Author's note: These events take place before any of the Slayers movies, novels, etc. Lina is around eight years old in this fanfic.

Lie! Tiny the Gold Dragon!

"What do you think?" A gruff voice asked.

Another man in practical brown shirt and gray pants nodded. "It's the place on the map. " Looking around the ruins for a moment, the two men surveyed the destruction. Turning to his second, he said, "Tell the others to start bringing the supplies here. Our contract says the gambling center must be built first."

Nodding, the other man joggled down the road to pass the message. The leader took out a roll of paper and began studying the blue prints carefully muttering about, "Pipes first, then the walls", to himself.

In a surprisingly short amount of time, the group of construction workers finished the grudging task of clearing the remains. Next, carts of stone began coming down the road toward new building site.

"Are you sure this place is safe?" A weedy-looking man asked nervous as he shifted some papers in his hands. "I mean this town has been destroyed by, " he shifted some more papers and began reading aloud, "Floods, fires, earthquakes, winds, swarms of insects, the Dragu Slave to name a few." Looking up at the leader, he pleaded, "If word of how cursed this place is goes out, many of the workers would probably leave. With our tight budget, we cannot afford to raise the pay and hire braver workmen or maybe even a white mage to break any curses on this place."

The leader of the construction paused from reading the blue prints to frown at the other man. "Tell the owner to double the money he's paying us to rebuilt the place and hire a white mage for us if he wants us to continue rebuilding his town." Then he turned to his workers and shouted some instructions on where the pipes should be.

The weedy treasurer signed as he gathered the papers. "Why does he keep rebuilding this place? You would think after all the times Nyicon City has been decimated, Mr. Hero would move to a different place." Turning away, he muttered darkly to himself about the foolishness of the rich.

Luna and Zelas glared at one another.

They glared at one another some more.

Actually they've been glaring at one another since this morning. Their table was attracting a crowd. People betted on when the two women would stop glaring at the other across their table.

"How is he?" Lina asked the old Healer. They were in luck. Although the village was small, they had a retired Healer who was willing to look at Tiny's bruise for a small price.

The old Healer replied, "He'll be fine." She carefully bandaged the comatose Tiny's head. "The amnesia should be only temporary."

"Should be?" Lina asked.

"It's kind of hard to tell with bruises to the head since you cannot use any healing spells to cure amnesia. Sometimes all it takes is another bump on the head or recognizing something from his past to cure it. But there is always a chance that your friend here will never recover his memory." The old Healer admitted.

Lina stared blankly for a moment as she absorbed this. To never remember neechan... It must be great! Chibi-Lina, the embodiment of all Linaness shouted happily as she danced until another thought caught up. All those spells ... the hours spent learning new languages ... all that knowledge gone.... Lina's face fell. She shuddered at the thought that if she had amnesia, she would have to relearn everything. Even that spell I found in neechan's treasure chest. Lina feel a sudden chill as she remembered that spell.

Gazing sympathetically at the little girl, the Healer suggested, "Maybe if he does something dangerous or stressing, he'll snap out of his amnesia. From what you've told me of this Setiny, he loves to be in the midst of chaos."

Lina bowed her head deep in thought. Danger... danger... neechan.... Suddenly, an image flashed across Lina's mind. Wait! Didn't Tiny say his mother is a friend of neechan's!? Grinning triumphantly, Lina slapped her hands together in delight. "I've got it!!" Looking up at the old Healer, she asked, "Spells! Tiny's family all casts white spells. What if I get him to cast a spell to exercise demons or break cures? Do think that might work?"

"Well, " the old Healer spread her hands helplessly. "It's definitely worth a try if Setiny grew up doing things like that. It might jog his memory back." Turning to tuck her young patient into a small bed for the night. "Nothing like that has ever been tried before though," the Healer added.

"It's a chance I have to take!" Lina declared. Since Tiny a high ranking Gold Dragon or at least, his mother is a high-ranking Gold Dragon, he must know lots of white spells. Not my specialty but if he can just be forced into a position to cast them maybe.... "Healer, do you know of a job requiring the services of a white magic user?"

"There is a construction company that is looking for one but you children shouldn't...." The old Healer replied dubiously as she turned to look at Lina

"No need to worry! 'Cause Lina Inverse is on the job!" Lina declared happily. She was really proud of how smart she was thinking up a brilliant idea like that.

"Of course, Cephied." Luna closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at Zelas. "Zelas, what did your Lord say about...."

Zelas sat in her chair with her head on the table snoring away. Around her was a group of fried people.

Luna closed her eyes again briefly.

DIGGER BOLT!

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Zelas called out as the bolts of electricity coursed through her Mazoku veins. Surprisingly, Mazokus made a very good conductor.

Luna got up and walked to the frightened tavern owner to order some tea. The shaky man quickly made the tea. Thanking the man--who fainted after hearing that for some strange reason--Luna went back to her table. The electricity had finally stopped and a very roasted Zelas now sat in her chair.

"Now, what did your Lord say about this matter, Zelas?" Luna asked calmly as she got back to her seat with teacup in hand.

Zelas raised a shaky, burnt hand to weakly admonish Luna. "Luna-chan, couldn't you have woken me want in a different way?"

Luna thoughtfully sipped her tea. "Yes. Next time I will use Mega Brando. You don't seem to have completely woken up yet." Putting the teacup down, she raised her hand, "Let me correct that error."

"Waaaa!" Zelas wailed as she quickly shook off the black dust off her. "I'm awake. I'm awake!"

"I see... so what was his reply, Zelas?"

"Reply?" Zelas asked in confusion as she searched her pockets for her pipe and wine.

"The one we were getting a second before during our trance?" Luna said each word slowly.

Recognizing the danger, Zelas hastily said. "I couldn't talk to him. He was kinda of busy and talking to L-sama about that Old Dragon to see if She could turn him into a newt or something. Also something about adding some more pink ribbons to his hair since you know how L-sama loves to play with long hair. I mean just look at Hers; it's so long and shinny. I'm so jealous of it. And the old Drat isn't there to defend himself--probably because he's too busy talking to you. Last thing I heard, L-sama is also planning to force all of Her Lords to wear dresses and ribbons for a tea party She's having. I think She saw some human girls play with it and wanted to recreate the whole thing. That why Shabby was there trying to stay out, after that old Dragon of yours can go in his place right and...."

The teacup slammed onto the table.

"Yeep!" Zelas squeaked. Maybe she said too much?

"So your Lord doesn't care about this matter?"

"Yes" Zelas squeaked again.

"Oh, and I'll be sure to ask L-sama if we can attend her tea party too. I love tea." Luna said brightly as she sipped the rest of her tea.

Zelas sweatdropped. Luna-chan thinks so much like L-sama...it's SCARY! Zelas shuddered at the thought of having only tea to drink through the "tea party". Of course, it would be nice to see my Lord as a female. Zelas grinned. Last time, L-sama wanted to recreate the scenes of a human zoo. Old Shabby ended up as mouse and that Old Dragon as a cat. They almost destroyed the "zoo" chasing one another around the "zoo."

"Neechan, is this really all right?" Tiny asked as he struggled to keep up with Lina along the road. "I don't remember anything about magic even if I am a Gold Dragon like you said." Tiny looked dubiously at his small hands. Looking up, Tiny added, "Besides, weren't we going to Atlas City to catch up with neechan's sister?"

Lina cringed. If neechan finds out I've directly disobeyed her and left home to follow her ... Laughing nervously, Lina said shakily, "My, my. What ever gave you that idea? We're just going to Atlas City for some site seeing." Turning her head to look at Tiny, Lina smiled confidently. "Everything will be just fine, Tiny!"

Tiny still looked very dubiously at Lina. Something within him kept telling him something is wrong with all of this but what?

"Yo, Tiny! Hurry up! We have to be there before sunrise to start your new job!" Lina shouted further down the road.

Tiny signed. Lina-chan is always so full of energy. Distracted, he took one step forward, stepped on his too long white robe and promptly fell on his face.

"Tiny!" Lina cried in alarm as she raced toward her fallen companion.

Tears ran down Tiny's cheeks from the unexpected pain. "Why do I have to wear this stupid white robe anyway!?" He demanded of no one in particular.

Lina stopped what she was doing and looked expectantly at Tiny.

"Uh? Neechan, is something the matter?" Tiny asked when he finally got up and dusted his robe. He tried unsuccessfully to shorten the hem of the robe by folding the hem.

Signing, Lina gestured for Tiny to follow. For a moment, I thought his memory returned. "Look, Tiny. We don't have much money left and you need to wear something white. The clothes don't really mean much but trust me, if you didn't wear something white, people aren't going to believe you're a white magic user. It's really annoying keeping up appearances but if our employer is happy, we may get paid more all right? That second-hand robe is the best that I could find with our limited budget so just deal with it please?"

Tiny sniffed miserably. "I liked my old clothes better."

Walking toward Tiny, Lina compromised. "As soon as we finish this job and get our money, you can change back to your old clothes." Taking Tiny's hands, she said, "Let's go!"

RAYWING!

"Wahhhhhhhhhhhh! I'm afraid of heights neechan!" Tiny wailed as they zoomed toward the ruined of Nyicon City.

Sacha carefully balanced the tray of food and wine to Luna's room. Normally, Luna-sama doesn't drink but rumors had it that a "Zelas" can drink more than the whole town put together. Wonder if she's the blond lady I saw with Luna? Sacha wondered.

"Thank you, Sacha-chan." Luna-sama replied as she sipped her tea.

"Yea!" Zelas squealed in delighted as little hearts floated around her. She immediately grabbed a bottle, opened the top and started to drink.

Sacha-chan stared at Zelas her eyes wide. The rumors....

"Sacha-chan." Luna asked.

"Hum," Sacha turned to look at Luna. "Yes, Luna-sama?"

"Has Lina-chan come back yet?"

Sacha swallowed nervously. It's never a good thing when Luna-sama actually asks for someone. "No." Hesitating, she asked timidly, "Is Lina-chan in trouble?"

Luna said nothing.

When Luna remained silent, Sacha signed softly. What did you do this time, Lina-chan? Sacha gathered the empty wine bottle and left the room.

With an almost empty wine bottle in one hand, Zelas looked at Luna with some surprise. "You aren't going to punish your own sister, are you?"

Luna returned Zelas's gaze calmly.

Zelas's expression became more incredulous as time tickled by. Suddenly, she started to laugh nervously. "I'll ... I'll go see if Xel-kun is back. Bye!" She immediately dimensional hopped back to her island as quickly as possible. She definitely didn't want to be in Lina's shoes when Lina gets back to Zephilia. Heck, she isn't going to be anywhere near Zephilia when Lina gets back. I better warn Xel-kun, Zelas thought as she puffed on her pipe and a wineglass in her other hand. He is my son after all. I don't want him to turn into a radish or tomato just because he was near Lina when Luna gets hold of Lina. Nodding to herself at her selfishness, Zelas promptly forgot everything and poured herself more wine to celebrate the... err, something.

Lione was tired. Hiring people these days are getting more and more tiring, he thought. The requirements were quite simple: hire a good magic user to deal with demons/curses. However, so far the fifty applicants who applied didn't have an ounce of magic in them. In fact, most of them were drunk. Apparently, most of them were here on a dare. To see if they can swindle a job when they don't have the talents for it. Something about recruiting more members for Dagger or Daggits Group, something of a charity organization from what the thin, located the forest their cheerful, young leader had explained. They are planning a new group activity but are short on members so they can here to get some new members.

Lione wasn't fooled. No one as talent as those Daggers or Daggits or whatever they called themselves was fit for this job. In fact, they aren't fit for any job except as bandits from their interviews. He signed as he took a brief glance at the long line. More people on dares. It's going to be a long day. He thought with a growing sense of annoyance. HE hadn't wanted this job either but no, Lily wouldn't hear of it. He could almost hear her droning on and on about her working to keep him comfortable. Well, just who brings the bread to the table anyway, Lione though irritably.

"Next!" Lione barked. His current interviewee made a noise that sounded like a protest but was roughly shoved aside by the next drunk. "Me name's The Tree 'cause I was very, very strong ya know. "

Lione signed. "Any magic experience?" He interrupted.

"Mugic? Me play flute just beautifuk...."

Lione suppressed the urge to pound on the guy.

"If we didn't even get the job, then why did you say we were starting it?" Tiny asked irritably. Walking and tripping every few feet in his new robe had definitely shortened his temper.

"Just bear with it all right?"

"Well, I can't!" Trip. Tiny fell face down unto the dirt road. Letting his head from the ground, he wailed, "I wanna go HOME!!!"

"Don't be a cry baby and come with me!" Lina grabbed Tiny by his ear and dragged him onwards.

"SAVE ME!!!" Tiny wailed as he tried to escape.

"Tiny, if you don't move this insistent, I'm going to Dill Brand you there!"

"I wanna go home!!!"

"That's it! Tiny, You asked for it!"

DILL BRANDO!

"Homeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Something yellow and white screamed as he crashed into the little stand that Lione was talking applicants in. The surrounding townspeople ran for cover in case more things fall from the sky. However, Lione had more things to worry about such as, "GET THIS BOY OFF ME!!!"

Out of all the houses, shops, and cushy bushes the boy from the sky could have fallen on, he just had have crashed into Lione due the devious mind of L-sama that no one can fathom. Rumor has it, not even L-sama know what L-sama is thinking. Some have said this is the definition of insanity but such persons were immediately struck by lightening so no, L-sama isn't insane, just your average Lord of Chaos. The simple structure immediately collapsed on the two unfortunates.

Lina raywinged over to see an angry middle-aged man yelling at Tiny who had crashed into him. The man looked ready to strangle Tiny if only he can get out of the debris and the heavy weight on top of the debris. Around them were the ruins of a wooden structure of some kind. Many people have collapsed in fright out on the streets.

Looking closer, Lina noticed that Tiny was out cold. His eyes were little swirls and baby gold dragons were flaming and dancing in a circle around his head.

"So, is the job for Mr. Hero still open?" Lina asked casually. She looked down as the struggling man.

Lione glared at the red-haired girl. Another one. I don't get paid enough for this job. "Yes" He replied shortly. He managed to crawl out of the debris with only smudges on his clean clothes and a thirst for revenge on his employers for all of this current troubles in his mind. He critically checked his clothes. They were ruined. Lione grimaced. Lilly is going to lecture him on this again... Why didn't he become a priest like father wanted?

The little red head pressed onwards, "Setiny here, " the red head pulled up the still out cold blond boy by his arm from the ground, "wants to apply for the job."

Lione paused in his thoughts for a second to took at the two children. One serious and one unconscious. "WHAT!?" Lione started at the red head for a moment and burst out in laughter. "Isn't your brother too young to work?"

"I'll make sure Ti--Setiny completes his job."

Lione laughed harder. "You must be even younger than that boy. Go back to your mommy, little girl."

"Little" The red head said between clenched teeth. Her eyes were shadowed by her long bangs.

"Uh? Is something the matter, child?"

"I'M NOT A CHILD!" The red head screamed at Lione, her whole body enveloped by fire. She grabbed the front of his shirt and started to shake him roughly, still screaming that she wasn't a child. She can stand up to neechan if she wanted to.... Of course, a part of Lina's mind snickered. Really, she could ... And makozu will work together with the dragons to save the world, the practical part of Lina's mind stated. I'm NOT a child anymore, Lina told herself firmly.

After Lione finally recovered his wits, he took a quick look at the applicants' line. None of the applicants were still standing. Maybe they weren't are witless as he thought. At least, that's what he thought until he heard the snores coming form the "unconscious" applicants. That's it! They OWE me for taking this ridiculous job in the first place! "You've got the job!" He said with false happiness. Congratulating the girl, he gave her a piece of paper. "This paper explains everything. So good luck in your new job and bye!"

Lione quickly ran away.

Lina looked puzzled at the sudden disappearance of the man but then she shrugged. Well, she got--no Tiny --got the job anyway. Scanning the paper, she noted the job starts immediately at the East End of the town. Turning her head to look at Tiny, she told him, "We've got the job. Let's �."

Tiny was still unconscious. The baby dragons around his head were now full-grown dragons and they were wrestling each other. Lina sweatdropped. "Or we can find a place to sleep and begin our new job first thing tomorrow. " Dragging Tiny behind her, she walked to the nearest inn.

The drunkards woke up later that evening with no memory of how they got there. Shrugging, they left the town and back to bandit headquarters. There are things to do done, plans to burn, and towns to loot.