DISCLAIMER – I do not own anything from The Slayers!, Slayers Next, Slayers Try, Slayers the Motion Picture, Slayers Return, Slayers Great, Slayers Gorgeous, Slayers Premium, Slayers the Book of Spells, Slayers EVOLUTION, Slayers EVOLUTION-R or Lost Universe. Bakki/Hyeonsook, Dolomova, Gnomesta, Salamanda, Spritea, Sylfesta, Nacreous, and Night Terror are my original characters. The Wind Dragon King, the Earth Dragon King, Dynast Grauscherra, Deep Sea Dolphin, and Zellas Metallium are not my original characters in concept, but they are more or less original to my physical design and characteristics since they never made full appearances in the original storylines. Maryland and Maryland are mine. All spells introduced by Bakki/Hyeonsook in this story were my own compositions. Luo Glaon is not an original character, but his talisman is an original idea. Kymaziphied & Verhevenphied are names I came up with since the original story never introduced the names of the two ruling gods aside from Ceiphied and Vorphied. "Myacraligdo" & "Necruwigdo" were also my original ideas for the full names of Death Fog and Chaotic Blue. All chants for spells originally from the saga that are used in this fanfiction are the translated versions found in the subtitles on DVD for the entire saga. Finally, the concept of how The Slayers! Saga ends and how Lost Universe begins in this two part fanfiction is my original idea. Ask permission before you use an idea off this fiction for your own.

AUTHOR'S NOTE – Again, underlined font is in English. Crimean Collapse is my original spell.

Chapter 3: CURIOUS! What is Xellos doing here?

~ COURTROOM INSIDE SEYRUUN CASTLE ~

It had taken Philionel all of six days to gather emissaries from all of his neighboring kingdoms plus others farther away that had diplomatic connections to Seyruun. The Dukedom of Lyzeille and the Empire of Elmekia were still too far to have emissaries reach Seyruun in that time, so it had been decided to send letters by Phil himself, with Bakki's editing, to explain the details of the current situation. The Kingdom of Dils had been unable to send an emissary, but the king had sent a letter of good intent to explain that his country was in hard times and he couldn't afford to send out any of his men. Amelia had been furious that Dils didn't make light of the gravity of contemporary situations, but Philionel calmed her down.

Philionel was now seated above the podium set for Milgasia. The dragon had been asked to explain the understandings of the prophecy to the gathered council. As such, Milgasia stood at his place going in detail about the prophecy of the Wind Dragon King. Bakki stood waiting next to him for his turn, which didn't come for nearly two hours. When he was called forward, Bakki made sure to explain further than Milgasia did of his interpretations of the prophecy.

As expected, Bakki faced many opposing views. He countered arguments left and right and managed to shut up most people. One person, however, was stubborn to the very end.

"Wizer Freion, of Ruvinagald."

Lina's face disfigured at the sound of the voice. 'Oh God, not him…'

"Your explanations make sense in almost every way," Wizer stated. "However, I just cannot bring myself to believe in them." There was a stir of murmuring that followed his statement.

"And why is that?" Bakki asked politely. Those in the crowd couldn't notice, but Lina and Zelgadis both saw a fire burning in Bakki's eyes.

"I have no definitive reason to trust you," Wizer proclaimed. "As far as I know, you are not a representative or a priest of Seyruun nor the dragons. Therefore, you do not hold credibility behind your words and stance. Just who are you?"

Bakki's body flashed silver as he lifted into the air with an invisible force. Wizer and many others backed away and covered their eyes from the brightness.

"I am a visitor to your world, human," Bakki said in an echoing tone. "To you, I may be nothing, but know that you speak to a demigod of the planet Earth outside of your realm. I know truths that you cannot imagine. Though I may not know your world, I know enough that I can see danger ahead for this world. Take my word to heed, human. It may save your life."

Wizer stopped shading his eyes and stood his ground. "Prove to us, then, that you are some powerful enough to declare such things us."

"Mr. Wizer," Philionel said as he stepped up. "Mr. Bakki here has been able to set such powerful barriers around this entire city that no one of monster origin has been able to enter—not even from the astral plane. Isn't that enough to prove his power?"

"No," Wizer stated flatly. "I do not doubt your words, Prince Philionel, but barriers alone do not constitute power."

Lina sighed. Wizer had always been unreasonable in his words and actions.

"In other words," Bakki said in the same echoing tone. "You want to see me not only block out the unwanted, but to destroy it as well."

Wizer narrowed his eyes further. "That would certainly seem like a reasonable request."

Bakki hovered in silence for a few moments. "Very well then," he said after a while. "I shall lower the barrier in the western part of Seyruun. Whatever Mazuko may enter that part of the city will be met with accordingly. Would that satisfy you?"

Wizer smirked. "For now."

~ WESTSIDE OF SEYRUUN CITY ~

"Don't let him get to you, Bakki," Lina suggested. "That guy has a way of just getting under everyone's skin. He listens to no reason whatsoever."

Bakki's expression did not soften at her words. "I'm sorry, Lina, I know that I am very unbecoming of me right now, but I'm not backing down to some arrogant fool so quickly."

"Eh, you men and power," Lina said, shrugging. "I guess even gay guys have masculinity issues."

"Hey!" Bakki half-twirled towards Lina, his face flushed. "What the hell do you mean by that?" he screamed.

"Well, what else is this aside from guys comparing the size of their balls?" Lina questioned.

Bakki blushed a little more brightly. "You do have somewhat of a point, but you have no right to compare me to typical men!"

Lina giggled and patted Bakki on the head. "It's alright to be compared to others once in a while, you know?"

Zelgadis had an uncomfortable look on his face. "Do you think that he looked down on you because…well…"

"Because he thought Bakki was so girly?" Lina finished for him. Zel nodded.

Bakki sighed. "That would be a possibility. Many men, and some women, have often tried to put me down because of how girly I appear and sound. I try not to let it bother me, though. Most people usually don't say anything directly to my face or try to push me down since my husband would send them to the next world if they said the wrong thing, but right now…I guess I am on my own."

Lina understood what concerned Zelgadis. She had chosen the word 'girly' even though she figured Zelgadis meant 'gay.' He wasn't doing a good job at the moment of hiding his personal concerns over his own secret. It also bothered Lina that Bakki seemed to have too much of an understanding look in his eyes as he put a hand on Zelgadis' shoulder.

"Don't worry, I never let that get the best of me," he said reassuringly. He gave Zelgadis a smile. "What such people think of me matters not in the least. As long as I have friends and family that love me for who I am, that is all that I need."

Zel gasped quietly at those words. Bakki winked at him and turned around. Lina figured he was saving Zelgadis some embarrassment.

"More importantly," Bakki trailed off as he pointed a finger up into the sky. A beam of light exited his hand and struck an invisible target in midair. Moments later, a spatial rift opened up and a Mazuko fell out of it and onto the ground. It dissolved into nothing a few seconds later.

Bakki turned with a smug look on his face towards Wizer, who was standing a good thirty feet away. Wizer didn't look fazed at all by Bakki's actions, though.

"Where are all these Mazuko coming from?" he shouted.

Bakki shrugged. "They have been gathering around this city ever since I put up my barriers. They are probably dying to know if this city is hiding a huge secret or something."

"No, I think there may be another reason."

"Huh?" Lina expressed.

Wizer took a stance and pointed at Lina. "Lina Inverse! You are calling all these Mazuko to this city, are you not?"

Lina fell to the ground. "WHY THE HELL WOULD I BE DOING THAT? I DON'T EVEN KNOW THIS MANY MAZUKO!"

"Oh, so you admit that you know the Mazuko!" Wizer inferred.

"GAH! YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ANYTHING I SAY!"

"That is out of the question!" Wizer declared. "Why should I ever listen to anything that you say?"

"So then, why would I bring all these Mazuko to Seyruun?" Lina asked.

"That is simple!" Wizer took a different stance. "IT IS BECAUSE YOU ARE LINA INVERSE!"

Lina crashed face-first into the ground.

"Honestly, can he not do better than that?" Zelgadis whispered, rubbing his temple.

"YOU ARE A VILLAIN TO THE ENTIRE WORLD! YOU WOULD BRING ABOUT DESTRUCTION ONTO ALL THAT IS LIVING! IT IS ASSUMABLE THAT YOU WOULD KNOW THIS MANY MAZUKO AND UNLEASH THEM UPON THIS WORLD!"

"CUT IT OUT!" Lina screeched as she kicked Wizer's face down into the rocks below him. "HOW DO YOU ALWAYS COME TO THAT CONCLUSION?"

"If you would be so kind, Lina," Bakki stated, looking past her, "could you please step back for a minute? We appear to have a guest."

At these words, everyone turned their eyes to the sky above them. Barely hidden in the sunlight coming directly down onto them was a figure that several of them recognized.

"You!" Milgasia shouted.

"Xellos!" Zelgadis said after him.

"What is he doing here?" Lina chipped in.

Xellos phased in directly before Lina and her friends.

"Xellos, what brings you here?" Lina asked.

Xellos kept his usual smile. "Why, Lina-chan, I had hoped to run into you here."

"Run into me?"

"Yes, for you are the very person I wished to meet."

"Ahah!" Wizer exclaimed. "Lina Inverse, you now cannot deny that you are calling the Mazuko here!"

"SHUT UP ALREADY!" Lina screamed as she kicked Wizer into a wall on the opposite side of the crowd.

"Lively as ever I see," Xellos proclaimed ever so cheerfully.

"Just get to your point!" Lina demanded.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you." Xellos then did something rarely seen by anyone—he opened his eyes. "I was sent here directly by the beautiful and powerful Great Beast Xellas Metallium."

"Xellas Metallium?" Lina and Zelgadis gasped.

Xellos nodded. "There is a situation that we may need your help for, you see."

"Does it have anything to do with the possible end of the world we might be facing?" Lina questioned.

"Huh? You already know about that?"

Lina grinned and pointed at Milgasia. "The dragons already told us about it."

"Ah, I see! In that case, this makes things easier." Xellos' expression turned wicked. "Since we are facing doom for us all, why don't you join us?"

Everyone's jaw dropped at the comment.

"JOIN YOU?" Lina cried.

Xellos nodded. "There is no point in you taking sides with a weak race like the dragons. If you became a Mazuko like me, your power would multiply several times and you could be a truly valuable asset to us all. That may also just balance the scales so that we Mazuko could prevent whatever it is that may come at us."

Lina shook inside. 'Join the Mazuko; is he crazy? Like hell I would do such a thing!'

"Xellos, I believe you were there when Lina saved the world last time?" Milgasia asked the question.

"Why, of course I was," Xellos stated. "I saw what she was capable of then and before that. I believe you were there when she was fighting the rebel Dragon Gaav?"

Milgasia remained expressionless. "What she did then was possible because of the joining powers by both the Gods and the Mazuko. You cannot possibly take her away and harbor her strength for yourself and your race."

"And will you try to stop me if I take her away?"

Milgasia looked uneasy. Lina and her friends recalled that it had been Milgasia who had warned them of Xellos' true power and nature.

"You can't! That is not what the prophecy says!" Milgasia defended.

"Prophecy?"

"Yes, the prophecy by the Wind Dragon King!"

"Ah, so you dragons have come up with another bit of information to the future."

"What was four has become two. Chaos has united with his siblings and will come for two more. The light and the dark, and all in between, must unite in order for all to remain. The Golden Sea is open. Draw everything from it to harbor true strength. A fallen star shall guide you to the sword within the temple where all must come together. One must fight one."

"Hmm…seems similar to the one by the Fire Dragon King," Xellos commented. Milgasia explained what they had figured so far of the prophecy. "Well, as it may be, we don't have reason to believe that the Lord of Nightmares is currently unstable."

"What?" Milgasia inquired.

"If the Lord of Nightmares was unstable, that would greatly affect my master's powers, would it not? Since her powers remain the same, it can be assumed that the Lord of Nightmares is the same as ever."

"Meaning that the prophecy simply could be meaning for us to draw in the power of the Lord of Nightmares in order to fight off the coming force," Bakki stated.

Xellos turned his eyes onto Bakki. "Might you be the one who put up the barriers around Seyruun?" Bakki nodded. "I have no recollection of meeting you or feeling your energy before. Where might you be from?"

Bakki had a smug smile. "That is a secret."

Xellos' head hung low. Lina and Zelgadis choked back laughter. It felt so good to see that phrase being thrown back at Xellos for a change.

"In that case, I will have to ask you to step out of the way," Xellos declared as he righted himself.

"You still intend to take Lina with you?" Bakki asked.

"Of course, for those were my orders," Xellos stated.

"In that case, I will prevent you from carrying out those orders," Bakki announced.

In the blink of an eye, Xellos extended his staff out in front of him and fired at Bakki. Bakki simply did not react as the shot bounced off his body.

"Not bad, if I may be so bold as to state," the demigod sniggered. Xellos took another shot at him, one that Bakki simply absorbed this time. "Needs a little more kick to it."

Xellos' smile disappeared. It was replaced instead by tentacles of dark energy springing out of nothingness behind him. Xellos was unleashing his power. Not a moment later, Xellos fired a deafening blast of dark energy at Bakki from all directions. Bakki merely stood his ground as it all came crashing down on him.

Xellos smiled. "It seems that you are caught in a bind." His smile disappeared when the darkness flashed into silver light and disappeared. "Impossible!"

"I'm terribly sorry, but this is starting to get really boring," Bakki yawned. He swung his staff at Xellos in such a speed that no one was able to see his actions. Xellos wasn't prepared at all when an invisible wave of energy slammed him against a nearby wall and shoved him through as if it were butter. Before he could react, his body was carried against his will by an invisible force towards Bakki. He struggled to escape the hold, but to no avail.

"Your attack was powerful, little Xellos, but such power really is nothing to me," Bakki said. "Here's a small example of what I can do." The gems on Bakki's staff glowed the colors of the visible spectrum. "Time lost in history, bring forth from your records the water that destroyed all it came upon. CRIMEAN COLLAPSE!"

Water of unfathomable power and quantity erupted from around Bakki and hurtled onto Xellos at point blank range. The Mazuko simply disappeared into the waves as the water crashed through the outer wall of the city. Bakki snapped his fingers and the water changed course to fly into the air. It turned into a huge fountain as it lunged Xellos out of sight into the atmosphere.

"Not so fast!" Bakki shouted as he snapped his fingers. Xellos was teleported directly in front of him. Bakki grabbed Xellos and brought him up to his face. "Tell your master this: a holy man is here to stop your plots. If you wish to survive, then contact Dynast Grauscherra and Deep Sea Dolphin and bring them to me. Is that understood?" Xellos grunted in pain. "Now get out of here," Bakki said as he opened up a spatial rift and threw Xellos into it.

"Captain!" Maryland screamed as she appeared right next to Bakki.

Bakki smiled. "Time that has passed, be called back once more."

'That spell!' Lina thought. 'Rezo used it to repair the my room at the inn where I first met him!'

A flash and a moment later, the damage done by Bakki during his short fight with Xellos was completely repaired.

"If you can do such a spell, why don't you repair your ship with it?" Zelgadis asked.

"I wish I could, but the spell requires for you to reverse something that happened in this realm," Bakki explained.

"What?"

"The majority of the damage done was caused by the crashing asteroids and the explosion that took place as we entered your world. Since it was outside the boundaries of the space and time of your world, this spell cannot repair the ship."

"Furthermore," Maryland picked up. "The captain has a similar spell from his world that he can use, but his version of the spell requires all original parts to be available for the spell to work. Since the parts we are replacing now were lost in space before we entered your world, we have to go about manual means to repair fully."

"It's unfortunate, but oh well," Bakki sighed. He then turned and boomed at Wizer. "Do you need to see more from me to prove my power and credibility?"

"No," Wizer stated. "I'm not so blind as to not notice the fear that Milgasia showed at that Mazuko. For a dragon to do so speaks for itself on how powerful of a Mazuko that creature was. For you to defeat him so easily, however, proves what you are capable of.

"That being said, though, I must ask…who is she?" Wizer was pointing at Maryland.

"Her?" Bakki piped. He looked up at the sky. "You see that ship floating in the sky?"

Wizer looked up. "That is a ship? Where are its masts and rigging? How is it floating up there?"

"That is a ship not of this world, Wizer, so you do not need to know the full details. What's important about it is that Maryland here is that ship's soul."

"Soul?"

"Yes, soul. Ships from world contain souls. These souls can be projected outside of the body of the ship at the ship's will and take on human appearances."

Lina, Zelgadis, and Amelia already knew what Maryland already was, but they figured that Bakki's new explanation would just cut to the chase better than the actual truth.

"Captain! I am detecting multiple life signs approaching us from various angles and origins!"

"Are they coming from the astral plane?"

"Some are and some aren't. Your orders, captain?"

"Wait until they are all within visual from here."

"Aye, aye!"

Indeed, many figures appeared in the open air above the section where Bakki had taken down his barrier.

"Mazuko!"

"I've always wanted to say this," Bakki chortled. "Maryland, prepare a full phasor spread on all elevations, all banks on my mark," Bakki commanded.

"Roger. Ready, captain!"

"Fire!"

Before everyone's eyes, Maryland shot laser beams in every conceivable direction around her from what appeared to be a series of black pads that surrounded the midline of the entire ship. When the explosions cleared up, there was no Mazuko left in sight. Bakki raised his hand in the air and performed a gesture of sorts. The barrier that had been lifted earlier replaced itself.

~ SEYRUUN CASTLE ~

"The council has decided to meet again tomorrow," Philionel said.

"Ugh, so after everything today, nothing was decided?" Lina asked.

"I'm afraid so," Philionel sighed. "No matter how important of a matter it may be, it is difficult to get delegates of any kind to agree to anything. At the last gathering of this sort, it was easy to convince people to send out an expedition to the outer world since everyone was fearful of a possible threat. This time, though, fear alone isn't doing the trick since no one seems to know of what to do."

"Isn't gathering all forces together the best place to start?" Zelgadis asked.

"What good would that do?" Gourry asked.

"Eh?" everyone puffed out.

"If it's something like a Mazuko, regular weapons used by armies wouldn't do any good. And since magic didn't seem to do any good to Dark-whatever his name was, it probably wouldn't help us this time either."

In the few occasions where this happened, Lina could not get over Gourry's ability to draw such conclusions from his puny mind. Zelgadis and Amelia were the same.

Bakki looked impressed. "That may be so, but it is still probably a good idea to gather forces in from all over for a stance."

"Power in numbers?" Lina asked.

Bakki nodded. "Even if such numbers do not help in the end, it is still probably a good idea to have as many heads working to think of possible solutions to the problem."

"There is something in that," Philionel agreed. "Leave it to the hero to come up with that idea! I'll be sure to send out letters to the kingdoms immediately in order to have more people for the coming meetings."

"You expect this council to take that much longer?" Bakki asked, looking a bit bummed.

Philionel nodded. "This crowd is always very head-strong and stubborn. I expect this to last nearly a week, probably longer if more members join the meeting."

Lina dropped her head. She hated politics for a reason.

"In any case, we should prepare for the coming days," Bakki commented.

"Right," Lina said, regaining herself. "We'll leave the dirty work to Phil since this is his area of expertise. Milgasia, what are you planning to do?"

The dragon had been in the background the whole time. "My duty was to report to you and other humans who could be of help in this matter. I really don't have much else to do."

"Do you have to go back to Dragon's Peak?" Amelia asked.

"Not immediately," Milgasia answered. "I could stay a few days to see how things go about. After that, I'll have to head back to the Wind Dragon King and tell him what has been happening."

"Can we come with you?" Amelia asked.

"It's probably for the best that only a few of us should go if any of us do," Bakki stated.

Lina agreed. "We don't know how things will turn out, so maybe just Bakki or I should go."

"I'll do it," Bakki volunteered. "Would one of you care to come along? Perhaps Zelgadis?"

"Me?" Zel piped.

"Yes, you," Bakki confirmed. "Lina should stay since she has a way of getting points across should Philionel need some support. Amelia, of course, should be around since she is the princess of this kingdom. Gourry wouldn't want to leave Lina behind. That leaves you, Zelgadis, to come along and hear what is going on with your own ears and give your perspective where it may be needed."

"I suppose," Zelgadis said weakly.

Lina narrowed her eyes. Zelgadis instinctively looked over at her and caught her warning glare. He nervously nodded.

~ LATER, OUTSIDE ON THE CASTLE GROUNDS ~

"Say, Lina? What was up with you earlier?"

"Huh? What are you talking about, Gourry?"

"Well…" Gourry put his hand to his chin while pondering. "You are Zel were behaving strangely when Bakki asked him to come along."

"Gah!" Lina gasped. She hadn't expected Gourry to be so perceptive of the moment. "Did I really act strangely?"

Gourry nodded.

"You must have been imagining things!" Lina hurried out. "Why would I act weirdly at such a moment?"

"I don't know, but you just seemed that way," Gourry defended his statement. "Zelgadis, too."

Lina was getting a bit nervous. As stupid as Gourry was, he did have his moments of sudden intelligence. He had displayed such a moment less than an hour ago, so he wasn't scheduled for another such moment for some time to come, but the fact remained that he was never predictable for such incidents.

"Nah, I think you're just imagining things," Lina laughed.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," Lina cackled. "Everything's normal."

"Well, okay, I'll believe you," Gourry said. "I just hope Zelgadis gets the courage to be honest about his feelings."

"Yeah, you know, that would be nice." It took Lina five full seconds to register what was just said. "Wha-wha-wha-what did you just say?"

"Huh? I said that I hope Zelgadis came accept his feelings."

Lina's form—not just her jaw—dropped two whole feet. "How did you…know…?"

"You mean about Zelgadis? I knew for a long time."

"HOW LONG?" Lina asked, grabbing Gourry by his armor and pulling him close.

"I've known ever since we went through that one town with the bunch of guys wearing dresses. He was interested in that princess or priestess guy, remember?"

"Well, well, yeah, he did, but—"

"And since he never showed any interest towards you, Amelia, Filia, or even Sylphiel, I figured that he liked guys," Gourry reasoned. "It didn't bother me since he didn't try anything on me."

"Ah…I see…" The reasoning was very dumb, but Lina was relieved that Gourry was okay with the whole ordeal. "Well, that's a good thing. Yeah, Zel is gay, but I don't care either. Plus, Bakki is, too."

"Yeah, so the two of them could get together then, right?" Gourry piped up happily.

"Eh? No! Of course not!"

"Why not?"

"Because Bakki is married, that's why!"

"He is?"

"Yeah, he told us that on the first night we met him, remember?"

"He did, huh? I don't remember that."

"Gah! How could you figure out that Zel is gay, but not remember such a simple thing that Bakki told us?"

"I wasn't paying attention."

Lina hung her head. "That's not a surprise." She sighed. "Well, it's good that you don't care, but you have to keep this a secret from Amelia."

"You don't have to tell me that," Gourry said rather sourly. "I don't want to imagine how much she would freak out if she found out. She can already be so loud and annoying when it comes to Zelgadis."

"You got that right," Lina agreed. "She was so annoying in Femile when Zelgadis ran after Miwan. Worse was at the temple of Mt. Coronay when she got coupled up with you and I was with Zelgadis."

"Let's not imagine just how bad she would be if she finds out that he's gay."

"Yeah… In the meantime, Gourry, do me a favor."

"Eh, what is it Lina?"

"Before Zelgadis leaves with Bakki, give him some sort of discreet sign that you know about him, but that you're okay with it."

"Why do I need to do that?" There was no negative intent in his tone.

"It's because he's going through a tough time right now dealing with it. He needs to know that you are fine with how he is. It's something you should do for him as a friend."

"Really? Okay, I don't know why you're saying that, but I will anyways."

Lina smiled. "Thanks, Gourry." She cracked a huge grin and leaked out a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Gourry asked.

"I was just thinking about that time that he put on makeup to try to enter a brass racquets competition…ah, well you wouldn't remember anyways."

"Well, I do remember how pretty he looked as a girl."

"Pfft, yeah, he was pretty, but that was just so funny, too."

The two just laughed a bit more as they headed for the dining hall.

~ NORTHSIDE OF SEYRUUN, REPAIR SITE FOR MARYLAND ~

"Thanks for the map, Amelia," Bakki said.

"You're welcome, Mr. Bakki!"

Bakki had been overseeing the repairs to his ship when Amelia had arrived. Earlier in the day, he had asked the princess for a map covering the inner world where Seyruun and its neighboring lands were located. After receiving it, he immediately laid it out and starting plotting lines across it.

"What are you up to?" Lina asked walking up to him. She was gnawing on a piece of chicken.

"Oh, hey Lina. I'm just plotting out evacuation routes."

"Evacuation routes?"

Bakki sighed. "We don't know yet what is coming and what these kingdoms will do to prepare for it, but it is best to prepare for the absolute worst."

Lina stopped chewing for a moment. She hadn't thought that far ahead yet since she rarely backed out of a fight before. However, she hadn't taken into consideration that this involved countless other people. Furthermore, evacuation of a major city was something she had never conceived or witnessed.

She swallowed. "Do you think it may come to that?"

Bakki sighed and looked up from the map. "Unfortunately, I have no idea. However, I get the feeling that you yourself are troubled by the prophecy." Lina visibly twitched. "If something from just a prophecy could get you that worried, you who defeated Gaav, Phibrizzo, and Darkstar, then I think we should prepare for the worst case scenario."

Lina wasn't sure what to say back so she simply nodded.

"Perhaps you can help me, though," Bakki continued, getting back to his map.

"With what?"

"You know the land far better than I do, and you have traveled a great deal of these areas. Perhaps you can give me tips on which routes to take."

"Let's see then," Lina said before ripping off another chunk of chicken. "Hmm, you have a route from Seyruun to Ruvinagald. Scratch that and make it to Sandoria."

"Sandoria?"

"See here? It's further north in Ralteague. Where would we evacuate to from here, though?"

"I was thinking Sairaag, actually, since from everything you all have told me it was a major city of magic. That way, if Seyruun collapses we could have a location packed with magic that we could all fall back to."

"In that case, have a route from Sandoria to Sanboa. It's the coastal town closest to Sairaag over in Lyzeille. We had to go that way once when we were wanted by bounty hunters."

"Do I even want to know why bounty hunters were after you?"

"Someone with a personal grudge put a price on me, Gourry, and Zel's heads. All we knew was that the person who did that was in Sairaag, so we went this route. The only other direct route would take us through the Mountains of Tears," Lina pointed at a spot on the map, "and trust me; you don't want to go through there."

"How about this one? I see that Solaria is not far from Seyruun. It could be a good rendezvous point for evacuees from here."

"From there, I would say that we should go to Gyria over in Dils next since the region between Gyria and Telmoord over here in Lyzeille is very hilly with lots of dense woods."

"I think there should still be a route through these woods, though, just in case the others are blocked off."

"In that case, how about this? We can use Solaria as a fallback point like you said, but if the path to Gyria is blocked then we can cut through the woods and hills to reach Artemay over here. From here, we go straight to Femile. That city has a problem with men being there, but it's not like they could really do anything about a bunch of refugees in a war. That place is secluded enough and has just enough holy energy that people could rest up before going to Rikido Village. The mountain pass there is narrow, but it's a pass that is hard to block off from the south so people should be able to go through it easily."

"If there just isn't much time for anything, we'll have to forget all those plans and have people head directly over to Femile from Seyruun," Bakki stated. "The terrain seems to be rough, but we may not have too many choices when events go down."

Lina nodded. "One thing I'd like to suggest: should we have to go any other route besides the one by sea, then there should also be a big fallback point in Atlas City as well. The Sorcerers' Guild is located there so that city is fairly packed with magic as well. We can hold off in the city long enough for people to safely escape to Sairaag."

"I agree on that," Bakki declared. "In the meantime, we should somehow set up a means to as many villages and towns along that entire area to know when to evacuate should they require to do so. I don't like the idea that many people would ransack those places in desperate attempts to survive, but we can't prevent that from happening."

"How would we make it possible to tell everyone?" Lina asked.

"Like this." Bakki raised his hand in the air. From it shot out hundreds and hundreds of white balls of light. After some time, he brought his hand down to his face level and formed another white ball. He spoke into it. "Citizens, I am truly sorry to bring you this terrible news, but you must evacuate your homes! A war of massive scale has erupted in this world. Seyruun has collapsed, leaving nothing here in this region to defend the lands. You must evacuate to the Northwest in the direction of Sairaag. Only there can we hope to run another counter-offensive. Take only the minimal essentials with you for your journey will need to be fast. Please, I am sorry that it has come to this, but you must hurry in order to save yourselves!"

"WHAT IN THE WORLD?" Lina screamed. "HOW COULD YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT NOW WHEN NOTHING HAS HAPPENED?"

Bakki winked at her. "What I said just now has now been copied into a magical record. Those little balls were all connected to me. They will activate when I allow them to and replay that message in every town and village around these lands, even all the way up in Zefielia and northern Dils. No one heard that message yet."

"Ah, I see…"

"In the meantime, we have our routes. Now we need to come up with means to actually transport people in the fastest ways that we can."

"How are you going to do that? You couldn't possibly teleport all these thousands and thousands of people."

"I could if I had the time to, but I most likely wouldn't have such time available if we lose a battle here. Therefore, we need transportation vehicles that can move a whole lot of people and fast. I could probably develop a type of locomotive that could be used in this world… Perhaps some airships? What type of ships do you all have in this world anyway?"

~ SANDORIA DRY DOCKS ~

"So as you can see, we have these rigs for heavy cargo and that long-boat over there is what we use for passenger services," said the owner of the dry docks.

Bakki studied the ships. "Do you have anything bigger?"

"Yes, but only one ship. If you look over there, we have a 145-foot twin mast capable of carrying over 100 passengers along with the crew."

"How fast can these ships go?"

"Our fastest are the cargo ships and battleships. They can hit 17 knots."

"Well, it's convenient that you all use feet and knots for measurement," Bakki stated. "Sir, how would you care to help me in the construction of a ship 250 feet in length, capable of carrying 300 passengers, can reach 22 knots, and travel over 460 nautical miles in a day?"

"Eh? HAHAHAHA! No such ship exists!"

Bakki smiled. "Oh yes they do…in my world."

"Eh?"

"Maryland!" The hologram appeared. "Reach into your historical vaults and see if we have the designs for the following two ships: Sovereign of the Seas and Champion of the Seas, both by Donald McKay of East Boston, Massachusetts. They were launched in 1852 and 1854 respectively." Maryland buzzed for a few moments before displaying two blueprints in midair. "Now see if you can merge the two blueprints so that we can have one that is the middle ground to both." Maryland did some heavy calculations and realignments between the two blueprints before her. It still took her less than a minute to come up with a hybrid of the two. "Print that onto this parchment, would you?" Bakki asked as he materialized a three by five foot length of paper.

She did just that. "Here you go, captain!"

"Thank you," Bakki said as the parchment turned into the blueprints for a ship. "Here you go, sir. You may not be used to the design, but trust me—you'll see great results."

The owner of the dry docks looked over the design with bulging eyes. "HEY, DILSBY, GET OVER HERE!"

The man identified as "Dilsby" came over. "What?"

"Check this out!"

Dilsby looked at the blueprint. "Is this another of your crazy ideas?"

"No, he gave this to me," the owner said as he pointed at Bakki.

Dilsby sighed. "Kid, I don't know who you are, but no design gets approved without going through me first."

"And you are…?"

"The ship builder for Sandoria."

"Ah, in that case, you might be interested in this design."

"Forget it, I'm busy."

"Too busy for a ship 252 feet in length that can hit 22 knots and travel 460 nautical miles in one day?"

Dilsby stopped cold. "How would that be possible?"

"Because the two blueprints that this ship design was based off of are over 200 years old where I come from and they both set records that lasted over 100 years."

Dilsby gave the design another look. "I say it won't even float."

"The bow is wide and only lightly bent forward and has a very sharply raked cut-water. This design allows for the ship, with its good mass, to cut through waves with easy and speed. The smoothly sleek and relatively narrow v-shape of the hull further allows the ship to maintain such cutting motion throughout the length of the hull. The fantail, in the meantime, is sharply raked for aerodynamic purposes. The drawback is that the ship will have a draft of 29.2 feet, so it does need to be careful of where it travels."

"Eh, that won't be a problem," the dock owner said. "The waters in this harbor are over 50 feet even at the shallows."

"That's great!" Bakki cheered.

"Triple-mast?" Dilsby gawked.

"Yes, and they need to be leaned back ever so slightly in order to handle the full force of the winds they catch."

"19 sails…my God…" Dilsby continued.

"With the masts standing 192 feet above the water."

"How long would it take to build such a ship should cost and supplies not be a bother?"

Dilsby scratched his ass while he thought some numbers through. "If money and supplies weren't an issue, we could gather up the manpower to do this in just over 10 days."

Bakki's eyes went bright in joy. "That is good! We'll get you everything you may need, then!"

~ SOMEWHERE IN THE WOODS ~

"MEGA BRAND! BURST FLARE!"

"FIREBALL!"

"DIGGER BOLT!"

"VEEGAS GAIA!"

The thieves hideout that Lina and Bakki were targeting crashed into the ground. Bakki reached out a hand and magically levitated all the treasures hidden inside.

"We'll drop this off as the payment for the ship itself, and then go raid a few other places to pay off for supplies that may be needed," Bakki chuckled.

"Right! But, uh…can I keep some of the stuff?" Lina asked.

Bakki sighed. "After we're done paying for everything, we can raid one more place and you can have you fill there."

"ALRIGHT!"

~ SANDORIA DRY DOCKS ~

"Here you go," Bakki said, dumping the massive loads of gold and other riches in front of the dry dock owner and Dilsby. Their eyes bulged out of their heads, but Bakki didn't pay attention and he teleported himself and Lina elsewhere.

~ WOODS MORE DISTANT ~

"FIREBALL!"

"FLARE ARROW!"

"DUG HAUT!"

~ RALTEAGUE LUMBER COMPANY ~

"How much strong but lightweight wood good for ship-building can we get for this?" Bakki asked, dumping everything valuable collected earlier in front of the company owner.

~ SANDORIA AGAIN ~

"Here's your wood!" Bakki said, using magic to carefully set down thousands of large planks of wood in front of the still-stunned Dilsby and owner.

~ SOMEWHERE IN THE SEYRUUN COUNTRYSIDE ~

"VAL FLARE!"

"FREEZE IN!"

"GARUK RUHARD!"

"BLAST ASH!"

~ SEYRUUN IRON WORKS ~

"How much good iron can we buy for this?" Bakki asked, dropping a half a ton of treasure at a jaw-dropped owner of the factory.

~ SANDORIA ONE MORE TIME ~

"Here's your iron!"

~ RUVINAGALD WOODS ~

"DARK CLAW!"

"DOLPH STRASH!"

"ARC BRASS!"

~ ATLAS CITY ~

"How quickly can you all replicate this type of cloth here and make it into large sails, 19 in count?" Bakki was asking the Sorcerers' Guild as he magically transferred them the latest stash of money.

~ SANDORIA FOR THE LAST TIME ~

"And here are your sails," Bakki said. "I trust that you can come up with your own rope using that money I gave earlier?" Dilsby fainted.

~ RANDOM WOODS ~

"BRAM GUSH!"

"WIND BRID!"

"DUG WAVE!"

"BURST ROND!"

~ FINALLY BACK IN SEYRUUN ~

Lina was counting the hoard of treasure she took at the last stop. "Gah, those guys really did pack some good stuff!"

Bakki smiled. "I didn't know what any of the bandits would have, but I just instinctively went to the ones that I figured had the best stash of treasures."

"Well, you have some good instinct then. This is amazing stuff!" Lina then looked away from her treasure. "Hey Bakki, how come you didn't ask them to build more than one ship?"

"I can simply use my magic to duplicate a completed ship when the time comes."

"Then how come you aren't duplicating the parts needed for your ship? Wouldn't that save you time?"

"No, because every single part is shaped differently. Since almost all of it involves metalwork, which needs to be carefully molded in order to maintain full strength, it is best that I do not use magic to replicate plates that could be reshaped."

"Ah, I see."

"Now, if the ship were completed, I could duplicate it, but something with as much power as that ship would drain the hell out of me if I made another one magically, and that's something I cannot afford to do."

Lina thought that statement out. "But since the wooden ship is non-magical and doesn't possess powers like Maryland, it would be easy to duplicate, right?"

"Exactly. Now I just have to come up with means to travel by land and air that would be easy for your people to handle."

Lina nodded half-heartedly. She was already back to counting her coins and jewels. "Wait…"

"What is it?"

Lina turned with stars in her eyes at Bakki. "Could you teach me how to duplicate things?"

"I suppose I could," Bakki answered.

"WOO-HOO!" Lina turned back to her possessions. 'If I learn how to duplicate things, I will be set for life!' she thought as she drooled over her treasure. 'This will be fun!'

* The phrase that Bakki says ("Maryland, prepare a full phasor spread on all elevations, all banks on my mark.") was derived off of a line by Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: Nemesis ("Mr. Worf, prepare a full phasor spread, zero elevation, all banks on my mark.") in the opening scenes of the Battle of Basin Rift just after the warp drive was disabled. I love Jean-Luc Piccard and so I let the nerd in me talk as I wrote that line. No claims on my part.

* The Sovereign of the Seas was an extreme clipper built by Donald McKay and launched in 1852. She set the speed record for a sailing ship at 22 knots in 1854 and held that record for over 100 years.

* The Champion of the Seas was also an extreme clipper built by Donald McKay and was launched in 1854. On her maiden voyage, she set the distance record of 465 nautical miles in a day's run (noon to noon) and kept that record for nearly 130 years.

* I do not know whether Sandoria really did have dry docks or not, so I just made one up. Ralteague Lumber Co. and Seyruun Iron Works were also something I came up with, but take no ownership over.