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Chapter Three: The Priest

Xelloss awoke with a pounding headache, unaware of the time or even the place in which he was. He opened his eyes cautiously, hoping there was no bright sunlight flooding in through the window. All around him it was dark, save a tiny candle which managed to light up part of the room. He looked around, his gaze fuzzy and unclear. He could swear there was someone else in the room.

Filia.

She sat in a chair by the door, her eyes closed, each breath coming slowly. Startled, Xelloss looked around. He was back in the inn, in the room Gourry and Zelgadis shared, it seemed. But why was the dragon maiden there?

He sat up, aware of just how much his head was throbbing. Fastened against it was a bloodied bandage, and as he took it off, he began to remember what had happened. He had taken on the physical weaknesses of a human in that shrine, he realized. Many times Filia had hit him with her mace, yet this time, in the shrine to the dragons, it had actually affected him.

Was he back to normal? There was one way to figure it out. Quietly, he cast a healing spell, and in an instant, his wounds were fully healed. Yep, definitely mazoku again. That was certainly an experience I don't want to have again. Especially not with such a violent dragon around.

He chuckled, finding it hard to believe something sleeping so peacefully could cause so much harm. He watched her silently, finding himself unable to turn away. Her hair was frazzled and slightly dirty, not like it had been that morning. Her breathing was silent, and a slight smile played on her face, lit up softly, just as the rest of her was, by the flickering candlelight. He wondered just who this person was. Was it the same one that called him a namagomi and got great satisfaction out of hitting him? Was it the same one that was stubborn and set in her ways? Was it the same one that would rather die than come to terms with a mazoku? Was it the same one he found himself unable to get out of his head?

Xelloss closed his eyes painfully. She was always there, whether he cared to admit it or not. Sometimes in the dark side of his mind that wanted nothing more than to finish off the Golden Dragons, her included, and yet, sometimes in a different part.

"No." He snapped sharply. "What's wrong with me? When the War comes, I will help Xelas-sama be rid of all the dragons."

Filia awoke to the sound of a familiar voice, and noticed the one she was supposed to watch over was gone. "Xelloss?" She asked. "Where'd you go?"

"Go to sleep now, Filia-chan." He could hear her say. "You don't have to have a guilty conscience anymore for nearly killing me. I'm quite fine."

He appeared behind her, staff in hand, cloak hanging from his shoulders. He must have just awoken recently, Filia reasoned. "Guilty conscience? I would hardly have a guilty conscience for killing a mazoku, if that's what you think. I'm just in here because Lina-san ordered me to be."

"Really?" He asked, a smile playing in his eyes. "You're not the least bit concerned?"

"Why would I be concerned about you?"

"I don't know, Filia-chan. Why would you?"

"Stop calling me that, namagomi!" In an agitated move, she shoved him against the wall.

He smiled cleverly, enjoying how much rage he had caused her. He really did like seeing her angry, didn't he? Part of him did, but another part could see the pain masked behind those burning eyes.

She let him go, ashamed at her actions, remembering the time he had called her violent. She couldn't help it. Whenever she was around him and his smart remarks, she just couldn't find the self-control to stop herself. She began to walk out of the room, regretting ever agreeing to watch over him.

"Filia?"

"What do you want?" She snapped, turning around.

"I want to thank you."

"For what, namagomi?"

He didn't let her hasty response faze him. "For worrying."

In an instant, he disappeared, leaving Filia alone with her sharp remarks. She shook her head and continued into the hall, where Lina and Amelia were seated. Conversation stopped cold when she walked out.

"Oh, hello, Filia-san! Is Xelloss-san awake yet? It's been nearly a day since he was knocked out…" Amelia asked nervously.

"Yes." She said simply, walking past them and into the inn room she shared with Amelia.

"What's up with her?" Lina asked.

"You know very well what's up with her, Lina-san!" Lina gave her a quizzical look. "Don't you?" Lina shook her head. "She's caught in an internal war! Battling her secret feelings for Xelloss with loyalty to her kind!"

Lina blinked. "Secret feelings for Xelloss? The only feelings she has toward him are hostile, and those definitely aren't a secret…"

"It's not my fault you're too blind to recognize a woman in love!" Amelia snorted.

"Woman in love? Look, Amelia, didn't I already tell you I wasn't trying to set them up? I was just trying to get them to have a normal conversation with each other!"

Amelia went on with one of her love speeches, sighing dreamily after she had finished.

"Do I have to spell it out for you? It. Will. Never. Happen."

"Whatever you say, Lina-san."

Lina finally gave up, losing her second battle in a two-day period.

Xelloss smiled from outside the window. Him and Filia? What a joke. There was no way that would ever happen. Why not? The egotistical, self-centered side of the mazoku spoke up. You could certainly get her if you wanted.

"Get her if I wanted?" Xelloss asked himself aloud. "And why would I want to 'get her'?"

He didn't desire her. He couldn't stand to be around her. He couldn't stand it when she hurt at his expense…

"Damnit!" He cursed aloud. "Why is this happening? Why, L-sama?"

Rustling wind shook the tree's leaves. A chill hung in the air that night, but Xelloss paid it no mind. Why was this happening? Why couldn't he simply forget about the ryuzoku priestess and go about his ways? Why did he find himself feeling guilty whenever he angered her? Why did it hurt him so much to see her depressed and alone? Why did he feel that, if Xelas-sama were to ever order him to kill the remaining golden dragons, he couldn't bring himself to kill her?

"It's easy." He said. "One swift move and she's out. No skin off my back."

Were his words truthful? Yes. He found himself answering. But if that were so, why did he irritate her and make her use her full power when she was chained to that floor, awaiting certain death? Why did he save her from those falling rocks? He could feel the Lord of Nightmares mocking him, telling him the answers to those questions were a secret. Yet, in the far reaches of his mind, shoved into a small corner he would rather forget, he began to grasp the tip of the answers.

Xelloss shook his head violently, forcing the thoughts to go away. This hadn't happened to him for over one thousand years, and he couldn't stand the thought that it was happening by the hand of a ryuzoku. His kind, not to mention Xelas-sama, wouldn't accept it. It was weak. It was crude. It was completely wrong.

Yet thoughts of her made him smile. Truthfully. A smile he would rarely show. He was content with a secretive grin, forced on his face by default, yet whenever he thought of her, he couldn't help but change that smile.

Love? No. Mazoku couldn't love. Could they? Perhaps it was that they wouldn't love, and in that case, had he broken that vow? No. Lust, maybe, but not love. Pining after something he knew he could never have. It was all too natural for a predatory creature of the hunt.

He sat outside her window again, watching her cry herself to sleep, wondering the reasons for her actions. Every night she seemed to do that. It was almost as if sleep wouldn't come if she didn't. Most nights he would watch her secretively, always wondering what drove her to tears. Was it him? Was it his actions toward her that made her hurt so much?

She's strong. She can handle all of my teasing and more. That I know is a fact.

It was quite selfish to believe otherwise. Thinking that he could cause her so much pain; so much disgust. No. It was something else. Something else was bothering her. Was the desire to help someone with their problems – to make it so they wouldn't hurt anymore – lust? He forced himself into believing it was.

Love? No. Mazoku couldn't love, and especially not those of their mortal enemy's race. It was something else. It had to be something else. Something that drew the priest into mindless battles with her time and time again. Something that kept her in his mind, even as sleep began to claim his senses. Yes, something else. That was the only explanation.

On to Chapter Four: The Priestess