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

Dark! When Mazokus casts White!

Lina hummed happily as she skipped down the road. Beside her, Tiny, was cursing his ill fate.

Leaning heavily on a weathered old tree branch, he limped behind Lina as if only his leaning stick keeps him from falling over. I will survive, he chanted. I will survive through this, he chanted like a good-luck charm. Considering everything that has happened so far, Tiny's hope probably wouldn't come true. Not if L-sama was going to help it.

"There!" Lina suddenly shouted and pointed with her right arm at a large camp full of people and activity.

Shocked out of his chanting, Tiny jerked his head up in surprise. His leaning cane dropped to the group as he rushed toward the camp with Lina by his side. Both faces were now very happy.

"FOOD!!!"

Excited shouts for food first alerted Brain to trouble. Then it was sounds of surprise and anger of his crew when trouble descended on the lunch buffet table followed by the sounds of many people shoveling food as fast as possible into their mouths. Was it any wonder that a fight over food started right away after that? But...

"All right! Break up!!" Brain shouted to the mass of dust, people, chairs, food, and whatever else that got caught in between the fight. No one stopped. Actually, no one even heard his orders over the noise and fighting.

Tapping his feet angrily at the lunch table, Brain surveyed the situation. Beside him, Arnold, their treasury advisor stood wringing his hands with panic and uncertainty. Arnold was a shrewd accountant; this construction crew owed much of its success to Arnold's good financial management. But when it comes to fighting, Arnold goes all to pieces. Don't even mention blood, he faints at the sight of it.

Brain signed. At least one person in his group had the good sense to stay out of the fight even if it's for psychological reasons. Reaching to a decision, he calmly walked toward the mass and pulled out two screaming banshees from the mass. The fighting immediately stopped as people realized their targets have disappeared. As one, their heads turned toward their leader, Brain, who was now calmly dragging the children away by their hair.

Brain paused along the way to grab two apples from what was left of the lunch table. Turning he handled each struggling child a fruit. Both children immediately stopped fighting and turned to look questioning at Brain. "Come talk with me after you two finish your lunch." Releasing them, he turned and walked away.

During all this while, the rest of the construction crew was staring speechlessly at their leader and the two troublemakers. They had thought at first that two demons had attacked them. Now it was clear that the two demon were simply two very hungry children... if they could be called children with the way they fought and ate.

"Achem!"

The staring crowd quickly went back to whatever they were doing. While their leader Brain was not a cruel taskmaster because in fact, he is a very fair leader almost like a father figure to most of the group, their leader is known for handling pretty stiff punishments for slacking off work.

The worst punishment to count was baby sitting five adventurous wolf pups whose parents had been killed by hunters someone had found. The poor baby sitter was an absolute wreck weeks and had practically lived with their resident healer during those few weeks. The healing needed wasn't for the puppies, it was for the broken bones and scraped knees of the baby sitter who had tried to keep the five puppies safe whatever situation they got themselves caught up in. Unfortunately for the poor guy, they were working in a very hilly terrain back then with lots of caves and holes waiting for his puppies to fall or crawl into.

Lina and Tiny walked apprehensively toward the tall man in plain clothing who had given them the apples earlier.

"Are you afraid?" Lina whispered softly to Tiny as they walked as slowly as they could toward the apparent leader of this construction crew and their new boss.

Tiny immediately stopped to stare at Lina. He puffed up indignantly at the insult. "Me!? Never!" His voice however quivered a bit since they were almost at their destination.

"Good." Lina replied sweetly as she pushed Tiny forward. "Then you can explain."

"What!?" Tiny spurred. "Why me?" He groaned to himself as he cursed all the gods and goddesses for forcing him to baby-sit a brat like Lina.

"Yes?" Brain asked calmly as he turned to face the two children. His tone of voice was steady and neutral as if these two children didn't just cause a major fight, destroyed the lunch area, and completely disrupted the entire crew operations in the short seconds they were here.

The little boy in front blanched in fear. Faster than lightening, he ducked behind the girl.

Brain waited.

"Um..". The fiery redheaded girl replied as she shyly pressed her two forefingers together and glanced intensively at the ground. "We're...um...we're..."

The little boy who was dressed like a white magic user peered at Brain from his safe position behind the girl.

Beside Brain, Arnold was almost livid with rage. He had just finished assessing the damages from the fight. The figure was very high and the cost of repairs gulled at him. Arnold looked ready to break mountains and spit fire at the moment.

"We're your ghost exterminators." The little boy blurted out in a rush of courage and immediately dunked behind the girl. The girl flushed in embarrassment and nodded in agreement to the boy's words.

Arnold's jaw crushed to the ground.

Brain however grinned.

Encouraged by the reaction, Lina gathered her scattered wits and marched up to their new boss. Behind her, she could hear Tiny squeaking in protest at the loss of his cover. Taking some papers she had been holding her small hands behind her back, "Here is our work papers and approval for the job." She handed the papers to their new boss. She tried to keep herself from holding her breathe in fear of being told they couldn't have the job. Which means going back home and face, she gulped, Neechan.

Brain took the papers and gave them a give look. Turning to the children, he studied both of them closely. "Aren't you two too young to be casting magic and getting jobs?" He asked bluntly. Arnold pulled himself together at this logical question.

Silence.

Suddenly the children rushed toward Brain and clomped on him and turning into their extra-cute SD-forms.

"You have to hire us!!!" SD-Lina wailed.

"Mother is going to kill me when she finds out that I ..." SD-Tiny yelled as tears rushed out of his eyes like two great floods.

"Neechan said to stay but I had to go find her. Once she finds out ..."

"...disobeyed her and let this walking disaster of a girl drag me to follow Mother on ...." SD-Tiny continued.

"...I let myself be tricked by this manipulating boy to following Neechan on her secret mention..." SD-Lina continued ranting.

"... WE'RE BE DOOMED!!!" Both children concluded tearfully.

"Hum..." Brain said thoughtfully. He glanced at the papers again. "Can you two cast spells?"

Both children brightened and un-glomped him.

"I'm the powerful and beautiful magic user, Lina Inverse!" The girl cried out triumphantly. "I specialize in black magic and bandit destroying." She flashed a Victory sign while in the background are pictures of blown up bandit hideouts.

The boy jumped up to do a back flip in the air and landed on some boxes to the right of Lina, Brain, and Arnold. He made a mocking bow to the gathering crowd of people below him. "The mysterious priest, X..." The boy suddenly paused and stood up to look at Lina. "What's my name again, Lina?" He asked sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

Lina and Arnold prompted fall on their faces. The crew who had been listening attentively to their boss and the children's exchange also face faulted at this question. Tiny chucked weakly while everyone else sweatdropped.

Brain, however, continued to watch the two children thoughtfully. "Lina Inverse and Xellos Metallium. Who would have thought?" Laughing softly along with everyone else as Tiny tripped and fell when he tried to get down the boxes. He also landed on his face, much like what everyone else was doing a second ago. "Who indeed?"

Everyone was now laughingly merrily as they gathered around the campfire. With the sun down, construction work becomes too hazardous to perform. Thus, there is always a great party after sun down to celebrates a day's hard work and of course, show off. What better place for two extremely talented children to get into more trouble?

"Where is Xellos!?" Zelas complained bitterly from her throne on Wolf Pack Island. Pouting cutely, she went into SD-mode. After wailing and crying and begging for sever hours for her "sweat baby" to come home or at least "call mommy," Zelas stopped.

"I know!" She jumped up happily to her feet startling some wolves. The wolves have been napping peacefully throughout their mistress's tirade. "I can buy the wine and cigarettes myself! How hard can that be? Even Xel-kun can do it. Besides, they're only humans. What could possibly go wrong?" She laughed insanely. Going without her wine and cigarettes for even a hour makes Zelas silly. But for several hours...

The wolves in the throne room begin to quietly back away without a sound. Wolves are very smart. They know when trouble is coming and most importantly, they know when it is time to run.

Zelas continued to laugh insanely in her throne room. Her eyes a little dazed. "That will show Luna-chan! Making me drink nothing but tea since that accident in Gambler's Haven .... Ahahahahaa hahahahah!" Chibi-Zelas appeared again and started to fresh storm of weeping. "But I have no idea how to buy them! Xel-kun put had all of the human money somewhere..." She sniffed pitifully. "I want wineeeeee!!!"

Pause.

"That's it!" Zelas shouted excitedly. "I'll ask Luna-chan for help! ^_^ "

Somewhere in the Sea of Chaos, someone laughed. Things are turning out to be very amusing indeed.

"I'm so smart!" Chibi-Zelas squealed in happiness. Without a second thought--actually, not even thinking through this doomed-to-failure of a plan at all--she left for Zephilia. It will be much quicker than searching through the entire castle for some human money and then tracking down those wine merchants, Chibi-Zelas thought.

"So yer are the mugic users, eh?" A large, burly drunk asked. "Show us some magic then!"

"Hear, hear!" The rest of the crew agreed by raising their mugs ago.

"Of corse." Lina mumbled. She had managed to sneak a sip of the beer the others were drinking and was now quite drunk. "How about the Dragu... hiccup... Dragu Slav? It's me favorite but.. hiccup...but control it very 'ery well yet."

Beside her, Tiny was nodding asleep from the fire and cozy feelings. But he immediate woke up when the word "Dragu Slav" reached his eyes. He stared at Lina in shock. Is she drunk!?

"Dag Lav?" Someone mumbled. "Never heard of it. How about some white magic to scare the pants of them ghosts?"

There were sounds of agreement from all around the camp.

"Sure." Lina replied as she drank from her mug of goat milk someone found for the children to drink. "Tiny, yer on."

"What!" Tiny shouted. "Bu.... but I... I... have nev... never..." He gibbered incoherently. He shot a look at Brain for help.

"Do your best," Brain encouraged.

"Yeah, Tiny!" Lina agreed.

"Tiny?" Brain asked frowning. Tiny seemed shrank into himself as everyone around the bonfire stared at him.

Everyone had a good laugh on that. "Tiny? What a name!"

Lina however was NOT laughing. She jumped unsteadily onto her foot. "What about it!" She demanded. "It's his name!" She glared at everyone around the fire slowly, into everyone's eyes. Only when everyone's eyes stopped laughed did she return to her seat.

Tiny felt strangely touched by Lina's gesture. Although he couldn't help but wonder if there was another motive in this action. Quit it, Tiny scolded himself. When does he always seem to think the worst of everyone he meets? Why am I cannot I take anyone's words at their face value? Tiny thought sadly. It's must have something to do the hole in my memory.

"Tiny may be a good name for a boy," Brain said to break the now uneasy silence. "But he'll need a better name now that he's grown up." Turning to his crew, Brain asked, "What do you think lads? Let's give the new lad here a new name suited to his status!"

"Hear, hear!" Everyone agreed. Even Lina who had thought from the beginning that Setiny was a bad name for a boy. Good thing, my name is not as bad as his, Lina thought as she sipped more warm milk.

"How about Gypsium?" One suggested.

"Nay, sounds like a rock or some'thin. Yo boy."

Tiny almost jumped in fright as when someone picked him out. "Y...yes?" He stuttered.

"Don't be afraid boy. What can you do?"

"Do?" Tiny asked in puzzlement. Are they going to give him a better name?

"Yeah. Names you chose for yourself should reflect your skills and personality." The aged man said wisely.

"Doesn't ol' Willy sound like a grandfather or somethin'" Another man joked.

Everyone laughed good with humor. Including Tiny this time.

"Well, " Willy said embarrassed. "My oldest daughter wrote last week that she's had her first child so I guess I am a grandfather now."

"Send a present, " Arnold suggested. He had mellowed considerably since his second mug of beer. Arnold was not a drinker but with the fire, surrounded by friends, and the atmosphere so relaxed, Arnold would loosen up on his carefully constructed wall around his heart with the excuse that it was the beer's work.

"Yeah, one of them counting machines probably." Someone said causing everyone to laugh again.

"It's never too early to start earning how to balance those records," Arnold protested.

Everyone laughed some more at this private joke. Arnold was the loudest among them. Tiny was starting to feel very comfortable in this relaxed atmosphere.

"How about the name Silly?" Lina joked.

"What kind of name is that!" Tiny shouted indignantly as he jumped on his feet. "Well, I think you should be called Terrible."

"Why you." Lina glared angrily at Tiny.

In the next instant, the two children initiated a rough-and-tumble-fight. Each was determine to win when the sound of hearty laugher stopped them. The froze in their position. "Hum?" They asked in union.

Still laughing, Willy replied, "You two really like each don't you?"

"Like her?" Tiny yelled moved away from Lina. At the same time, Lina shouted, "Like him". Likewise, Lina moved away from Tiny. The two looked at one other for a second before turning their backs on each other to each making icky noises in their throat.

Everyone laughed some more.

"Since the boy wants to be the exact opposite of Lina here, " Arnold said thoughtfully, "How about Anil?"

"Good name!" Tiny said happily over the Lina's protests.

"Good!" Everyone else agreed as well much to Lina's chagrin.

"Should be happy, lass, " Willy grinned at Lina. "Yer got someone named after ya."

Lina brightened at that thought. She turned to face, Tiny now Anil, with an insane grin on her face. "As the person you're name after, you've got to live up my name, Anil."

"Here, here!" Everyone agreed now over Tiny's protested.

"Well, then. More drinks for everyone to celebrate our boy's new name: Anil!" Arnold yelled out. Everyone cheered and there was a sudden movement toward the beer barrels.

"And tea for the Lina and Anil if we're out of goat's milk," Brain added. Both children glared at him and ran back to their seats.

"Now, now," Willy said as he came to sit by the two children with a large pitcher of tea he had brewed. Willy had given his scared oath to his oldest daughter to never touch any alcohol again years ago. So he had taken to drinking tea instead. No one from the crew offered Willy any beer; everyone knew how much his children meant to the old grandfather, especially after the tragic loss of his beloved wife. Smiling friendly at the two sulking children, he poured into their empty mugs. "Brain means well. You children are too young for beer."

"Now that a new name has been picked. How about showin' off a spell to us old timers, Anil, to celebrate the occasion?" Someone asked after everyone took a good long drink from their full mugs and things quieted down around the beer barrels.

Feeling extremely happy for getting his new name, Anil agreed more quickly then he would have otherwise. He stepped closer to the fire so everyone could see him. He was grinning foolishly. Lina had fallen asleep with Willy keeping her from falling off the log they used for chairs. Everyone's faces stared intensely at Anil.

Brain narrowed his eyes at the boy. Xellos.

Anil cast the first spell that came to mind. In order to dramatize the situation, he whispered the entire spell so on one could hear the incantation. LIGHTING!

In the next moments, something happened as if in slow motion. First, Anil's eyes widened in shock as if he remembered too late something very important even as a loud wind suddenly blew out of nowhere. The sky rumbled and darkened directly over the fire. A bolt of lightening whose color is strangely more yellow than white stuck from the angered sky to hit squarely at Anil but nowhere else. Anil had been standing so close to the fire that when the lightening bolt hit, it caused the dwindling fire to suddenly roar up to Anil's height. Then just as suddenly at it happened, everything was silenced. The sky cleared. The fire returned to its former position. But now, where Anil had been there was only a blackened piece of earth.

Everyone stared and Lina was shocked into wakefulness at the turn of events. Everything had happened so swiftly that the beer-muddled reactions of everyone around the fire prevented them from even jumping out of the way of the fire. The people closest to the fire and lightening were not harmed however; they only felt an intense heat and then everything was back to normal.

"By jolly, " One whispered in the silence that followed that spectacular performance.

"Where's," Lina asked fearfully as she looked around everywhere for Anil. She had a sinking feeling that....

"I'm so glad that everyone enjoyed my performance tonight. That will be five coppers from all viewers please." A strange voice drifted to everyone from somewhere behind Lina. Lina leapt to her feet in fright screaming. She quickly kicked the intruder a few times and then....

"No way, Lina. It's me!" Anil tried to say in his normal, not dramatized, voice but it was too late.

FIREBALL!

"Why are you always fireballing!" Anil's voice drifted into the chilly night air. "I'm not a target dummy!"

"It's what you get for sneaking up on me like that!" Lina shouted in both angry and relief that Anil was all right.

"No, you weren't! You just wanted to fireball me because I got a better name than you now!" Anil accused.

"WHAT! My name is much, MUCH better!"

"Mine is!"

"No, mine!"

"Mine!"

"No, MINE!"

The fight got underway shortly that. The construction crew laughed themselves sick that night. They may be old and their eyes may not be as good as they used to be. But they know when they are seeing true love blooming. It reminded them of more fulfilled days when their wives were still alive and always making their lives so much more interesting.... When the war hadn't killed so many of their people.... Before they started on this life of wandering around the human world observing and laughing with them....

"Lina is a better name."

"Anil is better!"

"Lina!"

"Anil!"

"LINA!"

"ANIL!!"

"Luna-sama."

"Yes Sacha?" Luna sipped some tea as she continued reading some papers.

"Why is Zelas-sama in the basement?" Sacha asked obviously baffled by this. "We're getting some questions from our customers about the sounds from the basement, " she added.

Luna looked up from the High Dragon's ten-yearly report to her and smirked. "She's looking for treasure."

"Treasure?" Sacha asked. "But the basement is where people around the town stores their broken stuff that they don't have any use for but still want to keep. There is no treasure there. Besides no one has been in there since grandfather's time, " Sacha protested. "The dust must be a mile thick."

Luna smiled briefly. "I know."

"Where are you, " Chibi-Zelas looked under several over turned broken pots, "little wine bottles. Come to your Aunt Zelas!" She paused to cough at the dust she raised. "Drat the dust here." Smiling, she looked deeper into the mess and continued to coon out encouragement. "I'm going to take good care of you!" *heart*