Disclaimer: Slayers and Ranma 1/2 not mine. This story plot created by me for fun.

Heir to Chaos: Part One - Black Chaos

Chapter 1: Darkness Beyond Twilight

The dream that had come a hundred times before began again…

Wofred del Goff rubbed the sides of arms, trying to ward off the chill of a bad wind. He grimaced, nothing from the Kataart Mountains was ever good to begin with. Especially not this past year. There was something eerie about the whole horizon where the Kataart Mountains rose and waited, silent sentinels waiting for their master, the Water Dragon Lord, to come back to them. Wofred wasn't ignorant; the history of the eternal fight between light and dark, good and evil was still going on. He may not know magic, but he knew that the days will come when both the black and white magic users will come head to head. And when that happens, he knew that it would be the one place that he didn't want to be. Magic, the cause of and the solution to the whole world's problems.

He swung his woodman's axe over his shoulder and trudged home. He noticed suspiciously that the light was fading faster than usual and the forest would soon be engulfed in darkness. Wofred clutched his tattered coat around him, small protection against the cold, determined to make his way home.

Suddenly there was flash in the sky. Lightening-- deathly white against the sudden inky blackness of the sky. A rumble followed. Thunder--? No, it was more like a laugh. A laugh that hurled itself from the bowels of hell.

Wofred didn't wait. He ran, not wanting to hear anything but the pounding of his heart. At least with that, he knew that he was still alive.

***************************

Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune turned away from the window as soon as the summons came. She had been watching the ominous darkness that was culminating over the city of Saillune, knowing that at any moment her father, Prince Philionel, was about to summon her to join the emergency meeting of the White Magic Guild.

The corridor that led to the Royal Meeting Chambers were lined with white magic users. Some of them continually testing their magic, unwilling to believe that their powers were weakening. Some sat against the wall, muttering to each other of their suspicions and others still just waiting, wondering what their fates will be once their magic disappears. Amelia recognized some of them to be powerful mages in their own right -- still with all of them, she could see and sense the fears lurking behind their anger, sadness and indifference.

It was like a disease that nobody knew how to cure. Nobody understood what was happening. To them, who have devoted their lives to learning the various facets and spells of white magic, it was something to fear. Their whole lives were literally falling apart, the pieces being blown by an ill-fated wind whose origin was unknown.

Amelia wanted to ignore them. She wanted to shut her eyes and not see her people's suffering. But what could she do. Sooner or later, her own powers are going to grow weaker and then fade. She shuddered. She didn't want that to happen -- who would stand up and fight for justice when there was no magic to fight with?

"Amelia!" Prince Philionel greeted. He was standing at the head of the long oblong table, presiding over it like the monarch that he was. The other white mages in the room stood up and bowed to their princess.

"Father! Have you found anything yet?"

Prince Philionel shook his head grimly. He turned to the mages who had returned to their seats. "Tell my daughter what you have found out."

One mage cleared his throat and began to recount his findings. "As a result of this new energy, the power of the light is wavering. Our white magic is weakening. As far as we know, Princess, the darkness seems to be coming from the vicinity of the Kataart Mountains."

"That's where most of the existing dragons are." Amelia thought for a moment then lifted pleading eyes to the group. "But most of the high level dragons are peace loving creatures."

"We do not know whether it is the dragons, Princess," the mage continued. "It could well be anything. Most likely though, whoever or whatever is creating this energy, is extremely powerful. There has never really been an energy level so great as to be felt from such a great distance."
"If not the dragons, then who else do you suspect is causing this disturbance?"

"It could be anyone. The mazoku race has always been malevolent towards humans. It could be one of the high level Mazoku." The mage paused.

"What? There is something else that you want to say," Amelia said.

The mage lowered his gaze from her flashing ones. It was Prince Philionel who decided to answer his daughter. "Amelia dear, please do not take this the wrong way but…"

"Father…?"
"The creature that is causing all this negative energy could very well be a human, one who has demonstrated to be quite a formidable and powerful magic user. We have a suspect. Ten of our most powerful mages have sent out a message to bring her in for questioning. You must understand, daughter, that we have little time. We must find out who is behind this before our magic disappears completely."

"What are you trying to say, father?" In her heart Amelia knew what he was about to say. She knew but she did not want to hear it out loud.

"Well, Lina Inverse did defeat Ruby-Eye Shabrinigdo, as well as Hellmaster Phibrizzo and has gone up against an ancient dragon and a demon from another plane. She did that and is still alive."

"You mean you think…" Amelia turned away, unable to hear anymore. She had been at those events that her father had listed. In her mind's eyes, she saw the cheerful gluttonous red-haired sorceress smiling back at her. "Miss Lina."

*****************************

"Dammit! It's there, I can feel it!"

Zelgaddis Greywers growled as he mixed the contents of two vials together. Bubble formed and smoke started to appear from the one vial, stinging his eyes. It was his latest experiment, the recipe found in an old book that was salvaged from the old Sairaag. The latest search for the cure to his form.

The smoke had started to dissipate and he was peering closely at the resulting potion when there was a rumble. The walls shook off a layer of dust and the ground under him moved, tilting his work table to one side.

"Dammit, what is it now?!" he yelled in frustration.

He was answered by another rumble and shake which grew more violent by the minute.

"Not now!! Not when I'm this close!!"

He heard something from above and he raised his eyes to the roof where a piece of it was about to fall on him.

Lifting his arms above his head, he yelled, "WINDY SHIELD!"

Instantly he was encased in a dome of energy, protecting him from the stone walls that was suddenly collapsing onto him, burying him alive.

An hour later, in the pile of rubble that used to be a castle, a stone moved. Zel coughed as he climbed out of the debris. If he hadn't been a chimera, he would've been dead for sure. He thanked his stars for once for having the stone body that made him look like a monster.

He stood on top of one protruding stone and looked around him. He never noticed that it was already dark; maybe he had worked throughout the day and had lost track of time. He groaned, all that work and for nothing! Now he had to start over again, but he needed that book he was using. It was the only one that he felt confidence in finding the cure to his form. Zel scratched his head, wondering where to start digging for the book. The whole place was a mess. Oh well, at least no one else was hurt, seeing as he was in a deserted castle in the middle of nowhere.

He heard another rumble above him and saw that one on the towers was about to crash down on him. Zel cast another Windy Shield, which protected him from the worse of the crumbling debris. To Zel's shock the shield suddenly collapsed after the last of the larger stones had fallen. Smaller chunks of stone fell on top of him. Wondering what had happened to his shield, he focused his mind. He sensed the powerful negative energy in the air and scowled. Does this have anything to do with his magic getting to be so weak all of a sudden? Without thinking about anything else but the feelings of burgeoning suspicion and irritation building inside of him, he went to search for a certain red-haired sorceress.

************************

"Sylphiel-sama," the servant had quickly come to his mistress' summons.

Sylphiel Nels Rada looked up from the book she was reading in her father's library. For over an hour she had been frantically looking for the cause of the disturbance in the air. Earlier on she had heard the message that was sent telepathically to all magic users: all of the white magic in the world is getting weaker. As soon as she heard this, she had tested the fact and had found it to be true. As the appointed magical leader of New Sairaag, she was in danger of losing her powers. Her mind had quickly focused on the Holy Tree, Flagoon. Although the tree appears to be doing well, Sylphiel had made sure that the incident with Copy Rezo and Xanafar did not occur again by casting Recovery on Flagoon once every year. The time to cast the spell once again is coming near, and she didn't know whether Flagoon would need it or not. Hopefully, nothing will happen to cause Xanafar to be unsealed again. If Xanafar escapes Flagoon, she didn't know what would happen now that her magic is weakening slowly. She must do something to stop this!

The servant took a step back as he met his mistress' surprisingly grim and determined eyes.

"Please pack my things immediately. Saddle a horse for two and assign one guard to accompany me. I am going on an important journey."

"B-but it's late in the evening…?"

"It doesn't matter."

A moment passed and the servant was still frozen from the shock of hearing his usually gentle mistress speak in such forceful tones. He jumped when Sylphiel once again turned to him and said in a tight and barely controlled voice, "Hurry! We have no time to lose."

**************************

The sky above shook with the turbulence from the rushing wings of the two dragons. The black clouds that seemed to go on to infinity whirled away from the path of the flying dragons, only to move into their original positions once the creatures have passed. Filia, the golden dragon, observed the fact which only added to her confusion about the whole situation.

Alongside her flew another, much smaller dragon; his fine scales a shade of gleaming hematite even against the backdrop of black skies. Filia mentally shook herself in awe. A few months ago, the little dragon was smaller. Much too small to walk on its hind legs or even fly. In a mere day, he had grown to be almost as large as her and as powerful. He was Val Agares, the last known Ancient Dragon in the world. Filia knew that she couldn't waste time trying to figure out was happening on her own. Yesterday when the skies turned black as night, she immediately acted on the only thing that she could think of -- find Lina Inverse. If Val ever turned renegade again, Filia knew that Lina might be the only one powerful enough to stop him.

"Filia-oneesan, explain again why we are headed to find Lina Inverse," Val turned and yelled over the winds.

Filia focused her gold reptilian eyes on him. "She is the only one I can think of who might be able to explain everything that's been going on."

"Is she that ancient and wise?"

Despite the seriousness of their mission, Filia laughed. Lina…wise?

"What's so funny?"

Filia's eyes softened when they looked at her companion. "Nothing, Val." She moved her head facing forwards again and narrowed her eyes. "But we must find Lina Inverse as soon as possible."

***********************

"Excuse, miss, can I order some more ale please?"

"Sure," Luna Inverse, knight of Cephied, turned to get the customer's order.

As the door opened to let in another customer, a gust of wind blew in.

"Cold out there, ain't it?"

"Sure is."

"To tell you the truth, the wind don't feel right."

"What do you mean?"
"Dunno, something in the air…"

Luna didn't pay attention to the men's chatter. All she knew was that she had to go immediately. She walked briskly to the bartender, her boss. Without too much explanation, she reached for her bag hidden beneath the bar and said, "I've got to go."

Her boss, having heard the rumors about his unusual waitress, didn't dare argue. Nobody has proven it yet but having a Knight of Cephied working for you as a waitress was somewhat daunting at times. You never knew what she might do to you if she gets offended. He merely shrugged and continued cleaning the ale mugs.

As soon as she was outside, Luna paused to gauge the air. For months she had a bad feeling about everything. She could not pinpoint was the problem seemed to be but it felt like forgetting something that was already at the tip of her tongue. It was there, at the back of her mind, but for some reason the memory seemed elusive. All she knew was that it was important. She scowled fiercely and headed down the path that would take her to her home. She planned to gather her things and leave as soon as possible.

As she alternately walked and ran down the path, she cursed her little sister. "Lina, I swear that if you're behind this, you are in big trouble!"

**************************

At an inn located on the coastal edges of the city of Atlass, Lina Inverse slept undisturbed, her companion, Gourry Gabriev snored contently on his bedspread on the floor. Neither sensed the darkness gathering around them nor the chaos energy shield that protected them from it.

***** to be continued ****

email: kenshin_oro@hotmail.com