AN: Ya'll! J-Novel Club is officially translating the novels! Go and get a subscription now and support translating the Slayers novels! They're starting again with the first novel and while I have a bit of anxiety because there are now 17 novels and the last two do not have full English fan translations and I worry that we'll never catch up, my husband assures me that J-Novel Club has never given up on translating a series barring one series that contained extreme racism. Still, don't leave anything to chance! Those of us who have been in Slayers fandom know what a long road getting official translations have been, so let's support J-Novel Club and Slayers!

Really…Slayers is the only thing 2020 has going for it.

On another note, between rewatching the show and re-reading the novels now, I'm on such a nostalgia binge that I've been wanting to do WAFFy stuff, not war stuff...but here I am. I've got some one shots in the works though.

Dark storm clouds gathered on the horizon, but rain did not fall as Lina held Aurelia as she stood beside Gourry, who was holding Midas, as they watched the students get in groups for the Ray Wing spell. Han and Leia stood to their right while Sylphiel and Rick stood to their left. Zelgadis was the only teacher currently at Maninstit who had not come down, and that was so he could be in his office should Amelia call. Sylphiel and Rick talked about their worries about the storm and how they hoped it would hold off as Lina tried not to read too much into notoriously unreliable weather omens and she had not noticed that Moe had come up behind them until he said, "Ray Wing spells?"

"Yes." Lina replied as he stopped right behind them.

"I guess that means we need to get there fast." Moe stated.

"As fast as we can," Lina said as her ears perked. Of course. As the Knight of the Airlord he might have a trick up his sleeve.

"Well, I can help with that. I could get us there in around an hour." Lightning flashed in the distance, followed by a crack of thunder so loud that it shook the ground and rattled Lina slightly. Aurelia clenched her hands around her shirt more tightly as she stuck her lower lip out as it quivered as she struggled with her overwhelming emotions, and Lina rubbed her back as she started to shush her. Beside them, Midas started crying, which was the cue for her to join him.

Setting aside the ominous feeling in her stomach (storms happen after all), Lina turned to look at him as she asked, raising her voice to be heard about the twins, "All of them?"

"Yeah." Moe said casually, as though he did this every day.

"But what about the storm?" Han asked. Lina apparently had not been the only one worried that they would be flying into it.

Moe frowned as he stared at the horizon, "I have ways to protect us. It will be a bit dicey, but they'd be safer with me than with a Ray Wing spell."

Lina smiled at this wave of good fortune, an encouraging sign as the musky scent of impending rain grew stronger, "Do it."

"Listen up, ladies and gentlemen!" Moe said, using his booming voice to his full advantage, "I have a trick up my sleeve that will get us there quickly. But first let's all gather as close as we can. We're all friends here after all!"

The students all started talking at once, but they moved closer to Moe as they did. "For once Naga is blending in." Gourry observed.

"Huh?" Lina said as she scanned the crowd. "I don't see her."

"She's just beside Moe, keeping still as a statue."

"I guess that's how she makes those entrances." Sylphiel commented.

"I've often wondered how long she'll stay in a room unobserved until she laughs." Leia added.

"Everyone pipe down!" Owen yelled, "I'm going to do a roll call, and then we're going to move on out."

Owen went through the roster for the school, and fortunately everyone was there. "Alright, Moe. We're ready."

"Check in with us when you reach Dils!" Lina yelled.

"We will." Owen said.

"And make it back alive." Lina added.

"That is the plan."

Moe then waved his arms around, and a large bubble of swirling air enveloped the group. It looked like the largest Ray Wing spell Lina had ever seen! Soon it rose to the sky, and Lina lifted her head up to watch them fly away. She winced as the first drop of rain fell on her face, and then another as her students flew so quickly that they were soon of view.

Rain pelted the tent and found its way in, allowing rivulets of water to drip onto the maps and intelligence reports as the wind howled outside, blowing the flaps of the tent open. An aide handed Maeve a cup of coffee, briefly taking her mind off the miserable weather. "No thanks." Maeve said, though in truth she had never been more eager to pick up the habit. She'd gotten a bit of a nap in after she'd reached the outskirts of Gyria City, but it would only be a matter of time before their enemies realized they were gathering, so they had to move quickly. Plus, it was hard to sleep through a storm like this while in a flimsy tent. Maeve pointed at a series of underground tunnels on the maps and asked, "Are we sure that this entrance into the castle is still viable?"

"Our spies used it just three days ago." General Ardith replied. The entrance had actually been intended as a secret escape route for the royal family. For that reason it was not well known and did not even appear to be guarded by the Mazoku that now inhabited the castle. But then, Mazoku could lurk from the astral plane, so nothing was certain. "The scout we sent this morning said that it appeared to be clear."

"Wonderful." Maeve said as she made her decision on how to enter the castle. "Are the Zannafar bombs ready?"

"Yes, Princess." General Ardith replied.

"Let's gather our forces and leave at once then." Maeve said.

Usually Gourry enjoyed the sense of being needed and the satisfaction that came with comforting his children. But as the storm raged on and the twins continued to cry as they clung to him, Gourry was feeling unusually short tempered. His students needed him more, and it was hard to focus on taking care of them. Gourry held one in each arm and bounced them as he talked about how the storm wouldn't harm them as he walked up and down the narrow space of Lina's office.

Somehow she had managed to tune all of the noise out as she focused on going through Hypatia's research. Gourry had hoped she'd find what Indy had talked about quickly, but it was taking longer than he hoped. Granted, Gourry wasn't sure if she was actually taking a lot of time or if a short amount of time seemed like an eternity when you're holding two screaming babies. Whichever it was, he was miserable in the office. "I'll be in Zel's office, when you're done with that. Or with your parents." He announced.

"Are you taking them with you?" Lina asked in panic as she looked up.

"Obviously." Gourry said as he reached the door and tried not to let it affected him too much. It was natural for tempers to be taunt right now. And when he closed the door behind him Lina had already dived backed into the research.

Gourry walked next door to Zel's office and knocked. "Come in."

Gourry did, and found Zelgadis balancing Justina on his lap as he graded papers. "Should we let them play together?" Gourry asked as the twins calmed down as they saw Justina looking happy. A thunderclap shook the building, but she laughed and clapped her hands together. Still, despite her glee, Zel seemed stressed.

"Yeah, she's been wanting to be held a lot since Amelia left." Zelgadis said as he indicated a blanket with some blocks he'd laid on the floor. "But having the twins distracts her."

"Looks like it's mutual." Gourry said as Aurelia sniffed but did not cry while Midas put his thumb in his mouth. Both still looked wary but if Justina thought things were fine they seemed willing to trust her assessment. Meanwhile, Justina nearly jumped out of Zel's lap in her eagerness to get to her friends. Zelgadis set her down on the blanket, and Gourry set the twins by her. Justina eagerly grabbed the blocks as the twins joined in, and Gourry was grateful that they were finally distracted from the storm. Then he looked at Zel as he took a seat on the other side of his desk and asked, "How are you holding up?"

Zel tried to smile but quickly gave it up, "I'm so worried about her I can't even focus on these damn papers! I've been grading Peter's assignment for the past two hours, wondering why the hell I'm staying here when she's out there and could die!"

Gourry didn't have to reflect long about how he would feel if Lina were there without him to understand how Zel was feeling. "Are you needing to leave?"

"I agreed to stay here with Jus in exchange for Amelia promising me she wouldn't charge into the battlefield." Zelgadis explained, "She wants one of us with Justina no matter what. I begged her to come home, but her damned sense of justice…So I settled for keeping her from the center of the fight."

"You're doing all that you can then." Gourry pointed out.

"But what if it makes no difference?" Zelgadis asked. "I keep thinking about how she was drawn to the battle in the first place, in the future that you saw. She's supposedly a good distance away from it! What if it doesn't matter? Or what if it's still a massacre and we can't live with ourselves, knowing that we made it alive at the expense of the students of this school..."

A bad feeling settled in Gourry's stomach. While his dreams gave him enough information to get an idea of what would happen, there was still so much critical information it seemed he was lacking. It was like trying to put a jigsaw puzzle together when most of the pieces were missing. And worse, Zel was tapping into his own guilt over not being there. "I wish I could do more. But I have to believe that every little bit helps. And trust that we trained our students well."

Zelgadis was quiet for a moment and then he said quietly, "But it's not your wife out there."

The tension in the room seemed icy as Gourry admitted, "No, it isn't."

The bad mood that had befallen Maninstit once the students left was obviously taking its toll on Zel, and Gourry wondered if he should give him some space. "I need to get back to grading these papers." Zelgadis said quickly, "You can hang around if you want."

"Right." Gourry said as he looked at the kids who were happily playing with their blocks. But before he could give too much thought to what to do, Lina walked in.

"Let's get my parents to watch the kids." She announced, "We need to go back into the tunnels."

"What?" Gourry said, "Why?"

"There's something I need to look at." Lina said as she bent down to pick up Midas, "We need to bring Sylphiel. Though we'll put her far away just in case, but I want someone ready with a Resurrection spell if need be."

"Do you need me?" Zel asked.

"Not right now, but I'll let you know if that changes." Lina said.

"I still don't understand." Gourry said as she grabbed Aurelia.

"I don't think those purple flames were a booby trap." Lina replied as they walked out together.

Amelia quietly packed her things as she waited for news. Sure, she could have her maid do it, but she needed something to distract herself. She nearly jumped when she turned and saw the projection of the page she'd sent to deliver a message to Maeve, and then she relaxed. "Did Princess Maeve receive your message?"

"No, I'm sorry Princess Amelia, but I got here too late." He explained, "She'd already left by the time I got here."

Amelia lowered her head, "I understand. Stay in position and give me updates as they arrive."

"Understood. Is there anything else."

"No," Amelia said, and the spell ended. Amelia reminded herself that reinforcements were on their way and returned to focus on packing when there was a knock on the door. "Come in."

A maid entered and said, "Excuse me, Princess Amelia, but King Moros has arrived and is requesting an audience."

Amelia's eyes narrowed, "Good. Take me to him."

Amelia followed the maid into one of the meeting rooms. Moros smiled as he saw her, "Ah, Princess Amelia. Thank you for meeting me."

"What do you want?" Amelia said, not feeling in the mood for formalities.

"I want to make a deal." Moros replied.

Amelia raised her eyebrow, "All of the dealing is behind us. We hammered out an agreement that all of our nations agreed to before the troops left."

"Yes, but I did not feel as though it was as advantageous to Xoana as it could be." Moros explained, and Amelia could instantly see where he was going. "So I am letting you know that I have ordered Duchess Orianna to withhold her troops until you agree to let her rule Dils."

Amelia smiled as she folded her arms under her breasts, "Anyone who would use such unjust methods to obtain more power has proven themselves unworthy! Indeed, Heaven has already foiled your plan, King Moros."

"What?" Moros said as his eyes widened.

"We received intelligence about your plan." Amelia said, "And as we speak warriors from the Luke and Milina School of Sorcery and Swordplay are on their way to do what your nation, in their cowardice won't!"

Moros backed away as if affronted, "B-but…"

"So if you want Duchess Orianna to rule Dils, then you'd better get her on the battlefield, stat! Because winning by the agreement that was reached by our nations is the only way that she will be Queen of Dils!"

King Moros turned beat red as he stammered for a page. "Get word to Duchess Orianna to send the troops to the battlefield at once!"

"Right, your highness."

Amelia nodded, "Is there anything else."

"No." Moros said as he looked at her with hatred burning in his eyes. Amelia sensed that she had made an enemy, but given that she had sent more help to Dils in the process she was content to worry about it later.

"Pleasant day then." Amelia said as she turned to walk away, and then she stopped and smiled as she said, "I look forward to celebrating Dils' liberation later tonight!"

Moros's hands bunched into fists as the anger pulsated from him, and Amelia turned and held her head high as she walked away. She suddenly felt much better about the promise she had made to Zelgadis not to go to the battlefield. Even though she couldn't help in person, she had arranged for the help that always should arrive to do so. Hopefully between Xoana's help and the reinforcements from Maninstit, it would be enough!

Maeve walked ahead of the group in the tunnels with General Ardith at her side. Behind her was a group of the most powerful sorcerers Zeferia could round up, as well as the most talented swordfighters. Some had magical swords, but most did not. There were even a few Ceiphied Knights. They crowded together as closely as they could in the narrow tunnels. While they were easily traversable, it was obvious they were starting to become neglected, which was a good thing. "We should be getting close soon." Ardith said.

Up ahead Maeve thought she could see a door. This was it. The easy part was over. Maeve tried to stop her shaking hands as she focused on the battle ahead and mentally preparing herself for it. Thunder cracked, and for a moment Maeve was surprised that they could hear it in the tunnels. But then she realized that it was not thunder! She started chanting a Holy Magic spell to put a barrier up and hoped she would be fast enough as the tunnel started collapsing around them, raining dirt, debris and rocks upon their heads. Maeve finished casting the spell just in time, and the rock made strange hissing sounds as they hit the barriers, as if they were burning.

"Is everyone alright?" General Ardith yelled.

"We lost the last quarter." Someone from the back said, "The barrier didn't extend that far."

Maeve felt her stomach drop. She knew that often once you started a battle things went awry, but this felt so early for that to happen. "Did the Zannafar bombs survive?" she asked.

"Yes." Someone said.

We have those at least. Maeve thought. Maeve looked ahead of her. Rocks and rubble now blocked their path forward and backwards. And above them there was a few miles of dirt and rock ready to bury them alive. "I need a sorcerer to cast a Dil Brand so we can charge ahead. I will extend the shield as we do."

A young man came forward, and did as she asked, and they started the laborious process of clearing the path ahead. Maeve tried not to focus on her fear of what would happen if her shield failed or what would happen when they breached the castle. One problem at a time.

Slowly demolishing the rocks took longer than walking, and there was no way to determine how much longer they had to go. But when the sorcerer finally breached the castle, it was not the relief Maeve was wanting. A Mazoku stood before them, ready with an attack spell building. And Maeve had not even thought to grab a Zannafar bomb to be ready to throw at a moment's notice! And with her focus directed to maintaining the shield spell, she had no attack spell ready.

She also couldn't drop the spell without the roof caving in on the rest of her soldiers. But fortunately they were a bit more prepared that her. "Ra Tilt!" one said, but the Mazoku teleported away, allowing the spell to pass harmlessly through the spot her had been, before rematerializing to release his attack.

Another sorcerer leapt forward with a shield spell, and Maeve knew they had to get out of there as soon as they could. But they'd handed the Mazoku a huge strategic advantage! It was all too easy for him to pick them off one at a time this way. "Who has a Zannafar bomb?" Maeve asked.

"Me!" General Ardith replied as she stepped forward.

The attack ended and the forward shield spell was dropped, and General Ardith pulled her hand back and threw it at the Mazoku. But he grinned as he lifted his hand up, and Maeve saw a hint of a strange looking red talisman flash as the Zannafar bomb bounced off an invisible field surrounding him and went flying back into the tunnel and hit Maeve instead, causing the world to go black.