Author's Notes: Eeek! I can't help it! This idea has buzzed around in my head in form or another. So I've decided to kick it out onto paper... errr, the computer! Wah!
~ ~ ~ (...ideas plague me until I write them...) ~ ~ ~
"I can't believe you allowed this to happen! Out of your whole life, never before have you failed me this badly! This wasn't even a hard mission! ..." Zelas paced the room yelling, her hand with the cigarette waving around to emphasize her point.
Xellos stood in the middle of the room flinching at each new verbal assault. He never looked up at Zelas, even when she walked in front of him.
"I'll have to punish you!" Zelas grabbed the front of his shirt and lifted him off the ground. Xellos didn't even fight her, he just looked at her and swallowed.
"I have to think of a different punishment." Zelas stated as she let go and looked down at her servant. Xellos landed on his hands and knees. Zelas grinned when he looked up at her, she had gotten a really good idea...
~ ~ ~ (*inches away from Zelas*) ~ ~ ~
Filia Ul Copt milled around her store fixing merchandise and displays. Her store would open in an hour or two, so she was setting up for another day. She almost dropped a teacup when she heard a knocking at the door. Frowning slightly she walked over and said "We're not open yet."
"I'm not here to buy any of your wares. I must ask a small favor of you." The soft voice from the other side of the door said.
Filia opened the door. A woman wearing a long white dress with many bracelets on her arms and ankles stood there. "What is the favor?"
"I want you to look after one of my," the woman paused for a second and then smiled in an amused way. "pets."
"I can't take care of anything large." Filia said.
"He's not big, he's only 2 feet tall when he stands up on two legs." the woman held her hand to about two feet.
"I don't know. If it has a lot of special needs I'm so busy I may forget." Filia hesitantly replied.
"Don't worry about that. Will you take care of him for me?" the woman asked.
"How long?" Filia was looked thoughtful. "And I have a young son in the house as well."
"About a month, not long. I'm sure your child won't be any problem to him."
"Well I suppose I could..." Filia slowly said.
"Thank you. I'll be back in a month." the woman smiled and turned away.
"Wait what is your name? Where is he and what is his name?"
"He is right there," she pointed at the plain brown bag on her door step that didn't seem to be there before, " and I am Zelas Metallium." then Zelas was gone.
"Zelas Metallium!" Filia paled. "I couldn't sense a Dark Lord at my door step?" she then looked hesitantly at the bag. She took a step back when it moved and watched it cautiously.
The bag continued to move around, its movements getting more frantic with every second.
Filia then noticed one side of the bag was tied up, so whatever was in there couldn't get out. 'But if a Dark Lord gave it to me it must be dangerous.' so Filia continued to stare. The bag finally fell off the step it was on when it thrashed around too much. After it fell it didn't move.
Filia started to feel a little guilty, maybe it wasn't a horrible death trap after all. She began to reach for it, but was startled when a wail began. The second one was just as forlorn a yowl as the first, by the time the third began Filia made up her mind. She picked up the bag by the rope and brought it in her house.
'Whatever it is it sounds like a cat.' Filia carried the silent bag, it had stopped wailing when she picked it up. She lifted it up onto her kitchen counter, which wasn't hard the bag wasn't heavy, and then stared at it. 'But then again it could be trick.'
The bag started to move again, and let out another wail. Filia quickly caught it in both her arms before it fell off of the counter. 'I can feel an animal in here...' She began to untie the bag. 'I just hope this isn't a trap.' She finished untying the bag's rope and stepped away from it.
She watched it move and saw it halt before it left the bag.
"Filia-mama! Filia-mama!" Val rushed in the room waving a shirt around. "My shirt has a hole..." He stopped when he saw Filia looking at him with a very startled expression. He then saw something else sprawled out on the floor. "We have a kitty now?!" Val pointed. Filia whipped around and saw what Val was pointing at.
With large ears that were sticking straight up from the side of his head and a very fluffy furry tail that was puffed up, Xellos stared back at them with his cat-like eyes. He was dressed normally except he wore no gloves or shoes on but had furry paws instead, his front paws were a little more like hands than his back paws. And all the new addition's fur was also purple like his hair.
"Xellos?!" Filia stared at him shocked.
Val hopped over to Xellos and started rubbing his head. "Is Xellos a girl's or boy's name Filia-mama?" Xellos shuffled back away from Val into a wall.
"No Val he's just a stray that is going back outside." Filia walked over and picked up Xellos by the scruff of the neck.
"Mom can't we keep him? Isn't mean to just put him back out?" Val scurried along Filia's side as she carried the yowling and struggling Xellos.
"Go back upstairs Val." Filia said when she reached the door. Val pouted but turned and headed upstairs.
Filia lifted Xellos to her eye level and glared. Xellos glared back, not moving at all except for an angrily swishing tail. "Listen namagomi, I don't know what you or Zelas Metallium have planned but you aren't getting Val."
"And I don't to want to be here either." Xellos replied.
"So you can still talk." Filia clucked her tongue as she opened the door. "Oh well." She said as she threw him out.
Xellos yowled in protest, before landing on all four feet. He turned around and glared at the door to Filia's shop. Turing around with his tail still waving angrily, he started to saunter off until a voice stopped him.
"Are you sure you want to leave? Even if it means your presence will become known to Dolphin and Dynast?"
Xellos froze and looked towards the shadow within the shadows of the building.
"If you get to far from Filia you'll be out of the spell's range, it's your choice. "The shadow started to fade into the others. "But I will say, I don't feel like creating another servant."
Xellos's ears and tail drooped as he turned around. He curled up on the doorstep with a sigh and waited.
~ ~ ~ (Kawaii Half Neko Xellos!!!) ~ ~ ~
The shop had opened but there were no customers at all, not even Val was here, he had gone out to play. Filia let out a bored sigh from behind the counter. She glanced out the window and saw the same crowd of people that had been there ever since the shop opened.
Finally giving in to her curiosity she finally walked over to the window and opened it. "Excuse me, but what is everyone out here doing?"
The guy who isn't important enough for a name turned around and replied "There is a weird little cat on your doorstep Miss. Filia. We don't know how long it's been there, but it is very strange."
Filia had an idea of who it was and frowned. She walked over to the door and opened it, confirming her suspicions. Xellos was curled up, Val sat right next to him scratching his head.
Val looked up at Filia when she opened the door. "Aw Filia-mama... can't we keep him? He didn't leave after you threw him out, I think he wants to stay."
"Val," Filia began. She stopped when she heard whispers of 'I thought she was a kind person, how could she abandon...' and similar comments.
Not wanting to get a bad reputation that would hurt her business she gave in. "You stay out here Val." And then in a louder voice she said "I'll be closed temporarily, come back later." She picked up the quiet Xellos and walked back into the store.
~ ~ ~ (Minna Sha-la-la-la-la...can't help it, I'm listening to that song now) ~ ~ ~
Filia walked back towards the kitchen counter and dropped Xellos on it. She then closed the blinds so anyone else wouldn't see.
"What do you want? And don't you dare say that is a secret." Filia's mace was out as she glared at Xellos.
"I don't want anything," Xellos backed up a little and waved his hands in front of him when mace-sama got closer. "Really."
"What are you up to?" Filia started to move forward.
"Nothing." Xellos continued to back up as Filia got closer.
"Why are you here then?" Filia continued to advance.
"You wouldn't believe me." Xellos reached the edge of the counter.
"Try me." Filia hefted her mace up high.
"I'm being punished because I failed a mission." Xellos quickly squeaked out shirking away from the mace over his head.
Filia blinked and stopped to examined him for a second. With his hands over his head, lowered ears, and a puffed up tail, he was curled up. Against her better judgement she lowered her mace. "How are you being punished then?"
Xellos relaxed a little and looked at her. "Well I'm... sort of... stripped of some of my powers," his ears which had perked up a little earlier now drooped, "I have to stay within a certain range of... you," his ears drooped more as well as his tail, "and I've kind of... been... made mortal." Xellos finished talking and looked up at a stunned Filia.
Filia just stood there until she cracked up. "You mean," she giggled, "to tell me," she giggled again, "that your pretty much helpless now."
"I'm not helpless! I can still fight." Xellos hissed standing up.
"Yeah but you..." Filia trailed off. "You said you have to stay near me?"
Xellos sat back down and nodded.
"No way. You'll..." Filia angrily began.
"If you throw me back outside, I'll just stay in front of your house." Xellos crossed his arms.
Filia bit back a reply. If she did that her business clients may leave to go to a different store. "Fine you can stay! I live here so you'll have do what I say!"
"No I don't have too-hey!" Xellos found himself one again being lifted by the scruff of the neck.
"I will not have you ruin my day or destroy my wares. You are staying upstairs in this." Filia picked up the bag.
Xellos yowled and flailed. "Filia, not the bag! Do you even know what it is like in there?!"
Filia managed to get him inside, but he stuck his head right back out "Filia if you knew-oof!" Filia pushed him back in and managed to tie the cord.
Filia couldn't help but smirk as she walked upstairs. Though muffled slightly she could hear Xellos's angry protests, but by the time she reached the guestroom he was silent.
Opening the closet she placed the bag inside and closed the door. She sighed and thought 'Maybe I could have just left him in the closet. Perhaps the bag is a little too extreme...' she heard Xellos call out Filia again, this time he seemed a bit more frantic. "I should re-open the store now." she muttered to herself as she walked to the door of the room.
From inside the closet, inside the bag, Xellos heard footsteps leaving the room. With the thought of having to stay in the suffocating bag for a while, Xellos felt another forlorn wail coming. After another useless attempt to get out, he settled down and started to let out another wail.
Filia was halfway down the stairs when she heard the first cry. Gritting her teeth she turned around, marched back to the room and threw the closet door open. Grabbing the bag just as the third cry began, she walked over and dropped it on the bed. She then quickly closed the door and began to untie the bag again. When she finished she crossed her arms and looked down just as Xellos scrambled out.
"Do you have to do that, sound whatever it was?"
"I couldn't help it." Xellos quietly replied.
"What do you mean by that?" Filia arched an eyebrow at him.
"Well I believe Juu-ou-sama left some cat instincts that I have no control over." Xellos's ears drooped as he looked down and away.
"Well that doesn't change anything." Filia once again picked up Xellos by the scruff of the neck and put him back into the closet. "I'll let you out at the end of the day, so don't do that eerie sound again."
"But Filia..." Xellos whined again as he clawed the door. He looked around the medium sized yet empty closet. He sighed and sat down 'At least it's better than that bag.' His ear twitched, irritated by a speck of dust and without a second thought he started scratching it with his back paw. He froze mid-scratch and turned to stare at his foot in disbelief.
~ ~ ~ (Anyone get the name now?) ~ ~ ~
There will be future chapters, though they may not all be as long as this. There will be humorous and serious scenes. Xellos will be picked on alot, just a warning to all you Xellos fans.
