An hour later, after the Slayers group had finished their luxurious ten course meal, footsteps were heard, and they glanced over to see Xelloss leaning heavily on his staff, which had been hastily wrapped together at the break to prevent it from falling apart again, and Zallia following with an aloof look on her face. "Hello minna-san!" The Mazoku chirped happily, flopping down in a seat. "Oh, I never did extend my thanks to you for.....rescuing me."
Everyone's gaze immediately focused on the Mazoku with disbelief. "Thank us?" Lina said slowly as if she hadn't heard right. "You're..... thanking us....?"
"Good god.... The world is gonna end." Zelgadis mumbled.
Xelloss looked slightly baffled. "And what's wrong with that? If you hadn't have found me, I would have died."
They still stared at him. "I just never expected you to actually thank us for anything Xelloss." Lina said scratching her head. "It's not you."
He shrugged. "Lina-san, you know nothing about me."
That made her twitch suddenly, her mind flying back to the flashback of his youth. Yes I do..... she thought quietly to herself, standing up suddenly. "So, let's get moving then."
The group gathered their things, and exited the inn. Lina and Gourry struck off in the lead, with Zel by himself, Amelia next to Zallia, and finally Xelloss bringing up the rear slowly. They struck a brisk pace, and the Mazoku had trouble keeping up, but didn't say anything aloud.
They walked on continuously, traveling towards their destination, new Saiirag. Gourry and Lina were wrapped up in their own activities, Zel was deep in thought, and Xelloss off quite far behind the road following them at his own pace. That left Amelia with Zallia to make conversation. "So.." She piped up. "What did you learn?"
Zallia smiled gently down at the young girl. "Well, he did show me how to gain control of my inner demon, but I'll have to practice it for a while before I'm comfortable with it."
Amelia looked impressed. "Great! So you might be able to control it?"
She nodded wordlessly, throwing a glance back at the Mazoku behind them. "Maybe we should wait for him.... I'm worried that he's off by himself...." She trailed off thoughtfully.
Amelia glanced back as well. "I'm sure he can take care of himself."
"I'm not sure about that. He's not as strong as he seems." She sighed shaking her head. "He took a bad beating, and he's not going to recover for several weeks yet. The fact that he's trying this much astounds me."
Amelia looked up at her curiously. "I thought you didn't like him?"
She shrugged. "He is my father.... However I might not want it, it's the truth. And he's not really that bad of a person once you get to know him."
Amelia was looking puzzled. "But he's evil!"
"Well, so am I." She pointed out. "Granted, I'm half of him, but I still have Mazoku in me."
Amelia looked ashamed. "But you're different...."
Zallia looked amused, her golden eyes lifting and her expression mirroring Xelloss' almost exactly. "How so? Because I'm only half Mazoku? Does that make me any less evil?" She shook her head. "He's Mazoku, and doesn't hide his personality. I am half and I do...." She looked thoughtful. "It's rather confusing if you think about it."
Amelia frowned as if thinking about it, and shook her head. "I guess it's hard...."
The group had reached the crest of a hill, and up ahead they saw Lina and Gourry flopping down on the grass for a break. Zallia and Amelia joined them, and Zel walked over to the edge of the cliff, looking out across it with a thoughtful expression. Zallia slung herself up onto the top branch of a tree hanging way out over the edge of the cliff, and though she didn't see it, Zel threw her a worried glance.
After several long minutes, the slow figure of Xelloss joined them and plopped down against the tree trunk, closing his eyes and seeming to drift off to somewhere. Lina stared at him as the others snoozed off, and then decided to pose her question. She stood up and sat down next to him, trying to see through the outer calm expression. "Ne...... can I ask you a question?"
He didn't seem to answer for some time, then he tilted his head slightly towards her. "Depends."
She rolled her eyes, but sighed and stared at her hands, then back up at him. "You......were human once, weren't you?" It was more of a statement than a question.
His right eye slid open and peered at her questioningly. She flinched under that intense gaze. After a moment, he spoke in a soft voice. "Yes..... why do you ask."
She didn't quite know how to pose the answer. She thought about it, then spoke in a low voice so that her words could only be heard by him. "When we found you.... After we brought you in, you were tossing and turning, as if dreaming....." She glanced away feeling shame creep up on her for invading his privacy. "So I was curious and took a look." His eyebrow twitched slightly, but he made no other response. After some minutes of silence, Lina glanced up at him again. "You seemed like a very nice person...... back then.... What happened to you?" She knew she was overstepping her boundaries, but she wasn't really worried of what the weakened Mazoku would do at this point.
His gaze was so piercing that it hurt just to be sitting where he could see her. But after some time, he shut his eyes. "Sou da naaa...." He murmured. "How interesting." She blinked up at him, slightly surprised by his behavior. "So.." He continued, "What is your point Lina-san?"
She bit her lip. "I saw what happened.... When the monsters attacked your village....." When he didn't make a response, she continued. "And your girlfriend...." She was cut off abruptly.
"Would you get to the point please?" His voice was cold and sharp, and she felt tingles of fear run down her back.
Lina scowled. "I'm just curious!" She snapped, her anger finally bubbling up. "It showed that somewhere inside of you was a real person at one point!" She was grateful that Xelloss was weakened, or else she wouldn't have said such things to him. "I just want to know where he went A'nu!"
She felt icy cold fingers around her throat suddenly, and she caught her breath as she looked into his deep amethyst eyes which were narrowed very dangerously at her. "Do NOT say that name in my presence again or I will kill you!" He hissed, his voice much like a viper's. "Is that understood?"
Lina managed to nod slightly, her eyes wide, and he released her. She reached up and touch where his fingers had bit into her. He was strong..... and she could tell that she would have some bruises from that. She glared at him angrily, noticed his eyes were closed and he seemed to be resting, and decided to give it a rest. She stood up and lay down again in the grass beside Gourry, thinking about the events. He was a Mazoku, she kept reminding herself. Never trust him.
Zallia was lounging on the tree branch, dangling her arm down fiddling with some leaves on a branch below. She yawned, and rolled over and sat up, watching the others. Amelia was just sitting up, and she stood and stretched, then walked over rather unsteadily, and looking still asleep, closer to the cliff. Zelgadis turned his head to watch her. "Careful of the ledge." He warned.
She just yawned and stopped at the edge and looked down. "Ne..... isn't that Saiirag down there?"
Zel nodded. "Yes."
She smiled. "It looks good! They've sure done well on the reconstruction!" She turned around and waved at Lina. "Miss Lina! Come look!"
At that exact moment, the edge of the cliff she stood on gave way and everything seemed to happen in slow motion. First, Amelia blinked in surprise not finding anything below her feet, second Zel jumped up reaching for her hand, third Lina dashed to the edge preparing to dive after her, and fourth Zallia stood up on the tree branch. Then, quick as a flash, Amelia was falling and Lina screamed. "Amelia!!!!!" She jumped off the edge of the cliff and shouted "Levitation!!", but much to everyone's horror, nothing happened. Zel cursed and cast his own. "Levitation!" on them. However, they didn't stop in their descent.
"Shit! They're out of reach!!" Zel screamed watching with helpless eyes as Lina struggled to try and cast a spell. But since she and Amelia were in their helpless phase, nothing could be done...... that is until a dark streak threw itself rocketing down towards them with lightning sped.
Lina felt a calm sort of peace knowing that she would die today, and forced herself to glance up to give her friends one last glance. That's when she saw it........ from both sides, something was approaching them at fast speeds. The left one was a streak of gold, while the right was a streak of black...... Then she felt a sudden jerk as something grabbed onto her cape tightly, and she stopped her fall, and she was gliding gently over the valley. Before she could get her bearings, she was back on land standing on shaking legs, Gourry wrapped tightly around her sobbing and squeezing her so tight she couldn't breathe.
Amelia knelt slightly dazed at her near death encounter, then turned her gaze to her rescuer...... It was Zallia in her Mazoku form, but large jet black wings shot out of her back like a dragon's. She was watching her with a worried look. "Are you Ok Amelia?" She asked softly, worry reflected in her amethyst eyes. Amelia nodded slightly dazed and stood up with her help. "Don't scare us like that again." Zallia scolded gently.
In the meantime, Zel was approaching another figure, a large one at that......
Lina glanced over. "A dragon..." She murmured in awe staring up at the huge golden form before them. She slowly separated from Gourry and walked over to stand beside Zel to look up at the gold dragon. "Thank you." She said with gratitude in her voice. "We owe you our lives."
Amelia came up besides Lina and stared up at the dragon. "Yes...... thank you for saving Miss Lina." She glanced at Zallia who was staring up at the dragon as well. "And thank you Miss Zallia for saving me."
Zallia threw a glance at Amelia, and smiled at her, her fangs glinting in the light, her purple eyes flashing. "Be more careful next time."
The dragon seemed to bow it's head, then it glowed brightly before them, and began to shrink. They stared in astonishment, and watched with their mouths agape as the dragon shifted slowly from a glowing bright light, to a young woman who had long blonde hair. She slowly opened her eyes, and their blue depths looked back out at them. "I am Filia." She said with a gentle smile.
Lina shook her hand rapidly. "Hajimemashite!" She pumped up and down, and Filia seemed to look nauseous and a bit overwhelmed. "I can't thank you again how much this means to us for saving our lives."
"Ano..." She sweatdropped but smiled slightly. "It's quite ok...."
Lina sighed. "Though I never expected to meet a gold dragon." She peered at her. "I didn't know they could take human form actually...."
She seemed amused by that. "We can.... Just as the...." She spat the word out, "Mazoku can."
Zallia was staring at her with an intense gaze of piercing intensity, and Filia noticed this. She glanced at the half Mazoku. "Is something wrong?" She glanced at the girls' appearance, and hissed through clenched teeth. "Mazoku!"
Zallia just frowned, and felt a hand on her shoulder. Amelia was clinging to her arm. "It's not her fault! She's only half Mazoku!"
At that, Filia's face seemed to twist into something like rage and hatred, fear and surprise, and a melding of startled shock. "Half?" Her voice shook slightly. "How....."
"Hello Filia-chan. It's been a while." Came a soft voice from behind them. They glanced back to see Xelloss leaning heavily on his staff, watching Filia with smiling eyes. Their gaze went back to Filia, to see a dangerous aura of anger surrounding her. "You!" She hissed. "YOU!!!!"
"Ma ma!" he said waving a hand at her. "Is that a way to treat an old friend?"
"FRIEND???" She screamed at the top of her lungs with anger radiating off of her like waves of energy. "You...... YOU.....YOU..."
He smiled pleasantly at her. "No, I'm not an ewe..... I'm Mazoku."
She fumed angrily and reached beneath her cloak to pull out a gigantic mace. "YOU WILL DIE!!!" She hissed taking a step forward.
Amelia was shoved roughly aside by Zallia as she stepped in between the two and put restraining hands on both of their shoulders. "Stop it." She glanced at Filia. "Don't pick on the weak." She said glaring, then she turned to Xelloss. "And you don't entice her."
Xelloss just smirked more. "Whatever you say daughter dear."
At that there was a loud thump heard, and all heads turned towards Filia. The mace had fallen out of her hand, and she was standing there with a very ashen face. "Daughter..." She managed to choke out. Everyone was staring at her, and she took a step backwards, and fell over her own mace, still staring at Zallia.
Zallia frowned and scratched her head lightly with her claws, then a soft glow surrounded her, and she changed back to her human form. "Would you care to explain any of this?" She asked Xelloss with a glare of murder.
"No."
She glared at him angrily and turned around and smacked him hard across the head. "I repeat my question."
Amelia was kneeling by Filia who was staring blankly ahead as if she couldn't see anything. Amelia was very concerned, and shook her shoulder lightly repeatedly saying her name.
Xelloss was rubbing his cheek and opened his eyes at her. "How nice of you daughter dear." He murmured with a smile. "And let's just say then that she and I are.... Old acquaintances."
Lina glared at him. "Oh, I remember.... You murdered hundreds of her kind didn't you."
He nodded slightly with a smile. "Correct. But that's not the reason."
Zallia glanced at Filia, then back to him, and then sighed. "Fine. Be that way." And with that she vanished into thin air, startling most of them.
Xelloss sighed. "Oya oya..... such touchy people....." He shrugged and then promptly vanished as well, and the group was left by themselves with Filia, who was still sitting in shock.
Lina sighed and glanced at the horizon. "We might as well break camp.... No more traveling today." She plopped down while Gourry and Zel began to set up the tents. Eventually, everything was set, and soon some critter of some sort was roasting over the open flame. The group wolfed down their food, letting Filia be alone, as she was obviously too upset to eat. Soon, the group was snoring away, and the firelight was flickering brightly in the darkness. Filia sat against the tree, curled up in her cloak, staring at the flames absently. She almost didn't hear the footsteps approach. She looked up as a figure walked into the campsite, and crouched by the fire, staring into it and warming her hands. After some time, Zallia glanced her way, her golden eyes illuminating in the darkness. She slowly stood, and walked over to sit next to Filia, turning her face towards the light.
Filia shivered involuntarily as she glanced at the girl, recognizing the sharp features inherited from her father. It was frightening and strange in a way, since her face seemed to illustrate the possible kindness or calm side of the Mazoku. After a while, Filia ventured to speak. "I want to apologize for how I treated you earlier......"
The girl glanced at her and smiled gently. "It's Ok, I can understand why you might be so upset at him...." She poked the fire with a stick. "If someone murdered my race, I'd wanna go on a rampage too."
Filia sighed. "That..... that wasn't the only reason.... It was actually the last thing on my mind to tell you the truth."
Zallia glanced over at her curiously. "How do you mean?"
Filia wrapped her arms around her legs. "He and I go back a ways...... and it's not a pleasant relationship."
She nodded slowly. "I can understand that...."
Filia glanced over at her. "May I ask, you're his daughter, so who is your mother?"
Zallia shrugged. "I don't know. He never will tell me or anyone else. 'Sore wa himitsu desu' is all he'll ever answer."
Filia growled low in her throat. "Figures...." She clenched her fist, then released it. "What is your other half then?"
Again, Zallia shook her head. "I don't even know that." She felt a tremble from the dragon girl beside her, and glanced over to see her weeping. "What's the matter Filia-san?" She asked tenderly putting a hand on her shoulder.
Filia didn't look up at her. "It's nothing...."
Zallia didn't look convinced, but she dropped the point. They sat in silence for some time, both lost in their own thoughts. After some time, Zallia glance at Filia. "Why are you here Filia-san?"
The dragon girl looked at her. "Well...... it's a long story...."
Zallia shrugged and lay down on the ground in a sprawled position. "Well, we've got time, ne?" Her smile shown up at Filia and the dragon stared at her, then relaxed a bit and smiled back. "Hai..." She slid down and relaxed on the ground as well, and sighed. "Where shall I begin....."
Chapter 8 | Fanfiction