Aurora stood before the Kishin, barely registering the Frog Witch and the Immortal Werewolf. Kid and Black Star were completely freaking out.

But she felt nothing. It was like there was a great black abyss where her mind was at the moment.

"Aurora, what the hell is up with your soul right now? I'm having trouble maintaining our wavelength," asked Masamune.

Something inside her snapped. Slowly she started to cackle madly.

"Aurora is sleeping. Now you'll have to deal with Pandora," cackled the Witch.

"What?" said Kid.

"Little Aurora can't handle the burden of his madness. There is a reason why she has the power of Chaos instead of some measly animal!" cackled Pandora.

She began to wave her hands in a random pattern only she could understand.

Pan Pan Pandorian Pandemonium! Chaos Night Blitz!

Masamune didn't know what to think of Pandora's true nature. Aurora rarely broached too deep into her natural alignment, but when she did things tended to go badly...for the people fighting her anyway. When she got serious, she was a total powerhouse bent on absolute destruction.

Aurora was Chaotic Good, her Witch side was Chaotic Neutral.

The Madness, which had filled the very air they breathed, was overshadowed by the sheer chaotic nature of Pandora's power. She devoured the darkness the Kishin caused by his presence, and replaced it with pure undiluted darkness.

Kid could only be thankful that Aurora was a naturally kind person, because feeling that deep abyss scared him to his core. Humans all had a tiny bit of madness in them...but they were predisposed to Order.

Chaos scared humans. It was impossible to bring order to the chaos Pandora used.

Once the Madness was gone, Black Star and Kid found that it was much, much easier to breathe. Free and the Frog Witch, on the other hand, found it harder.

The Frog Witch managed to puncture the odd bag which held the Kishin in it with the Black Blood. The second it started to revive, Pandora's power levels shot through the roof. Her chaos magic was amplified by the Kishin's madness.

When the roof broke and the Kishin shot out of the underground catacombs (morphed by decades of exposure to his Madness) Pandora was quick to follow.

Lord Death didn't know how this would all turn out, but in any event Pandora, the Witch half of Aurora's personality which had always worried him (she has a split personality, one of which controls Chaos. Do I really need to explain his concerns?), would finally show her allegiance.

Chains of black energy bound the Kishin. Pandora appeared, flying on wings made of midnight colored magic.

"There is no Madness in this world, there can only be the Abyss!"

Lord Death frowned. He had heard of the Abyss, but he didn't think that was where Aurora's power had originally come from. Though it certainly explained the split personality issue she had.

As she tried to chain the Kishin down, Lord Death went in for the kill. The man screamed and made most of the normal humans wince at the sound. It was horrible. Pandora didn't flinch at all, but her chains did loosen up enough that the thing escaped. Aurora was starting to wake up, now that the Madness was being suppressed by Chaos.

Suddenly she dropped like a stone, and Lord Death barely caught her. Her magic was cut like a marionette on a string. She was out cold for three days.

"EH?! You want me to go into the past to train my magic?!" said Aurora incredulous.

"It's quite simple really. When I heard the term 'abyss' by your alternate personality, I realized that your power wasn't in fact purely magical in nature. The problem is that left untrained, it could lead to a reopening of a dimension I had sealed off quite some time ago with the permission of its master. They occasionally come to visit me and enjoy the outside, but the place is more or less closed off," said Lord Death.

"So what does this have to do with my magic?"

"It seems your Witch power stems from the Abyss itself, which is rather problematic. Weapons can devour Kishin eggs with no problem, but taking care of people with Chains is another story entirely. And with the Kishin free again it would be an outright disaster if Chains started to reappear as frequently as they did while the Abyss was still active," said Death.

"...This does explain why I've been hitting a wall when it comes to my magic training. So what would happen if I did go into the past?"

"Well for starters you would most likely have to deal with an organization called Pandora, since they would mistake your Witch power for that of a High Powered Chain..."

As Lord Death explained, Aurora's interest only grew instead of dropping.

"What do I have to do? I don't want my powers to go berserk because I didn't get the right training," asked Aurora.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to go through with this? Once you start that path, you won't be able to stop until it ends," asked Death.

"I want to know more. More about Pandora...and about myself. I really doubt I'll see anything worse than I have already gone through," said Aurora.

"I'll give you a week to prepare and say your goodbyes. Since Masamune has been in contact with your Witch Power, it's very possible that he can join you, but I would pack accordingly just in case," Death warned.

"You're going to what?" said Kid.

"I'm going to the past to train my powers. Your dad told me that the place where they originate was sealed off a few hundred years ago and all mentions of it were destroyed. He told me this was the only way to insure that my powers didn't accidentally break open the seal."

"But that would mean you'd leave!" said Kid.

"Only for a little while, a few months at best. According to Lord Death the Abyss doesn't exactly go through the normal stream of Time, so I might be a bit off. I'll be back better than ever!"

"Why do you have to go? I thought you had control of your powers?"

"I've hit a dead-end. And the only texts that even remotely relate to my full ability were destroyed."

Kid wasn't too happy about the fact he couldn't go with his girlfriend. However, Aurora knew she had to go. If she didn't, she would never reach her full potential and that was simply unacceptable.

"Tell you what, how about I leave something of mine behind so that you know I'll come back?" she said.

Aurora reached into her bag and brought something out.

"But this is..."

It was her custom wand. She had crafted it solely by examining Sirius' and Remus' wands just so she could use their brand of magic. It was something she treasured, so she rarely left home without it. It didn't hurt that she had created it to respond to her magic alone, and it was rather difficult to create a new one from scratch without help.

"Kid, I leave you responsible for my wand."

Kid had nothing to say. Aurora really trusted him to keep it safe.

"Who knows, maybe I can take Chrona with me. At the very least I can calm down enough that he can attend the Academy without getting into trouble."

"Chrona, the kid with the Demon Sword?"

"Chrona follows my orders, and he trusts me well enough that I can calm down the Kishin blood he has. Plus I really don't want to unleash his poetry on the school just yet."

"What's wrong with it?"

"It's so depressing that reading it causing a cloud of misery to come over your head. Trust me on this," said Aurora.

Lord Death didn't mind sending Chrona with her, since Aurora was one of the few people Chrona had regular contact with. He trusted her well enough. As it stood, this would be good for the boy. Chrona needed interaction with others before he could properly come to the Academy.

"So what do we do?"

Lord Death lead them to an odd door hidden in the Academy. It had large gold chains that had inscriptions on it.

"This door leads to the Abyss. I'm going to see if Oz is around first, so he can lead you into the past. Ever since he became master and calmed the Will of the Abyss down, it's become easier to travel through time there."

Shinigami knocked on the door three times, and they heard someone shouting back.

"KEEP IT DOWN! WE'RE TRYING TO SLEEP!"

Shinigami laughed and did it again.

A head of blackish brown hair popped out of the door, which Aurora realized opened inward.

"Who's the wise guy banging on the door?!" demanded the girl.

"Hello Alice. Is Oz around?"

"Hold up a sec... OZ! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!"

Alice left the door and a man with long blond hair and green eyes similar to Aurora's appeared.

"Hello Lord Death. It's been a while since we saw you."

"Hello Oz. I have a pair of students who could use a training trip in the past."

"Why?"

"Aurora here is a Witch... Recently we've learned where her true power stems, but there's a problem," said Lord Death.

"Oh?"

"Her power comes from the Abyss itself. Her Witch personality has confirmed this, and since I don't want your Chains breaking free I felt it necessary to have her train in another time line to keep it in check."

"Oh ho! So another Witch has been born with the power of the Abyss? I haven't seen someone with the ability to tap into the Abyss since Lily," said Oz.

"Mom had the same power?" asked Aurora.

"Well that explains it. So you're her child? In that case I'll let you two go into the past once you agree to the same terms she did."

"What terms are those?"

"Under no circumstances are you to make a contract with a Chain. No changing the past irrevocably, and no telling anyone the future."

"I think we can agree to that, but to be fair we don't know the future. All the books were destroyed years ago. Not even a hint of the Abyss was left," said Aurora. She had looked.

"Alright then. You'll just have to do a little bit of studying so you don't stand out too much," said Oz with a grin.

"Are you sure you've packed everything?" asked Lord Death.

"We're ready!" said Aurora, holding Chrona's hand firmly.

"Then step into the door...and pray your magic will hold you through to the end," said Oz.

They stepped through the gilded door...and into darkness.

Aurora could just barely feel Chrona's hand in her own. They were in a room.

"Ow...what the hell?"

"Sorry about that. Even after eight hundred years I still can't change travel through the Abyss. It doesn't help that we don't get many visitors anymore."

A light appeared, and they saw Oz standing with the girl from before.

"Welcome to the deepest part of the Abyss. Just to let you know, we don't actually have the power to send you back. Lord Death's seal is a bit too powerful for us to send your through."

"WHAT? Then how are we supposed to get back home once I get a better understanding of my power?" asked Aurora.

"Find the creator of the Abyss. It was once called a sea of gold in the darkness, before Alyss was sealed in there by mistake. After that incident, the Chains started to jump in number and the nature of the Abyss was altered permanently," said Alice.

"However, there is a tiny catch. The woman who accidentally created the Abyss is a bit eccentric. Plus, it was her power that controls the flow of time."

"What's so bad about that?" asked Chrona.

"Because the only Witches who ever possess the power of the Abyss...are her descendants. The one who can take you back to your time is your ancestor," said Oz.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

"Because your ancestor...is the infamous Witch of Destruction."

Aurora's jaw dropped. Everyone who studied magic knew of the Witch of Destruction. A woman who could wipe out the world with a single spell. The only known avatar to the greatest source of magic ever known, the Dark Lord of all Dark Lords.

The Enemy of All Who Live...Lina Inverse.

"NO WAY! Lina Inverse created the Abyss?!"

"The irony is that she never intended to do it. It happened entirely by accident when a new spell she was creating went out of hand and resulted in a side dimension between our world and the world of the Monster race. Sometimes the weaker Monsters got stuck in it, resulting in Chains. When Alyss was sealed, the Chains multiplied at an alarming rate," said Oz.

"Suddenly, I'm glad I asked Mifune to teach that idiot Black Star how to use a sword properly until we got back. I get the feeling this will take a while," said Aurora.

"Oh well. In any case, why don't you chat with Gil and Break? Chrona, you can speak with Sharon. By the time you leave this room you should be able to handle yourselves," said Oz.

"So this is the past. Weird."

"Aurora...this place makes me nervous," said Chrona.

"Relax. According to Oz, Alyss doesn't mind if we take out a few Chains. Anyway, I'm going to use this time to improve your sword ability. You're the only one who can properly keep up with Masamune and I who isn't a Death Scythe."

Chrona gulped.

They walked along the street, ignoring most other people. Aurora could tell none of them was the woman she was looking for.

Lina Inverse. Creator of the Abyss. Master of Chaos Magic. Witch of Destruction.

Out of all the people she could have been stuck looking for, it had to be the most dangerous Witch in history. Even Lord Death was no match against her. During the class about Witches, they spent an entire week describing her. Hell, it was after that week Aurora had fled the Academy.

She never knew she got the highest score in history for that essay.

Strangely, there were few books about the woman. But one thing was repeated in the ones she found.

Lina Inverse was the most dangerous woman to cross. Her magic was unrivaled. Even Medusa and Arachne couldn't hope to match her.

"What's a little girl like you doing out here alone?"

"I'm not alone. I have my friend with me," said Aurora.

"Two kids like you shouldn't wander around. Where's your mommy and daddy?" sneered the thug.

"Dead. Now be good boys and scram before I kick your ass," said Aurora.

"Hey now..." started the first thug, grabbing her shoulder.

"Masamune."

"Right."

In one smooth stroke, Aurora had her sword to the first thug's throat.

"You really don't want to annoy me. I tend to get stab happy when people annoy me."

The thugs were so freaked out by her eyes that they ran like hell.

Masamune returned to human form.

"You weren't being very subtle," he said.

"We don't have time to be subtle," she replied, unaware of someone watching from the shadows.