Chapter 4 – Selfless Favor

"NO WAY!"

"But Mister Zelgadis, it's the perfect solution! We could get the message to Lina in no time!"

"Amelia, you CANNOT be serious!" Zelgadis exclaimed, punching the fancy marble table-top, causing it to crack. Amelia cringed. She really liked that table-top!

"Mister Zelgadis, please control yourself! It's not as bad as you say. We would only be calling him to help Mister Davon!"

"But... but... it's XELLOSS! He's a Mazoku, for the gods' sake! How can he even enter Seyruun?"

"Well… he wouldn't be the first Mazoku to set foot in Seyruun. However, he cannot enter of his own will" Amelia explained "There is a magic barrier around the city which Mazoku can't traverse by themselves. They have to be summoned. Actually, that's how cousin Alfred..." her voice failed "Oh, well. You remember that."

There was an awkward pause. Zelgadis suddenly felt like a jerk. He had forgotten about that time when two Mazoku had penetrated the city. They were actually working for Amelia's cousin, Alfred. The Slayers had defeated the Mazoku, but her cousin had ended up dead.

Even so, he still felt like calling on Xelloss was an awfully bad idea.

"Look, Amelia…" he continued, now less altered "How would we summon a high-level Mazoku like Xelloss? Wouldn't that require a great deal of magic power? I'm pretty sure the ritual would extenuate us!"

Much more than that! Zelgadis had read a great deal about black magic, whilst looking for a cure. Though summoning was not his main research interest, he suspected the ritual would involve an inverted pentagram, rune scribbling, a lot of black candles, and probably animal sacrifice. And then you had to stand there and wait like, what, three or four hours? It was not worth all that trouble just to call that… that… stupid jerk!

"Oh, Mister Zelgadis" Amelia explained "It's not like I intend to summon him to do a Pledge! I am a white magic user, I don't do stuff like that!" she twisted her mouth to the side, slightly disgusted "I simply intend to call him!"

Zelgadis gasped. He did not believe Amelia was this naïve.

"So… you're just going to… call out his name and… see if he answers?" Zelgadis asked disbelievingly.

"Well… yes!" Amelia answered with a smile.

Zelgadis shook his head. "This will never work…"

"Oh, don't be pessimistic Mister Zelgadis. I'm going to do it! What do you think, Mister Davon?"

"There is no harm in trying, Your Highness" Davon encouraged her from his chair.

"You do not object to contacting a Mazoku?" Zelgadis asked suspiciously.

"Well" Davon replied "I do not pretend to judge the princess' means. After all, she is generously helping my city, and we are in dire need of assistance! I will take whatever aid we receive" he concluded with a sly smile.

"Damn that bastard" Zelgadis thought "It's like he has an answer already planned for everything!" In fact, that was exactly it, wasn't it? From what Zelgadis could observe so far, Davon's words were always moderate and sounded almost… rehearsed. It was like they were the result of previous study. This impression only made Zelgadis dislike him even more.

Amelia stood up from her chair. Having no actual clue of what she was doing, she spoke:

"Uhn… Mister Xelloss? Can you hear us?"

A few moments passed. Nothing happened.

"Mister Xelloss? This is Princess Amelia, of Seyruun. I… I need to speak to you".

A few more moments... and still nothing happened.

"You'd better give up Amelia. He's not coming…" Zelgadis said with a flat tone.

"Who's not coming?" a soft spoken voice asked from behind the chimera. Zelgadis turned to see it, and jumped back, almost convulsively. There stood the Mazoku, with his priest robes, staff in hand, and a cheery smile in his face. Zelgadis' blood boiled hot. He would never forget the time when Xelloss burned the Claire Bible manuscripts he was so desperately searching for. He had hated him fervently ever since.

"YOU!"

"Well, of course it is me" Xellos answered stepping forward "I have heard Miss Amelia call for me, and it would be awfully rude of me not to answer her, wouldn't it?"

"SINCE WHEN DO YOU CARE ABOUT ETIQUETTE?" Zelgadis screamed.

"Please, Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia intervened "Mister Xelloss is our guest! You shouldn't be so rude to him"

"Urrrgh" Zelgadis trembled "Fine"

"I can hate him in silence, then" he added under his breath.

"Well, I'm glad that's settled" Amelia commented. Then, she directed a beaming smile to Xelloss, and welcomed him "I am very happy that you have answered my call, Mister Xelloss!"

Xelloss felt nauseated "Please, Miss Amelia…" he answered slightly dizzy "Not so happy, otherwise I will pass out!"

"That would be a wonderful turn of events" Zelgadis thought to himself.

"Oh… I'm sorry Mister Xelloss" Amelia said, feeling embarrassed "Still, I am pleased you have come in such short notice".

"I would hate do disappoint you, Miss Amelia" Xelloss said, recovering from his nausea as he fed off the hatred emanating from Zelgadis "You must know it is not everyday a Mazoku is welcomed in the White City".

"Indeed" Amelia acquiesced "But you must be wondering why I called you here".

"Hmm…" he scratched his head with a mock-confused look, which made Zelgadis hate him even more, if that was ever possible "I'm supposing you didn't just want to chat, did you?"

"No, Mister Xelloss…" Amelia looked away and fumbled with her two fingers "In fact… I wanted to ask you a favor".

Zelgadis felt the sudden urge to kick Amelia – although, of course, he would never actually do that. But still, handing the Mazoku the perfect opportunity to trick her in a silver platter… that was daft, even for someone as trusting as Amelia!

"Certainly" Xelloss replied with his usually cheery smile, like he was the sweetest and friendliest neighbor in the world "What is it that you wanted to ask of me, Miss Amelia?"

"Well…" Amelia said "I was hoping you could deliver a message to Miss Lina. It's a very urgent matter!"

"I wonder what is so urgent that you had the need to call on me, Miss Amelia" Xelloss asked.

"Oh… It is an important matter of state" she said, trying not to sound too revealing. She then walked around the table and stood beside Davon who, when approached, got up from his chair.

"This" Amelia said, presenting the nobleman "Is Mister Davon Jaanos Caun, of Cenive. He has come to us asking for our help. Since his situation is rather… unh… delicate… we have decided to call on Miss Lina to help us as well. We have to leave as soon as possible, and we were hoping that Miss Lina could receive our message immediately".

"I am pleased to make your acquaintance, sir" Davon said, making an elaborate hand gesture and bowing to Xelloss, who replied with a respectful head bow.

Zelgadis laughed to himself. Those were exactly the same words and gestures Davon used when he met Zelgadis. His pompous manners were rehearsed, after all. He was pretty sure that that sentence translated into "Yeah, whatever".

"It is a pleasure indeed, Mister Davon" Xelloss said with his usual smile.

"Most striking resemblance" the Mazoku thought to himself, as he analyzed Davon's fine facial features, his long black hair and his intense gaze. "I can see what my mistress was referring to…"

"So, Mister Xelloss" Amelia asked "Will you help us?"

"Of course I will, Miss Amelia!" Xelloss answered cheerily, giving Zelgadis the desire to vomit.

"OOOH, Thank you Mister Xelloss!" Amelia cheered.

"WAIT a second!" Zelgadis interrupted them. Amelia looked at him confused, and Xellos turned his head slightly, while still keeping the smile in his face.

"So… YOU" Zelgadis pointed at Xelloss, whose name he did not want to pronounce "Are going to help HER" he gestured towards Amelia "Just likeTHAT?" he snapped his fingers "Without asking for anything in return? Why would you possibly want to do a favor for the princess of Seyruun without trying to profit from it?" he tried to pressure the Mazoku.

"That…" Xelloss said, lifting one finger and showing an unbelievably smug smile "is a secret!"

"ARRRRGH!" Zelgadis cursed himself. He should have seen that one coming.

"Well… the important thing is that Mister Xelloss has agreed to help us!" Amelia reasoned. "Would you mind waiting just a little bit, Mister Xelloss? I'm going to write a note explaining the situation to Miss Lina."

"Not at all, Miss Amelia" Xelloss replied.

Amelia went back to her chair, and picked up pen, ink and paper. In little more than one minute, she scribbled a short letter, and marked it with Seyruun's official seal. Meanwhile, Xelloss was smiling, and Zelgadis was puffing angrily. Davon remained immobile, nonchalantly looking at the room's decor. It seemed the chimera man had a past history with the Mazoku… whatever it was, it did not concern him.

"There, I'm finished!" Amelia said "Can you deliver this to Miss Lina? She is staying in the home of Miss Filia… the gold dragon we met when we were fighting Dark Star… you and her got quite close, didn't you Mister Xelloss?"

Zelgadis gasped. The only thing close about the dragon and the monster, in his opinion, is that they were close to killing each other. Xelloss had to put some extra effort to keep his smile from turning into a growl.

"Why no, I was not exactly close to that… dragon with rabies, Miss Amelia".

"Oh… that's too bad" Amelia commented, handing him the letter "Well, anyway, she lives in a village called Truce, near the town of Hallebarde. She runs a "Vases & Maces" shop. It's hard to miss" Amelia explained.

Xelloss received the letter, bowed and said "Right away, Miss Amelia"

"I don't trust you" Zelgadis was able to mutter as Xelloss' form disappeared in the air.


Xelloss held the message in his hand. He traversed, or rather, skipped the miles between Seyruun and Truce phasing in and out of reality using the natural teleporting abilities of the Mazoku. He could have done the whole trajectory in one single teleport, probably, but it would require a bit more... resolve. This way he still had a few moments to recollect himself. He had not been pleased with Amelia's comment... sure, he always found Filia to be highly amusing. But he hated when people insinuated he had gone soft on her because he actually cared for her. It was a silly and irrational notion, of course. He was a Mazoku, and the only thing he cared about were his and his mistress' plans and interests.

Xelloss chuckled. He needed to think things through. It had been more than three years since he last saw Filia. He had to make the PERFECT entrance. Ooooh, how he ADORED to tease her!

Appearing in one of the branches of a tall tree, Xelloss could oversee the street of a small village. Amidst the many white picket fence houses of said street, he could distinguish one with a sign hanging in the front: a vase and a mace. It was certainly hard to miss. Xelloss' adjusted his cape and his robes, and ran a hand through his hair. He didn't want to look dishevelled, now, did he? His slit cat-like eyes shone hungrily as he phased out once more, ready to make his triumphant entrance.

"Miss Filia... long time no see..."


This is the smallest chapter so far. I'm sorry, I was thinking of writing a bigger one, but I think I the scene of Xelloss in Filia's house deserves a whole chapter of its own! Anyways, a small chapter is better than no chapter at all.

Happy Easter everybody!

Random notes:

1) In Pride and Prejudice, Lizzie asks Mr. Collins if his flatteries are the result of previous study or rather the impulse of the moment (something like that). Then she tells him ironically that "no one would suspect your manners to be rehearsed". LOL, I always loved that part. XD

2) I actually had a hard time coming up with a name for Filia's village! Though Hallebarde, the French word for halberd, seemed like an OK name for a city that hosts a weapon fair, what the hell was I gonna call the village next to it? Something with "mace" crossed my mind, but it was just going to sound dumb… Finally, I've decided to call it "Truce", the village where Chrono and Lucca live in Chrono Trigger, homage to one of my all-time favorite games. ^_^