Author's Note: Hi there! Sorry I wasn't able to update as scheduled – I had a few things that took priority, and wasn't able to log in for a few days. Hopefully, I'll be able to get back on track soon. Here's the next chapter! ^_^
Chapter 3: What to do, What to do?
"That's funny… I figured out Xellos was a monster a long time ago."
The shock of hearing such a statement come from Gourry Gabriev of all people had been one of those rare moments that Xellos found himself speechless. How someone as seemingly unintelligent as that particular descendant of the Swordsman of Light had discovered his identity so early on was a mystery that, to this day, he could not solve.
He was obliged to take the solution that Zelgadis had offered: that it was attributed to "animal instinct". In a mercenary, Xellos assumed that such could likely be the case. Gourry Gabriev hadn't the cranial capacity of a normal person, but he did have impeccable instinct. Of that, the Trickster Priest was certain.
But he didn't believe for an instant that "animal instinct" would be the case here.
At three or four, a little girl couldn't possibly have developed the kind of survival instincts a mercenary would have. And it couldn't have been something she'd decided on just by watching him fight. He hadn't done anything that extravagant. "Animal instinct" was instantly ruled out.
So, how then –?
The girl continued to yank at the hem of his cloak, her happy smile revealing several missing teeth. She was a tiny little thing and a bit thin for a child her age. She had dark circles under her eyes, and her hair was a right mess, limp and tangled. But, despite bedraggled appearance, she certainly was full of energy!
"Mr. Monster Priest, that was really, really, really, really cool!" she chirped, taking the hem and pulling it as she proceeded to bounce in a circle around him.
Xellos spun round and round as the girl dragged him along, feeling certain that he was about to lose his balance at any given moment.
"I got saved by a Monster Priest, a Monster Priest, a Monster Priest!" she sang happily as she spun him around. "I got saved by a Monster Priest! And now all the bad men fall down! Yay!"
"H-hey! Whoa! Take it easy!" he cried, clutching his staff to maintain his balance. "If you don't stop that, I'll fall down as well!"
"Huh?" she stopped, and looked up to see the distressed look on the monster's face. "Oops! I'm sorry!"
Xellos fell on his bottom with a plop. He wasn't sure which was making him feel ill: the positive energy, or the whirling scenery.
The little girl sat down right in front of him and leaned forward, curiosity written all over her face.
"Wow! I didn't think monsters got dizzy, too! That's neat!"
Inwardly, Xellos frowned. Twirling a monster around to the point of dizziness wasn't exactly what he would call "neat". More like theoretically impossible – he'd never heard of a monster getting dizzy, either. Once again, he was finding the disadvantages of maintaining a human appearance. This was a solid Number Two on his complaints sheet. Number One was a little more embarrassing.
"You must be a nice monster," the child continued, crawling over to get closer. "My mommy always said that there were nice monsters, and Mommy was always right, so you have to be – ACHOO!"
Xellos' eyes flew open as he felt a sudden weight fall on his legs. The girl's sneeze had apparently been a bit much for her: she'd fallen over.
"Stupid allergies," she sniffed, rubbing her nose with the back of her sleeve and she tried to sit up straight. She looked up again with another grin, which fell as soon her mismatched orbs locked onto his amethyst shards.
If there was one thing that Xellos never ceased to find amusement in observing, it was the various methods in which monsters tended to sneak in a bit of themselves whenever it came to taking on a human form. Novices had a tendency to exaggerate: horns, wings, the wrong skin color, insane fashion concepts, you name it. Those who were truly skilled in the matter were certainly more discreet. Well, some. Several monsters that readily came to mind varied in presentation: with that fool Kanzel, it was a bad attempt at looking like some kind of circus performer with the wrong skin color; Mazenda had at least made a somewhat better attempt, although he personally thought she'd had a bit too much forehead and her clothing could have used some work. Then there was another monster, Zorom, who'd made an agreement with the Red Priest, and he'd gone for an appearance that was reminiscent of Father Time with bad skin and too many eyes. Overall, bad taste. They may have had power, but they could have done better with their appearances.
He gave Sherra some credit: she made for a convincing woman, although she was hardly the friendliest of individuals. And she certainly showed her rank through her clothing, which was a nice and subtle indication of her identity, even though humans would never guess it. And of course there was Miss Jiima, but she couldn't really be counted, seeing as she wasn't a monster.
Xellos, though…
Like Sherra, his attire reflected his position. Those bandits were clear examples of how useful and effective his costume was. Look like a harmless wandering priest bearing a smile and you were guaranteed to fool just about anyone. Such subtle deception was a beautiful thing. It wasn't until he opened his eyes that a person would be really aware of what he was.
If there was one thing Xellos had always rather prided himself on, it was the fact that his eyes were enough to unnerve anyone. It was sleek, it was subtle, and it was wonderfully original. As far as he knew, there weren't any other monsters running around with his eyes. Most monsters showed themselves simply through clothing styles, but Xellos had a method. He'd never reveal his inspiration, of course; no, that little tidbit of information was definitely a secret.
"Wow…" the little girl began, eyes widening even more than he'd thought possible. Uncertainty and cautious curiosity began to envelope her tiny frame, enough to assure Xellos that his little method was in effect again.
Once again, this child proved to act just the opposite of his expectations:
"You have really pretty eyes!"
"HUH?"
"Yeah! They're just like a kitty's!" she squealed, and pounced right onto the face-faulting Trickster Priest and knocking him onto his back. "I love kitties! And your hair is really shiny, too! I bet it feels like bunny fur!"
'Bunny fur?' It was a good thing he'd closed his eyes again – he wasn't sure what reaction they'd show.
"You really are a handful, aren't you?" he said, pulling her tiny hands from his hair before they could latch on properly.
"Yup, yup!" she replied happily, oblivious to the irritation he'd had in his tone as she sat back on his chest. "That's what Mr. Frigid says to me all the time!"
Xellos raised an eyebrow. "Mr. … Frigid?"
She nodded emphatically. "Yup, yup. He's a really, really, cold person –colder than an ice cube! His house, too! So, I called him Mr. Frigid! He doesn't like the name, though, but I think it suits him."
"So, I take it that this 'Mr. Frigid' is your caretaker?" Xellos asked hopefully. If that were the case, all he had to do was get a description and turn the girl right over so he could be on his way. Annoying Filia during her lunch break sounded like a wonderful idea at the moment.
But the dark and haunted look that passed over the child's tiny face quickly wiped away the mental vision of a raging golden dragoness.
"Nuh-uh!" she said, shaking her head violently. "Mr. Frigid's a really big meany, and he doesn't like me at all! He had me locked in a bunch of cold, scary places and wouldn't let me out or even let me wear a coat!"
Xellos frowned. "Well, then, where is your mother?"
The smile fell from her face. He felt a definite sadness overcome her aura. "A bunch of ugly things went and made my mommy go to sleep. I tried to wake her up, but she just kept sleeping no matter how hard I shook her. She slept for a whole week before anybody came, and she still didn't wake up, even when the men put her in a big blanket and wrapped her up."
Strike that option. "And your father?"
The dark look crossed over her face again. "He's the one who made me live with Mr. Frigid!"
The frown deepened. Deceased mother, deadbeat father, and an evil custodian. Typical – he just had to get the run-of-the-mill orphan, didn't he? Unfortunately, run-of-the-mill didn't mean finding an easy solution. These kind of situations often generated even bigger problems, no matter how stereotypical they were. And on his day off of all days…
"So, I take it you ran away?"
Again, the child shook her head. "Nuh-uh. Mr. Frigid had me sent back to my daddy, and he threw me in a really scary forest. I just started wandering around, and when I got back, Daddy told me I couldn't come home."
"Did he say why?"
"Nope. He seemed really angry, though. I don't know what I did to make him mad. He just told me to find my way out again after he dropped me somewhere in the middle, so that's what I did."
"Dropped you 'somewhere in the middle'?" That didn't sound right, even to him. He'd heard of parents sending their offspring on little quests to seek their proverbial fortunes and other trifles, but this didn't seem to fit the bill. For starters, that was more for boys, not girls, and she was far too young for that sort of thing. At least that's what he'd always heard. "And after your father turned you out, what did you do?"
She put a finger up to her mouth and looked up in thought. "After that… I went around the scary forest and came up to this looooong road. So I just walked along it and thought I felt something even scarier follow me. Then I ran into the woods here."
"Is that when you ran into those bandits?"
"Mmhmm." The grin returned and Xellos suddenly found himself with a pair of small arms latched tightly around his neck. "And then you came and saved me! Those bad guys were following me for days and days and then you came!"
"Yes, yes – my, you have a strong grip!" he choked, attempting to pry himself free. The little girl only squeezed tighter in response.
"Oh! I almost forgot!" the grip relaxed, and the weight shifted back to his chest. "I forgot to tell you my name! It's Mimsy!"
"Mimsy?" Xellos wheezed, raising an eyebrow.
"Yup, yup!" Mimsy nodded. "Mimsy Chthonia Táchira Borogoves. But that's a mouthful, so it's Mimsy Borogoves, or better yet, just Mimsy."
Mimsy Borogoves? Whoever had named her had been quite original. But while he was definitely familiar with at least the first of her two middle names, her birth name and her surname were what really struck a chord. He'd heard them from somewhere, he was certain. He just couldn't put his finger on it.
"What's your name?"
"Hmm?" he looked back up at her quizzically.
"I can't just keep calling you 'Mr. Monster Priest', silly!" Mimsy giggled. "My mommy gave me my names. Everybody's mommy gives them a name! What did your mommy name you?"
Xellos had to choke back the sudden urge to laugh. "Mimsy… Monsters don't have 'mommies'. We have masters. That's very different."
"Huh?" she cocked her head to one side. "But masters don't always make the monsters that work for them, right?"
"Well… no…" he began slowly, wary of the direction the conversation was going. "Although our masters are usually our creators, too…"
"And that makes them either a mommy or a daddy," she affirmed with a nod. "So, what did your mommy or daddy name you?"
"Xellos," he replied, giving up the internal conflict of wondering how such a small child could rationalize such things.
"See, now was that so bad?" Her face lit up, meeting with his curious stare. "Okay, then, from now, Mr. Monster Priest is officially Uncle Xellos!"
"Uncle Xellos?" He was sure he looked like a gaping fish right about now, eyes bulging and all.
"Yup, yup!" That had to be her favorite catchphrase. "Hey, Uncle Xellos?"
He did his best not to cringe at the endearment. "Hmm?"
"When do you think the bad men will wake up again? I hope it isn't soon, because they smell bad and I don't like them."
He glanced over to the side and couldn't help but share the sentiment. "Alright. Let me up so I can think properly." Mimsy complied with bright nod, and jumped off him, allowing him to sit up. Just as soon as he'd crossed his legs, however, the tiny child plopped right into his lap.
"I like you," she said, leaning back into his chest and looking up with another big grin. "You're comfy."
Xellos frowned inwardly as he considered the little girl in his lap as she turned her attention to the edge of his cloak again. Getting rid of Mimsy wasn't going to be as simple as he'd anticipated. There went Miss Lina's theory that there was always someone willing to offer a reward for a missing person.
What was he going to do with her? He most certainly wasn't about to keep her – Lord Beastmaster would have a fit if he brought this little bundle of positive emotions within five hundred miles of Wolf Pack Island! An orphanage was a viable option, but somehow he didn't think that would work out well. There were too many odd things about this child for him to leave her in some random place. And now that she'd attached the "uncle" title to him… this wouldn't be easy.
He'd have to think while walking. Mimsy was right: those bandits were bound to wake up soon, and he really didn't want to deal with them a second time either. He doubted that they could have provided him with the necessary information, anyway…
Something shifted in the branches overhead. Xellos jerked his head in the direction of the sensation, his brow furrowed. Whatever it had been, it had disappeared as quickly as it came. Strange, but he could have sworn he felt a –
A sharp tugging on either side of his head brought him back to reality as he pitched forward, and amethyst eyes snapped open to find himself nose-to-nose with Mimsy, who was grinning with fistfuls of purple hair in her tiny hands.
"See? It's just like I thought: your hair really does feel like bunny fur!"
A/N: A few notes on Mimsy's names:
Chthonia I got from a bit of Greek mythology. Interestingly enough, it tied in with her second middle name, Táchira, which I got from the cryptical bird special Táchira Antpitta – its scientific name is Grallaria chthonia.
Now, as for the rest of her name – simply, Mimsy Borogoves – I derived it from elsewhere. Kudos to anyone who can guess where! ^_^ And it'll be mentioned later on in the story, too.
