Half Innocent Half Evil

Part Two, Preparations

By Relm

Coming to terms with her pregnancy had been hard but it was nothing compared to what was to come.

She was going to have a baby. And even though she could keep the pregnancy secret once she laid the egg she would have some explaining to do. Where did the egg come from? And if it's not hers then why is she caring for it?

And Xellos... What to do about Xellos? It was his child too after all. She knew the right thing to do was to tell him. But was it the right thing to do when the father was so wrong?

If she did tell him... how would he react? Would he wholeheartedly embrace the role of a loving father and do what was best for the child? Not likely; he was a monster after all.

Two likely scenarios played out in Filia's head. One that Xellos would use his child as a tool for the monster race's evil plans. Or two have the baby killed. As the child was an abomination after all. The product of good and evil. A forbidden mixture of blood.

Why the fact that Filia chose to keep her child probably made her ancestors turn in their graves.

Either scenario had Xellos doing something terrible and Filia wouldn't have that.

So left with no option Filia decided to keep the baby a secret as long as possible. She would deal with the problem of explaining the child's origin when the time came. For now it was a day-to-day survival. Protect the child, that was Filia's motto.

Usually for a human nearing the end of their pregnancy their bellies swelled to such a size making it very obvious that they were pregnant. But Filia wouldn't be carrying her child quite that long anyway. Yes she had gained weight but it went along with what her current diet was. All the high fat and high sugar foods easily explained the weight gain. So Filia didn't really have to worry too much about that.

It was the other signs of pregnancy that Filia had to be careful about. It had been easier for her when she didn't know. She didn't have to worry about the way she acted, because in her mind she was perfectly fine. But knowing made things harder. She had to be very aware of what she said and what she did. And when she started to get back pains and swelled feet she had to bite her tongue from complaining. Doing so made Filia more irritable. Which of course Jilas and Gravos pointed out to her several times.

But Filia did have a secret weapon. She waited until things were their worst before she couldn't stand the discomfort anymore. At that point when Jilas and Gravos complained Filia told them it was that time of the month.

That shut them both up. (And made them blush to boot!)

Of course it wasn't Jilas and Gravos that Filia was most worried about. No it was Xellos...

Xellos' visits had been rather infrequent but Filia always worried that when she turned a corner here or went into a room that he would be there. Because Xellos always popped up when you were least expecting him. So that meant Filia had to be on guard all the time. It was exhausting.

It was about half way through that third month that Filia was having one of those really bad back pains. She had been trying to wash some dishes and she was stuck but this sudden sharp pain in her lower back. In fact it was more like a back spasm, like she had pulled a muscle. It was very uncomfortable for Filia and made her extremely irritated. This was definitely one of those times where it would be bad for Xellos to make one of those unannounced visits.

"Good morning Filia! How are you feeling today?" Xellos asked while sipping a cup of tea sitting leisurely in a chair at the kitchen table.

Filia whom was still as the sink had her back to him. She didn't have to look at him to know that he was smiling that smug grin of his. She experienced many emotions in that one moment. But the strongest of the mix was anger and fear. Anger that he would come unannounced, and fear because she was afraid he'd figure out she was pregnant. 'Act normal Filia. What would you do in this situation?' Filia panicked in a state of confusion gripping that soapy plate in her hand so tightly.

Fortunately for Filia this robust mixture of emotions seemed completely normal to Xellos. "What nothing to say? Are you hoping that if you ignore me that I'll disappear?"

"I can only hope." Filia muttered trying to sound as angry as she could manage. But the pain somehow spilled into her voice making itself known.

Xellos observed Filia with a smile. Yes she did seem a little strange to him. Not completely out of the ordinary... just a little odd. The main thing that struck out at Xellos was that Filia seemed to be radiating more energy than normal. Like as though she had this build up of power bursting at the seams. Though this was odd Xellos did have an explanation for it. He knew that she hadn't used her laser breath or changed into a dragon in a while. Perhaps this build up was because of that. "You've been staying in this human form for quite a while. I thought that was torture for a being of your kind. Have the townspeople forbidden you from changing after all the damage you've caused over the years?" His voice was taunting.

"I don't change forms for fun. And usually it's because you're irritating me. So if anyone is to blame for the damage it's you." Filia stuck her nose in the air while continuing with the dishes. She was actually quite pleased with herself; Xellos hadn't caught on to her rouse yet. But she did find it odd that Xellos hadn't sensed the child that she was carrying. Golden dragon's bodies did mask the aura of their unborn children with their own. It was an inherited survival mechanism that all female dragons regardless of type that went back to their more primal forms. It was a means to keep predators from targeting a dragon just because they were pregnant.

This fact might explain why Xellos wouldn't be able to easily tell that she was pregnant but then Xellos wasn't just an ordinary monster and the baby wasn't an ordinary baby ether. If anyone were to detect the baby it should have been him. Maybe the monster genes in the baby just amplified that dragon survival trait making it nearly undetectable to others. That or Xellos was seeing the signs and making the wrong conclusions. Either way Filia was grateful.

"I'm surprised you haven't hit me yet." Xellos mused while sipping some tea. "Your sense of restraint seems to be improving. Or is there something wrong with you preventing from actively doing what you want?"

'Damn!' Filia cursed. 'What do I say? What do I say?' "I'm tired that's why! So why don't you leave me alone!" Filia screeched accidently dropping a plate. When she went to pick up the broken pieces she unconscious rubbed her sore back.

"Oh so your back hurts?" Xellos observed but made no effort to get up and help her. "Did you pull something or is it just that time of the month?"

Filia almost cheered when Xellos let out that taunt. 'Yes an escape!' "I bet you'd love that fact, because then I couldn't use my magic on you." Filia taunted back.

"I never worry about your silly spells." Xellos opened his eyes making his ordinarily harmless smile seem sinister. "You know I could ease some of that pain for you..."

"Just because I can't fry you with my magic doesn't mean I won't club you with my mace!" Filia fumed furiously pulling out her mace from under her skirt. But she didn't get the opportunity strike the monster, as Xellos had already phased off somewhere.

Filia let out a deep sigh as she went to sit down on a nearby chair. That conversation was far more taxing for Filia than it should have been. 'What am I going to do when I actually lay the egg?'

...

At a little over a week before that 4th month mark Filia started to make preparations. Though aid would probably have been a good idea Filia wanted to have the egg alone. Gravos and Jilas were the only close by people she trusted but she couldn't ask for their help. She lied to them the whole time and they would ask who the father was. And then there was that matter that they were both men. Definitely an awkward request.

She didn't trust anyone in town enough to request their help for such a sensitive matter. And the closest person she could think of that would be trustworthy would be Amelia and the people of Sailune. But even though she knew it would be safest for her in Sailune Filia couldn't make that trip.

A dragon only knew at a week before they were going to lay. It would start as an intense burning pain in their stomach. The pain would build over the course of that week until the egg laying on the last day. This burning state of pain made things dangerous for the mother to be to travel long distances. In preparation for the laying the mother had to be as rested as possible and not overexert themselves. Overexertion would comprise the health and safety of the egg and the mother. Traveling long distances or teleporting was definitely a bad idea.

Because of the unknown nature of her child Filia didn't want to chance traveling such a long distance so close to the that 4th month mark.

Though four months was usually the earliest a golden dragon could lay usually it was more likely to happen at four and a half or five months. But to be safe it was a general practice of golden dragons to get prepared before that forth month mark.

Filia could have sent for Amelia to come but if the egg were to come at that earliest possible moment Amelia wouldn't likely make it on time.

Even though she was alone Filia still felt better about doing this at her home. She could control things better, so there wasn't a lot left to chance.

On the first day of the week before the laying Filia planned to close shop and have Gravos and Jilas take Val out of town. Both men were aware Filia was planning this 'vacation' and agreed to without much question. Filia was the 'boss' after all.

With the boys away Filia would prepare her room so that she could enter a state of meditation at the final days.

For the most part Filia was prepared. She had everything in her room that she needed and it wouldn't take much time or effort to set up when the time came.

Though Filia was prepared she was sure she had more time. Eggs laid earlier or at the earliest usually meant there was something wrong with them. And that they wouldn't hatch at all. But Filia didn't even entertain that thought. She put it at the back of her mind where it belongs. Everything was going to be fine, she was sure of it.

...

When Filia woke that morning the first day of the week before that forth month mark something didn't feel right. She had sharp pains in her stomach. It wasn't like any pain she had ever experienced. Her first thoughts were that it was food poisoning or a stomach bug. But then the burning sensation followed telling her it was time.

This scared Filia. It was too soon! Did that mean the egg wouldn't hatch? Was the baby dead? Had she lost it?

Back when Filia found out that she was pregnant she wasn't sure she wanted to keep the baby. Now that she was faced with the real possibility of losing the baby she was devastated.

'It's half monster Filia. Remember that.' Filia told herself. 'It may hatch early too. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with him.'

Him. This whole time Filia refrained from referring to the baby as a boy or girl. It wasn't that Filia was superstitious or anything she just didn't want to make assumptions until the baby hatched. So to just fluently think of the egg as a boy should have seemed strange to Filia. But it had been so natural.

"You're a boy aren't you?" Filia mused talk to her unborn child. "Alright son of mine I've got some work to do to make sure you're safe."

...

Though Gravos and Jilas had been under the impression that Filia's 'vacation' wasn't going to be for a least a few weeks they complied and took Val with them.

Seeing Val off had been hard for Filia. The little toddler ancient dragon didn't understand why he had to leave his mommy. He cried kicking and screaming the whole time Gravos and Jilas took him away. Val didn't understand the concept of time, and that it wouldn't be more than two weeks. To him he was being taken away from his mother and home against his will.

The sight pulled on Filia's heartstrings. She wanted more than anything to keep Val with her, but she knew she couldn't. Val would just put added stress on an already stressful situation. 'It won't be for too long.' Filia told herself repeatedly. Though she told that it didn't help things. She felt awful about it. 'Concentrate on the baby Filia. You can spoil Val with kisses and cookies when he gets back. He'll have forgotten about any bad feelings he had.'

Getting the room ready with the final preparations was supposed to be easy. Filia had set it up as such so that it wouldn't be too taxing on her. But she had no idea the pain would be so great.

All Filia needed to do was carrying a few bags of food and ice upstairs but she may as well have been carrying an elephant. The pain in her stomach was so crippling that she could barely move. It took her almost an hour just to drag her supplies up to her room.

'Why does it this hurt so bad?' Filia thought as she crumpled to the ground. She had watched a female golden dragon go through the process of laying in a human form before. That woman appeared to be in pain but nowhere near as much Filia was experiencing at that moment. Could it be that that woman was just able to cope with the pain better or was Filia just a weakling? Filia had always thought of herself as a strong person who could handle things like pain well. But this pain was so unexpected.

"How am I going to handle of week of this?" Filia groaned in pain.

...

Surviving that first day had been hard. The pain came and went in waves each time getting progressively worse. Filia didn't sleep a wink that night which was quite distressing. True golden dragons when laying an egg in human form tended not to get much sleep they still got some the first couple days. It really worried Filia. If the pain was already this bad how would she last for another six days? The pain was supposed to get progressively worse till that last day. It had only been one day and she was already at her limits.

"I HATE YOU!" Filia screamed out in between spasms. "I HATE YOU XELLOS! I HOPE YOU DIE A HORRIBLE HORRIBLE DEATH FOR MAKING ME ENDURE THIS! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Her Screams were so loud you could hear them halfway across town. If it had been anyone else perhaps the townspeople would have come rushing to her aid. But since it was Filia they chose to ignore the golden dragon's screams. Strange noises coming from her house wasn't something that was out of the norm.

As Filia took deep breaths beads of sweat started to form on her brow. This didn't seem right. It was only the second day! Why were things so bad already?

"I CAN'T TAKE MUCH MORE OF THIS! ARGGGGGGGH! AHHHHHHH!" Filia screamed once more as she felt herself explode in a fury of pain before succumbing to sweet blissful darkness.