Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Slayers franchise, and am making no money from this fic. I am simply doing this for fun.

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"FIREBALL!" Amelia's eyes widened and she screamed, barely managing to duck out of the way as her attack came flying back at her.

"Is that the best you've got, little sorceress?" Bianca taunted as she tossed her long, raven locks over her shoulder.

"Be careful, Amelia," Nell warned as she stood by her friend. She saw Xellos on Amelia's other side, ready to teleport the princess to safety should things get too harry.

"You will all pay for thwarting my plan!" Bianca snarled. "Lord of darkness of the four worlds, grant me all the power that you possess...RAGNA BLAST!"

Nell felt a draw upon her powers, and the three of them were suddenly in the center of an inverted pentagram. "Xellos! Get Amelia and yourself out of here. HURRY!"

No sooner had the words left Nell's mouth, did Xellos grab a hold of Amelia and teleport the both of them out of the star--mere moments before Nell was engulfed in a pillar of light followed by black plasma.

"NELL!" Amelia screamed as she and Xellos phased back into the physical plane. "NO!!" Tears streamed down the small princess' face as she struggled out of Xellos' grasp.

"Miss, Amelia," Xellos said in attempts to sooth her. "Wait. Please calm down."

"WHY?" Amelia's eyes were wide with horror at what she had seen and revulsion at Xellos' casual attitude. "She just killed Nell! You may not have loved her, but she loved you!" She beat at the trickster priest's chest with her small fists. "She loved you!"

Bianca threw back her head and laughed. "Do you see the extent of my powers? Now, prepare to die!"

"Your powers?" Nell's voice was clearly heard throughout the area.

Bianca's eyes widened when her spell dissipated to reveal Nell standing in the same spot, completely unscathed with the exception of her hair which had worked itself free from its two braids during the course of the blast. "What?! Not possible!"

"Oh, I must disagree with you on that," Nell said. "It's very possible, and as to the extent of your powers? I must disagree with you on that as well. You see...they were never your powers to begin with."

"Miss, Nell! You're alive!" Amelia cheered.

Xellos smiled. "I tried to tell you not to worry, Miss Amelia."

"I'm sorry for yelling at you," the princess said sheepishly as she averted her eyes.

"Oh, it's all right," Xellos said with a chuckle. "I'm used to it."

"How...HOW?!" Bianca sputtered, her eyes wide with disbelief as she stared at Nell's unharmed body.

Nell put her hands on her hips and regarded the sorceress with a cold smile that did not reach her eyes. "Just where do you think the power for that spell comes from, you pathetic human?" Her voice was a little deeper than normal, and possessed a haughty, taunting tone. "Do you honestly think that you are capable of wielding the power of Hell by yourself?" A pale, blindfolded woman dressed in a simple, floor-length black dress with a long slit up up side and long silver hair that fell to the backs of her knees suddenly appeared behind Nell, but she was transparent as she floated behind the lovely blond--a large scythe clasped in both hands. "Trying to kill me with my own spell? Naughty, naughty," Nell tsked with a small shake of her head.

Amelia trembled in terror and backed into Xellos. "Mister Xellos...who is that?"

"Hellmaster Nellistras...Nell's true form. Impressive and lovely, isn't she?" he asked with a smile as he opened his eyes to gaze upon his mistress. "I honestly don't know which form I prefer...both are equally lovely..."

"I think I'm more scared of her than I was of Phibrizzo," Amelia said as she actually stepped behind the trickster priest.

"As well you should be," Xellos said with a small nod and a smile. "She is after all the true Hellmaster..."

"Amelia! Guys!" Lina and Gourry flew out of the woods with Zelgadis and Rii not more than five feet behind them.

"You guys okay?" Gourry asked.

"Yeah, we're fine," Amelia said with a nod. "Thank goodness you guys are here though."

"Whoah..." Rii's eyes were wide as she stared ahead as Nell faced off with who could only be Bianca.

"Oh, no..." Lina and Zelgadis breathed together.

Zelgadis' eyes narrowed and he lunged at Xellos with a vicious snarl. "YOU LYING BASTARD! You were waiting for something like this to happen! You've been planning this from the beginning!"

"Mister Zelgadis, no!" Amelia jumped between the trickster priest and the chimera. "It's not like that at all. Miss Nell must've drawn on her demon powers in order to absorb the attack Bianca threw at us. Don't you see? She saved us!"

Zelgadis blinked. "What?"

"She risked her soul to save us!" Amelia exclaimed with a stomp of her small foot as she tried to make the chimera see reason. "Mister Xellos had nothing to do with it!"

A choked scream drew the group's attention back to Nell and Bianca--the latter of which was being suspended in the air without the formers so much as laying a finger on her.

Nell's mouth was curled with a sadistic grin, and her eyes had shifted completely to black. "You stupid, stupid mortal. Who are you to decide the fate of an entire town?" She twitched her fingers and black, ghostly souls began emerging from the earth and wrapping around Bianca. "Who are you to decide who lives and who dies? That is for me to decide, human. Me and me alone! You will pay for your foolishness and insufferable conceit!"

"Hey guys" Gourry asked as he tilted his head to the side. "Is it just me, or is that ghost-looking figure behind Nell looking more solid?"

Rii's eyes widened. "And Nell is fading away!"

"She's losing control!" Lina's eyes widened in panic. "She drew upon too much of her demon power...she's losing the battle against herself!"

"NO!" Amelia grabbed a hold of Rii. "Come on, Miss Rii. We have to save Miss Nell from herself! RAYWING!" The small princess flew through the air, dragging the small thief along with her--tackling Nell to the ground.

The ghostly form of Nellistras screamed in rage before vanishing, and Nell turned onto her back before leaping to her feet and crouching down as she narrowed her still-black eyes at the two small girls who had tackled her--teeth bared as she snarled viciously.

"Miss Nell snap out of it!" Amelia pleaded.

"Please, Miss Nell!" Rii pleaded, her eyes wide with fear at the feral appearance of the lovely blond. "Please come back to us!"

Xellos teleported behind Nell and gathered her into his arms--holding her tightly as he absorbed her excess negative energy. "Easy, Nell," he murmured softly into his mistress' ear as he slowly rocked her back and forth. "Take it easy."

Nell's eyes gradually began shifting from pure black back to their normal violet shade. "Xel...Xellos?" she asked softly. "What happened?" She blinked in confusion. "I completely blacked out." She winced. "My head hurts..."

"Here, Miss Nell...I'll take care of that," Amelia said as she held her hands up to her friend's head and began healing her.

"Miss Nell...your hair..." Rii's eyes were wide.

"What?" Nell asked. "What about it?"

"Are you guys okay?" Gourry asked as he hurried over and dropped to his knees. Lina and Zelgadis came to stand behind him.

"I'm getting there," Nell said with a weak smile as Amelia soothed her pain. "Now what's up with my hair?" she asked Rii.

With Nell no longer holding her, Bianca had fallen to the ground and the souls that had been sucking the life out of her vanished. She narrowed her eyes at the group--the malice of her gaze fixated on Nell. "You pathetic bitch," she growled. "I should've known you were all talk." She shakily rose to her feet. "I going to kill you nice and slow. When I'm done with you, you're going to wish I turned you into a member of the walking dead."

"Not so fast," Lina said as she stepped in front of her friends. "If you think that girl down there is all talk, you have no idea how wrong you are. You have no idea just how lucky you are that she's got friends like us...friends who won't let her lose the battle for her soul."

"Yeah," Zelgadis said as he came to stand beside the short sorceress. "Because if we didn't care enough to stop her, you would be worse than dead right now."

"Oh, that's so very moving," Bianca said dryly. "So you've got heart and integrity...that won't save you from me."

Lina grinned. "No, but our magic will. DILL BRAND!"

Bianca screamed in surprise as she was shot up into the air by the attack, and Zelgadis used this chance to cast his own spell.

"Wind which blows across eternity, gather in my hands and become my strength. BRAM GASH!"

Bianca screamed as she was slammed into the trunk of a large tree, and deep gashes appeared on her body where Zelgadis' spell had cut her. "NECRO--"

"Oh, no you don't! DISFANG!" Nell cried. Within moments of uttering the spell, her shadow raced forth and took on the shape of several black dragons which proceeded to rip and tear Bianca's shadow to shreds.

Bianca in turn screamed in agony as new and deeper gashes appeared all over her body.

"Lina, Zel, finish her!" Still drained from her ordeal, and her head still buzzing with the power and residual energy of her demon self, Nell could not maintain her spell for long, and released it the moment she felt herself drawing upon her demonic powers--not trusting herself in her weakened state to be able to withstand the pull of her dark powers. She fell back heavily against Xellos, completely exhausted.

Lina and Zelgadis looked to each other and nodded before casting their finishing spell together. "Source of all power, crimson fire burning bright, gather in our hands and become an inferno. BURST FLARE!" A massive fall of burning light shot jointly from their hands and engulfed Bianca in a blue-white flame--burning both her and the tree and leaving nothing behind...not even ash.

"Oh, Zelgadis, you did it!" Rii was all smiles as she jumped to her feet and launched herself at her lover--wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. "Oh, you were so wonderful!"

Zelgadis was only too happy to deepen the kiss as he pressed Rii's small body against his.

Lina rolled her eyes. "Oh, get a room, you guys," she said as she rolled her eyes. "It's not like I did anything...oh, no, Zel did everything," she grouched under her breath as she strode over to Amelia and the others and got down on her knees. "Not a bad spell you did there, Nell," she said with an appreciative smile.

"Thanks," Nell said with a tired smile. "Now what's wrong with my hair? Did that bitch give me bald patches?!"

Lina slowly shook her head before silently reaching out and lightly hooked a long lock of Nell's hair and held it so the necromancer could see.

Nell slowly let out a breath and her eyes widened as she took in the sight of the hair Lina was holding. Unlike the rest of her golden hair, the long lock in the short sorceress' hand had turned completely silver. "Oh, dear..." she said in a voice just barely above a whisper. "I think I would've preferred bald patches."

"Hey, Lina...that's like what happened to you when you cast the Giga Slave," Gourry said as he peered at Nell's hair. "Don't worry, Nell, it'll turn back to normal after you've rested. Lina's hair went back to normal after being completely white, so this won't be a problem for ya," he said with a reassuring smile.

"Oh, Gourry...if only it was that simple," Nell said softly."

Gourry blinked in confusion. "Whaddya mean?" He looked to Lina. "I don't get it."

Lina sighed. "Gourry, my hair turned completely white because I overexerted myself...but Nell can't overexert herself because she's got unlimited dark energy to draw on."

"So why'd her hair change color?" the swordsman asked.

"Because she drew upon too much of her demonic energy and powers in order to absorb the attack that Bianca fired at the three of us before the rest of you got here," Xellos explained.

"Exactly," Amelia said with a nod. "Miss Nell risked her humanity and her very soul in order to keep us safe, but because of what she did, she's in even greater danger of losing the battle for her soul."

"The bonds that were keeping Nellistras sealed away inside of me have weakened considerably," Nell said softly as she took the hair from Lina's hand. "This is proof of that." She slowly tucked the hair behind her ear. "From this moment on, I walk a very thin and fragile line."

"What are you going to do?" Lina asked.

"Nothing," Nell answered. "And I mean nothing...no spells, no magic. I can't use my powers anymore. I can't do anything that would risk my tapping into Nellistras' powers." She sighed softly. "I'd suggest suicide...but that wouldn't do any good. The damage is already done."

"Well...can't the bonds simply be strengthened again?" Rii asked as she and Zelgadis rejoined the group.

"No living person has that kind of power," Zelgadis said softly as he placed his hands on Rii's shoulders as he stood close behind her. "Sealing a demon as old and as powerful as Nellistras into a human body was only managed once by Ceifeed...and it drained him so severely that when he did the same to Ruby-Eyed Shabranigdo, he had to split him into several pieces because he didn't have either the strength or the power left to seal something that powerful away into a single body."

"The only other being who wouldn't have any trouble sealing Nellistras away inside of me would be the Lord of Nightmares...but somehow I don't think she'll be all that keen on the idea of keeping the true Hellmaster locked up," Nell said wryly.

Despite the severity of the situation, Lina threw back her head and laughed. "Yeah...you do have a point there."

"If anything, she'll try to free her," Xellos said softly. "No doubt she misses you," he murmured for Nell's ears alone.

Nell sighed softly and gingerly rubbed her forehead as she tried to ignore the voice of her demon self as she called to her soul--tempting her with great power. The necromancer began rubbing her temples as she took several deep breaths and let them out slowly. "I don't know about you guys, but I could really use a drink."

"And we could all do with a good night's sleep," Amelia added.

"Well, let's head back to town then," Lina said as she stood. "We'll stay there for the night before heading on out tomorrow morning."


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...Nell & Xellos' room...

Though wrapped securely in Xellos' arms, Nell's dreams were anything but peaceful, and as she clung to her lover, the necromancer could not escape the deepest fears of her subconscious mind...

She was being chased by Nellistras, and no matter how fast she ran, her demon self would only come ever closer. Finally, as if by some miracle, Nell was no longer being chased. Instead, she found herself surrounded by total darkness. She slowly turned and tried desperately to see through the shadows that were blacker than any pitch.

Suddenly, Nell was grabbed from behind--a pair of slim arms wrapping around her so she could not escape. Try as she did, Nell could not scream. Her voice died in her throat and all she could do was listen.

"You can't escape me, Nell," Nellistras' voice whispered into her ear. "No matter how fast you run or how far...you will never be rid of me." Nellistras lightly kissed Nell's cheek as she held her like a lover. "I know what lurks in your heart of hearts," she said as she placed a slender hand over the necromancer's heart. "You long for the days of old. You long to embrace me as I am now embracing you...to shed your mortal coil and become one with me. Though you will never admit it to yourself, you loved the feeling of my power coursing through your body tonight as it once did all those millennia ago. You enjoyed making Bianca your plaything. Deny it as you may, you cannot escape the truth, my dear Nell."

Nellistras nuzzled Nell's cheek before fingering the long lock of silver hair that stood out starkly amongst the strands of gold. "Fight me as you will, you cannot hold out forever. It is only a matter of time until you lose the battle completely...and rest assured, my sweet, mortal prison...when that day comes, I will be waiting for you with open arms."


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A/N: Okay, for those of you who are curious, Ragna Blast isin fact a spell in the Slayers universe (though I improvised a little since I couldn't find the incantation). It draws upon the Hellmaster's power. There's another spell as well, Ragna Drive, which I may incorporate later, but I haven't decided yet ;3 Disfang is a general black magic spell from the universe as well...feel free to look it up on KanzakaDex ;3

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