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.

Nell's eyes widened in horror at what she had just seen, and she dropped to her knees beside her mazoku lover. "XELLOS! Xellos, what is it? What happened?!"

"GUYS!" Lina cried as she and the others came running back down the road. "Guys, what happened?!"

"I don't know!" Nell wailed as she carefully cradled Xellos' head in her lap and gently smoothed his hair away from his face. She knew he was too severely injured to make it into the astral plane by himself, so she held him close in the hopes that he could absorb enough of her energy to heal himself enough so he could retreat and heal fully. "We were just talking and he got attacked by something!"

"Ze...Zelas," Xellos managed to choke out amidst his screams.

"His mistress?" Zelgadis asked incredulously. "Why would she do something like this?"

"Because Xellos has been a very naughty boy and needs to learn his place," a haughty, disembodied, female voice said.

Nell narrowed her eyes, a growl forming in her throat and her violet eyes glowing as a rage she had not felt since almost before she could remember roiled within her--feeding her already impressive powers and opening her to powers previously left untapped and untouched.

"Gourry, Rii, stay back!" Lina barked. "There's nothing you two can do."

Rii clung to Gourry's clothing as she hid behind him, all the while watching as Lina, Zelgadis and Amelia stood protectively in front of them.

"SHOW YOURSELF, BITCH!" Nell screamed. The very ground trembled under the necromancer's wrath and a howling wind raced through the area.

"What's happening?!" Rii cried in fear.

"Something big!" Zelgadis answered.

"Such language for a lady to use," Greater Beast Zelas Metallium said as she materialized and stood in the tall, tanned, curvy, blond glory of her human form. "I'll look forward to ripping out your tongue, you foolish little necromancer." She advanced on Nell and Xellos.

Despite his devastating wound, Xellos manage to shift just enough to hold his staff in front of Nell and himself in an attempt to shield them from the Greater Beast. "No, Zelas...please...please mistress...I beg you...no...!"

"Even now, with death staring you in the face, you still cleave to her," Zelas spat. "Why? What hold does she have over you, Xellos? How could even contemplate leaving me for her?!"

Nell grinned cheekily. "What can I say? I'm just special."

"RA TILT!" Zelgadis cast while Zelas' attention was diverted.

"ELMEKIA LANCE!" Amelia cast, not a moment after Zelgadis' spell.

Zelas threw back her head and laughed as both attacks hit her and left her unharmed. "You fools! I am one of the five demons lords created by Shabranigdo himself. Your puny attacks are nothing more than an annoyance to me."

Lina glared. "Is that so? Well, then why don't you try this one on for size. Darkness of the four worlds, grant me all the power that you possess. Lord of the dreams that terrify. Sword of cold and darkness, free yourself from the heaven's bonds. Become--"

"I don't think so," Zelas said as she shot forth a blast of energy.

"VALANCE WALL!" Amelia broke out into a sweat as she struggled to hold up the protective barrier against Greater Beast Zelas' attack. "Can't...hold it up...much longer...!" She began buckling under the strength of the mazoku lord's attack--and with her, the shield.

Zelgadis threw himself and Amelia down to the ground to avoid the blast once the shield fell.

"LINA LOOK OUT!" Gourry cried as he raced forward tried to grab the small sorceress from the path of the attack. He was not going to make it.

Zelas' eyes widened in surprise when her blast was suddenly deflected by a wall that materialized out of nowhere...made entirely of shadowy, black figures. "Not possible...!"

"What happened?" Amelia asked as she peeked up from under Zelgadis' cloak.

"Her attack...it got deflected somehow," Zelgadis answered.

"Somehow?" Gourry asked.

"You mean you guys didn't do it?" Lina asked.

"No," Amelia and Zelgadis answered together as they shook their heads.

"Guys, look!" Rii said as she pointed in Nell's direction.

All eyes turned to the necromancer to find her still in her original position of protectively cradling Xellos to her...except she now had an arm stretched out towards her traveling companions.

"Not possible!" Zelas exclaimed. "No mere human could block that kind of an attack."

Nell grinned...a black aura forming around her, that upon closer inspection was actually created by countless souls floating through her...around her and surrounding her. "Lucky for my friends then that I'm not a mere human." Enveloping Xellos in a protective blanket of black energy that was meant to help him heal, the necromancer stood. "You're nothing but a bully...and I hate bullies!" Nell's body phased from her normal form to a giant, black sphere, then briefly to another figure before once again returning to her human form.

Lina's jaw dropped and she blinked hurriedly before rubbing her eyes. The 'metamorphosis' had happened so quickly...in less than a blink of an eye, not to mention the necromancer had been mostly obscured by the souls surrounding her...leaving the sorceress unsure as to whether she had in fact seen what she thought she saw. "What was that?! Did anyone else just see that?!"

"I dunno, it happened so fast," Gourry admitted.

"I did," Rii said. "At least I think I did."

"Me too!" Amelia exclaimed.

"So did I," Zelgadis confirmed.

Lina blinked again. "Was that...she has an astral form?! No way!"

Amelia's eyes widened. "That means, she's a...a..."

"A mazoku," Zelgadis finished.

"You mean she's like Xellos?" Gourry asked.

"There's no other explanation," Lina answered.

Zelas' eyes widened in shock. "Your energy...your power...I've never felt anything like it before. Who are you?!"

Nell's laugh floated through the space and she coyly touched a finger to her lips. "Now that is a secret."

Zelas glared. "You think you can take me? You think you can take on the Greater Beast?" she asked as she shifted into her beast form. "Let's go, you little bitch," her disembodied voice growled.

Nell narrowed her glowing eyes and smiled wickedly. "I will make you atone!"

The Greater Beast began rapidly phasing in and out as she charged the necromancer. Her predatory eyes widened however when she found Nell's hand around her throat--effortlessly holding her at bay.

"Bad puppy," Nell said after tsking softly. She gently floated Xellos' cocooned body over to Lina and the others. "Keep him safe," she pleaded as she tossed Zelas to the side. "You know what happens to bad puppies? They get punished."

Zelas snarled. "You bitch! I'LL TEAR YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!"

Nell tilted her head to the side, though she was still smiling, her glowing eyes regarded the Greater Beast coldly. "Somehow I don't see that happening."

Zelas was suddenly swarmed by countless black figures and she screamed in pain as their cold fingers pierced her astral body. "WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT ARE THESE THINGS?!"

"Souls of the dead," Nell said simply as she slowly walked towards the Greater Beast. "They are the souls of the wicked...those who were unable to move on to peaceful oblivion. They are nothing more than leaches now...feeding off of the very darkness they cleaved to with such devotion during their lives. Feel them as they pierce you and drain you of your life force...and pass it on to me."

Zelas struggled against her bonds, screaming in agony. "How could you possibly control them?!"

Nell smiled. "They are my subjects...my very playthings. They do my bidding." She moved so she was only a foot away from the Greater Beast. "I will call them off if you relinquish your hold on Xellos. Xellos is mine, Greater Beast! Do you understand me? Mine! I claim him as my own."

Despite her pain, Zelas smirked. "You fool! Unless Xellos pledges his allegiance to you, your words mean nothing!"

Nell looked over her shoulder. "Xellos, do you swear and pledge your allegiance to me?"

While not fully recovered from his nearly fatal injury, the mazoku priest was able to stand...and thanks to the blanket of energy Nell had enveloped him in, his wound had closed up. "I swear, Lady Nell," he said as he dropped to one knee. "I swear my allegiance to you forever from this day forth."

The necromancer turned back to the Greater Beast and smiled. "You heard him, Zelas. Xellos belongs to me now. Any actions taken against him will be viewed as actions taken against me...they will be considered acts of war, and you can rest assured that I will retaliate with full force." So much power built rapidly within her--begging to be acknowledged and embraced. Nell knew she had to end things now or risk losing control. "Take your life and be gone from my presence, Greater Beast," she spoke through gritted teeth as she fought to hang on. "Be gone!"

Zelas glared at Nell. "You may have beaten me here today, but this isn't over. Rest assured, whoever you are, that vengeance will be mine!" The Greater Beast vanished from the physical plane.

With the threat now gone, Nell managed to release the dark souls and sent them back into limbo before dropping to her knees and wrapping her arms tightly around herself--rocking herself back and forth as she fought to contain the power within her that threatened to consume her and her very soul.

"Miss Nell!" Amelia cried as she ran forward only to stop in her tracks when Nell raised a hand.

"Stay...back...!" the necromancer bit out through gritted teeth. "Not...safe...!" Nell tightly shut her eyes, her hands moving up to her head.

"Is she okay?" Gourry asked as he came up beside Amelia.

"I don't know," Amelia said worriedly.

"What's going?" Rii asked. "What was all that that just happened?"

Xellos phased in beside Nell, kneeling beside her as he wrapped his arms around her...feeding off the incredible energy threatening to explode within Nell--thus giving it a place to go. The necromancer instantly began relaxing and she leaned heavily against her mazoku. "Nell...you saved me," he murmured softly in her ear.

Nell smiled weakly as she let her head fall onto Xellos' shoulder. "No one treats my man that way and gets away with it..."

"Are you a mazoku?" Lina asked as she looked down at the necromancer.

"Yes...no...well, not exactly..." Nell said softly. However, before she could say anything more on the subject, the lovely necromancer passed out--her body in shock from what it had just undergone and exhausted from having fought so valiantly against her inner-most nature...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Okay, Xellos...tell us what's going on here."

Night had fallen and the party was gathered around a roaring campfire...meat that Gourry and Zelgadis had hunted was roasting on the spit. While the aroma was delicious, Lina and the others were more preoccupied with the still passed out necromancer cradled in Xellos' arms than their growling stomachs.

Xellos sighed. "I can't tell you, Lina."

"Xellos," Zelgadis growled. "So help me...if you say it's a secret...!"

"But it is, Mister Zelgadis," Xellos said simply. There was no sense of mocking in the mazoku's tone. He was simply telling things as they were. "Nell swore me to secrecy."

"Xellos...!" the chimera growled.

Rii hugged Zelgadis' arm. "Oh, Mister Zelgadis...you're so sexy when you're angry," she said as she gazed up at the chimera man with starry eyes.

Despite his aggravation with Xellos, Zelgadis blushed furiously.

"It's not my secret to tell, Zelgadis," Xellos said simply.

"Of all the--"

"C'mon, Zel, give the guy a break," Gourry said. "If he says that Nell told him not to say anything, then Nell told him not to say anything."

"Thank you, Mister Gourry," Xellos said with the smallest of smiles. "You can ask her when she wakes up, and maybe she'll tell you."

Lina sighed and groaned in frustration. "When I asked her if she was a monster, she couldn't decide on an answer. How do you not know who and what you are?"

"Maybe she's only half?" Amelia suggested.

Zelgadis blinked. "Or maybe it's similar to the situation with Gaav...she could be a monster imprisoned in a human body."

"That would make sense," Lina said. "But for her to stand up to the Greater Beast like she did without even batting an eyelash, she would have to be on par with the five demon lords Shabranigdo created...but I've never heard of a demon lord named 'Nell' before."

"Maybe it's short for something?" Rii asked as she let go of Zelgadis' arm and turned the meat on the spit.

"Maybe," Amelia agreed noncommittally.

"We won't know for sure until she wakes up," Lina said.

Almost as if on cue, Nell stirred in Xellos' arms...groaning softly as her eyes fluttered open. When her gaze focused, she smiled softly when she saw her mazoku. "You're all right?"

Xellos smiled softly. "Thanks to you, my dear Nell."

"Welcome back, sleeping beauty," Gourry said with a smile.

"Glad to see you're all right," Amelia said with a smile.

Nell turned her head to her companions and smiled weakly as she gingerly rubbed her temples to ward off the residual buzzing in her head. "Thanks," she said softly as she sat up with the help of Xellos. "How long was I out?"

"Two hours," Zelgadis answered.

"Nell, what's going on?" Lina asked. "What happened back there?"

"I really don't want to talk about it," Nell said as she averted her eyes.

"Well, tough, because you're gonna," Lina said. "What you did back there...that wasn't normal. I don't care how big of a boost your powers have, no human could've done what you did. No human gives off that kind of energy and power. Who or what are you?"

Nell seemed to shrink into Xellos, but after a few moments, she sighed. "Before I tell you anything, know that you're perfectly safe with me...I would never do any of you any harm."

"Is that what you call me being chased by a skeleton?" Rii asked dryly.

The necromancer raised an eyebrow. "Did I actually hurt you, though?"

"Well...no..." Rii admitted sheepishly.

"All right then," Nell said, getting back to the subject at hand. "If nothing else, please believe that truth...none of you will come to any harm by my hands...or Xellos' for that matter."

"Okay," Lina said slowly. "Go ahead."

Nell sighed." Just...what is it that you think I am?" she asked carefully.

"Well, we have a couple of theories," Amelia said.

"We think you're either half monster," Lina started.

"Or a monster trapped in a human body," Zelgadis finished.

Nell smiled absently. "You actually guess correctly."

"Which time?" Lina, Amelia and Zelgadis asked together.

"The second," Nell answered softly.

"All right then, who are you?" Zelgadis asked.

"You have to be someone pretty powerful, but I don't remember any recording of a demon lord named 'Nell'," Lina said.

"That's not surprising," Nell said softly. "I was created by the Lord of Nightmares...and defeated by Flare Dragon Ceifeed...imprisoned in a human body long before Shabranigdo was created."

"What?!" Lina, Zelgadis and Amelia exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Huh? What does that mean?" Gourry asked in confusion.

"Don't look at me," Rii said with a shrug. "I don't know what they're talking about. I'm as lost as you are."

"Who are you?" Lina asked with a mixture of awe and fear.

Her strength and body now fully recovered, Nell stood...drawing herself to her full height before giving a small, yet formal bow of her head. "I am Nellistras...the first monster ever created...and the one, true Hellmaster."

PREVIOUS          NEXT