Thin Line between Love and Hate
Filia grunted as she dragged herself out from under some rubble. She had just been in battle, and had won, with little more than scrapes and bruises.
"Too bad Lina and the rest missed out on this battle." Filia thought, as she dusted herself off. She paused when she heard something behind her. Upon turning, Filia saw a shape materialize from the gloom.
"No…………………Not him! Not that Mazoku!" Filia thought, as she watched the figure approach her. As though the figure had sensed her presence, he lifted his head and smiled at her.
"Ne,…………….Filia-chan!" Xellos said, sounding tired, despite his cheery greeting. Before Filia could grab her mace, Xellos pitched forward and collapsed.
"Namagomi?" Filia asked, as she took a step towards him. She got a groan for a response. Quickening her step, Filia rushed over to Xellos' side, even though it was against all she believed. Gently, she reached out and turned Xellos over onto his back so she could see what was wrong. Immediately, she smelled Mazoku blood and saw it flowing freely from a gash in his stomach and side.
"Namagomi………………" Filia murmured, staring in disbelief at the wound.
"Are you that surprised, Filia-chan?" Xellos asked, softly.
"Shut up, Mazoku. Let me see how severe this wound is." Filia said, as she unclasped Xellos' priest cloak and tore a larger hole in the tunic. In the waning light, Filia could see that the wound was deep and serious enough to cause death in a normal human.
"It's too bad you're a Mazoku, Xellos. I could have used healing magic to seal this wound, had you been human." Filia said, as she cast a quick light spell. In the light, Filia could see Xellos nod weakly and turn his head away when she began to look at the wound a little more closely to see if she could stitch the gash back together. Then a thought crossed her mind; Xellos was helpless the way he was now! She could kill him with her magic, or leave him to bleed to death, alone. Then her conscience stepped in, saying something else; if she did that, she wouldn't be any better than him.
"Namagomi?" Filia asked, as her decision settled in her mind. He didn't speak, but he turned his head and looked at her, lavender eyes glazed with pain.
"I'm going to go get some water so I can clean the wound out, then I will see if I can stitch it closed. Can you stay alive long enough so I can do that?" Filia asked, not certain whether or not he could hear her.
"H-hai……………Filia-chan………………" Xellos whispered, coughing a little when blood came to the back of his throat. Without another word, Filia went off in search of water. She eventually found some and filled her canteen with it. Then she found two buckets close by and filled them. When she returned, Xellos was barely conscious, but he tried to smile when she again kneeled at his side.
"What…………..took you so long……………Filia-chan?" Xellos asked, grimacing when Filia started cleaning out his wound.
"Finding water." Filia replied, simply.
"Oh………….." Xellos said, restraining himself from pushing Filia away from the wound. He was surprised, to say the least; his sworn enemy was actually helping him! What was more, she actually seemed to care whether or not he lived or died. The more he thought about this, the less he felt the burning pain in his middle.
"Filia-chan……………..?" Xellos asked, as Filia put the rag she had been using to cleanse his wound aside.
"Yes, Namagomi?" Filia asked, as she fished out a bone needle and some thread from her pack.
"Why are you helping me? I thought you hated me." Xellos said, quietly.
"I do hate you, but I will not stoop to your level and leave you to die or murder you like you murdered my kind. If I did that, I wouldn't be any better than you." Filia said, as she started stitching the wound closed.
"Ah……………" Xellos murmured, before gritting his teeth and hissing as the needle went through flesh and muscle. After she'd finished stitching the gash closed, Filia tore her traveling cloak into strips, then bound Xellos' middle firmly in them. Then the problem of their location struck Filia; they were both in the middle of nowhere, far from any towns or settlements.
"I'm going to have to fly us to a town. I will have to hope that Xellos is strong enough to hold on while I am flying." Filia thought, as she watched Xellos shudder because of the cool of the encroaching night.
"Xellos?" Filia asked, as she shook him lightly by the shoulder when she saw that he'd closed his eyes.
"Hn?" Xellos asked, as he opened his eyes and looked at her.
"I'm going to have to fly you to an inn so your wound won't fester. Do you think you can hang on while I am flying?" Filia asked.
"Hai……………." Xellos said, his voice weak.
"Okay." Filia said, as she transformed into her dragon form and gently lifted Xellos onto her back and placed him between her wings. With a careful jump, Filia took off, heading for the nearest town. The flight was a quiet one; Filia could sense that Xellos had lost a massive amount of blood before he'd gotten to her. But what had caused it? How had he been wounded in the first place? She felt him shift and felt his warm breath on her back scales.
"He's starting to get a little uncomfortable. That wound is going to be a tough one for him to recover from, even though he is a Mazoku." Filia thought, looking down and finally spotting a town below her. When she finally found the inn, she touched down in front of it and removed Xellos from her back and gently placed him on the ground. After she had transformed back into her human form, Filia carefully shouldered Xellos' weight and helped him walk into the inn. The innkeeper looked up when he saw two people enter.
"Yes? What can I do for you two?" the innkeeper asked.
"Erm……….we need a room for the night. He's been hurt and I need to keep an eye on him." Filia said, as sweat beaded on Xellos' brow. The innkeeper nodded.
"Come right this way, Miss." The innkeeper said, as he led Filia to one of the downstairs rooms. Once inside the room, Filia and the innkeeper helped Xellos get into bed and, while the innkeeper went to get some water and rags, Filia checked on Xellos' makeshift bandages.
"How does it look, Filia-chan?" Xellos asked, softly. Filia raised an eyebrow.
"You've stopped bleeding, Namagomi, that much is certain. What remains to be seen is how much blood you lost before I saw you." Filia said, as she allowed Xellos to lie back. After the innkeeper had come and gone, Filia sat by Xellos' bedside, wiping his brow with a cool cloth every so often, since fever and chill had begun to set in.
"Filia-chan………………………Filia-chan………………danger………..pain………." Xellos muttered, caught up in a fever dream.
"He's dreaming…………….Hmph. Probably dreaming about killing me." Filia thought, with some distaste, as she started to stand up from her place so she could get some more water.
"No! Filia-chan……………..!" Xellos moaned, as he grabbed Filia by the wrist, as though desperate to stop her from going. For a split second Filia thought about grabbing her mace and whacking Xellos for touching her, but then she saw the look of fear and concern on Xellos' face.
"Is he……………………worried about me? Why? He's a Mazoku!" Filia thought, as she sat back down next to Xellos bed.
"Don't worry, Xellos, I am right here." Filia said, gently, as she brushed Xellos' damp bangs off of his face with her free hand. As though sensing that she wasn't going anywhere, Xellos released her wrist and settled down. Now Filia was confused; did she hate this Mazoku or not? While her emotions warred within her, she watched Xellos sleep.
"He looks so innocent when he's asleep………………What are you thinking, Filia?! He's your enemy! You should hate him!" Filia thought, then looked again at Xellos. Then she felt it; something had changed within her. But what was it? As she set up a small sleeping area on the floor for herself, Filia couldn't shake the feeling that something had changed between her and the Mazoku.
"Sleep well, Namagomi." Filia thought, before drifting off.
"Sleep well, Filia-chan." Came Xellos' response, even though it was faint.
The next morning, Filia awoke to find herself on the floor. At first she was disoriented, then she remembered where she was and sat up. On the bed, Xellos still slept, his breaths deep and even. Gently, Filia checked his forehead for fever. She was startled to find that she was relieved when she didn't find one.
"Filia-chan………….?" Xellos asked, as he roused up and opened his eyes.
"Yes, I am still here, Namagomi." Filia said, as she sat down beside him.
"Good……….." Xellos said, confusing Filia with that statement.
"What do you mean by that, Mazoku?" Filia asked.
"You weren't hurt……………." Xellos murmured, wincing slightly when he shifted a little bit into a more comfortable position.
"As though you would care." Filia muttered.
"I care…….." Xellos said, before closing his eyes and drifting off. Filia could have been knocked over with a feather. A Mazoku cared about what happened to a Ryuzoku?! Filia was shocked.
"You do? Why?" Filia asked. Xellos roused up again and opened his eyes halfway.
"Because I wouldn't have anyone to argue with if you got hurt, Filia-chan." Xellos murmured, before becoming overcome by the need to sleep. Filia sat where she was in shock; did he just say what she thought he'd said?! All the questions Filia had afterwards, however, had to wait until Xellos awoke. The way he was, he could sleep for days. With a sigh, Filia went into the restaurant to order some breakfast. She wasn't in the least bit surprised when she saw who was there. Lina, Gourry and Amelia sat at the table, devouring a huge breakfast, while someone who looked distinctly like a human Zelgadis sat off to one side, sedately drinking his coffee.
"Whole crew's here. Just add the need for a quest and we will be back to old times again." Filia thought, as she approached the table and waited for someone to notice she was there. It was the young man who looked like Zelgadis who noticed her first.
"Filia?!" the young man yelped, as his companions looked up at the approaching Ryuzoku shrine maiden.
"Hello, minna." Filia said, with a composed smile.
"Heya, Filia! Long time no see!" Lina greeted, from around a piece of food, while Zelgadis sighed and put a hand to his face.
"Ohayo, Filia-san!" Amelia chirped, after she'd swallowed the chunk of food she'd been chewing on.
"Ohayo, Amelia. It's good to see you four again. Especially since it looks like Zelgadis has found his cure." Filia said, as Zelgadis blushed a little bit, then looked away from her.
"Yeah! The Green Priestess cured him, so now he can go around with that mask of his!" Lina said, then added, "And so he and Amelia can get married."
"Lina!" Zelgadis yelped, as he fell off of his seat backwards, blushing as he went.
"Lina-san!" Amelia shouted, also blushing as she said that. Only Gourry still sat, oblivious to everyone else's presence.
"Anyway………..so where's Xellos? Have you seen him around?" Lina asked, knowing that this subject usually irritated Filia. She was surprised when Filia started looking a little bit concerned.
"Hai. He's upstairs, recovering from an injury." Filia said, quietly.
"Huh? And you were taking care of him?" Lina asked, in disbelief. Filia nodded.
"Okay, how did this come about?" Lina asked, serious now. Hesitantly, Filia sat down and told Lina all that had happened the night before (with the exception of Xellos grabbing her wrist, of course). When she had finished, all of them had been listening, even dense Gourry.
"Wow. It must've been a pretty severe wound to keep Xellos down like that." Gourry commented. Filia nodded.
"But I can't for the life of me figure out where it had come from. I know he was close to where I was fighting, but I don't know how close." Filia said, as one more person joined them at the table.
"Hey! Rain! Where've you been?!" Lina asked, turning her attention to the newly arrived.
"Around. Sightseeing mostly. What have you been up to, Lina? Are you and your companions going on another adventure?" Rain asked.
"Yeah, heard about some treasure on some island somewhere. Thought I'd look into it. Want to come along?" Lina asked, as her comrades sighed in exasperation.
"Sure! I'd be happy to accompany you! It's been a long time since I went on an adventure!" Rain said, eagerly.
"When was your last adventure, Rain?" Zelgadis asked, as he again took a seat at the table.
"Hmm…………..I think my last adventure was about……….say……..a hundred and fifty some odd years ago!" Rain said, thoughtfully, as all of her companions fell off of their seats backwards.
"You have been around!" Gourry stuttered.
"I'll say!" Lina said, as Rain smiled good-naturedly. While Lina, Zelgadis, and Gourry introduced Rain to Amelia, Filia's thoughts drifted to Xellos, who was still in bed asleep.
"Hey, Filia-san, do you think we can visit Xellos-san while we are here?" Amelia asked.
"I guess so. But you must be quiet, since he needs to rest." Filia said, surprised with herself. Why was she suddenly so concerned about Xellos? After Lina and Gourry had finished up the last morsels of food, they followed Filia to the room she had gotten for herself and Xellos. When they got to the door, however, they could hear the sounds of a struggle going on. Immediately all of them were armed and they burst into the room. They all gasped when they saw some sort of creature on top of Xellos, it's massive, clawed hands around his throat.
"Xellos!" Filia shouted. Xellos gagged, then opened an eye and looked at her.
"Filia………………….!" Xellos gasped, before the creature tightened its grip on his throat.
"Fire Ball!" Lina shouted, trying to get the creature to back off. Her ploy worked, but only for a moment, for the creature then grabbed Xellos again and lifted him into the air.
"If you ever want to see this worthless Mazoku again, come to Lodoss. There, I will be waiting for you!" the creature snarled, before disappearing into a dark portal with Xellos in hand.
"Hey! Wait! Dammit!" Lina cursed, then all attention turned to Filia. They were all shocked when they saw tears flowing down Filia's face.
"Filia-san?" Amelia asked, shocked by the tears.
"Filia………….." Lina murmured, as Filia turned to her and Amelia, the tears still coming.
"Lina……………Amelia……………" Filia sobbed, as the other two girls gave her their shoulders to cry on, understanding perfectly what she was now going through.
"Xel………….Xellos…………XELLOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Filia screamed, sorrowfully. Rain, who'd helplessly watched the whole thing, turned her thoughts inward. Lodoss, the accursed island. Her birthplace. Her homeland.
"Everyone, I know where Lodoss is, but it will be a long journey. We must prepare as best we can." Rain said. Filia nodded, and did her best to dry her tears.
"Don't worry. We will find Xellos, even if we must travel to the ends of the earth to do so. Lina Inverse, everyone, are you ready?" Rain asked, grimly. There was a nod from all of them.
"Then let's prepare." Rain said, her words carrying the weight of a powerful spell, and they were almost as strong.
"Hang on, Xellos. We're coming." Filia thought, as Rain walked down the hall and out of the inn, walking towards the harbor to where they could find a good ship for their journey.
To be Continued…………..
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Author's Note!
In case ya'll haven't noticed, this story and 'Rain' are connected. In case there is some confusion, be sure to read 'Rain' first, before you read this one. By the way, sorry about the cliffhanger and if there is OOC. I will have the next story out soon! So more adventure and romance coming up!
Gemini ^ ^