Disclaimer: Slayers and their characters are not owned by me. They belong to Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi and any other companies which own them. I'm just borrowing them for a little bit and I promise to give them back all in perfect working order.

Summary of the remaining chapters due to permanent hiatus of the authors:

Note: We had intended there to be 60 chapters in the end. So please remember that all of this takes place over 20 parts. A lot of information is here in this little chapter, so if you want to understand the whole series, please read.

We left off with Gourry and Lina ready to enjoy a pleasant night together in a celebrated inn right at the heart of Zephilia. With some trepidation, the duo enter the inn, fully aware of the intentions of their stay. It begins awkward, and the night is far from perfect, but in the end, they both agree that it was something long coming, and something truly cherished, especially due to the recent events having them both staring death in the face.

The next day following, they spend the morning like newlyweds, then get back to Lina's home, only to discover a smug Luna. When questioned, Luna replies enimatically, giving hints that most of the evening's chance events were orchestrated by none other than herself. Publicly, Lina is humiliated and infuriated, but privately, she feels flattered and protected by her older sister, as if this showing of control over an important event in Lina's life is Luna saying she approves. Both of Lina's parents act ignorant, although Gourry does get regaled by Lina's father. Gourry, even the gentleman, spares the details but assures that he has no intentions of dumping Lina in the ashes. Satisfied, the men enjoy a leisure morning.

A few days pass without much incident. During the day, Lina and Gourry help keep shop, and during the night, they spend their time together, learning eachother physically as well as intelectually. Their time apart, on opposite sides, has aged them both, but they still both remain confident that they will see if all through. Lina's wanderlust still remains dormant during this time, and she fears that this is a sign of something wrong with herself, as if something was killed on the battlefields. With much relflection, she soon remembers that her discomfort began before the war. She soon concludes that if her wanderlust is dead, then she can't fully work as a knight of the Lord of Nightmares. She keeps this information from Gourry for a while, but it comes out eventually. Gourry, still distrustful of L-sama's intentions for Lina, brings up that it isn't that much of a bad thing, Lina having her own life and will back. Lina finds herself without ally in him on this matter. Despite her earlier doubt, she truly wants to work under L-sama's mantle, and her conclusion leaves her confused. Luna, however, snaps her out of it, stating the obvious: Luna herself was fully rooted here in Zephilia, but that did not stop her from performing her duties as a Knight of Ciephied. This reassures Lina.

Soon after this, a letter arrives at the Inverse household, demanding the prescense of both Lina and Gourry at the Palace of Zephilia. When asked who the letter was from and why, no reason was disclosed, but the sender is the Queen of Zephilia herself. Gourry becomes nervous, unsure of what either of them could have done to spark the Queen's interest, and wonders if his and Lina's little prank on the soldiers has backfired, not to mention the whole blowing them up deal. Lina, however, is angry. She had been drafted for a war she didn't care about, and now the Queen who started it all wanted to talk to her? It was too much to deal with. Without thinking about it, Lina decides to ignore the summons. Gourry, with some hesitation, agrees to it.

A few days pass without incident. Gourry brings up the idea of marriage again, but Lina smoothly avoids it, much to his annoyance. He can't figure out what is making her hesitate, especially since they had already spent the proverbial night together. Lina, however, feels that all around her, things are moving too fast, and she still half-heartedly hopes that she'll get her travel feet back. Getting married would surely murder any of that, wouldn't it? In the midst of another argument on this matter, the couple is yet again interrupted by another summons from the Queen, and reluctantly, after the messengers threaten to bring Gourry in alone, Lina and Gourry agree to be escorted. When suggested by their escorts to take the time and prepare to "dress in style", Lina scoffs, stating that cearly this wasn't a party invite, and she wasn't going to dress up for a Queen that wouldn't disclose a reason for a summons. On that rather decided note, the new party heads to the Palace.

Once there, despite Gourry's warnings against it, Lina acts like an unwanted relative within the Palace walls. She is rude and destructive, demanding the Queen's immediate attention and refusing to wait forever. Gourry feels wary of this, seeing as how he's pretty sure that the reason for the summons isn't a happy one. After much insults and a few plates being broken, the Queen grants them an audience.

The first thing they both notice is that the Queen has an escort. This escort, although not in an obvious way to most, is obviously to Lina a Mazoku. She isn't sure why she could instinctively tell now since she certainly couldn't with Xellos, but something innate, something she pegs to being left over from being a Mazoku, or perhaps something given to her by L-sama now as a Knight, tips her off. The second thing that is noticed is that the Queen, although coldly beautiful, doesn't seem to be in the best of health. Both Gourry and Lina sense something off in the Queen's countenance, both physically and mentally, especially since her escort seems to be noticbly happier every time she coughs.

Her anger, however, is just as healthy as Lina's. In an imperial tone, she berates Lina for shooting off her mouth about the way her kingdom is run. She states, rather inappropriately, that Lina has no clue how hard it is to rule alone, and that sometimes it's good to have eyes where you usually cannot have them.

Casually, Lina wonders if this means making up wars for the sake of royal amusement, and for the first time, the escort speaks up, stating that the matters of the royal government and how they are run are hardly a concern for Lina. Lina explodes, getting into a long torrent about how the government is for the people, and drafting people into a war based on rumour was hardly justice. Gourry, during this time, is quiet, though angry. He feels he has no right to speak to a Queen that isn't his own, but he feels the anger all the same.

As their arguments go on, further and further delving into the personal, including ventures on Lina's purity, the escort beside the Queen has a smile that grows larger and larger. Soon, as Lina's shouts start to become shrill, and Gourry starts to step in to stop it, the escort reveals himself and starts a fight with Lina.

During this fight, the Queen sits motionless, occasionally coughing but saying nothing. Lina uses this time to hone her newly aquired skills as a Knight of L-sama, and even though the minion is strong, against the judgement of L-sama, it doesn't stand a chance. During this time, as Lina's control is growing over her newly found powers, her weakness shows far less than it had in the beginning. Gourry still remains distrustful, but in an odd moment of unusual censorship, he keeps it to himself.

Once the escort is dispatched, Lina starts forward with her dagger towards the Queen. Predictably, Xellos intervenes and holds her off. Despite his wariness in dealing with Lina as a Knight, he still presses on, gaily admitting that of course it was himself and Zelas who had begun the Elmekia-Zephilia war. By now, Lina finds this hardly surprising, and Gourry just finds it annoying. Especially since Lina was so ready to believe that she had killed Xellos on the battlefield. It is there, in that small space, watched by both Gourry and the ever-silent Queen, that, finally, Lina and Xellos fight it out for real.

Since Xellos has the power of both a General and a Priest, defeating him would be no cake walk. By the end of the battle, both are wounded badly, and both are trying to figure out how to finish the other without dying as a result of it. Neither are equally matched: in fact, Lina would have the upper hand, if she wasn't so new to her powers given by L-sama. In the end, before the end, however would be best to phrase it, Xellos, one more time, offers Lina his proposal: to join the Mazoku race. In reply, Lina states that in a way, she already has: by becoming a Knight of L-sama, she has a part of all of the major races coursing through her veins, including Mazoku. When Xellos realises that this is true, and when he realises that, in the end, he was duped into coming here by his mistress, he seems ready to submit to death.

However, before Lina can even raise her hand, Zelas appears at the shoulder of the Queen. With the touch of her hand to the Queen's shoulder, the Queen convulses, bursts apart, and is revealed as one of the seven shards of Shabranigdu. Of course during the chaos, Xellos and Zelas flee, and together both Gourry and Lina...also run away.

Similar to the very beginning, Shabranigdu, remembering Lina and Gourry from the previous fight, waits patiently for them to return to the mangled palace to fight it out with him. During this time, both Gourry and Lina panic, tend to wounds, spend some intimate time, and then set out again. This time, they are joined by Luna, who shocks everyone, including her parents, by showing up in full Knight regalia.

Together, the trio use a combination of spells, weapons, and help from their respected benefactors to fight Shabranigdu. Because this is his second rising, his strength has increased, and he has developed thicker skin due to fighting with Lina previously. He seems to know all of her moves, and finds her easy to tell, despite her increase in power. Luna, while her own levels are strong and her particular brand of magic devestating to one of Shabranigdu's mein, also finds it hard to give any REAL damage.

During this time, Gourry has an idea for both the sisters but wonders if it's both a good idea or one that Luna would go for, since she seems to share the distrust of L-sama that he does. In the end, he suggests that the two combine their power and fire at once. Both use their ultimate spells (Giga Slave for Lina, although I'm not sure if there is a Ciephied equivilent. Perhaps we would have made it up as we went), and in the end, once more, Shabranigdu's breif spark of life is once again snuffed out. For now.

Once the battle is over, only Zelas appears to greet the three. Bluntly, she states that as long as there is pain and chaos, they would always exist. She wasnt going away, and neither was her Priest. However, it was decided that Lina probably wasn't a good candidate for a Mazoku anymore, seeing as how she killed their leader and all (AGAIN), so that portion of annoyance would be dropped from the orders of her Priest and minions both. On that, she vanishes, and on that, Zephilia is left without a monarch and in shambles.

Now we start to go faster in time. About here is where we would have started up the conclusion. During the time it takes to rebuild and locate another suitable monarch for poor Zephilia, both Lina and Gourry have found that having a place to come home to isn't such a bad thing after all. Soon it's discovered that in Elmekia, the government was found murdered (Xellos's work, no doubt), and the city was starting over again. Gourry, having no desire to return home, decides to do what Lina intially lied about and become a citizen of Zephilia. And yes, that meant marrying Lina, although the whole thing embarrassed her, and she kept her original name.

Despite the love of her family, she moved as close to the border as she could while still within territory, she and Gourry building their own home with hands and hexes. They both worked part-time and the shop, although Lina refused Luna's offer of waitress work. Occasionally, Lina's own calling would send her out, and despite how often Amelia would gush that Lina had become a true hero now, Lina would still charge horribly overpriced rates for her work. And, of course, she still raided bandits.

Lina also knew that while her wanderlust was indeed dead and buried, she still liked to travel to do her things. Occasional bouts away from home with Gourry were normal, but, as said, it was nice to have a home to come back to, instead of random inns.

Gourry, who felt naked without a sword, entreated on the local sorcerers as well as Lina for help, and together they were able to make a blade similar to Zelgadis's, but one more suited for Gourry. Whereas Zelgadis tended to go towards the shamanic, Gourry found more skill with black magic, which surprised everyone but Lina.

In the end, both were happy. In the end, they never had to face too much danger and hell ever again. In their lifetime, no other pieces of Ruby Eyes was ever revived, although the two were often pestered (as promised) by various minions. Despite Lina's messing around withthe general order of things by murdering quite a few of the Dark Lords, since her hands were guided by the one that created them, there was some balance in the end.

As for Amelia, Zelgadis, Filia and Valgaav, as well as Xellos, well, that's another story.

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