Chapter 4. The Xellos and Filia Show.
They traveled on with Xellos leading the way. Since Xellos wasn't being a chatty-cathy they didn't have much of a clue where they were going. Zelgadis really didn't expect any more from Xellos and was closely examining a map of the area as they walked along, trying to figure out where they were going based on the direction and the path.
"So where is this friend of yours anyway, Mr. Xellos?" Amelia asked, trying for the direct approach.
Xellos paused and turned back to Amelia and the proto-map-questing Zelgadis. "My acquaintance," he said, as though to remind them that he had no friends, "is located in the Desert of Fears."
"The Desert of Fears?!" Amelia repeated with appropriate panic. The continent was full of similarly named geographic features: The Forest of Silence, the Mountain of Tears, the Marsh of Nausea, the Sea of Possibilities, and so on. Some of them contained a warning about the feature itself (the Mountain of Tears, for example, being notorious difficult to climb), some of them conveyed the opposite of their true nature (The Forest of Silence, for example, being very loud considering all the dangerous beasts trying to kill you and the screaming and whatnot), and some made absolutely no sense at all (for example, the Isle of Hairy Alligators). The Desert of Fears, however, was considered notorious enough to have more than earned its name.
To say that sandstorms were frequent there would be a lie—they were constant. Even the heartiest of desert-based flora and fauna avoided the waterless heat-trap that was the Desert of Fears. The only thing that seemed alive in the Desert of Fears was the restlessly shifting sand, ready to devour anyone who was foolish enough to enter.
…Or at least that's what the considerably more than half-crazed and extremely tanned skeletons who escaped the dreaded place claimed. This was usually followed by a claim that they were a. A prophet of Ceipheed b. extremely malnourished or c. "A fish! Floppity-floppity-flop!".
Zelgadis sighed as he inked in a circle around the Desert of Fears on his map. He'd just finished getting the sand out of his clothes from the last desert he was in.
"If we're going to survive in that place, we're going to need to stock up on supplies!" Amelia exclaimed as she looked over Zelgadis's shoulder at the map for a place to buy said supplies.
Xellos merely shrugged as though the idea that they might die in the desert if they were unprepared simply hadn't occurred to him.
"Achaea is a pretty big city," Zelgadis said to Amelia, pointing at the place on the map. "They'll probably have what we need there, and it's fairly close to the Desert."
"Achaea… Achaea…," Amelia repeated faintly to herself. "Where have I heard that before?"
"It's where Filia opened her shop," Xellos said with a dull sort of disgust.
Zelgadis and Amelia gave him an odd look. To which Xellos responded a shade defensively, "Isn't it my job to keep tabs on golden dragons living outside the temples and settlements?"
Amelia and Zelgadis exchanged a look. Then Amelia turned back and said, "We… we wouldn't really know about that, Mr. Xellos."
Xellos froze and began muttering vaguely to himself at that point realizing that he had, in a rare move, run his mouth off.
"In any case," Zelgadis said, cutting back to the point, "If Filia's shop is in Achaea we can be fairly sure that she'll let us stay while we're getting ready to enter the Desert of Fears. After all, she does kind of owe us for averting the apocalypse."
"Which we would've done anyway," Amelia commented. Zelgadis merely shrugged as though to communicate that he wasn't so sure about himself on that. "Well anyway," she said, "It'll be nice if we can avoid the inns."
Zelgadis nodded. Aside from the obvious fact that he got treated like a side-show freak at inns unless they were negative star establishments with patrons largely made of up one-eared bandits in which Zelgadis stood out less (which brought up all sorts of other problems like being robbed and murdered in your sleep), inns in big cities really overcharged on the basis that they could. Now that they had to count on stocking up on extra supplies for the desert expedition they couldn't afford to spend more than they had to.
This wouldn't have been a problem in the past, traveling with Amelia, as she used to carry the crest of Seyruun and they could get credit at practically any restaurant or inn. But since a former member of their traveling party who shall remain nameless (Lina Inverse) had over-used the thing to the point of giving Seyruun's budgetary staff a nervous breakdown, Phil had taken away the crest, giving Amelia only a set amount of traveling money, yammering something about Amelia "learning the value of a dollar".
"So it's settled then," Zelgadis said. "We'll stop off at Filia's." He turned to Xellos who was still in the midst of some kind of mental arithmetic. "Unless that's some kind of problem, Xellos," he said sharply.
"Hmm?" Xellos said, retreating from whatever internal monologue he was having. "Why would I have a problem with that?"
Amelia gave Zelgadis a worried look and then said, "Well, you know… since you two sorta… hate each other."
"Intensely," Zelgadis added.
Xellos gave a serene smile. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm sure we'll get along just fine."
"Xellos?!" Filia shrieked in rage as she slammed the door onto Zelgadis's foot. Whether your foot is one third stone or not this is not a pleasant feeling, but Zelgadis's quick thinking was the only thing that kept them from being completely shut out.
"Hello!" Xellos said cheerfully, as Zelgadis and Amelia pushed at the door with all their might and Filia tried to close it with all her might.
It had been after hours so the shop door had been locked, but since the whole point of looking Filia up was to avoid having to pay for an inn they decided to ring the bell and see if she was there. And indeed she was, which had seemed like a stroke of good luck for the thirty seconds that she hadn't seen Xellos. After that it all kind of blew up.
"Get lost you monster!" Filia shouted through gritted teeth as she struggled to shut the door.
"Oh come on, Filia!" Zelgadis responded harshly, which surely can be attributed to the door slammed against his foot. "Can't we just skip this stupid bit? We get it already, you hate Xellos. Now, can't you just open up? We need your help."
"Besides," Amelia said, pushing her weight against the door, "We all fought together against Darkstar. Can't you just let bygones be bygones?"
"It has nothing to do with that!" Filia insisted.
Zelgadis and Amelia each gave a big push that sent the door flying open and Filia rocketing backwards. An unpleasant shattering sound filled the air.
"You see?" Filia said, picking herself up after the dust had cleared. "Last time that was here," she said, pointing at Xellos her contrived to look as innocently amused as possible, "He broke 32 prized Turner Vases." She stared miserably at the clay carnage around her, picking up a brick red shard and cradling it as though it were a child. "And now he's broken five more."
"Technically that was them," Xellos pointed out, indicating Zelgadis and Amelia.
"Don't you even try to blame them!" Filia raged, throwing the shard like an arrow at Xellos's face. He tilted his head to one side and let it imbed itself in the bulls eye of a darts board coincidentally nailed to the tree across the way from the shop, much to the amazement of the local youth. "If it hadn't been for you showing up I would've just let them in."
"So," Xellos said, scratching at his cheek thoughtfully, "by that logic, isn't it your fault?"
Filia merely stewed angrily as footsteps sounded down the hall. "You alright, boss?" Jillas asked, as he poked his head round the corner. He spotted the debris that remained of their merchandise and shouted into the other room, "Boss-Gravos, get the dust-pan, we've 'ad another little accident!"
"Got it," said a gravelly voice from the other room, followed by the sound of rummaging.
Filia just stood there in inconsolable fury, clenching her trembling fists as her assistants made quick work of cleaning up the mess. By the time they had finished she looked like she was calming down. She'd taken a few deep breaths and seemed to be counting to ten.
"You know, it's customary to offer your guests tea or something," Xellos said, timing his comment for maximum effect. "Otherwise you might be thought impolite."
"You just shut up!" Filia shot at him, but at least something of Xellos's miss manners lesson seemed to have gotten through to her given that she turned to the more than slightly uncomfortable Zelgadis and Amelia with a suddenly calm and friendly expression and said, "You two can come into the kitchen. I've just put on a pot of orange spice. You must be tired after your long trip."
She turned and walked resolutely into the pastel-tiled kitchen. Zelgadis and Amelia turned to look at each other and shrugged. They hoped that Filia had gotten it together and there would be no more unexpected explosions. Of course, since she was turned away from them they didn't see the tic playing at her eye like a strobe light on overdrive, so they walked on after her.
Of course, Xellos followed them.
They were sitting around an expensive looking wooden round table carved with ornate patterns that were beautiful to look at but made it somewhat difficult to balance their puppy emblazoned mugs on. Not wanting to upset the volatile Filia anymore than she already was, though, they held their cups and said nothing.
Filia seemed to be finding her center though. She'd even grudgingly given Xellos a cup of tea, perhaps because she'd taken his crack about her hostess status seriously. She did "accidentally" spill hot tea directly on his crotch, which could be considered less than hospitable, but from what Zelgadis and Amelia could gather he deserved it.
It seemed like whenever he got bored he would pop in to Filia's Vase & Mace Shop and cause some sort of ruckus, generally in the form of massive property damage. According to Xellos this had all been a colossal misunderstanding and he'd only showed up in the hopes of purchasing a vase. According to Filia, Xellos was full of crap.
"So, how's business been?" Amelia asked, trying to keep the conversation away from any controversial topic.
"Oh, it's been going wonderfully," Filia said with her first genuine smile since the three had barged their way into her home business. "I don't know which is more popular, my vases or my maces!" She laughed as if she had made a joke.
"Looks like you've got another mace customer," Zelgadis said, eyeing the window as a burly military type made his way toward the front door.
"Oh! That's Mr. Jorgen," Filia said, standing up rapidly. "I forgot he was coming by for that custom piece. Jillas!" she shouted into the other room as the doorbell rang. "Do we have Mr. Jorgen's custom vase ready?"
"Right 'ere, boss," Jillas said, appearing with a large vase bedecked with flowers, butterflies, and rainbows in his arms. "I've got it taken care of."
"Thank you, Jillas," Filia said, as she took her seat again as Jillas headed out to the main room and opened the door. "He's a dear," she announced to the room at large.
Zelgadis and Amelia stared at her with their mouths wide open.
"What?" she asked, feeling uncomfortable in the face of their stares. "He is."
"It's not that," Amelia said, "It's just…"
"…That guy didn't really seem like the kind of person who'd want a vase," Zelgadis said, finishing her thought.
"Tough guys can like vases too!" Filia said defensively, as the ka-ching of a cash register from the other room conveyed money changing hands.
Zelgadis shrugged. "I guess…"
"Anyway, I'm actually selling a lot more maces to girls between the ages of 13-19," Filia confided excitedly as the tinkling of a bell announced the customer's exit.
Amelia gave her a doubtful, confused look. "How could they even…?"
"They're mini-maces!" Filia said with a delighted giggle. She strode over to a cabinet and opened a drawer to reveal an array of multi-colored undersized maces. They were positively adorable.
"That's… stupid," Zelgadis said, without a trace of tact.
"They may be cute," Filia said, pointing a robin's egg blue mace with little pink hearts on it at him, "But they pack a powerful punch." She turned to Amelia with a salesman's smile. "How about it, Amelia? I've got them in every color, so I'm sure your favorite is here. I can give you a 5% discount."
"Uhh… no thanks," Amelia said, looking sheepish. "They're nice and all, but I just don't like weapons."
Xellos raised his hand and said, "I'll take one."
Filia gave him a glare so cold it could solve global warming if they pointed her at the polar ice caps. "Shop's closed," she said, slamming the drawer shut.
"So, where's Valg—Val, anyway?" Zelgadis asked, hoping that the longer he could keep this visit going the more likely they'd get to stay without having to argue their case, but at the same time not wanting to talk about fashion accessories that doubled as bludgeoning implements.
"Oh, that's right!" Filia said, hurriedly placing her mug on the counter by the sink. "I should take you to see Val." She actually skipped out of the room, beckoning them to follow.
She led them into a small room, papered with light blue and green stripes. The perimeter of the room was lined with a variety of teddy bears and other such things, so the first impression upon walking into the room was that you'd been surrounded by stuffed animals, their eyes glinting hostilely in the light coming in past the balloon patterned curtains.
In the middle of the room was a basket with a fluffy, extra comfortable looking cushion on it. Ribbons were woven through the wicker lining, and the whole thing sat on a large doily. On the pillow was a small orb of light, glowing, as a barely recognizable form shone through the semi-translucent outer layer. The egg that contained the reborn Valgav… Val.
"Awww," Amelia said, cooing over the egg as though it were an adorable newborn.
"When will it hatch?" Zelgadis asked, as though disappointed in Val's lack of enthusiasm to escape his yolky prison.
"Most of the sources I've read estimate ten years for an ancient dragon egg to hatch," Filia answered. As soon as she had entered the nursery she'd seemed to glow right along with the egg as though filled with a joy much greater than the selling of flower containers and clubs could ever bring her.
"That's a long time."
"Not for a dragon," Filia responded with a small smile.
"Wow," Amelia said, done fussing over the fetus. "Miss Filia, you're going to be a mom!"
"I know," Filia said, with a smile and a loving glance toward the bassinet.
"Adoptive," Xellos said from the entranceway as though that debased the whole thing.
Filia gave him a sharp look, but then appeared to recover. "When you think about it," she said. "It was my Holy magic that caused him to be reborn in the end… so it's like, in a way, I am his mother."
Xellos gave a snort. "The Holy magic alone would've purified him, which, at that point, would've been the same as destroying him, as Black magic would have on its own. It was the fusion of Black and Holy magic that caused him to be reborn, so if you're going to follow that line of reasoning: if you're his mother than I'm—"
"Don't say it!" Filia cut him off. "I get ill just thinking that." She began to stomp toward the exit, clearly done with that conversation and the horrible place it had led.
"Uh, Filia?" Zelgadis began, figuring now was as good a time as any. "Do you think we could stay here the night? Inns around here are so expensive and we have to—"
"Fine," Filia said, still in a snappish mood as she walked out the door. After a moment's hesitation she stuck her head back into the room and said, "But not him." And promptly left to grouse to herself somewhere else.
"How typical of the dragon race," Xellos said, loud enough so she could hear him as she walked down the hall. "No manners at all." And then he withdrew onto the astral side.
A frustrated scream and the sound of a fist pounding into the wall told Zelgadis and Amelia that Filia had heard Xellos's little quip. They decided to give her a minute, and instead turned their attention back to the bundle of possibilities sleeping in the basket in front of them.
"It's amazing, isn't it?" Amelia asked after a moment.
"What?"
"It's just that… well, one minute Filia's traveling with us, and the next minute she's gonna be a mom."
"You mean the next ten years," Zelgadis corrected.
"You know what I mean," Amelia said. "It's just…," she couldn't decide on a word and went with, "weird."
"Yeah," Zelgadis said. He didn't know why, but he got an uneasy feeling watching Amelia watching that egg. It's always that way with girls, isn't it? Throw in a baby and the world just seems to light up for them. It's odd.
Still, he couldn't help but think, looking at that egg that he was in the presence of something… what was it Amelia had said? Amazing.