Just Waiting
Part Twenty-Two G, Day 88 – 2 Days to Go
By Relm
Filia was going through the bills for the flowers and the cake when she heard a not so light and polite knocking on the door. Puzzled Filia frowned wondering who the heck knew she was here. 'Did De Tanga forget something?' "Yes?" She called out.
"Filia! It's us!" Lina exclaimed as she opened the door.
Right away Filia jumped out of her chair and went to hug her friends. "Miss Lina! Mister Gourry! Mister Zelgadis! Amelia you all came!"
"Some of us almost didn't. It's hard to believe that this is a real wedding and not some sick joke of Xellos'." Zelgadis mused while frowning.
"It's not... a joke." Filia laughed nervously.
Amelia, Lina, Zelgadis and Gourry stood there staring at Filia with strange expressions on their faces.
Filia looked around at the four of them with rising anxiety building at the pit of her stomach. The four of them were looking at her far too intensely.
"What do you think?" Lina asked Amelia without turning her head to look at the Sailune princess.
"It's hard to tell... I don't think it's a spell." Amelia mumbled.
"It's got to be." Zelgadis insisted. "Why else would she say yes to him? She'd have to be insane."
"Well if it's not a spell then it must be blackmail or something." Gourry mused scratching his head in thought.
"Miss Filia is Mister Xellos threatening you into marrying him?" Amelia asked Filia while holding her hand in support. "Because we can do something to help you. You don't have to marry him."
"Yes that's right Filia. You do have a choice." Lina agreed.
Filia frowned. This wasn't amusing not one bit. "I'm not being threatened nor am I under a spell!" Filia protested.
"But you're marrying Xellos tomorrow! Xellos! Why on gods earth would you do such a stupid insane thing?" Zelgadis exclaimed almost angrily. "You hated him more than any one of us why the hell would agree to marry him?"
"Why should I have to explain myself?" Filia shouted angrily with her tail poking out from under her dress.
"Because you're not making any sense Filia!" Lina shouted back.
"I'm the bride I DON'T HAVE TO MAKE SENSE!" Filia screamed. She didn't care if she was sounding crazy. She decided she was going to marry Xellos and that was that. No one had the right to tell her what to do.
"I guess they really didn't hate other after all." Gourry mumbled. "People sure have weird ways of showing they love each other."
"Filia doesn't love Xellos." Zelgadis corrected Gourry. "That's just not possible."
"But she's marrying him. Why would she marry him if she doesn't love him?" Gourry countered clearly not understanding Zelgadis' logic.
"That's what we're trying to find out."
"Is Val being held for ransom till you marry Mister Xellos?" Amelia asked Filia while looking genuinely worried.
"Val is fine!" Filia growled. She was really getting tired of this.
"Then it must be a love spell." Lina insisted. "Amelia do you know any spells that could dispel a love spell?"
"It may not be a spell, it's probably a curse." Zelgadis mused. "Or maybe a puppet spell."
Filia glared at Zelgadis. "Are you suggesting I'm a simple minded fool being controlled by Xellos?"
"I can try and cast a disenchant spell but it will take some time and it may be beyond my casting ability. But it should remove any sort of controlling spells Miss Filia is under." Amelia suggested.
Lina gave Amelia a go ahead nod.
"No you will not!" Filia protested.
"Just do it Amelia." Lina ordered her.
Amelia put her hands together and started to chant under her breath.
"That's really not necessary!" Filia fumed. She was very close to changing into her dragon form out of rage.
"Filia it's for your own good." Lina assured her. "Who knows what spells that fruit cake has cast on you."
Filia sat herself back down almost sitting on her tail. As much as she wanted to stop Amelia a small part of her really wondered if this was just a spell after all. It would be an easier thought to digest than the notion of her actually being in love with Xellos. How could she love a monster for? It was crazy after all. And it wasn't just any monster is was Xellos after all.
Amelia looked very strained as got towards end of the spell incantation. Disenchant was a spell only able to be casted by high levelled priests and though Amelia was always working on her white magic training she still had a lot of studying left to do. "DISENCHANT!"
Magical energy surrounded Filia but quickly fizzled out.
"Did it work?" Lina wondered.
"I don't know. I think I may have messed up the spell." Amelia admitted. "Do you feel any different Miss Filia?"
Filia wanted to say yes, that she was finally free of these extremely inconvenient feelings. But truthfully she didn't feel different at all. "No."
"Well then the spell didn't work." Lina decided. "Is there any high levelled priests in town?"
"No!" Filia scowled. "And will you please drop this! I'm getting very tired of it!"
"Isn't Filia really powerful?" Gourry pointed out. "Maybe she could get the spell to work."
"Yeah why don't you try it Filia!" Lina encouraged her.
"NO! And if you're only here to pester me then you should all go. I have lots of work to do for the wedding." Filia huffed going through the papers once more.
"See she really does love him." Gourry mused.
Filia's normal gut reaction was to deny that fact with every fibre of her being. And as much as she wanted to yell that from the top of her lungs she couldn't. Because that would be a lie.
Lina and Zelgadis were still sceptical while Amelia was off in dreamland.
"How romantic! Two people who were once mortal enemies able to put their differences aside in the pursuit of true love!" Amelia's eyes were far off as she thought about all the wonders that love could bring. "How did he do it? How did Mister Xellos sweep you off your feet?"
Filia frowned. "He declared he loved me in the face of an enemy that was trying to kill him and me. He also took a blow that was meant to kill me and was seriously harmed in the process."
Lina raised an eyebrow. "Maybe it's Xellos under the spell."
"That would explain a lot." Zelgadis nodded in agreement.
"Miss Lina! Mister Zelgadis! I can't believe you two! The both of you are so cynical that you can't believe in the power of love transcending races and mutual hatred! Love has the power to heal all broken and evil hearts! It is the strongest force on the planet that can change the world!" Amelia proclaimed while standing on top of the very desk Filia had been working at.
"Amelia please come down from there?" Filia pleaded with the Sailune princess while feeling a little bit embarrassed. "You're making a scene and a mess."
...
While Lina and company grilled Filia – De Tanga and Luna were still verbally fighting/flirting with each other.
"... and I bet the only reason you're here 'helping' Val is because you can't go one day without terrorizing people." De Tanga mused with a grin.
"I am capable of being generous you know."
"Oh is that so?"
"I let you have the privilege of my company after all." Luna smirked at him while winking.
"Oh you are generous. And probably hungry too. Val can I steal her away for-" De Tanga looked around confused. "Val? Where did he go?"
Luna looked around not seeing the ancient dragon either. "I guess he must have left while we were 'talking'."
"Well care to join me for lunch?" De Tanga offered her his arm.
"No teleporting." She warned him.
"We're not going far, so there wouldn't be any point." De Tanga's arm was still up for Luna but it was clear that the monster slayer wasn't going to take it. Disappointed he lowered it and motioned for Luna to follow him.
"Where are we going?"
"That little cafe over there. It's no 'Devil's Spoon' but its soups and sandwiches are pretty good."
"I hope you realize you're paying and I'm very hungry." Luna grinned deviously.
"Seeing how you don't pay me much it's going to be a very sad small meal."
Luna rolled her eyes. "I suppose this is your way of crying about your wages? I'll have you know you get paid more than some of the staff."
"So you're really that mean to make the others work for peanuts?" De Tanga shot back as they sat down at one of the outdoor tables of the cafe.
Luna stuck her tongue at him. She wanted to make a comment or two but the waitress came to take their order. The waitress looked rather bewildered once she was finished writing down their order.
"So I met your sister." De Tanga commented while they waited for their food.
"I heard she was here."
"She doesn't know you're here at all does she?"
Luna smirked. "No and why should she?" It seemed like that devious smile was going to stay on Luna's face for a while. There just seemed to be too many things around to amuse her.
"Are you going to let her know you're here?"
"Naturally." Her devious smile got that much more evil as she plotted in her head of ways to 'greet' her sister.
De Tanga chuckled. He knew exactly what Luna was thinking about. "Lina has such a mean sister."
Luna darkly chuckled. "I'm not going to throw slugs at her or anything."
"Please don't wait till the wedding to 'greet' her. I doubt a woman shrieking hysterically will go over well during the nuptials."
Luna frowned. She hadn't thought of waiting till the actual wedding to 'surprise' her sister. It was a marvellous idea that she definitely wanted to do. "It's not like the wedding is going to go smoothly anyway." Luna tried to justify the potential action.
"Luna!" De Tanga growled at her. "YOU will NOT do THAT!"
Luna had to smile at De Tanga's determination. "There was a time when you would be afraid to make such bold demands. It's... amusing though I would like to see you try and stop me from doing something." She dared him.
"I won't need to. Because if you don't tell your sister you're here before the wedding I will."
Ordinarily Luna would have fought this but in this instance she didn't see the point. She wanted the wedding to go smoothly after all. "How do you purpose I tell her?"
"You said you're not using slugs." He reminded her.
"I don't need to do much to frighten her. I wonder if I could get her room number from Gravos..." Luna mused thinking over a new plan.
"What are you thinking of doing Luna?"
"Well wouldn't it be frightening to wake up with someone staring at you? Especially if that person was holding a very large sword?" Luna couldn't help but devilishly giggle at that prospect.
...
Lina found herself shivering from the sudden chill that ran up and down her spine.
"Seriously Lina is something wrong with you? You're acting very out of character." Zelgadis commented while frowning. It was true Lina was acting preoccupied and nervous.
"Oh it's nothing I'm sure!" Lina waved it off but truthfully she couldn't shake off that horrible feeling.
