Just Waiting

Part Twenty-Three H, Day 89 – 1 Day to Go

By Relm

Xellos watched the two children as they made their way down to the altar. Things started off fine enough. Cecilia was diligently throwing flowers into the air covering the aisle while Aaron walked along side of her holding the pillow with the rings on it. Even though the two were as cute as buttons more of the attention was focused on Cecilia and this didn't sit well with her twin brother Aaron.

Halfway down the aisle Aaron grabbed some flowers from Cecilia's basket and threw them into the air.

This bothered Cecilia as she was the flower girl and her brother was stealing her thunder. She screamed at him while hitting in with her basket. "I HATE YOU!" Cecilia yelled while bursting into tears.

"MOM SHE HIT ME!" Aaron yelled pointing at Cecilia.

Even though this could be considered something that would ruin a wedding most of the people found this cute. However the collective 'awwws' were doing nothing to quell the rising anger of the two kids. By the time they got to the end of the aisle both of them very mad and upset. This didn't bother Xellos at all. In fact it was a welcome thing to have a snack at the beginning of the wedding. Children did sometimes have explosive emotions.

The next two people to come walking down the aisle were Amelia and Zelgadis. Amelia was happy to have all eyes on her as she walked arm in arm with a man she admired. She felt pretty in her purple dress.

Zelgadis on the other hand wasn't enjoying all the attention being on them. He felt naked without his hood and mask on and all the eyes on him was making him that much more aware that he was a chimera. Since because of the location of where Filia's chosen town the people didn't see chimera's too often. Many of them were staring more intently on Zelgadis than he was used to. He felt their prying eyes and heard their hushed whispers. Zelgadis wasn't enjoying himself at all.

Then again it might have been another story if it was someone else's wedding, like for instances someone he actually liked or respected. Since it was Xellos it made enduring the suit and the stares just that much more difficult.

The whole walk down the aisle Zelgadis glared at the offending monster. Zelgadis knew damned well that Xellos was enjoying his discomfort. And he also knew that Xellos was enjoying the anger and resentment too.

Amelia was completely oblivious to Zelgadis' irritation. And why would she? She was thinking about the wedding she might have in the future. A wedding to a certain chimera perhaps? It took all of Amelia's concentration not to burst out into childlike giggles.

Though still smiling Xellos frowned a bit as he watched the chimera and the princess walk to the altar. While Zelgadis was providing a sizeable snack, Amelia was completely ruining it. 'She's tainted those lovely delicious emotions.' He thought to himself. Xellos always did enjoy feeding on Zelgadis' negative emotions but Amelia's unwavering optimism and positive attitude always ruined his appetite.

After Zelgadis and Amelia separated and took their spots the next pair was already making their way down the aisle. Just like Amelia and Zelgadis before them, this next pair was mismatched. We had Gourry who was just happy to be a groomsman in a wedding and Lina who was more than ready to take off one of her shoes and throw it at Xellos' head. Gods how she hated those shoes! She hated wearing dresses as a norm but those awful heels were making things worse for Lina.

The last pair to walk down the aisle didn't walk arm in arm. No these two walked along side each other with their hands behind their backs. Neither man looked particularly happy or joyous which was understandable. Xellos was marrying Filia so it was natural that Val would be upset. However the look on his face was a bit strange. It wasn't just irritation or disgust that marred the young ancient dragon's face. There was something else just a bit strange about his expression. But no one paid any attention to it.

Most of the attention was on De Tanga. Though many in town didn't know De Tanga too well they did know of Jarred. And those that knew the truth knew that the monster who was the best man of Xellos was in fact that very same man fighting Xellos for Filia's affections. Uncertainly loomed in the air as many people in the church were unsure of what the monster priest's actions would be. Was he going to stop the wedding?

The look on De Tanga's face didn't exactly inspire courage in the masses. He looked very uncertain and conflicted. As if De Tanga himself didn't even know what he was going to do.

Even though both 'best men' didn't seem too happy or confident they took their places at the altar. Val took his spot by where Filia would stand and De Tanga took his spot behind Xellos.

"Are you nervous?" De Tanga whispered his question to Xellos.

"No." Xellos whispered back. "Why would I?" He flashed De Tanga a smug smile.

De Tanga frowned. He could sense that Xellos wasn't as calm as he was pretending to be. But to be a bit nervous was a common thing.

The light airy music that had been filling the church changed its tune sounding the commonly familiar notes of the wedding march. Everyone rose to their feet and turned around to watch the bride as she made her way to the altar.

She was beautiful, as beautiful as a bride could be. Her dress was sparkling white, her hair and makeup just perfect and she had an air of elegance to her. Filia was a beautiful woman normally but dressed as she was she was an enchanting vision of white. To those that saw her would all agree, she was breath taking. A perfect bride on a perfect wedding day.

As Filia walked through the church aisle she was escorted by two very proud men. Both Jilas and Gravos were happy and honoured to be the ones to walk Filia down the aisle. It did look a bit funny as Gravos was on one side of Filia looking tall and large and Jilas was on the other side looking much smaller. But that didn't matter much as their smiles were larger than anyone's in the room.

This was in some ways a strange sight as the smile that was on Filia's face was considerably smaller than those walking her down the aisle. Of course this failed to alarm anyone in the church. She was getting married after all; it was a huge step in a person's life. It was natural to feel apprehensive. To those in the church they just assumed Filia's somewhat forced smile was just a case of wedding jitters.

As Filia made her way down the aisle she found herself searching the faces of those standing at the altar. She saw looks of encouragement and irritation of her friends. Seeing the smiling faces of Amelia, Gourry and De Tanga didn't help the knots tightening in her stomach. In fact the smiles were making her feel more and more nervous. It was especially bad when she looked at De Tanga's face. She could tell right away that De Tanga's smile was just as forced as hers. Clearly he wasn't feeling too sure about this wedding either.

It was a time like this that Filia wanted to have one of those mental conversations with De Tanga like they used to. But then what would she say to him? No that would be a bad idea.

Looking to Xellos didn't help much either for Filia. He had on his trademark grin that often made her want to hurt him. There was nothing sincere and loving about that smile of his. It wasn't what you expected from a husband to be and it didn't give Filia any sort of validation or comfort. It just intensified that unsettled feeling in her stomach.

Gravos and Jilas gave away Filia leaving to stand by Xellos in front of the priest and all their friends and family. It was natural for a person getting married to reach for the hand of their spouse to be but this didn't happen at this wedding. Filia's grip on her bouquet was so tight she almost broke it in half.

"Dearly beloved we are gathered before Cepheid and er... Shabranigdo... to bless this union of Filia and Xellos." The priest spoke in a raspy voice. He was an old priest very set in his traditions and faith. He was wrestling with the moral complications of doing a wedding for a dragon and a monster. Marrying Filia was fine for the priest but not when she was marrying a monster. And especially when Xellos insisted Shabranigdo be mentioned. "Today is a day of love and celebration as this man and this woman declare their unwavering devotion to each other."

The more the priest spoke the faster Filia's heart beat. It was beating so hard and fast that it was deafening to her ears. Thump thump. As her pulse quickened her breaths became shorter and shorter. It wasn't almost like she was hyperventilating, she felt like there was no air getting into her lungs. Her eyes were wide with fear and her smile more strained.

"Filia?" The priest prompted her snapping her out of her trance.

"What?" Filia asked looking at the priest.

"Do you take Xellos to be your lawfully wedded husband?" The priest repeated the question for Filia.

All the panic that had been coursing through Filia's veins turned ice cold making feel faint. "I... I... I..." Filia stuttered as she looked around the church. She felt everything spinning around her.

Whispers started to sound in the church as they watched Filia unravel. The golden dragon just kept stumbling over the same word over and over. And then when they finally thought she would come up with an answer she vanished!

Everyone looked around in surprise as the golden dragon had teleported herself out of the church. At first all eyes were on Xellos, as if the monster was to blame. But Xellos was just as confused as everyone else.

"Where did she go?" Lina wondered out loud looking around.

"Probably came to her senses." Zelgadis muttered under his breath.

"You don't think someone kidnapped Miss Filia do you?" Amelia posed the question feebly and fearfully.

"I doubt it; we would have seen someone do it. Unless it was a pretty powerful monster that did it..." Lina mumbled to herself.

"Well we do have Beast Master Zellas sitting over there drinking. But I think she's too drunk to pull that off." Zelgadis pointed out.

"That leaves Dynast and Deep Sea." Lina tapped her chin in thought.

"No, if it were a monster I would have known." De Tanga interrupted Lina's train of thought.

"Well then that means Filia's flown the coup. Can't say I'm that surprised." Lina concluded.

"Don't worry Mister Xellos." Amelia patted the monster general priest on the back reassuringly. "I'm sure she just needs a minute. She'll be back."

Having your fiancé leave you at the altar was a bad thing but when you were a monster having someone try to 'console' you was much worse. Xellos almost felt ill from the positive waves of emotion from the Sailune princess.

Lina let out a heavy sigh. "I guess one of us should go find her."

"But Miss Filia teleported out of here!" Amelia protested. "She could be anywhere!"

"I'll look for her." De Tanga offered. He teleported out before anyone could protest.

While everyone in the church murmured amongst themselves Val was very quiet as he stood there at the altar. He wasn't paying attention to anything going on around him. It's not that he was intentionally ignoring everything. At that moment his head was pounding with the largest headache he had ever had in life. The pain was so intense that it blocked out all sound and awareness of his surroundings. While he stood there completely immobilized strange images flashed through his mind. They moved so quickly in and out that Val couldn't make sense of them. But the more he tried to make sense of them the more his head hurt. The only things that he could make out clearly were the colours. Red and purple... Different shades but always those two colours. What did they mean?

...

It didn't take De Tanga long to find Filia. There were only three places where he figured she would go. Her home, that spot in the middle of the woods and the lake. If it were De Tanga that was upset and needed to take refuge to think the lake would have been his first choice. As it turned out Filia was the same.

Standing there in her wedding dress staring out to the blue crystal waters she looked like a fairy tale dream to the monster priest. All this time away from Filia had dulled the image of her beauty from his mind and made him forget part of the reason why he had been so drawn to her in the first place. She was so quiet as she stood there in this peaceful setting that De Tanga was loathe disturbing her from her thoughts. If it had not been for the tears falling down her face De Tanga might have not approached her at all.

If the makeup artist hadn't used waterproof makeup then Filia's face would have been a mess at that moment. Instead the tears just added to the sad beauty of this whimsical scene.

"Filia?" De Tanga quietly spoke as he slowly approached her.

Filia spied a quick look at De Tanga before turning away. She didn't want him to see her like this. She feebly tried to wipe off her tears and calm herself but no avail. Filia's tears didn't hold at bay so as such she still had her back to him. "De Tanga? Why are you here?"

"You left. I had to follow." He answered as he got right behind her. De Tanga wanted to put his hand her shoulder or do something but he didn't feel it was in his place to do anything. So he just stood there waiting for her to answer.

"I couldn't do it." Filia cryptically answered.

"Couldn't do what?" He prompted her.

"How can I marry someone I hate so much?"

De Tanga flashed her a smile even though she couldn't see it. "Because even though you hate him you love him at the same time."

"I don't want to love him! Gods he makes me so mad all the time! And even there at the church, that damned smug smile of his! This whole wedding is a joke to him!"

"So you left because he wasn't taking things seriously enough?"

"No..." Filia hugged herself in an effort to will herself the courage to say what she needed to say. "I couldn't... because... I'm having doubts..."

"Cold feet are a natural thing for any bride. And Xellos doesn't exactly make things easier either. So it's bound to be more intense." De Tanga tried to reassure her.

"No it's not cold feet!" Filia protested vehemently. "What if I made a mistake? What if... I'm marrying the wrong man?"

De Tanga felt his heart skip a beat that moment. His mouth was dry and he felt his mind go completely blank. "What... what are you saying?"

"What if... I'm supposed to marry... you?" Filia finally turned around to look De Tanga in the eye.

De Tanga could only stand there and stare. His confused teal eyes met with her sparkly light blue ones.