group would have been exhausting.
        So they’d walk.
        And walk.
        And walk some more.
        At this rate, it would take them a little over a week to get there. Ah well, Lina thought to herself. A week on the road gives me a better chance of catching a few bandits. I may be all-powerful Chaos and such, but I still don’t get regular pay for it.
        The little group was actually making good time, all things considered. They had left Tirshen only that morning, and already a good deal of road was behind them. It was calm and peaceful. Just the way Lina liked it.
        Amelia was happily chattering away to Aqua, babbling brightly about something or another when Lina, Zelgadis, Gourry, and Kira all came to an abrupt halt.
        Zelgadis and Gourry drew their swords. Kira and Lina took almost identical stances with hands placed to gather magic.
        Amelia and Aqua blinked, looking at the four who had just taken defensive stand. Then they looked past the group to see the person approaching.

        He was tall, with brown hair and quiet blue eyes, dressed for the road in brown pants and an off-white shirt. A brown cloak that matched his pants flared out behind him as he came to a stop before the little group.
        Lina’s eyes darkened and she snarled, the golden bracers appearing at her wrists. Amelia froze, caught between confusion and alarm. Why was everyone reacting like that?
        Aqua hissed as she realized who it was that had just walked up to the group.
        Shabranigdo.
        Or rather, his General, Hitoru.
        “Lina Inverse,” Hitoru called out. “I believe that we have an… issue to discuss.”
        Bracers glowing, Lina stepped past Zelgadis and Gourry, glaring at the man. “I have nothing to discuss with you. We’ve fought once before so you know what I can do. So, either get out of my way and leave me and mine alone, or prepare yourself for the consequences.”
        “I should think that we do have something to discuss, Lina Inverse,” he countered. “Perhaps you will recall that you destroyed Rihana Hisaki.”
        “Actually, to be precise, I was the one who destroyed her, General of Shabranidgo,” Elena’s voice preceded her appearance beside Lina.
        Elena having identified the man as an enemy with his title, Amelia brought her hands together. Better to be safe than sorry.
        “You!” Hitoru looked at Elena in shock. “Why would Juuou involve herself in this!?”
        Elena smiled darkly, her own armor forming around her. “That is a secret.”
        Xellos phased in beside Elena, muttering at her. “There you are, Elena. I’ve been looking…” the situation dawned on him, and his eyes snapped open to look at Hitoru. “Hitoru. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
        Blue eyes shifted their focus to the Trickster Priest, and Hitoru nodded. “Indeed it has been, Xellos. But now, which side do you stand on, I wonder?”
        Xellos closed his eyes. “I wonder…” It was clear where he stood.
        “I could order you two to my side,” Hitoru remarked calmly. “As servants of Juuou, you fall under me.”
        “And as I recall, if you truly are the General of Shabranigdo, who I have never heard of, you fall under me,” Lina said quietly, eyes steady on the man before her. This was who she had fought in the Sea of Chaos, or at least, what her opponent had looked like.
        He tilted his head and looked at her. “You have yet to prove yourself, Chaos Knight.”
        Later, Amelia wouldn’t be able to recall when Lina assumed the armor of L-Sama. It seemed as if she had always been wearing it. And yet at the moment, Amelia was keenly aware of the shift in her friend, the subtle change in how Lina stood.
        “You are mistaken, General of Shabranigdo. I am the Chaos Knight. And you must stand down to Me.”
        It was Lina’s voice… yet it held the power and the authority of the Lord of Nightmares’ voice. Amelia shuddered at the thought of such coldness directed at her.
        Hitoru bowed cockily. “Yes, yes. I see that you are indeed the Chaos Knight. How… impolite of me to think otherwise. However, while I shall stand down, I shall also take my leave. You underestimate me. I think, perhaps, that we shall meet again…”
        There was a sudden half-scream, and as Amelia and Aqua registered it as Kira and reached out to her, the elder Inverse vanished from sight along with Hitoru.
        The Chaos Knight screamed in anger, and all went black.

        Lina… Don’t…
        The voice broke through the anger of the Chaos Knight, shimmering like a light in the darkness of Void brought on by the Golden wrath.
        What?
        Don’t do this.
        Kira, I can’t just let him take you!
        You don’t have a choice.
        The Hell I don’t, Kira!
        Remember your dream, Lina?
        My… dream?

        Lina opened her eyes to see that she was again standing on the Sea of Chaos. Before her, hair loose from its braid and swirling wildly around her was Kira.
        “Kira!”
        As she took a step forwards, Kira raised her hand. “No, Lina. You can’t come any closer.”
        “What? Why? What’s happening, Kira? What does this have to do with my dream?” Lina asked, only now noticing that Kira was dressed in a red dress, skirt and hair flickering around her in the Chaos like flames.
        Sadness crept across Kira’s eyes. “Lina, the balance has to be restored.”
        “Balance? What balance, Kira? I don’t understand!” Lina shook her head.
        “There is a Knight and Priest of Cepheid. Therefore, there must be an equal and opposite.”
        Lina gasped. “No! Not you! You can’t!”
        Kira pulled her arms around herself in a hug. “There is no choice, Lina. I must. I alone counter the imbalance that Rihana left behind.”
        “But you’re Chaos!” Lina argued.
        “Yes. And Chaos takes whatever side it must. Chaos is not always Neutral, Lina. Are you truly Neutral, or do you take sides when it is necessary?”
        Lina thought about it. “But why you? Why now? I have so much to learn from you!”
        “My duties to both you and L-Sama are complete. You have learned all that I could teach you, Lina. Soon, you will understand. Soon all of it will make sense. I must go now. The choice has been made; there is no turning back…” Kira’s last words were swallowed by the darkness that fell throughout the Sea of Chaos.

        Lina opened her eyes and screamed.
        Amelia was unfortunate enough to be the one who was leaning over Lina trying to wake the girl up. As it was, Amelia let out a holler and leapt back as if Lina had bitten her.
        A hand clamped itself over Lina’s mouth, and a voice hissed at her. “Be quiet!”
        Crimson eyes blinked, as the identity of the other made itself clear, and then her eyes narrowed and she bit. Hard.
        Xellos didn’t flinch, his attention on something other than Lina. But his words were still addressed to her. “Stop biting, it has no effect, or had you forgotten? I’m afraid that we’re in a bit of a fix right now, and your screaming is only going to make things worse.”
        Looking up at him, Lina could see that his eyes were open and focused intently on something out of her sight-range. What could possibly be enough to upset Xellos? She struggled to sit up, reaching up to move the Mazoku’s hand from her mouth. Her voice was lower when she spoke. “What’s going on…?”
        The sight that greeted her eyes was at first so unexpected that her mind refused to process it. But there it was, and she couldn’t refute it.
        The entire group was sitting on the Sea of Chaos.
        That shouldn’t have been possible.
        It wasn’t possible.
        “Xellos…?” Lina asked.
        “It would seem that the backlash of your attack on Hitoru sent us all here.” Xellos replied calmly.
        Attack? On Hitoru?

        She vaguely recalled the anger within her struggling to free itself as she registered Kira’s vanishing.

        She was the Chaos Knight. All pretense of being Lina Inverse was gone. The true wrath of the Lord of Nightmares was tangible, crackling around the golden figure that had taken the redheaded sorceress’ place.
        Hitoru stepped back in surprise, unprepared for the level of manifestation. When she focused her gaze on him, he cringed. The power that she threw at him opened a gate to the Sea of Chaos and swallowed them all whole.
        Only the fierce devotion that Lina Inverse had for her friends kept the Chaos at bay, even while she was unconscious.

        Lina blinked. She had to get them out of the Sea of Chaos now. Power built around them, and she focused her will on returning them all to Kira’s house in Tirshen.
        Kira…
        No! Take us home.
        Home!
        There was a swirling, nauseating ripple in reality, and suddenly they were all standing in the living room of Kira’s house.
        That kind of travel wasn’t kind, and Amelia immediately ran for the bathroom that was just down the hall. Zelgadis looked a little green, but Gourry didn’t seem affected. Lina sat down on the sofa where only that morning Kira had been sitting and laughing. She rested her elbow on the armrest, and put her head in her hand. Aqua walked over to a chair and sat quietly, blue eyes watching Lina Inverse.
        Amelia came back into the living room, looking somewhat better, and saw Lina on the sofa. Walking over to the sorceress, the princess had a nasty feeling that she didn’t want to ask Lina her question… but she’d ask it anyway.
        “Miss Lina…? Where is Miss Kira?”
        Lina sighed. “I don’t know, Amelia.”
        “But we should go find her!” Amelia countered.
        “We can’t.” Lina’s voice was flat.
        “Why not, Miss Lina?”
        “Because we can’t, okay Amelia? We can’t go where she’s gone.”
        The princess shook her head. “I don’t understand, Miss Lina. What happened?”
        “It would seem that she was called to fill the gap in hierarchy,” Xellos replied, phasing into the room.
        “Explain, Xellos,” Zelgadis said. He wasn’t truly in the mood for the fruitcake’s antics after seeing everything he’d seen so far today.
        Xellos steepled his fingers. “You see, in everything, there must be balance. Good and Evil must balance out, or all sorts of nasty things happen. It’s a delicate thing that forms the World, and allows the continuation of everything.”
        “So if Good and Evil must balance out, why do you fight to take control all the time?” Amelia asked.
        Xellos pointed to Lina. “Chaos. Chaos tips the balance in each direction, choosing neither and both. It takes sides when it must. And for every action…”
        “There is reaction.” Zelgadis was beginning to understand. “But what does this have to do with Kira?”
        “She chose, Zelgadis Greywords. She had to fill a gap.” Luna Inverse walked in the front door, hair still pulled back with startling lavender eyes fixed on her younger sister.
        “Hm,” Xellos contemplated. “My, my. What an interesting turn of events. I hadn’t thought of that before. There are three true positions of power: the Chaos Knight, the Priestess of Shabranigdo, and the Knight of Cepheid. Inverse females now hold all three. I hardly think that’s coincidence.”
        Balance is achieved. All is as it should be.
        Everyone except Lina looked to see the Lord of Nightmares standing in the room. Xellos and Luna both kneeled, but Lina didn’t so much as twitch. Putting her chin in her hand now, she commented quietly. “But why Kira? Why now?”
        It is as it had to be, Lina. Kira alone had the strength to take the position without becoming corrupted.
        Lina lifted her head to look at the Lord of Nightmares. “Corrupted?”
        It is simply a job, Lina. Someone has to do the work. It does not necessarily indicate affiliation.
        There was a shimmer behind Lina, and suddenly a hand reached out and popped Lina smartly on the head.
        Lina spun on the sofa, glaring daggers at whoever had whacked her, and found herself glaring at a mirror image face. “Kira…?”
        The elder Inverse shrugged. “L-Sama’s right, Lina. It is a job, nothing more. I’m not affiliated with Shabranigdo. I’m not a Mazoku. I can’t be. L-Sama’s touch on me is too strong. The crab-face could never override it.”
        Lina’s head spun. “I don’t get it.”
        Lina. You knew my intentions. You know that I do not seek the destruction of everything and subsequent return to Chaos. Shabranigdo is an impertinent child who does not wish to be away from Me. Cepheid is the complacent child, unworried by the freedom given. Light and Dark, forever seeking to convince the other that the one is right.
        It dropped on Lina like a forty-ton anvil. Fire crackling in her eyes, she looked at the Lord of Nightmares. “Wait a minute. Are you telling me that this whole battle between Shabranigdo and Cepheid is a childish argument?”
        Sibling rivalry at its worst.
        Everyone in the room except the Lord of Nightmares, Aqua, and Kira fell over.
        “I can’t deal with this…” Lina whimpered to no-one in particular as she sat up, and then jumped in startlement at the blonde woman in gold sitting beside her with a cup in her hands.
        Tea?
        Lina fell off of the sofa.