Xina cracked open her eyes and glanced around. Everywhere she looked was gray and featureless. She was alone, totally and completely alone...or was she.
"Dad, is this you again?" Xina demanded irritably. She glanced to her left as a pair of the figures formed out of the gray. She immediately recognized Xellos and Amethyst's mother. Her father was perched up on a tree and Amelia was sitting on a rock underneath him. She gripped the staff in her hand, not bothering to wonder where it had come from. She slept holding it usually, as a result calling it to being in this dream was child's play. "What's with the dream thing again?"
"This isn't my doing, Xina-chan," her father said, shrugging as his image solidified.
"Huh?" Xina blinked. "Is it...that other guy?"
"We really don't know," Amelia said. "But I would expect so."
"Are you two always together?" she asked, suddenly suspicious.
"There aren't that many people to talk to out here," Xellos explained.
"Even fewer that we knew alive," Amelia added. "Why?"
"Because....well," Xina tried to find a way to say that they should be with their spouses that didn't sound silly. After all they were dead, and Xina's mother and Zelgadis were alive. Marriage was until death do you part after all. "Ummm..."
Suddenly there was movement out of the corner of Xina's eyes. She glanced over and saw a circle of revealling light and cool shade appear in the gray, across from a gate to that wasted realm Roquen had been pulled into. Turning her attention fully towards the new vision see saw...herself.
"What?" Xina ran towards the image, confused. As she got closer she saw something, actually several somethings, moving beyond the corrupted darkness and light. They were coming closer and closer and then a mix of shade and illumination poured from the other gate, through the other her and into the corrupted realm.
Then in a flash there was nothing but gray again.
"What was that?" Xina asked, turning around to her ghostly companions. From all appearances she hadn't moved, the tree, rock, Amelia and Xellos were no farther from her than before.
"The Source and the Waste," Amelia said.
"The Waste, in the words of our heavenly some-time companion," her father smirked. "Is a mistake born of the ego of certain powers, The Source is where all life comes from and goes too."
"Okay, so why was I there?" Xina demanded.
"That..." Xellos started.
"...Is a secret." Xina arched and eyebrow as she finished his comment. "Meaning you don't know."
"Well, you certainly picked up on that," Xellos smirked. Then the surrounding gray vanished. Xina shot upright as her dream ended and the sound of Sherra's first transformation pierced the growing darkness.
"What's wrong!!" Amethyst gasped turning to see the twisting Sherra. The chimera approached the pained girl carefully. Duofolger was holding on to the Sherra and glancing about in confusion as his long time partner sprouted silver fur and dug furrows into his mazoku flesh.
"She's fighting it, and she doesn't know how," Xalan said in explanation, shrugging. "Mom's had a few accidents in the past, we've seen it before."
"Is there anything we can do," Amethyst asked desperately. "It sounds like it hurts a great deal."
"It does," Duofolger nodded. Then the transformation ceased and Sherra started breathing heavily, as if exhausted. "Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm fine!" Sherra snapped irritably. "Why are you still here, aren't you free now?"
"I can't think of anywhere else to go," the former sword shrugged, he slowly released the blue-silver furred fox-girl he immediately took to pacing.
So much for getting a little nap, Xina thought. Strange dreams, talking to Dad and Amelia, and now Sherra making all that noise.
"What do I do now?" Sherra whined, not caring if everybody heard her or not.
"Go hunting," Xina suggested. She started to stand up when the space around her faded out momentarily. She was in the gray again, and there was something hunting her. After a moment she realized that it was herding her somewhere. No wait, it was herding her AWAY from somewhere.
"Xina-san is right, you still seem a little...thin," Amethyst said diplomatically as Xina came to the real world again. Val was looking at her concerned, he must have noticed her blanking out for a moment there.
"There's point when trying to keep your figure shouldn't be a concern," Xalan added. Sherra's eyes bulged and she launched herself at Xalan. The kage-kitsune wasn't there by the time she finished the lunge.
Xina was up and a force bubble was around Sherra before anybody could move.
"Don't try to hurt my brother girl," Xina growled, narrowing her eyes. Xina noted Duofolger starting toward her and being halted by the appearance of Xalan with his light claws blazing inches from the mazoku's form. Val had also moved to Xina's back and seemed to be preparing an attack against the released mazoku.
"ALL OF YOU STOP THIS!!" Everybody stared at Amethyst in outright surprise. "Xalan Metallium! You apologize this INSTANT to her!" Xalan opened his mouth and suddenly the chimera blazed across the campsite and was glaring up into his face.
"I know she tried to kill Xina, but that was nearly a year ago," Amethyst continued in a very displeased tone, though her voice hadn't gone above a normal volume since the first shout. "Since then she has nearly gotten killed saving YOUR life and then had her own life quite neatly turned upside down. You owe her an apology." Xalan opened his mouth again and Amethyst rose to the tips of her toes and narrowed her eyes at him.
"You're right," he admitted finally. He released the claws of light and stepped away from threatening Duofolger, who was staring in confusion at the chimera. "Sorry, Sherra." Amethyst settled back on her feet and gave a satisfied smile.
"Does that settle everything?" the chimera asked everybody. Xina shrugged and her force bubble dissipated dropping Sherra to the ground.
He's a JERK! Sherra told herself suddenly, wondering when they were going to let the light back into the area. Don't jump to conclusions yet, this is just one incident, and you DID try to kill his sister.
"Sherra are you okay?" Duofolger asked. Sherra didn't bother to turn to face him, again, force of habit and she couldn't see him anyway.
"Once they get rid of the darkness spell," Sherra growled, her tail swished behind her angrily as she looked around and waited. Everybody looked at her confused for a moment, then the slayers stared at Jolrael.
"Jolrael-san," Amethyst started.
"Alright, alright," the swordsman shrugged. Suddenly Sherra could see again.
"Much better," she said arrogantly, then her stomach growled across the camp site. "What was that about hunting?" Another growling stomach was heard and everybody looked to Xina.
"I'll go with you," Xina said reluctantly. Xalan and Val exchanged a glance at that remark. "I need the practice anyway." Xina turned to her brother and the dragon and fixed them with a look that dared them to suggest she couldn't handle herself.
"That sounds like a good idea," Amethyst said. "Try to be nice to each other." The two fox-girls, one thoroughly furrier than the other, looked at the chimera princess as if she were crazy, then went into the forest to look for food.
"Are there bears around here?" Sherra asked.
Far to the north a being locked in place looked over his new minions. They weren't exceptionally powerful, but they would be able to discover what had happened to his general. He shifted in his prison and tried again to break free, without any success. The Water Dragon King had cast the enchantment too well.
Angered the dark lord cast out his mind and found the Elf Lord and his army. There was a power strong enough to destroy a general. The house of Feanor spreading its doomed fate throughout the known multiverse, springing up like a weed. Even here, in his homeworld. Well that would be stopped. The same way they had brought low the dwarves that had tried to settle in L-sama's world. The dark lord of the cold north turned to his assorted demons and lesser mazoku.
"Go and punish these mortals," Dynast shouted. "The elves, Sailloon, ALL of them...GO!! And leave the winter in your wake as you go!!"