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Author’s note: Could this be?! A plot?! Don’t get your hopes up. ^_^; Er…all disclaimers apply, as usual. And this part will be confusing, just like the rest of them, so enjoy!
She was in a cool, dark place. She opened her eyes slowly, expecting to see her room, her ceiling, and perhaps an open window to explain the low temperature.
Instead of all those nice, homey things, she saw nothing. Nothing but blackness. Darkness of the deepest pitch.
"What?" She murmured. The scenery seemed to shift around her, molding itself to her, showing her bits and pieces of things both known and unknown. "Where is this place?"
"That's what I'd like to ask you."
She spun around, coming face to face with a tall woman with blond hair and hard blue eyes. "Who are you?"
"This has to be a dream," the woman mused. "But why would you ask me who I am if it really is a dream?"
She was feeling impatient now. "Stop talking in riddles! Who are you and what is this place?"
"I have no idea." The woman snapped back. "And who's talking in riddles? If you want my name, then give me yours too."
She unclenched her fist. This is only a dream, she told herself. An obnoxious and unusual dream, but a dream nonetheless. " My name is Lina. What's yours, Miss Sunshine?"
The woman frowned at her. "It's Filia. What are you doing here, Lina?"
"I'm not doing anything. I don't even know how I got here." Lina looked around, studying the darkness. It was in layers, always shifting. Velvet black, deep black, shiny black, dull black. "It's nice décor, but don't you think the black is overdoing it a little?"
"Who said this was designed by me?" Filia retorted. "I don't know how I got here either. So stop making it sound as if it's all my fault."
"Did I say that? Oh, I'm so terribly sorry." Lina drawled sarcastically. "I certainly hope I didn't offend you, Miss Sunshine."
"Stop calling me that." The blond woman said, irritated. "We could stop arguing and try to figure out what is going on."
"We could." Lina agreed. "Or we could continue to amuse ourselves by acting like immature brats. Talk sounds good."
Dragon, Human, and Demon. Listen to Me.
"Eh? What was that?!" Lina looked around, trying to find the source of that voice. Filia narrowed her eyes.
"Demon? WHERE?!"
"Filia-san, really. You should learn some self control."
Filia nearly screamed with rage when a man materialized in front of her. Lina watched in confusion as the Golden Dragon attempted to attack him, but got knocked back as if she had ran into an invisible shield.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE, YOU BASTARD!?" Filia screeched in fury. The man shrugged.
"I was summoned, Filia-san. Just like you. Just like her. I think we should be more polite when in the home of our host."
Lina was getting more and more confused. "Host? Summoned? What is going on?" She hated sounding like Gourry, but she was getting really lost.
"I don't know. Maybe we should let Her explain."
"Her?"
That voice came again, stronger and clearer this time.
Dragon, Human, and Demon. I have Summoned you Three here for a Purpose.
"I'm sorry," Lina said, placing her hands on her hips. "I am just absolutely lost about what is going on. Why don't you tell us who you are first? And how you're able to do this and why."
I will explain, Human. The voice replied. I am the Darkness you see. I am the Light. I am Everything and I am Nothing. I am all that there is and I am a void where nothing exists. I am the Great Mother. I am the Lord of Nightmares.
"The who?" Filia asked. Lina also looked confused.
"You can say She is a god, of sorts." The man supplied helpfully. "Actually, she's the god of Gods. The Lord of all. That sounds okay, L-sama?"
Time has not changed you, Demon. Your patience will be awarded. But that is not Why I have Summoned you. Truly, Cepheed is the God of this world, or so the People believe. He is the Good. Shabranigdo is the Evil.
"But the Dark Lord was defeated 1000 years ago," Filia interjected. "He and his generals were sealed, cast into eternal sleep by the dragons. The world is at peace."
Peace comes with a Price. With the Sealing of Darkness in this World, the Balance is destroyed. It must be regained if this World is to survive and continue on. The voice seemed infinitely sad. My Children do not seem to Understand this. They do not understand that Their Struggle is keeping the World alive and threatening that Life at the same time. And now that Victory has been awarded the Dragons, the Balance must be restored or Else this World will die.
"And that would be a bad thing." The man commented.
"What does that have to do with us?" Lina asked.
You are the representatives of this World, the voice replied. You are the three races that must keep the World Balanced. So it is up to you three to restore the balance and save the World you live in.
"WHAT?!" Lina practically screamed. "SAVE THE WORLD?!"
"Why should we believe this?" Filia asked suspiciously. "you claim to be a god and want us to restore the balance, or so you say. But how do we know you're not working with him," She pointed an accusing finger at the man. "To revive the Demon race? You know doing that will start another Dragon Demon war. It will mean pointless death and destruction. You want the world to survive, but what you want us to do will destroy it!"
A Mother will not harm her Child. The voice was cold now. Do you believe that I, the Mother of all, would want to see my creations die? To see them suffer? No, I would never do that. You have the concept of Love. Love, you think is the greatest power of the Universe. I Love my creations, more than any mere Mortal can understand. Do not think I am doing this with malicious Reasons. That would just show your own narrow-mindedness.
Filia was not convinced. "Well, then, what do you want us to do?"
I want you to revive the Demon Race, Yes. To do that, you must awaken the Dark Lord and his Generals.
"That will start a war," Lina said grimly.
It will. The war will be the cleansing. It will restore that which had been lost.
"We don't want war." Lina stated firmly.
"The Dragons have earned their victory in the previous war. Shouldn't we be allowed to enjoy the peace now?" Filia protested.
Peace and extinction. Is that what you want? When the balance is destroyed, there is nothing but the Void to return to. I will let you think about it, Dragon, Human and Demon. Make your Choice wisely.
Somewhere in a darkened room, the Dragon woke with a gasp, as if she had just freed herself from the grasp of a nightmare. She shook her head as if in denial, then troubled, she returned to her unrestful slumber.
"Lina-san?"
Lina pretended to be asleep, and Amelia left the door quietly when there was no reply. Silently, Lina pondered on the dream. Was it a dream? Or maybe…
Too many questions, too many…the concepts that She told them were so abstract, yet so real, that it was hard to dismiss it off-hand. The Balance between Good and Evil. The Chaos that kept it balanced. The Dragons, the Demons and the Humans.
What would her answer be?
Down, far below the Sanctuary, one of the few surviving Demons was smiling. Soon, he thought. Soon, Xellas-sama…