Discailmer: I don't own Slayers, never have and never will. That is why you are seeing this here, and not published where I could be making some kind of money.

MOON SAYS: This is my new oneshot! I hope you like it, I felt the need to take a break from my other ones, and just do this. I needed to do a XL, there aren't enough of those out there. Sorry if it's a little OOC.

SUMMERY: This wasn't supposed to happen. I wasn't supposed to die while not fighting alongside my love. I would die and he wouldn't be here—my secret Mazoku love. Oneshot, XL

8 pages; 5275 words; ENJOY!

Power of a Knight

I shouldn't have done it. I knew that Xelloss—Trickster Priest that he is and past experiences—would lead me into a situation where I would regret following and listening to him. But this cloak, I had to have it! Not only was it magical—that didn't begin to describe it—it was said to be a present from the Lord of Nightmares to her Knight.

Yes, I was surprised when I heard that the LoN had a Knight. It had so many magical properties that Xelloss and all his knowledge couldn't tell me exactly all of its gifts. I know a magic upgrade was one, invisibility another one, not to mention that it cloaks your magical signature. So if someone walks by you they have no idea of you have magic or not.

So it was worth it to follow Xelloss. I knew Xelloss would point the way, let me at it, then zoom in after it's all done congratulate me, and either grab and disappear with the item I worked so hard for and risked my life for or leave it with me. When he did the latter it made me wonder sometimes if he just liked watching me…and that lead me to start having feelings for him. And feeling like I had a stalker…

But something happened this time that I didn't plan.

Xelloss promised me—on his magic, which he told me is like everything that he is, he is magic, a demon of magic—that besides traps and the likes, regular tomb guarding things, there would honestly be no real problem there—that he knew of.

And he wasn't wrong; I got the cloak, no real problems there. It turned out to be afterwards to be the problem.

Said problem was a whole bunch of Mazoku. Well….five on one is a whole bunch.

I couldn't tell if this was an after trap or just my luck. I could tell that they were powerful. I have lots of power, but not enough to take on all of them at once.

There were five with lots of power. Not as much as Xelloss of course, he was a Priest and General, so to be honest I thought he may have been stronger then some of the Mazoku Lords. No, they were probably, if I had to take a guess a step under Priest or General.

One of Xelloss' subordinates once told me that I had the power level of a Priest or General. Yet, he mocked me that his Master could kill me at anytime. I told him I knew Xelloss could, but wouldn't for fear I would kill him first. Then the dumbass started annoying with his insistence that Xelloss could kill me, not the other way around. I ended up killing him, Xelloss then chose that moment to show up. He looked at the mess I made, for the way I decided to kill the idiot that annoyed me was in fact quiet sadistic.

He then congratulated me and told me he expected me to snap sooner. Then got to explaining some type of quest he wanted to do then. That one ended up with him stealing and burning a piece of the Clair Bible that someone had written down. I started beating him, but seconds later I realized that he loved it; he was a masochist after all. I stopped and walked off. That puzzled and annoyed him at the same time. Good day's work.

And now I need to think of what was happening. I was trapped with five high ranked Mazoku, and I had a feeling I wasn't going to survive. I had been in enough 'battles for your life' to know one when I saw it, and to know if I was going to survive.

There were so many things I wanted to do, yet I had no regrets. Except one. One I knew would never come true. I wanted to die in battle fighting alongside my true love. One thing I knew I could never have was love. I had a childlike crush on Gourry before. Now, I loved someone I could never have. And I was fine with that. Until now of course.

I looked from one Mazoku to another, turning around in a circle as I did it. They had surrounded me. Well, if I was going die, might as well do some of the talking I was famous for.

"So…did Xelloss send you?" I asked knowing deep inside that Xelloss wasn't responsible…for once.

They scoffed at me, how dare they? The red one in front of me sneered as he spoke. "You speak of that traitor? Please, we see him, we kill him. He betrayed our Master one too many times." Red's lip curled up even more as he looked at me.

That confused me. Xelloss betray the Mazoku? Okay yes I could see that, but he would never betray his Master. Xelloss was more loyal to Beastmaster Zelas than any human could say they were to another. He would never betray her, yet they just said he did. So I was either getting the short version or they were lying their asses off and wanted to trick me. There had to be something I was missing. I would have sighed if I wasn't in mortal peril. Nothing about Xelloss was ever easy or not complicated.

"Then why are you here? If you're here to kill me, I would have figured you were smart enough to realize that the last Mazoku who tried that didn't live. Neither did Gaav or Philbrizo for that matter."

The blue one behind me snarled, "Do not speak of what you do not know human. And for the reason…we can't allow you to…" Blue snickered when he was finished.

That only made me mad. "So you are going to kill me for no reason? Damn Mazoku! How about I kill you first?"

With that said I threw a fireball at the Green. Then I threw the Lightning Spell at Blue. After that not even a second later I used another Spell to throw myself to the right—toward Green—once I got to my feet I was behind Green. The smoke let me get right by him. He was too distracted by my Spell to notice me.

Fortunately for me, Red and Yellow were looking at the purple Mazoku. I quickly deduced that he was indeed the leader. I took out the sword that was strapped to my back, powered it up with just a shot of power from me.

I was told—by none other than Xelloss—that the sword I now held in my hands was more powerful then the Sword of Light. But lucky for me they didn't know that. I toned down the power level of the sword. Didn't want them to know what power I held until I was ready to kill them with it.

"You lowly human," a voice rasped out, it came from Purple. "You can't defeat us with low level Spells such as those. Xelloss always said you were powerful, was he overestimating you? Yet, I don't see what he claimed was there. Or are you playing with us?" Purple chuckled, "Hiding the true power of the sword I see, how like Xelloss you are. It doesn't take much to see what he saw in you."

I didn't have time to like the compliment of being like Xelloss. He knew I hide the power, but he didn't know its full power—neither did I, but that was beside the point. What I needed to do was take them all out as quickly as possible.

But the only spells that I knew could do that much damage were the LoN's. And I am afraid of using her power. There was nothing stopping her from not helping me, and then I would destroy the world. That was one of my greatest fears.

An idea came to me. I wasn't exactly sure if the Spell was okay to use—I just remembered that lady telling me about it—or not. Whose power did it draw from? Of course there was always that Spell that Fila taught me. It made me want to laugh about the irony of that Spell. Dragon's breathe fire after all. Or a Spell that makes it look like it.

I then decided on the course of action that I would take. First Fila's Spell, then the unknown one, then full powered up sword.

I chanted the Spell, the Mazoku just stood there waiting for me to finish. They wanted a fight, one worthy of them—or how worthy they thought they were. They all looked confused at my chanting. They didn't know the language I realized quickly. That meant they were young, and had never met a real dragon in combat before.

Good for me! I thanked the LoN for my luck.

When I finished I gave them a smirk. "Bye bye boys!" I aimed it at them and yelled, "DRAGON'S FIRE!"

Dragon's Fire was a type of fireball shot from my hands—which were held at arm's length and level with my mouth. So it looked like after I said 'Fire' that I was indeed breathing fire at them.

After the energy left me, I knew it killed at least two of them, I started the next Spell. That last one would take out two tops, and hopefully this one took at the rest, if not two would be okay, instead of three I wanted dead.

I created a barrier around me, a Dragon one, one that I know would take them a while to get through. If it took Xelloss a few minutes it would take them much longer. And that was when he was at half strength. Yes, I tested this barrier out on him a few months ago, when he told me of my last quest.

I held my hands in front of me, cradled them while shaping a ball. Less than a second of shaping said ball, my hands stopped and stood still on the sides of the ball I shaped. My voice rang true and clear, not carrying any of the fear I held. If this didn't work, then I was really going to die. Could I accept that?

"Darkness darker then Twilight,

Light that lights passed the Dawn,

Your ally calls for your help."

I felt the Mazoku that survived my last Spell throwing everything they had against my barrier. I didn't think that with them together they might get through. I needed to hurry, I clenched my teeth. If I didn't they could get through, and then I was dead.

"Come to my aid,

Darkness and Light,

Destroy my enemies,

With your might,

Darkness defeats Light,

Light beats the Darkness."

Only then did I remember the Spell's name. Only then did I remember who had given me the Spell. It was a Chaos Spell.

"CHAOS DESTROYER!"

Power gathered in my hand, I felt it, it was all my helplessness, all my pain, my sorrow, my fear, everything I felt, and it was in this Spell. As soon as those words left my mouth, my emotions gathered and were summoned into the Spell. It then fired at the Mazoku that were left: Red and Yellow.

Once the smoke and dust cleared I saw nothing. No Mazoku remains, nothing. Yet, I knew that Purple survived. He left before I had completed the Spell. Damn it!

I suddenly felt so drained. I felt like I did when I first used the Giga Slave against that piece of Ruby Eye Shabranigdo that I fought with Zelgadiss and Gourry. I took a piece of my hair and brought it to where I could see it. Yep, it was white, not the red that I loved so much.

I feel to my knees. My breath was coming out in short bursts, I was having trouble breathing. My guard dropped, I was just too tired to hold it up. Luna was a Knight, she had it instilled in me that Knight's never give up, they never drop their guards, they never give in to pain, and they never fear death.

And yet here I was, barely breathing because it hurt, couldn't stand because I felt so drained, and I feared death. I was afraid to die, why? Because the closest thing I got to happiness in my childhood was Fairy Tales. Every since I read that story about the Purple Sorceress and how she fought alongside her love till she died in battle with him at her side, that had been the way I wanted to die.

But here I was, loveless, and about to die. I felt the dark energy suddenly appear in front of me. There he was: Purple. He gave me a long look before he spoke.

"You really are a Child of Chaos, able to draw on her power, and yet walk away each time. It's a shame that I have to kill you, but orders are orders. Unlike that bastard traitor, I won't break the rules for you."

I didn't even take in what he said. He implied that Xelloss betrayed his Master because of me, for me. The Mazoku wanted me dead—again—and he was standing up for me. He did something I thought he could never do. He was made to serve and obey his Master, never betray her. And yet, from what Purple said, he did just that.

But of course, I didn't think about that. No, I was too busy thinking about my death. The death that would come from the arm he just raised. From the power I felt him summon. From the power I felt him gather and shape to form the Spell that would end my life. I felt him aim the Spell.

This wasn't supposed to happen. I wasn't supposed to die while not fighting alongside my love. I would die and he wouldn't be here—my secret Mazoku love.

I closed my eyes and waited for him to release the power he had gathered to kill me. But instead I heard a familiar voice mock me.

"Come on Lina-san, I thought you were better than this. Or are you really Lina-san? Lina-san wouldn't just die and not fight back. She would be fighting till she died while taking her enemy with her."

I opened my red eyes and saw Xelloss behind Purple, it seemed Purple didn't notice or hear him. I chuckled; Xelloss was really powerful if he could mask his presence and his words near someone with this kind of power.

This kind of power…I had it, I had more then stupid wannabe Mazoku. How could I ever think that this damn Mazoku was more powerful than me? Me, theLina Inverse? I led to the death of Chaos Dragon Gaav, and Hellmaaster Philbrizo's death. I defeated a piece of Shabranigdo. Respectively, I got help from the Lord of Nightmares.

I glared up at Purple; he just released the Spell when he noticed my defiance. I felt something inside of me snap. It gathered what was left of my power, a power I wasn't sure if it was even there. I let it loose, I felt free for the first time in my life.

It was only then when I let my power go, when I realized what I had done all my life. I had held myself back, trapped and locked away my power deep inside of me. I must have done it in response to how inferior I felt to Luna.

She was the big Knight of Ceilphied; there was no one more powerful than her. So to keep to that truth and the fact I was afraid of her, I pushed it back. And little by little every time I used big power, I let some of it out.

Now I let it all out. I was truly me now. Was this what Purple meant when he said Xelloss told him I was powerful? Xelloss must have known, and then he mocked me, which would get my anger going in full force and let it out.

It dawned on me that was what Xelloss had been doing ever since we fought with Darkstar. All those quests he made me do, he was paving the road for when I did release it. That look on his face when he mocked me—his mask fell—he was worried. I knew because of his look that this wasn't meant to happen. That he only said those words because he didn't know what else to do. He could have helped me, but if I knew that I could have been free, then I would have resented him.

I tossed those thoughts aside; they had no place during a fight.

The wave of power I released knocked Purple back and then I took my chance. His guard was down, he was unfocused, and he made himself a target. I shoved what I had left from the wave I just released into the sword and ran for him.

Within seconds my sword slashed in front of me and the wave it created destroyed Purple completely and utterly. There was nothing left of him. My sword and its power slashed all the way to the Astral Plane.

After he was gone the power I put in the sword came back to me, and it left me panting. I slide the sword back in it's sheathe and closed my eyes. The world started getting moving. So when I fell I knew it was because I was dizzy and light headed, not from the wind that blew at me. There was no way that wind could make Lina Inverse fall.

Xelloss caught me. "Whoa there Lina-san, don't want to hit the ground do we?"

I was too exhausted to snap back at him and he noticed. He frowned. He became silent. I finally opened my eyes. The first thing is was his brilliant purple ones. I had always loved the color purple and it wasn't from that Sorceress I read about. Purple was calm, yet commanding. Powerful, yet not showing it off. It was everything I wanted to be.

He blinked; I knew he was sensing my emotions. Before he could say something I spoke, "Took you long enough." I choked out, I had wanted to say it with some anger laced in it, but I couldn't find any.

"Lina-san…your emotions are…gone. What did you do?"

I laughed, it didn't sound like one, but it's the thought that counts. "I used a Spell I didn't know what it would do. Turned out to be a Chaos Spell, it took every emotion I had and fueled itself."

Again, Xelloss let his mask drop as he frowned. I felt him touch my hair. "So that is why it's white, and not the beautiful color it's supposed to be."

I really wasn't in the mode to piece everything together bit by bit. If I did, I would have realized that Xelloss actually cared for me. For leading me to magical items that would help me, and saving me at the last minute, and of course my favorite: secretly challenging me so that I was secretly training and not even knowing it.

I closed my eyes. "Cut the bullshit Xelloss. Tell me, why did you betray your Master? Out of every Mazoku that has ever lived, you were the most loyal. Almost all Mazoku do not have a loyal bone in their body. Yet all your bones have it in there—if it's for your Master. There was nothing that would stop you from completing the tasks given to you. Hell, you would have even killed me given the order."

Xelloss became quiet; his mask I knew was back up. Then slowly and quietly he spoke, "That was one order I couldn't take."

I opened my eyes; did he just say what I thought he just said? He wouldn't kill me? I should have asked why, but I didn't. I asked, "What happened?"

Xelloss answered right away, it seemed he liked the question better than the one he thought I would ask. "You are always unpredictable Lina-san. I can never predicate what you will do most of the time." He chuckled, "I left you because I was called away. We then talked about you. Apparently many of the Mazoku think you are the Knight of Shabranigdo. It would make sense, given how you throw the Dragon Slave off at every turn."

"It's true, what can I say?" I laughed or tried to.

I saw his mouth twitch, for some reason I thought he wanted to smile. "Then I was asked, since everyone thinks I am an expert on you," I snorted. "My thoughts exactly, I told them no one can be an expert on you, except Luna." I shivered, he ignored it. "Then they asked me if you would accept the title. Let me say this. They fear you either way. If you choose to take the role, you would have control over them, and more power than the Mazoku Lords."

I didn't gasp, I didn't have the energy, instead I just blinked. "Not that you need more power. But they think that if you don't accept the position then you would destroy them all for asking you. Either way they don't like what would happen. I told them you wouldn't accept, and they just decided to kill you. I tried to warn them off, no one understands that when push comes to shove…aka trying to kill Lina Inverse, she wins. I brought up how the Lord of Nightmares favors you, but they ignored that." He rolled his eyes, "They seem content to think that trying to kill you will have no repercussions. Look, first one, you killed their best assassins."

The way he was talking had me thinking. "You keep referring to them by themselves, as if you aren't a part of them. Did you really betray them?"

Xelloss waited a moment before looking into my eyes. I gasped then. The eyes are really the windows to the soul. Emotions I though Mazoku couldn't have, he showed me they did.

"Zelas told me to kill you, for I was their best assassin. I then brought up more reasons not to kill you." He scoffed, "it was a shock to her that I wasn't immediately doing what she told me to do. I then flat out refused her the next time she said it." He paused as his eyes bore into mine. "She accused me of having feelings for you and tried to destroy me because of it."

"No!" I said as I grabbed his arm and squeezed.

Xelloss seemed amused at my reaction. It was as if he wasn't sure if I was saying it for the feelings or for his ex-master trying to kill him. "I dodged and a few minutes later I hit her with one of my Spells and left."

His eyes trailed over my body—not sexually—taking in my bruises and cuts. "Sorry I didn't arrive sooner."

That was when I knew, that was when I connected the dots. Xelloss cared about me. But I wondered did he care about me the way I did him? There was only one way to find out.

I found his eyes and boldly started into them. It seemed my little eye starting thing caught the Trickster Priest off guard. I was going to catch him off guard even more by the time I was done with him. "Well, they are going to be after us after they find out those different colored Mazoku didn't kill me. We need to get out of here, and you are coming with me."

I stood up, and almost fell down again. I heard him laugh at me. I growled, "Don't you laugh! I want to see you perform a Spell meant only for a Dragon to use," he raised an eyebrow. "And a Spell coming from the Lord of Nightmares, along with uncovering power you had hidden away for most of your life and unleashing it. Then try channeling some through this blasted sword, and see if you start walking less than five minutes later."

He didn't gap, but did something close to it. I grabbed his arm and started dragging him. "Let's go, Trickster Priest. We have lots of things to discuss."

I watched his face to see him surprised yet again. Was it just me that could get under that mask of his?

"And pray tell, Lina-san, these things we need to discuses." It sounded like he was playing with me.

I snorted, "There is the fact that we are on the run from Mazoku. We need a plan, and we need to know what we are going to do. I believe someone as smart as you can get that." I chuckled as I looked into his eyes. "I think we need to discuss certain feelings that lead you to betray your ex-mistress."

He stumbled, "What?" he stuttered. I stopped and fully turned toward him. A stare down started.

I sighed, "Xelloss, if you think the enemy is underestimating me, then what about you? You seem to forget I can connect the dots. Most of the dots came from those five colored freaky Mazoku, and the final ones came from you." I gave him my best 'you will do as I say' look. "I think before we continue and try to save our lives while on the run from very powerful beings, we need to talk. I won't feel comfortable entrusting my life—for that is exactly what we are doing—to someone who I think is hiding something I feel I need to know. Okay real irony there given those first two years we met. But back to the point I need to know especially since this got you in trouble from the beginning."

It was then that I looked away. I felt ashamed, I had caused this. I had made him turn his back on everything he knew, everything that he was. I knew he felt it, if I felt it.

I soon felt a hand under my chin raising it so I could look into his eyes. "I don't understand. You feel sorrow, shame, and…heartache. Why?"

I laughed, it was either that or I was going to cry. That laugh was mostly choking sounds. "It's my fault your on the run. If you had just killed me, then you would be happy, or as happy as a Mazoku can be. I ruined your life, I—"

I was cut off by the feel of lips against mine. Xelloss kissed me. Lina Inverse. Mazoku kissed human. When he broke the kiss, he answered the question I had filling up my mind.

"Over the last three or more years since I met you, you have proved to me again and again so many things. You have showed me strength, a power so powerful I'm attracted to it. From the first moment I met you I became obsessed with you. You fascinated me, you were different than anything I had meant. You were a challenge. And you still do. I care for you Lina Inverse, even when you re-discovered your power and have an after effect of that Spell you used is making you unlike who you really are. You are the infamous Lina Inverse, feared by humans, Mazoku and the Gods alike. You hold the world in the palm of your hand. It's why the Gods and Mazoku want you so bad. It's why they fear you. Whatever side you are on, is the winning one."

I was speechless, which is a hard thing to accomplice with me being Lina Inverse and all. He didn't say I love you, but it wouldn't be long. For I was Lina Inverse, I had the whole world in the palm of my hand. If I wanted this Mazoku's love, I would have it. And if I had to do it on the run, then so be it. But what is love without challenge or an adventure? Add to that an awesome new magical cloak—which was what started all of this in the first place—what more could a girl want?

~Fin~

Well, there it is. I hoped you liked it. Tell me what you think! REVIEW!