The power was hers to take.
        All she had to do was reach out.
        Something nagged at her.
        She stood there in the emptiness of nothing, waiting.
        Why do you not take it, Lina Inverse?
        Lina waited.
        Take the power, Lina.
        Lina looked.
        Take the power now! Time grows short!
        “No.”

        “Gourry is part elf?!” Zelgadis spluttered. “Humans and elves… can interbreed?”
        As Kira and Zelgadis sat on a bench and watched, Gourry sat down on the grass at the edge of the forest and seemingly started a conversation with… nothing. It was quite an amicable conversation too, with lots of gesturing and Gourry’s laughter.
        “Yes, Zelgadis. Gourry is part Mipross Elf,” Kira replied, ignoring the thud of the chimera beside her, and instead watching the swordsman hold a conversation with the elf that she knew was hiding just within the line of trees.
        Zelgadis picked himself up off of the grass and dusted himself off. “Mipross. The Legendary Island. I suppose that next, you’re going to tell me that Gourry’s a descendant of Cepheid himself too.”
        Kira mused for a moment, regarding the blonde swordsman calmly. “Well… now that you mention it…”
        Zelgadis hit the ground again.
        Kira looked over and down at the crumpled chimera.

        “No,” Lina repeated. “I take nothing from you, Rihana Hisaki.”
        The Golden One before her looked bemused, and Lina’s heart raced. It was Rihana. It had to be. Lina knew the touch of the Golden One… she’d stood beside the Lord of Nightmares twice… once against Hellmaster, and once against the rebirth of Shabranigdo. And this power did not feel like L-Sama’s power.
        Laughter erupted from the figure before her, wild and maniacal. “You almost fell into my trap, Lina Inverse. It was a nice ploy to leave Kira in your place, and for you to take on Kira’s persona. Anyone else, it probably would have fooled. But there are things that you don’t know. I know what Kira’s power feels like. And your power does not feel like hers.”
        Lina’s eyes narrowed and she reached in with her own magic and pulled. A faint golden shimmer began to form around her, and she realized that the power of Chaos, the essence of the Golden One was indeed within her. Without intending it, Rihana had given her the key: Lina didn’t need an outside object to help her draw on the powers of L-Sama.
        The being shifted forms, becoming recognizably Rihana Hisaki. Lina felt a moment of doubt, and Rihana pressed her advantage by throwing a ball of magic at Lina.

        Within the library, Amelia was slowly noticing that Xellos and Elena were missing. Hadn’t they been there at the dinner last night with the Lord of Nightmares? But they’d left shortly after the dinner, presumably to return in the morning. But they hadn’t, and so didn’t know the plan.
        Even though they were Mazoku, Amelia hoped they were all right. Or, wait. If you wanted a Mazoku to be well, wouldn’t you wish they be hurting? Or would that still be wishing ill against them because it was a good thing? After all… if she wanted to wish ill against a Mazoku, that would be helping the Mazoku… and by helping a Mazoku, one generally harmed them. And harming was bad. Or was it good?
        Amelia was making herself confused. She looked up from the writing on the page with her eyes crossing and tucked the book with the writings of Luo Glaon under her arm, leaving the library in search of fresh air and un-confusing thoughts.

        None of the others were aware of the situation that Lina was in. Lina herself wasn’t even sure of how much danger she was truly in.
        She ducked the initial attack, and calculated her odds quickly, trying to decide what attack would work better, but her thoughts were side railed by another incoming attack from Rihana that caught her in the arm. She’s out to kill me! Lina thought. I don’t even know what I can do yet!
        Stop doubting yourself, Chaos Knight! As long as you doubt, she will prevail!
        That voice… I know that voice! Lina thought as she dodged another attack. Her eyes fell on the blue gem that was glowing at Rihana’s throat. Auntie Aqua! Memories of the Water Dragon standing against Garv washed over her. She recalled the look on Milgasia’s face when she asked about Auntie afterwards, and it brought around the anger that Lina needed to focus. This was the woman who took the Water Jewel. This was the reason Auntie had fallen.
        Gold flames wrapped around Lina, a cold and haughty anger filling her. She was the Chaos Knight, wasn’t she? And by rights, she could claim anything of Rihana’s that she wanted. And she wanted that gem. She wanted the return of Auntie Aqua. The golden power, the true power of the Chaos Knight rippled over Lina, golden armor forming around her. At her wrists, bracers shimmering with gold, at her waist, a blade of shining radiance that rivaled even that of Golunova.
        Lina Inverse became the Chaos Knight, all doubts and fears falling away.
        Rihana’s next attack bounced off of an unseen barrier, flickering into nothingness as the Chaos Knight turned and regarded her coldly. The Priestess of Shabranigdo paused, looking at her opponent and went pale. Her own hand had brought about the very thing that she had sought to stop.
        The Chaos Knight walked up to Rihanna and put her hand out. “The stone.”
        The Priestess of Shabranigdo’s hand went to the stone at her throat, the façade of hatred cracking to reveal the less-than-intelligent mind within. “It’s… mine. I… won it…” The woman wrapped in fire began to falter, backing away from the Chaos Knight.
        “You took it as you aided the Demon King of the North destroy the Water Dragon King. It is not yours.  It will be returned.” And with that, the Chaos Knight reached for the stone.

        Kira looked up with a startled gasp, and Zelgadis looked over to her. “What is it?”
        Wordlessly, Kira pointed.

        Amelia was just stepping out into the garden from the house when she saw it.

        The elf that Gourry was speaking to fell silent, fading into the woods, and Gourry turned to see what was wrong.

        An iridescent dragon spiraled in towards the garden, shimmering as it shifted forms before alighting on two feet instead of four.
        When the glow faded, a striking woman with long brown hair wearing a soft blue gown stood beside a golden figure with fiery red hair. All three of Lina’s companions felt their stomachs sink as they realized who it must be that this woman was standing beside: the Lord of Nightmares. Had Lina failed?
        Only Kira looked unworried as she rose to approach the woman. “Greetings, Kairyuu… or do you still prefer to be called Aqua?”
        The woman smiled at Kira. “Aqua suits, I think. Did you lose this one? She’s gotten a little wilder since I saw her last.”
        As her companions approached, the golden figure opened her eyes and looked at the woman beside her with the hint of a smile. “You’re one to talk.” That wasn’t the voice of the Lord of Nightmares.
        Aqua shrugged lightly. “Can I help it if it had been a while since I’d spread my wings? Besides, I wanted to ensure that it would be a long time before that one had the ability to do anything like that again.”
        The woman in gold snickered. “I’d imagine that a thousand years stuck in a gemstone would give you quite a pain in the neck.” She looked at the fire opal in her hand. “Now the question is: what do we do with her…”
        Zelgadis, Amelia, and Gourry all looked from the two women to Kira and then back to the two women. Confusion was evident on all three of their faces as they looked back and forth.
        It was Amelia who spoke up uncertainly, looking at the golden armored figure. “Um… Are you…?”
        Aqua looked to the woman in gold, and then the woman in gold looked to Amelia. Several heartbeats passed, and suddenly realization flickered within the crimson eyes. The golden armor melted, and the mirror image of Kira Inverse stood beside the woman in blue.
        It was Lina, dressed as she had been before she’d left only the day before. She scratched the back of her head, embarrassed. “Eh… sorry about that. I’d forgotten that I was still wearing L-Sama’s armor.”
        “Miss Lina!!!” Amelia squealed, catching the redhead in a powerful embrace.
        “Oi, oi, Amelia! You’re crushing me!” Lina started to protest, but gave up with a sigh. “Yeah, yeah. I’m happy to see you too.” A moment passed and the younger girl still hadn’t let go. “Sweet Cepheid, Amelia… will you let go all ready?”
        The girl’s face flushed, and she sheepishly stepped away from Lina. “I’m sorry… but I was so worried. I thought that you were the Lord of Nightmares and not Lina.”
        Lina laughed. “Amelia, did you really think that I’d fall to Rihana? After all that I’ve been through?”
        Kira tilted her head. “What precisely happened to Rihana, Lina?”
        Lina looked to Aqua with a sly grin. “Well… let’s say that what comes around goes around.” She started to toss a fairly large sized fire opal up and down. “You see… Rihana trapped Auntie Aqua in a turquoise… and so we trapped her into a fire opal. I figure this will be a pretty useful tool for amplifying fireballs and such.”
        Amelia’s eyes widened. “Miss Lina, that’s mean!”
        Zelgadis facefaulted. Leave it to Amelia to say that entrapment of an immortal and powerful enemy was mean.
        Lina’s eyes grew dangerously dark, and Amelia took a step backwards. “Do you mean to tell me that I’m supposed to let this dangerous creature loose in the world again? This is the Priestess of Shabranigdo, Amelia! This isn’t your average bandit! This woman’s goal in everything is to resurrect the Demon God!”
        “I… well… okay, so maybe it isn’t so mean after all, Miss Lina… I’m sorry,” Amelia cringed.
        “But this is,” came a voice as a bolt of energy hit the fire opal sphere in Lina’s hand, reducing it to an insignificant pile of ash which blew away between Lina’s fingers.
        Lina spun to see Elena standing in the air, looking pleased with herself. “Elena?”
        The Mazoku General landed beside Lina and smiled. “Yes, Lina?”
        “Um… why… did you just do that? I thought… that Mazoku…” Lina stumbled over her thoughts. But… “Mazoku want the resurrection of Shabranigdo, don’t they?”
        Elena smiled mysteriously. “But Lina, that’s a secret.”
        Everyone facefaulted, including Kira and Aqua.
        “Well, yes, Lina… but on our terms,” Xellos answered easily, fading into existence beside Elena as the others collected themselves. “If Shabranigdo were to be reborn on his own terms, it could prove quite… inconvenient for us.”
        Lina took a deep breath and thought that through. “Okay… that makes some sort of convoluted sense. I think. But why are you telling us something like that, Xellos?”
        Xellos wagged a finger at Lina. “That is the secret.”
        Lina reached out with one hand, grabbed Xellos by the throat, pulled him close, and then pummeled him into the ground. Elena tilted her head as she watched, and then quietly offered Lina a mallet. Lina gave it a moment’s consideration, and then shook her head. “Thanks, Elena… but he’d probably enjoy that too much.”
        “Oh… if I weren’t a married Mazoku, Lina…” Xellos’ voice drifted up from the hole that Lina had stuffed his face into.
        Lina looked up at Elena, eyes blazing with a mixture of anger and devilish glee. “On second thought, Elena, hand that over.”
        Elena smiled darkly and soundlessly passed the mallet over to Lina, who proceeded to pound the Trickster Priest further into the ground so that he couldn’t speak.
        Amelia covered her eyes and Zelgadis simply sighed. Xellos would always manage to bait Lina, and Lina would always rise to the occasion to beat the ever-loving fool out of the Mazoku. And Xellos enjoyed it. Masochist. And Lina seemed to enjoy… Zelgadis narrowed his eyes. That wasn’t a particularly healthy train of thought… not to mention that voicing any of that might easily get him killed.
        Gourry watched, shaking his head. “Man… better him than me! But I still don’t know what he said.”
        Amelia’s hands slipped off of her eyes as she turned to stare at Gourry. “Mister Gourry, Xellos just made a pass at Miss Lina! And he’s married!”
        Gourry blinked. “Xellos passed Lina? But he wasn’t going anywhere…”
        Zelgadis studied his fingernails. It was easier than trying to explain things to Gourry. He may have been the chimera, but Gourry had the rocks for brains.
        Amelia’s shoulders fell and she just shook her head. “Never mind, Mister Gourry.”
        Kira looked over to Lina, interrupting the redhead’s tirade. “I think you’ve sufficiently silenced him, Lina. And beyond beating on Xellos, you’ve managed to do something that I wanted to do at nineteen. And I thank you for it, Lina.”
        Lina looked to Kira in confusion, letting Elena take back the mallet. “Huh?”
        Xellos took the opportunity to escape, fading out of sight with a delighted whimper.
        Kira smiled, ignoring the antics of the Mazoku, and turned to look at Lina’s other companions. “I’ll tell you all… over lunch.”
        The eyes of the Chaos Knight lit. “Yay! Food!!!” She took off into the house with Elena, Gourry and Amelia not too far behind her. Only Zelgadis remained to witness the exchange between Aqua and Kira.
        “So… did she do it, Aqua?” Kira asked conversationally, aware that Zelgadis was behind them, listening.
        “She must have. I’m here, aren’t I?” Aqua returned equally as conversationally. “Besides… the armor should have been proof enough, Kira.”
        “Mmmm. Well, we’d better get inside if we want anything for lunch. Coming, Zelgadis?” Kira said with a wry smile.
        “I’m right behind you,” the chimera replied.