SailorStar9: After uploading Chapter 3, I present Chapter 4 of this fic. For everyone who put this fic on your favorited and followed lists and/or story alerts, thank you, but remember everyone, a lot of authors (myself included) sustain on readers' reviews.

Disclaimers: I own nothing, except for the plot bunny. Heck, even the pairings aren't mine.

Chapter 4: A Wild Rumor? No Smoke Comes Without Fire?

"No!" Filia insisted. "We simply must take the path to the right."

"Really?" Xellos wondered. "I think we should take the one to the left."

"Oh no." Filia corrected. "No Mazoku is going to trick me that easily."

"You're just going to dismiss me out of hand?" Xellos exclaimed.

"Why do those two act like that?" Gourry wondered.

"I doubted they'd stay civil to each other for long on this trip, but still..." Zelgadis sighed.

"The Dragon race and the Mazoku race have been enemies for so long." Amelia agreed. "It's like mixing oil and water."

"I couldn't care less about this." Lina moaned. "So, your way is the shortest way to the temple of the Fire Dragon King you told us about, right?" she interrupted the fight.

"I don't know." Filia replied. "Don't you understand? I'm a priestess of the Fire Dragon King. As such, I simply can't lower myself to agreeing with some Mazoku who serves some decrepit old dark lord who's covered in ice in the mountains of the North."

"You're such a selfish person, aren't you, Filia-san?" Xellos taunted. "I meant dragon, not a person. Guess you can't help being what you are."

"Who are you calling selfish?" Filia fumed. "Let us be off, Lina-san. The world is waiting for you."

"Give me a break already..." Aria moaned.

In a nearby town...

"The wait is finally over." Lina declared, the group having settled down in an eatery. "What sort of food is Dradora Surprise?" she pulled out a guidebook.

"You want to order more?" Filia gawked.

"You certainly set your sights high." the head chef praised. "If you don't try the Dradora Surprise in this town, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

"It's that good?" Lina drooled.

"We take a fresh, whole dradora and then cook it up in a sumptuous soup stock." the head chef related. "The mixture of flavors are perfectly matched with the essence of dradora. The taste is simply stupendous."

"I don't know what that means, but it sounds good." Lina gushed. "Add that to our order, please."

"Am I the only one wondering just what a dradora is?" Aria pondered.

"Good question." Zelgadis agreed.

"Lina-san!" Filia huffed. "Don't you understand that time is passing? While we do this, what are Valgarv and those other Mazoku up to? Which is more important? A dinner surprise or a threat to the world?"

"Right now, the dinner surprise." Lina answered. "If they need the Sword of Light for whatever they are doing, then they'll come for us no matter where we go. However, you can only get the Dradora Surprise in this town."

"Her logic is impeccable." Xellos entered the conversation. "Well argued, Lina-san."

"This is your fault." Filia pulled out her mace. "Because of her association with a filthy Mazoku like you, Lina-san's personality has become twisted. I can't put up with this any longer." concentrating her power, she proceeded to change into her Dragon form.

"So you transform when you get a little irritated?" Xellos teased. "You're not very well-trained for a priestess of the Fire Dragon King, are you? Using brute force when they can't get something by arguing for it," he tsked, Filia letting her transformation fade. "The Dragon race loves to resort to violence, don't they?"

"You've been saving that one since she made that crack about serving a decrepit dark lord, haven't you?" Lina sighed at the laughing Xellos.

"Please leave me alone!" utterly embarrassed, Filia snatched her mace and fled outside.

"It looks like Filia-san took that last comment really hard." Amelia noted.

"She'll come back when she's hungry." Lina reset the table. "Until then, we can enjoy the Dradora Surprise."

"And who'll pay for it?" Zelgadis reminded. "The only one of us with local currency is Filia."

"I can't believe it." Lina instantly changed her tone. "How could we let Filia wander alone and heart-broken in a strange town? Is that how you people treat friends? That's not my style. I won't abandon Filia when she's feeling down. Come on, everyone. Let's go to her right now." she pulled Gourry off.

"This is our only choice." Zelgadis sighed. "Come on, you two."

A while later...

"Heart of the south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east, arrive with the wind and depart with the rain." Aria stood in the middle of a ritual circle, Zelgadis and Amelia were outside the magic circle. "Tracking spell: Kakushitsuijaku! Found her!" she declared after a few tense minutes.

"Really?" Amelia pressed. "Where?"

"You've got to be kidding me..." Zelgadis muttered, Aria having led them to the town jailhouse.

"We've big trouble!" Amelia yelled, the group of three running towards Lina and Gourry. "Filia-san has been..."

In the judge hall...

"Fireball!" Lina wasted no time in breaking into the courtroom. "Why are you goofing around here, Filia?" she chided. "We still haven't gotten to eat the Dradora Surprise. Time to get to the next town. You guys!" she recognized Grabos' group.

"It's clear who the heroes are here, folks." Grabos grinned. "Those people are friends of the dragon."

"What makes you the heroes?" Amelia retorted. "Dragons and lizards are both reptiles. They're the same, aren't they?"

"Amelia-san, please don't call me a 'reptile'." Filia twitched.

"Forget this." Lina fumed. "I'm using all of my powers. Levitation!"

"I won't let you take her." Jiras tossed his bombs at the two mages.

"Water Needles!" Aria cast her rain-like spell, the pattering raindrops acting like solidified water needles that cut off the bomb wicks.

"Never underestimate the abilities of a adept water user." Lina grinned, the others joining in the battle, the villagers having taken up arms and surrounded the group.

"I'll let them finish you off." Grabos laughed. "Then I can take the Sword of Light when it's all over."

"I suppose I have no choice." Xellos made his move. "I really have to laugh at this." he appeared in front of Filia. "Things are this desperate and you're completely useless. So, this is the best you can do? Guess the Dragon race really isn't so tough after all."

"What did you say?" Filia fumed, but unable to overpower the binding circle.

"So, that's all a Golden Dragon is really capable of?" Xellos continued to mock. "They're nowhere near a match for the Mazoku race. How dull." he drifted out of harm's way.

"What did you say?" Filia's anger was now at its peak and shattering her shackles with little trouble and transformed into her Golden Dragon form. "Xellos! Come out here!" she roared. "Make a fools of me, will you? You're gonna be sorry." she continued rampaging. "Xellos! Where are you? Come out and face me."

"Forget it." Lina sighed, the group were now at a safe distance as they witnessed the town's destruction. "Not my problem."

After escaping the town...

"Cheer up, Filia." Lina soothed. "At least we all got away in one piece."

"I was a disgrace." Filia pouted. "Becoming naked in front of that many people... I have a long way to go as a priestess of the Fire Dragon King. If that piece of garbage hadn't started teasing me when you were all in trouble..."

"Looks like navigation is the one good thing that came out from Rezo's teachings." Aria noted, Zelgadis was mapping out the group's location on his map.

"Hmph." said chimera snorted.

"He probably was doing it on purpose." Lina suggested. "To draw you your full power. I wish I'd gotten just a taste of that Dradora Surprise. I wonder what goes into it?"

"Something called a surprise has got be to pretty weird." Gourry suggested.

"If you want to know, I have it in here." Xellos appeared with a guidebook. "According to this guidebook, it's considered fairly low-quality dish. You're probably lucky you didn't eat it." he beamed, Lina nad Gourry instantly turned green at the description. Amelia and Filia were so shocked that they fainted.

"If you had a guidebook, you must have known dragons were taboo in that town." Zelgadis landed back on the ground, with Aria beside him.

"Then why didn't you say so in the first place?" Amelia moaned.

"Why do you think?" Xellos grinned. "It was much more amusing this way. And didn't she cause a mess there? I have new respect for her."

"Oh, really, that's the reason." Filia growled. "I understand perfectly..." she wasted no time in changing into her Golden Dragon form and took to the sky to chase Xellos.

SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.