Slayers is the property of Kadokawa Shoten
GREYSWORD: My hunt for the Mazoku that took my brother has lead me a lot of places. Scarrin
has promised his help, but I am wary. Now, I find I must depend on yet another stranger…If she'll
agree to help…
Faces: After!
Part 19
Recuperation!
The Fire of Xellos Rekindled!
Filia flew faster and faster as another twenty dragons flying next to her rammed straight
into the bolts of dark energy and disappeared in red clouds of blood. Blue streams of laser breath
flew from the mouths of the remaining dragons, nearly five hundred in number. The blue bolts all
fell on one spot below and before them. Filia added her own fire to the flame. Energy crackled as
the beams hit their mark, throwing up a cloud of stone debris.
For a few moments, it seemed that they had won.
Then, a straight, black line shot from the debris cloud and swung towards them. Filia cried
out in fear as another hundred golden dragons fell, cut down by the beam.
This wasn't war anymore!
This wasn't a battle!
It was a slaughter!
It was MURDER!
For a moment, she lost herself in a cloud of burning blood. When the red smoke finally
cleared…
She was alone.
All alone in the blue sky.
She looked down and saw other dragons still falling to the ground thousands of feet below.
All alone.
The debris cloud surrounding the target was dispersing now.
"Am I a bad person…"
She gasped and looked down as the final bits of smoke were blown away by the wind. A
lone figure stood there, staff in hand, purple hair wafting in the breeze.
Xellos looked up at her and finished his question. "Am I a bad person…Filia chan?"
Her eyes snapped open. Another dream. She had been having many such dreams over the
past week. Dreams about Xellos.
Stretching, she yawned and turned in her chair towards Xellos' bed.
Only to find him gone.
She blinked and stood up. For an entire week, he hadn't moved more than an inch, or said
more than a few words. Now he was GONE?!
Could he really have been faking all this time and actually had the power to dematerialize
whenever he wanted?!
That's when she noticed it.
The door was open.
She stepped out into the hallway and heard something. Someone was panting. Turning
towards the sound, she saw him leaning against the wall and using it as a crutch as he tried to walk
down the hall and towards the stairs.
"Xellos!" The dragon rushed forward and took his arm. "What are you doing?!" she
cried. "You should be in bed!"
He surprised her by roughly pulling his arm from her hand. She blinked in shock. Only a
few days ago he was clutching at her hand and moaning her name in his sleep.
"I…Don't need….Your help!" he gasped out tiredly, taking another step. "I'm…not
some…invalid….For you to…pity!" He took another step.
"Don't be stupid!" Filia growled at him. "You're not doing yourself any good by
staggering down the hall like a whino!"
"I am…a Mazoku!" Xellos gasped out, taking another painful step as he leaned against the
wall. "The world…is…mine to…destroy…Its people…" He closed his eyes in pain and took a
breath. "…mine…to torment…I am…I am…" He gave up and collapsed on the hard wood floor.
"Xellos!" Filia cried, kneeling next to him.
"Nothing," he finished in a choked whisper. "Nothing at all…"
"Oh, knock it off," Filia grumbled, taking him by the arm and helping him to his feet. She
placed his arm around her shoulder and supported his weight as she started to lead him back
towards his room. "Now this time stay in bed!" she ordered.
They entered the bedroom, and the dragon unceremoniously deposited Xellos on his bed.
Pulling the blanket up around this neck, she tucked him in like she would a child. The Mazoku
continued to stare up at the ceiling.
She stood up and took a step back, looking down at him sympathetically. "Xellos….I
know it must be hard…I'm alone too, remember? But…you can't just…give up."
He didn't answer.
"Xellos," she tried again, biting her lip in thought. "There's still hope. Maybe Metallium
will take you back…"
Nothing.
"Well…Surely there's SOMETHING you can do…Right?"
Silence.
Filia growled and walked back to him, grabbing him by the front of his cloak and pulling
him to a sitting position. "Don't just lie there and ignore ME, Namagomi!" she shouted. She
shook him a bit, growling. Her tail popped out from under her dress and flicked from side to side
angrily.
She slapped him.
Nothing.
Growling, she threw him back into the bed and turned away from him. "How could I
EVER have respected you even for a second?" she growled. She faced the door, put her arms
over her chest, and huffed. An idea came to her, and she smiled. "But then again," she said, "I
guess that's what I should've expected from a MAZOKU. It gets a little hard, and they fold like
cards."
She could hear a slight bit of movement from the bed.
"Yes," she continued. "Once again, I've proven how superior we Ryuuzoku are. After all,
when I left my clan, I didn't just turn myself off and cry and moan about it. I showed the Elder
what I was capable of on my own. I guess Mazoku are just too cowardly to even attempt acting
without permission from their overlords!"
A little more movement. Maybe she was getting to him.
"Mazoku sure are tough when they have their dark lords looking over their shoulder. But
when the chips are down and they have to make a CHOICE on their own, they're nothing more than
children crying for their mo…" She broke off as she felt cold breath on the back of her neck. She
turned and found him standing only an inch from her, a scowl on his face. She hadn't expected him
to actually pull himself from bed.
"All right," he whispered out painfully. "If you're such a…damn expert…Teach me…"
"T…Teach you?" she asked.
"You have all the answers," he gasped out. "Tell me…Tell me how I do it…"
She smirked. "That…is a secret."
He actually chuckled. Looking at her, he shook his head. "You really don't know," he told
her. "You just think you do."
"I know you're being a baby about all this!" she cried. He was turning away from her.
"Fine! You want me to prove it!? You'll have my help! Is that what you want to hear?!"
"No," he whispered. "This isn't an…arrangement…It's a bet."
"A…bet?"
He turned back to her and nodded. "If you really know how I'm supposed to exist as a
nothing and teach it to me, you win."
"And if I don't?" She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. Here it was. The part
where he tells her if she doesn't, she has to sleep with him. Even as an invalid he was playing the
game.
"If you can't," he said with effort, "Then you kill me."
General Priest Jinnar placed his teacup down and smiled unctuously at his lunch
companion. "Now isn't this nice?!" he asked, his arms spread wide. "I had no idea that senior
officers got such nice lunch accommodations!"
Sitting on the table across from him, Callisto licked the blood from his lunch off his paw.
"Yes," he agreed without enthusiasm. "A pointless exercise since we don't require physical
food…"
"Oh, I don't believe so!" Jinnar objected. "After all, it allows us a chance to speak
outside of an…official…venue."
"Yes, I'm sure it does," Callisto said, wishing he were somewhere else.
Jinnar smiled. "You know," he began, "I do wonder whatever became of old Xellos."
Callisto looked up from his paw, and his eyes narrowed. "And what concern of it is
yours?" the cat asked. "You're the new General Priest."
"Oh, it's just out of curiosity," Jinnar told him with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I
guess I'm just feeling nostalgic!"
"Why?" Callisto asked with an arched eyebrow. "As I recall, he passed you over as a
potential student."
The General Priest's eye twitched. "Yes…" he said darkly.
"Then he recommended to your instructor that you be given remedial instruction in the art
of subtlety."
The vein in Jinnar's head began pulsing.
"And then he DID see to it that you and he would NEVER be placed on the same
assignment because the thought of working with such an unpredictable, rank amateur Mazoku such
as yourself, galled him to the extent that…"
"I GET IT!!" Jinnar exploded, jumping to his feet.
The cat didn't bat an eye. "So why should YOU of all Mazoku feel nostalgic?"
Jinnar smiled. "I heard he died. I just want to hear it from someone else."
Callisto looked him in the eye, glaring for several seconds. "He's dead."
"There! See?!" the new General Priest cried, his arms wide. "That's all I wanted to
know!"
"So now you know," Callisto said with just a touch of ice. "Now if you'll excuse me…"
The cat nimbly hopped down off the table. "Her Majesty asked me to prepare the situation reports
for the Xoana operations."
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Jinnar asked smugly.
Callisto stopped and sighed. Turning, he dipped his head to Jinnar. "By your leave, Lord
General." Without waiting for a reply, he turned and disappeared.
Jinnar's smile widened into a grin. "BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" He stifled his laugh
and turned. "IFFY!………..IFFY!!!"
In a flash of dark light, the female Mazoku appeared before him. She was holding a street
map of Seyruun….upside down…and trying desperately to make sense of it. The staff Jinnar had
given her as a badge of her fealty was held precariously in the crook of her arm.
"Now….I know I passed Ninth Street," she said to herself, too involved in the map to
realize she was in Jinnar's presence. "And I KNOW I haven't gone past Seventh Street yet….So
that leaves me on…..EIGHTH STREET!!!" She looked up from the map and at her surroundings.
Her face fell. "But this isn't Eighth Street either!"
"IFFY!"
"HUH?!" She turned and blinked. "Lord God General Priest Jinnar, Sir!" she cried. She
blinked in puzzlement. "What are you doing in Seyruun?"
Jinnar rubbed his temples. "Iffy…Try to stay with me on this…You're not in Seyruun right
now. You're back here."
She blinked. "Sure!"
Jinnar growled, but a second later, smiled. "I just confirmed that our dear Lord Xellos is
alive and well."
"You did?"
Jinnar nodded. "Callisto told me. As a Mazoku who's made himself an expert on lying, I
can recognize one instantly. Xellos is alive. I want him….not so."
"Not so what?"
Jinnar tried to contain his absolute rage. "I want….Xellos….XELLOS…." Iffy nodded in
understanding and bade him to continue. "X-E-L-L-O-S…" Jinnar continued. "Dead. Deceased.
Gone." He took Iffy by the shoulders. "Do you understand?"
"Oh, yeah! Sure!"
"Good. Then you can handle it."
She blinked again. "But…What about that whole Seyruun thing?"
"You can't do both?! What kind of assistant are you?!"
Iffy sighed in resignation. "Yes, Lord God General Priest Jinnar Sir…"
"Good! Now get going!"
With that, Jinnar disappeared.
Iffy sighed again. "Such is the life of a Lord God General Priest's Assistant, Second
Class, Limited…"
"Lina chan? What are you doing?" Naga asked as she leaned over her sidekick's shoulder
to see what the petite redhead was so enthralled in. Sitting on the table in front of her was a six
foot long oak staff, a red crystal about the size of her fist with a sizable crack in it, a bunch of
other, smaller crystals, and a hammer.
The redhead picked up the hammer and crushed one of the smaller crystals into powder
with it before turning to her boss and smiling. "I'm making Mister Xellos a new staff."
Naga blinked. "Oh?"
Shadow Lina smiled and nodded. "I figured that since his old one broke, he would need a
new one. So I found a branch from that tree Miss Dragon Lady decapitated and asked Lord Jeffrey
to shave it for me. Then I found this old, broken crystal at the magic shop down the street. Now
I'm preparing these other crystals to be fused with it."
The White Serpent nodded along with each step.
"I want it to be a surprised," the redhead continued. "So don't tell him, okay?"
Naga smiled. "Of course I won't. But you know, Lina chan, this staff won't be anything
like his old one. Don't be offended if he doesn't want it."
"Oh! I'm not worried about that!" Shadow Lina said confidently. "I'm packing this staff
with some of the most powerful magical crystals I have as well as any other strong magical things I
can get my hands on! By the time it's done, it'll be twice as powerful as his old staff!"
Visions of Xellos floating above whatever city Lina Inverse happened to be staying in and
using his staff to shoot giant fireballs down into it danced in Naga's brain.
"OOOOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!"
Shadow Lina blinked at the laughter. "Um…Did I say something funny, Miss Naga?"
"Not at all, Lina chan!" Naga cried. "As a matter of fact, let me help you make that staff
just as strong as it can be!"
The shadow's eyes lit up. "You want to contribute something, Miss Naga?! That's
wonderful!"
Naga nodded and removed the Claire Bible manuscript from her satchel. Opening it, she
tore out the first page and handed it to the redhead. "A page from a Claire Bible fused with the
crystal would surely help."
"Thank you, Miss Naga!" Shadow Lina cried. She took the page and turned back to her
work.
The sorceress smiled. "OOOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!
OOOOOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!"
"HAAAAAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAA!!!!
HAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!!!" Jinnar laughed. "Excellent work, my cronies!" The two
cronies in question, low-level Mazoku scouts, arched an eyebrow at being referred to as,
"cronies." Bowing quickly, they left the room as fast as they could. Jinnar cleared his throat and
called out. "IFFY!! IFFY!!"
Once again, the female Mazoku appeared, map still in hand, still upside down. "So all I
have to do is walk straight up this street and I'll be there!" she exclaimed happily. Looking up,
her face fell. "Hey! Wait a minute! There's supposed to be a street here!"
"IFFY!"
The younger Mazoku cringed and turned. "Oh! Lord God General Priest Jinnar, Sir!" She
snapped to attention and saluted smartly, trying to keep a hold of both her staff and her map.
"My scouts have just located Xellos," Jinnar said smugly. "He's in Saldellia."
"I guess he's on vacation!" Iffy commented. She laughed nervously.
Jinnar's eyes narrowed.
Iffy stopped smiling. "Sorry…"
"Enough jokes! Just go to Saldellia and destroy Xellos!"
"Um…Lord God General Priest, Sir, Jinnar, Sir?" Iffy began nervously. "I was just
thinking about something…"
"I'm breathless in shock," Jinnar noted dryly.
"Yeah, anyway, I was just thinking…Does Her Majesty know we're…you know…hunting
Lord Xellos down like a dog and gutting him like a pig? Because I think she might be a little mad
if we did that without her permission and…"
"SILENCE! IDIOT! DON'T YOU THINK I'VE ALREADY ACCOUNTED FOR
THAT?!"
"I'm sorry!" Iffy cringed.
"Hmmm…" Jinnar commented, rubbing his chin in thought. "On the other hand, as unlikely
as it is, you could be right. You'll have to just kill Xellos without Her Majesty finding out!"
"But how am I supposed to do that?!" Iffy cried in panic, clutching her staff as if it could
protect her from Jinnar's order.
"IDIOT! HE'S VULNERABLE NOW!" Jinnar took a breath and laughed.
"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh, I just had the most delicious idea!"
"Are we having lunch, Sir?!" Iffy asked, visibly brightening.
"NO, WE ARE NOT HAVING LUNCH!" he screamed in reply.
"Sorry…"
"If the scouts are correct, then that means that Xellos is so weak, so vulnerable, that even
humans could destroy him!" He laughed again. "Imagine! Humans! Destroying the great Xellos!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
"Yeah, that would be pretty cool, Sir!" Iffy agreed, nodding.
"SO MAKE IT HAPPEN!" Jinnar ordered.
Iffly flinched away. Recovering, she saluted smartly. "Roger dodger, over and out, Sir!"
With that, she floated about a foot off the ground and flew down the corridor towards the exit.
As she flew, she sighed. "This new job sucks," she complained. "How am I supposed to
get a human to kill Lord Xellos?"
Sighing again, she disappeared.
"You could…be an advisor!" Filia tried as she poured another cup of tea.
"Advise who?" Xellos asked, taking a sip from his own cup as he sat up in bed.
"Well, think about it," Filia urged him. "The Mazoku are a very real threat to the world.
You could advise kings and nations on ways to undermine them."
Xellos' eyes narrowed. "You mean turn traitor," he whispered.
The dragon held up a hand. "Who betrayed who first?" she asked. "You don't owe them
anything!"
"I owe Her Majesty everything," he said darkly. "She gave me life."
Filia sighed and took a sip of tea. So far, this wasn't going well. Thinking back on it, she
had been lucky. She had given up the Fire Dragon Temple, the only life she had ever known, but
right afterward, she had taken on the task of raising little Val. She had gone from serving one
higher purpose to the next in only a few day's time. She hadn't had to endure the feeling of being
lost. That's what Xellos was feeling now. He felt he had no purpose in life. Filia had spent the
last several hours convincing him that there were other purposes out there for him.
"Well there has to be SOMETHING!" she cried impatiently. "I mean, what's keeping you
here at all!?"
Xellos looked over at her, his face serious. "You are."
She blinked at him. "I am?"
"You still don't understand, do you?" he asked quietly.
Filia looked at him and swallowed back realization. "Xellos…why EXACTLY were you
expelled?"
He smiled. "That is…"
"The truth," she whispered, begging. "Just this once."
The Mazoku regarded her for a moment, then looked out the window, placing his teacup on
the saucer it came on. "Violation of the Ruby Eye's first law," he told her. "Disobeying a direct
order from my overlord."
She took a breath. "And that order was…"
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with," he told her dully.
"That night in my room," she concluded quietly. "That wasn't your idea, was it?"
"Filia chan," he began.
"She ordered you to rape me, didn't she?!" Filia was livid. She blinked in shock. "And
when you didn't…she threw you out."
Xellos said nothing.
"You…disobeyed Metallium…for me?" Filia asked quietly.
The Mazoku snorted. "Hardly." Filia's eyebrow twitched as a result. "You have to
understand how things work for a Mazoku, Filia chan," he continued. "To be perfectly honest, I
didn't realize I was disobeying her until she told me point blank that I had."
"Wait," she said. "I don't get this."
He sighed and continued to look out the window. "A Mazoku can no more disobey their
overlord than sing one of Miss Amelia's justice ballads. It's…alien…to us. A Mazoku CANNOT
disobey their overlord. But…" he went on with an upraised finger. "HOW we carry out the
orders issued to us is somewhat open to…interpretation."
Filia only blinked again.
"I fully intended to take you by force, Filia chan," Xellos admitted. "I just…couldn't
bring myself to do it THEN." He chuckled to himself. "I guess after so many years of
'interpreting' my orders however I pleased…Her Majesty got tired of it."
"I…I see."
"It's just as well," he whispered. "It wasn't an order I was in any particular hurry to carry
out." He rolled over onto his side, facing away from Filia. "I'm going to sleep now," he said
simply.
Filia stood up and walked silently out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.
Looking up, she saw Amara standing nearby.
"He's sleeping," Filia said simply and started for the stairs. Amara fell into step beside
her. "I don't know what to do with him," Filia confessed. "He doesn't want to keep going, yet he
does anyway. It's like he's looking for a reason to die more than he's looking for one to live."
"It's not a reason he's looking for, Filia," Amara told her. "It's your permission."
Filia turned to the other blonde and blinked. "What do you mean?"
Amara tried to find a way to word it. "I meant what I said about the female's life
superceding the male's," she explained. "I…told him that you didn't want him to die." She looked
sheepish. "So…now he can't unless you tell him it's okay…You're his mate, so you DO have
some power over him, Filia."
"Gee, thanks," the dragon growled.
"Filia! This is serious!" the older Ryuuzoku cried. "Right now he's at his most
vulnerable! He's LOOKING for an excuse to die! You can't give him one!"
"Alright! Alright!" Filia cried. "I get it."
"Good!" Amara told her. She started down the steps again. "Because as his mate it's
YOUR responsibility!"
Filia growled and started down the steps after her. "I am NOT his mate!" she cried
angrily.
"Finished!" Shadow Lina announced, holding the staff aloft.
Standing nearby, Jeffrey and Naga applauded. The staff in the redhead's hand was taller
than she was. The ruby she had repaired with her magic and infused with several other crystals
along with Naga's Claire Bible page sat on top of the staff, sparkling in the light. The wood was
polished smooth and varnished, making it look a little older than it actually was.
"I'm going to go give it to him now, okay?" she asked excitedly, rushing towards the steps.
Before she could make it there, however, she ran into Filia and Amara. "Excuse me, Miss Dragon
Ladies!" she cried. "I'm going to give Mister Xellos his new staff!"
"He's sleeping right now, Miss Lina," Amara told her with a slight smile. "Why don't you
wait until later, okay?"
"Oh…Okay." Dejected, the petite sorceress started back for her table.
Naga was waving a waiter over for a lunch menu when she noticed someone enter the inn.
She looked vaguely familiar, but couldn't put her finger on why. The White Serpent probably
would have just shrugged it off if the woman had not made a beeline straight towards her and
stopped at their table.
The brown-haired woman stood next to Naga's chair, looking over the sorceress with her
sapphire eyes. Naga made it a point to ignore her. Finally, the woman spoke.
"I've heard that you're a sorceress for hire," Greysword told the White Serpent.
"Mercenaries."
"We have been known to do charity work," Naga informed her haughtily. She looked up
and grinned at the swordswoman. "Care to make a donation?"
Greysword sat down at the table across from her and got down to business.
Shadow Lina sighed. Miss Naga was wheeling and dealing, and Lord Jeffrey was out
shopping for a new set of armor. The dragons were having tea over in the corner, and in a word,
she was bored. The staff she had made for Mister Xellos was sitting on the table in front of her,
looking at her like an unopened birthday gift.
Beckoning to her.
("Give me to Mister Xellos,") it seemed to say in her mind. ("I'll cheer him up right quick,
Miss Lina! Just give me a chance, and that poor old Mister Xellos will being doing cartwheels in
no time!")
The shadow looked from side to side, then whispered. "But he's sleeping," she told the
staff.
("Aw, shucks, Miss Lina!") the staff continued. ("If he knew he had a brand spanking new
staff waiting for him, he wouldn't be sleeping! No, Ma'am! Uh uh! No way!")
Shadow Lina thought about this for several seconds. What was more important?
Happiness or sleep?
("HAPPINESS! HAPPINESS! HAPPINESS!") the staff yelled to her.
The shadow looked from side to side again. Finally, she picked up the staff and started for
the stairs.
"Sounds ambitious," Naga commented. "Breaking into Seyruun is a difficult task, even for
someone such as myself, who happens to know the palace." She looked up at Greysword. "No."
The swordswoman's eyes narrowed. A second later, they softened again, and she sighed.
"Miss Naga…You don't understand how important this is to me."
"And you don't understand one thing about me," Naga told her. "I don't go to
Seyruun…EVER." She stood up. "I'm sorry that you've wasted your time." She turned to go, but
a hand snagged her wrist. Turning, she found Greysword had stood up and grabbed her.
"Miss Naga," the woman began. "I understand if you're reluctant given the odds…"
Naga grinned. "The odds? Never tell me the odds, child. I have my own reasons."
"But," Greysword continued, "This…means a lot to me." For a flash of a few seconds,
pain crossed the woman's face only to replaced right afterwards with a hard mask again.
Naga was silent for a moment. "Let's go for a walk."
Xellos' eyes were closed, but he wasn't sleeping. Nothings didn't sleep. They existed as
nothings.
How the mighty had fallen. A week ago the mere whisper of his name would have sent
dragons, humans, elves, and even other Mazoku fleeing in terror. The rumor of his approach
caused entire cities to evacuate and seek shelter. It had gotten to the point where he had to stop
introducing himself as a Mazoku just so he could get some work done.
Now he'd never have that problem again.
Nothings weren't feared.
They were laughed at.
Despised.
Nothing could respect a nothing.
Especially not dragons.
He sighed and continued to pretend he was sleeping. That's when he felt it. There was
someone next to his bed. He rolled over and looked up.
Lina Inverse stood there. The only woman to ever earn the respect of the Overlords of
Shabranigdo. She who called down the power of the Lord of Nightmares on a whim. She never
knew just how much respect she had among the Mazoku, and Xellos had been sure to never
mention it lest she get ideas. Somehow, though, he always thought she knew.
Was he dreaming?
Did nothings dream?
She held out a long, wooden staff and spoke. "Mister Xellos…"
He recognized the shy voice of the shadow and blinked.
"I…I made you a new staff," she told him. "I know it's probably not as good as your old
one…but…well…I made it myself…and Jeffrey and Miss Naga helped…And…"
She broke off as Xellos sat up in bed and regarded the staff closely. There was definitely
an astral essence there. She hadn't just bought it off the street or broke a branch off a tree. He
looked up at her. "Why?" he asked.
"Well," the shadow said, blushing a little and turning away. "Remember when Miss
Josephine was harassing me, and you taught me how to stand up to her?" Xellos nodded.
"Well…if you hadn't done that, I might never had gotten to be with Lord Jeffrey." Xellos only
blinked. "So…I guess…this is a way to say…thank you."
The Mazoku continued to stare at the staff, not quite sure what to make of it.
"You hate it, don't you?" Shadow Lina asked dejectedly. "I'm sorry. I'll go throw it in the
fire or something." She turned to go.
"Just a second, Lina chan," Xellos stopped her. She turned and blinked at the grin on his
face. "It's customary to test drive before one makes a final decision…"
Peering in through the window, Iffy suddenly eep'd and flew out of view. She floated
there, out of sight of the former Mazoku general and his guest. Clutching her staff, she began to
fret.
"The DRAGON SPOOKER is with him?! This is worse than I thought!" She sighed and
hung her head. "Lord God General Priest Jinnar is going to be SO angry… But what am I
supposed to do? The Dragon Spooker defeated Lord Hellmaster Phibrizzo, and Lord Gaav, and
Lord ValGaav, and the Great Ruby Eye…." She sighed. "It's hopeless…so hopeless…"
She floated down to the ground and started walking, her steel staff dragging in the dirt
behind her as she morosely marched away from her mission. It wasn't her fault. It was the
DRAGON SPOOKER, for Ruby Eye's sake! But you could bet that Lord God General Priest
Jinnar Sir wasn't going to be satisfied with that! Oh no! Lord God General Priest Jinnar Sir was
going to throw a temper tantrum…then liquidate her.
"This sucks," she sniffed. Without realizing it she walked into a tavern. Blinking at the
noise and lack of light, she shrugged and made her way to the bar. "If I'm going to be liquidated, I
might as well have something to eat before I go…" she commented morosely.
"Hi there, little lady," the man behind the counter greeted her as she sat down. "What can I
get you?"
"Something bloody," Iffy sniffed. "Preferably killed today and in the most agonizing way
possible."
The barkeep blinked, looked around, then put a jar of pickled pig's feet on the bar. "That'll
be a goldpiece each," she told her. Iffy paid and took one of the pig's feet, taking an unenthusiastic
bite out of it and chewing dully. "Hey, little lady," the barkeep began, "What's wrong? You look
like someone just killed your pet bunny."
She snorted. "I wish," she replied. "Then maybe this day wouldn't suck so much."
"Well, why don't you tell me about it?" he offered. "I have a good ear."
Iffy sniffled. "Well…okay. I just found out that there's this wounded Mazoku living
here…"
The bartender's eyes went wide. "A Ma…Mazoku?" he asked fearfully.
She nodded. "Yeah…One of the worst ones!" she said in admiration, admiration that the
barkeep simply took as awe. "I mean, he used to blow up towns like this one all the time!" She
sighed and rested her head on the bar. "I know I have to do something hard. I have to find a way
to destroy him, but what can I do?" Other patrons were turning around and listening as she went on
with her sob story. "It's just too hard!" she cried into the bar. "Even as vulnerable as he is right
now, what can I do all alone?!"
"Excuse me, young lady," a man in wizard's robes sitting nearby began. "Did you say
there's a MAZOKU in town?" The rest of the crowded tavern was looking and listening on in
frightened awe. This was big news!
Iffy raised her head and nodded, wiping a tear away. "He's in the inn down the
street…recuperating." She sniffled. "Soon he'll be back to full strength, and then NOTHING will
be able to stop him! And then I'm…then I'm…" She sniffled and began crying in earnest.
"You poor dear!" one of the barmaids cried, hugging the female Mazoku to her chest.
"There there…I know you're scared…"
"Hell! I'm scared too!" another barmaid called out. "A Mazoku in our town?!"
"Well what are you gonna do about it, Sheriff?!" one of the wealthy vacationers asked of
the local constable, who quite frankly had no idea what to do.
"Well we have to do SOMETHING!" someone shouted. "We can't let some Mazoku just
run around free! What happens when he's back to full strength!?"
"He could destroy the entire town!" someone else agreed.
"Then we have to put an end to him NOW!" the wizard who first asked Iffy about the
Mazoku shouted. "Before he puts an end to US!"
"YEAH!" the cry went up from the brave drunkards and whinos in the tavern. As orderly
as an angry, drunken mob can be, they filed out of the tavern, leaving Iffy in the gentle hands of the
barmaid, who asked if she would like some ice cream.
"Y..Yes," Iffy sniffed.
Of course, she still had no idea how she was going to get a human to kill Xellos…but ice
cream was good too.
"I was fourteen when it happened." Leaning up against a boulder in the onsen behind the
inn, Naga listened as Greysword continued her story. "All I knew was that my brother left the
house to go play in the woods and that he didn't come back for dinner. Or the next day. Or the next
week, or the next year." The swordswoman's arms were folded over her chest as she spoke. "My
mother and I were left to fend for ourselves. We didn't really know what had happened. Only that
he had left us." She looked up at the sorceress, her face a mask of anger. "I hated him for that."
Naga said nothing.
"When I was older, I decided to find him. Beat the hell out of him for abandoning us like
that. Mom didn't want me to go, but I wasn't about to stay in that rat hole town and rot with the rest
of the trash. Mom might have liked it, but I hated it….I guess just as much as HE did. So I left. I
wanted to find my brother, look him in the eye, and hear him tell me why. Make him give me his
excuse face to face."
"Sad story, but I've heard much worse," Naga told her.
"The real story hasn't even begun," Greysword told her seriously. "During my search, I
heard rumors, stories that included my brother's name. That's when I met Scarrin."
Naga blinked. "Who?"
"A mage. A man who had known my brother before…Before they killed him."
"So…You want revenge," Naga said with a casual smile. "Hire a murderer. It's what they
do…"
"Would you just shut up and let me tell the story?" Greysword growled. Naga rolled her
eyes and bade her to continue. "If you must know, I'm NOT after revenge. My brother was killed
by a Mazoku." Naga arched an eyebrow at this. "No…not 'kill.' 'Kill' isn't the right word.
He…took…my brother. Took his body as his own, corrupted it…" She looked up at Naga.
"Right now there's a monster in Seyruun with my brother's face. And…" A flash of pain crossed
her face again. "And I know he's in there…Trapped in his own mind…in agony."
"How can you be sure…"
Scarrin knew a man who helped the Mazoku do this. "Rezo…The Red Priest. He used my
brother's body as a vessel for this Mazoku." She looked away. "I don't want revenge, Miss Naga,"
she said quietly. "I want to finally put my brother to rest. After years of hating him without
cause…I owe him that much."
"So why is he in Seyruun?" Naga asked.
"I have no idea," Greysword told her. "Mazoku shit. I don't know! But he's there, and I
need your help to get to him." Naga put a finger to her lip in thought. "I'm not asking for much
here," the swordswoman went on. "Just help me get inside, and I'll take care of the rest."
Over the woman's shoulder, a mob was gathering at the inn's entrance…
Filia opened the door to find Xellos being helped up and steadied by a concerned shadow.
Xellos was leaning on the staff Shadow Lina had brought him, trying to maintain his balance on
unsteady feet while the shadow bustled around trying to help.
"What's this?" Filia asked, entering the room.
"I was just giving Mister Xellos his new staff," Shadow Lina confessed.
"You know he was sleeping," Filia told her, her hands going to her hips in irritation.
"I wasn't really resting anyway, Filia chan," Xellos interjected. He looked at the staff in
his hand. It didn't really feel right. It was…heavy.
And the finishing wasn't quite right…
And…
And it really didn't matter. Nothings can't be choosers.
"Do you like it?" Shadow Lina asked, her eyes shining.
He didn't say anything. The shadow's face started to fall.
"He loves it!" Filia announced. "Don't you, Xellos?" she asked him with a hint of acid.
He was about to answer when there was a commotion from outside their room. The door
was suddenly kicked in, and several men with torches and makeshift weapons crowded the
doorway.
"We're looking for the Mazoku!" the lead one, who looked like a wizard, shouted.
Shadow Lina squealed as Xellos gave her a push forward. "That's her," he told the
crowd. "She was killing bunnies this morning!"
"Mister Xellos!" the shadow whined.
Filia growled. "Namagomi…"
"Give him over," the leader warned. "All we want is the Mazoku. The rest of you can
live."
Before Filia could come up with a retort, Xellos stepped forward and smiled. "My, my,
my," he said. "All this for little old me?"
"You're the Mazoku?"
"Xellos!" Filia cried.
"That's right," he said smugly. "You're lucky to catch me now. Another day or two and I
would have been all set to destroy your entire town."
"What the hell are you doing?!" Filia hissed at him.
He turned his head to her. "Going out with a bang, Filia chan," he said quietly. He turned
back to the crowd. "Well…Shall we?"
The crowd surged forward. None of them had ever really seen a Mazoku before, and
therefore none of them realized that if Xellos had wanted to, he could just as soon reduce them all
to mulch. Instead, he allowed them to grab him.
"Wait!" Filia shouted, pushing herself through the mob. "Let him go!"
"Stay out of this, lady!" one of the men ordered her.
"NO!" she screamed back at them in fury. "Is this how justice is done in Saldellia!? At
the hands of an angry mob without warrant or trial?! Where's the REAL law?!"
The mob was quiet for a second. Xellos arched an eyebrow. Filia folded her arms over
her chest in triumph. Her success was short lived, however, as someone pushed through the mob
towards them wearing a constable's uniform.
"I'm here! Did I miss the burn'n?!" the constable asked.
"GET HIM!" The crowd was moving again, dragging Xellos down the stairs and out the
door.
"Miss Dragon Lady! What do we do?!" Shadow Lina asked fearfully.
"Go get Miss Naga and my sister," Filia ordered as she started down the stairs after the
mob.
"Will you help me?" Greysword asked Naga a final time.
Naga smiled. "What was your brother's name?" she asked sympathetically.
"Ze…"
"MISS NAGA!" They both turned and found Shadow Lina, Jeffrey, and Amara running
towards them.
"Lina chan?!"
"Some angry mob with pitchforks and torches took Mister Xellos!" Shadow Lina
blubbered. "I don't think they like him very much!"
Naga looked up and saw her Side-Kick of Questionable Worth being herded down the road
in the hands of an angry, pitchfork wielding mob.
"Well I'll be damned," she remarked to herself. "They really ARE carrying pitchforks…I
thought they only did that in plays!"
"We have to do something!" Jeffrey cried.
Naga eyed Greysword. "Miss Greysword, child," she began, "I have decided that you will
be permitted to join my band of heroes!"
"Um…Excuse me?" Greysword asked.
"We'll be traveling to Seyruun next," Naga continued with a wink. "However, if you're
not interested, I'm sure there are other places we can go…"
The swordswoman sighed. "What do you want me to do?"
"Hmmm…How DID you get so much wood so fast?" Xellos asked politely as they tied
him to a stake in the middle of the town square. He was also standing on top of several logs, wet
with oil to make them burn faster and hotter.
The man tying him down smiled. "We burn lots of folks 'round here!" he explained.
Xellos nodded. He watched as another man dropped the staff Shadow Lina had given him
on top of the pile near his feet. He nodded. "It's better this way," he whispered. After all, if he
didn't come quietly or if he fought them, they might have chosen to turn this into a fight. Then Filia
might have been hurt…
"STOP THIS!"
He looked up and found that Filia had pushed her way forward and was standing between
him and the crowd. The Mazoku sighed. "Filia, go away."
She ignored him. "How can you be such cowards?!" she demanded. "He's no threat to
you!"
"He's a Mazoku!" one of the crowd shot back. "He deserves it!"
Xellos nodded. "Very true!" he told them. "I am a Mazoku, and I do deserve it. Blah
blah blah! Blah blah BLAH!"
Filia turned and growled at him. "You are making this VERY difficult!" she spat.
"Soonest begun, soonest done," he told her darkly. "They're not doing anything you
haven't wanted to do."
She growled and turned back to the crowd.
He sighed. Yes, it was best to end this here and now. A nothing was of no use to the
Mazoku. They had no place…
"He's a horrible creature!" a woman shouted.
Yes, that as true. He WAS horrible… Sweet Ruby Eye, he liked being horrible. It was
one of the best parts of the job…
But he couldn't do that job anymore…
"He's a murdering monster!" another cried.
He nodded. Murder, while open to interpretation, was still nothing more than killing for
jollies. He liked killing…
But nothings couldn't kill…
His thoughts turned inward as Filia continued to debate for his survival. Occasionally,
words like "murderer" and "monster" seeped though this reverie. He didn't care.
He was going to die. After a thousand years, he was going to die.
Perhaps then, he wouldn't be a nothing…
(You are failing me.)
He blinked and looked up. Standing between himself and Filia, who was still pleading his
case to the mob, was Lina Inverse…only…not so…
(You are failing me,) he heard again in his mind.
This Lina Inverse was not the shadow he traveled with, or the woman who had fought Dark
Star with him. This Lina Inverse's hair was not red, but gold, and she stared at him with an
emotionless mask.
(You are failing me.)
"Lord of Nightmares," he whispered.
"ENOUGH TALK! BURN HIM!" someone shouted.
"Stop it!" Filia screamed at them. She drew her mace and pointed it at them. "I will
not allow such a thing!" She looked up as someone pushed their way through the crowd towards
her. Seeing her distracted, the mob lunged forward at her, the two men closest to her raising clubs
over their heads. She eep'd in surprise and braced herself.
*THOCK! THOCK!*
The dragon opened her eyes again just in time to see the top halves the men's clubs hit the
ground. The two thugs blinked in shock, staring at their broken weapons with puzzled looks. The
crowd itself seemed to fall prey to this shock and stopped their advance.
Before Filia could open her mouth to ask what had happened, a woman with brown hair
and holding a katana casually at her hip stepped between her and the crowd.
"I wouldn't do that again," Stevanya Greysword told them with a mischievous smile.
"Stay out of it!" someone near the back of the crowd shouted at her.
Vanya drew a line in the dirt in front of her feet with the katana and looked up again.
"Anyone crossing this line is going to regret it." She smiled. "So which of you ridge-runners
wishes to feel regret first?"
The crowd seemed unsure of what to do. Filia stepped forward again, brandishing her
mace. Looking up, she could see Naga standing near the entrance of the inn, smiling and giving her
the victory sign. She growled.
"Figures…"
Turning she saw Xellos, still tied to the post, staring in shock in her direction, yet not at
her. Not at anything.
What was going on?
(You are failing me.)
"I know," Xellos whispered. "I have failed everything. Metallium, Shabranigdo, my
race…"
The Lord of Nightmares stared down at him. (Metallium is irrelevant. Shabranigdo is
irrelevant. You are failing ME.)
"I don't understand," he told her in awe.
Around them, he could still hear the shouts of the crowd.
"He has to be destroyed! He's a Mazoku!"
(You have a purpose.)
"Not any longer. I am no longer a Mazoku, no longer a vassal of Metallium."
(Metallium's purpose is irrelevant. You are a Mazoku. You serve MY purposes. Just as
the Shinzoku serve. Just as the humans serve. You are failing me.)
Xellos shook his head. "I don't understand."
(Mazoku do not exist to obey Shabranigdo. You exist to serve the purpose I have set for
you.)
"He doesn't serve the Mazoku anymore!" Filia was shouting in his defense. "He's free!"
"THEN HE'S A ROGUE! THAT JUST MAKES HIM WORSE!" someone screamed.
"What is my purpose?" he asked the Lord of Nightmares.
Her face was still expressionless. (Without hate, there cannot be love. Without death,
there cannot be life. Without terror…there can be no peace…)
Pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. As he had been dying, Hellmaster Phibrizzo
had screamed that they had been created to destroy the world. Dark Star and Volpheid had joined
together simply to stop the constant fighting between light and dark…and that had to be stopped as
well…even though the world would have been destroyed.
The Lord of Nightmares didn't create the Mazoku to destroy the world…
They were supposed to TRY to destroy it.
They were supposed to be destructive, because without destruction there could be no
creation.
They were supposed to kill, because without death there could be no hope for new life.
They were supposed to be feared…
Because fear kept people alive.
"He's a rogue!" someone shouted again. "A rogue monster answering to no one!"
Xellos smiled. "'Rogue Mazoku,'" he repeated. "I like the way that sounds…"
For the first time in a week, he opened his senses and felt the fear of the people around
him. The Lord of Nightmares disappeared from his sight, either she had been a weakness-induced
hallucination, or a message…
Actually, he really didn't care.
He smiled.
That's when the bonfire mound around him blew up.
Filia and Vanya were thrown forward by the blast and hit the ground hard. Turning onto
their backs, they saw a windstorm surrounding the pyre, pieces of oiled wood flew about in
circles. And in the center of this tornado…
Xellos floated.
His eyes glowed red, and his smile was that of a lynx that had cornered its prey, a smile
Filia had not seen on him in weeks. He reached out with his hand, and one piece of wood flew
straight to it. The red gem at the head of the staff Shadow Lina had created for him glowed
brightly.
The crowd took several steps back in fear of this new development.
Xellos smiled. "Oh! By all means, don't go yet!" He raised his staff over his head. The
gem flashed, and suddenly, the oil-soaked wood flying around him burst into flames. "I thought
you wanted to have a fire," he told them smiling. With a wave of his new staff, the flaming
timbers flew out in all directions, striking various homes and businesses.
The mob screamed and started running around in a panic, trying to put the flames out.
"XELLOS!" Filia cried out at him.
Watching from their place near the inn's entrance, Shadow Lina gulped. "I guess making
him a new staff wasn't such a hot idea, huh?" she asked.
"I don't know," Naga said thoughtfully. "He seems to like it."
A flaming board struck the roof of the inn, setting it aflame. The four of them cried out and
did what they could to put the fire out.
Xellos was in heaven. There was nothing more exhilarating than soaking up panic and
bald-faced fear. It was something that had to be drawn out over a period of time, and then, when it
gives way to numbness, you toss in more fear. He opened his glowing eyes and watched the
mundanes, as tiny as ants to him, scurry about in a desperate effort to save their town. Try to
destroy HIM, will they?!
This was why he was created. Serving Metallium had only set the parameters of how he
went about it. He served a higher purpose, and he knew it now. He was Mazoku! He destroyed.
He killed. He terrified.
Because the Lord of Nightmares NEEDED HIM to do it!
It had been a long time since he'd destroyed a town. He looked at his new staff and
smiled. Why not truly test its power? With a single mental command, he floated into the sky.
Filia watched as he rose upward.
"XELLOS!" She growled. "WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, NAMAGOMI,
YOU'RE DEAD!"
Vanya stood up next to her and blinked, watching the Mazoku rise higher and higher into the
sky. "Holy shit!" she commented.
Filia turned to her. "Miss, thank you for your help earlier, however, I have to see to
something. Excuse me, and please step back."
The swordswoman blinked. "Stand back?"
The dragon woman closed her eyes, her hands going to her chest. She let out a cry as
golden light was emitted from her transformation. Vanya cried out and jumped back as Filia turned
into a dragon.
Xellos floated directly above Saldellia and hummed his favorite tune, using his new staff
as a conductor's wand, directing the tiny mundanes below him to new fires as they tried to douse
their town.
"Now let's see," he said to himself. He pointed his staff down at a restaurant. "This
looks like a good place to start. The gem in the staff glowed as it charged with dark energy. He
hummed for a moment, then, as the tune reached a crescendo, he released the energy.
The restaurant below erupted in a black fireball.
Iffy stepped out of the tavern and patted her stomach. She loved ice cream…well…as
much as a Mazoku can love ANYTHING. The female Mazoku blinked as she looked around.
Funny…the town wasn't on fire a minute ago…
She blinked as the restaurant she had just walked out of was struck by a dark blast and
exploded behind her. Turning, she saw the damaged and eep'd in surprise. Looking up, she saw
the source of the destruction.
Xellos….Xellos was pointing his staff in her direction…
"OH, CRAP!!" Iffy cried. She fumbled with her own staff for a minute. "HE'S ONTO
ME!!" Striking the ground with the semi-circular head, a black portal opened up below her.
"LORD GOD GENERAL PRIEST JINNAR!!" she wailed as she jumped in, panicking.
The portal closed behind her.
So many targets to choose from. So many ways to inflict pain and terror. He couldn't
decide which one to destroy next. The bakery? No. The whole town would smell like cookies for
a week…
The nursery school?
Nah, it was closed for the weekend…
Oooh! Oooh! The park! Everyone loves the park! You can't go wrong with blowing up
the park!
Drunk on his misery high, Xellos pointed his staff at the park…
Only to find it already burning.
"Oh, bother," he muttered. "I guess I'll do it randomly." He pointed his staff downward
and began moving it over different buildings as he chanted. "Eenie, meenie, miney, mail! Catch a
dragon by her tail! If she hollers, let her wail! Eenie meenie miney mail!" His staff stopped over
the local pet shop. "Gotta start somewhere." Energy began to collect in the staff's gem.
A flash of gold appeared before his eyes, and suddenly, a golden dragon was floating in the
air in front of him. He recognized the pink bow and shivered. With the return of his confidence,
his Peak had resumed in full force…moreso even, considering the high he was on right now.
"Xellos!" Filia cried. "Stop this!" Before she could react, Xellos had disappeared and
reappeared next to her head, wrapping an arm around her neck. He pointed his staff down at the
ground again.
"Look at it, Filia chan!" he said in glee. "So much power and energy! So much emotion!
Pain! Fear! Blood pumping at an incredible rate! The fire! The smoke! The terror!" He leaned
close to her ear and kissed her golden scales. "I am SO turned on right now…"
Filia squealed and flung him aside with a fling of her neck. "NAMAGOMI!! You can't
just destroy an entire town!"
He blinked. "Sure I can," he said. "You just have to use fire spells with the wood
buildings first, then use your high explosive stuff on the brick buildings…"
The Mazoku ducked as her golden tail whipped out of nowhere and nearly struck his head.
"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEAN!!" she screamed. "IT'S WRONG! It's…It's…" She growled.
"It's BAD!"
Xellos shrugged. "Good. Bad. I'm the guy with the staff…" Filia looked angry enough to
devour him. A part of him wished she would. "Come on, Filia chan!" he cried, holding his hand
out to her. "It can be something we do together! Quality time! Call it our first date!"
"Xellos," she began more calmly, "Stop this. Now."
The Mazoku grinned. "Or what? They would've killed me if they could."
"They were scared of you!"
"And now they have a more concrete reason to be so." He pointed his staff downwards
again.
Filia paused. How could she possibly stop him? She wasn't stupid; she knew she couldn't
kill him even if she wanted to.
She blinked as something her sister said came back to her.
("You're his mate, so you DO have some power over him, Filia...")
The dragon swallowed nervously and came up with an idea. Flapping her dragon wings,
she dived and hovered between Xellos and the town.
"Xellos," she began sweetly. "Do you remember our bet? You said that if I lost, I'd have
to kill you. Remember?"
"Yes," he drawled out suspiciously.
"Well…I won…" Filia smiled, some three hundred white dragon teeth glowing at him.
"Hmmm…"
She decided to turn up the heat and began to flick her tail from side to side. The Mazoku's
eyes watched as the pink ribbon on the end of her golden tail swayed hypnotically from side to
side.
"So…you see," she went on as he watched her tail. "I won…and that means I get a
reward. We just never discussed it." She smiled brightly.
Xellos, meanwhile, was still enthralled in the smooth swaying of his mate's tail…
"So…Xellos," she continued. "As my reward…could please, please, pretty please…NOT
destroy this town?"
His purple eyes swayed from left to right in time with the ribbon….
"Whatever you say, Filia chan," he said as if in a trance.
She smiled again. "Thank you, Xellos. Now why don't we go back down there and find
the others…before they burn to death?"
"Whatever you say, Filia chan…"
Filia beamed. Perhaps there was something to this Peak thing, after all…
"Stop shoving!" Naga complained as she nudged the shadow with her elbow.
"Shhh!" the others warned.
The Flaming Heroes remained very quiet as the small cart they were hiding in continued on
its way out of Saldellia. It was decided that the best way for the group to leave would be in secret
and had managed to bribe a merchant to take them in his wagon.
And that's how the Flaming Heroes found themselves hiding under a blanket, huddled
together in a rickety cart, fearing that they would be discovered and made to pay for the damage
inflicted on the town.
"This is YOUR fault, Namagomi," Filia's irate voice came from under the blanket. "AND
GET YOUR HAND OFF MY TAIL!!!"
"SHHHH!!!"
"Now, Filia chan," Xellos replied. "I would think you'd be happy that I was back to some
semblance of my old self." He broke off a second later. "Filia chan….is that your tail in my lap?
How lewd!"
"Oops! Sorry, Lord Xellos!" Amara's voice came from the other side of Xellos' voice
under the blanket.
"Amara!" Filia cried.
"I said I was sorry!"
"Jealous?" Xellos asked.
"Hmmph!"
"Um…Miss Naga?" Jeffrey's voice asked. "With all the hurry, I never got a chance to
ask…Who's this woman?"
"Guys, this is Vanya Greysword. The newest member of our band of unbeatable heroes!
OOOOHO…"
"SHHHH!!!"
"oooohohohohohoho…" Naga replied more softly than before.
"Hi," Vanya said from her side of the blanket.
"Hey," everyone else's voices came back.
"So…Where to now?" Shadow Lina asked.
"My friends…" Naga told them theatrically from under the blanket. "We're off to
Seyruun!"
"YOU LAZY, GOOD-FOR-NOTHING IDIOT!!" Jinnar screamed. Iffy sat dejectedly on
her knees before him, staring at the ground. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU HAD A CHANCE TO
DESTROY XELLOS, AND YOU LET IT SLIP THROUGH YOUR FINGERS!!! WHAT'S THE
MATTER WITH YOU?! CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT!!"
(It's not my fault,) Iffy thought to herself. (By the time I realized what was happening,
Xellos was already at full strength. There was nothing I could do. But does HE realize that? Oh
NOOOOOOO!)
"ARE YOU EVEN PAYING ATTENTION TO ME?!"
"Oh, bite me," Iffy muttered under her breath.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!"
Iffy sighed. "Scold!"
Jinnar continued to scream at his hapless assistant as the sun set over Wolfpack Island…
To Be Continued…
GREYSWORD: My hunt for the Mazoku that took my brother has lead me a lot of places. Scarrin
has promised his help, but I am wary. Now, I find I must depend on yet another stranger…If she'll
agree to help…
Faces: After!
Part 19
Recuperation!
The Fire of Xellos Rekindled!
Filia flew faster and faster as another twenty dragons flying next to her rammed straight
into the bolts of dark energy and disappeared in red clouds of blood. Blue streams of laser breath
flew from the mouths of the remaining dragons, nearly five hundred in number. The blue bolts all
fell on one spot below and before them. Filia added her own fire to the flame. Energy crackled as
the beams hit their mark, throwing up a cloud of stone debris.
For a few moments, it seemed that they had won.
Then, a straight, black line shot from the debris cloud and swung towards them. Filia cried
out in fear as another hundred golden dragons fell, cut down by the beam.
This wasn't war anymore!
This wasn't a battle!
It was a slaughter!
It was MURDER!
For a moment, she lost herself in a cloud of burning blood. When the red smoke finally
cleared…
She was alone.
All alone in the blue sky.
She looked down and saw other dragons still falling to the ground thousands of feet below.
All alone.
The debris cloud surrounding the target was dispersing now.
"Am I a bad person…"
She gasped and looked down as the final bits of smoke were blown away by the wind. A
lone figure stood there, staff in hand, purple hair wafting in the breeze.
Xellos looked up at her and finished his question. "Am I a bad person…Filia chan?"
Her eyes snapped open. Another dream. She had been having many such dreams over the
past week. Dreams about Xellos.
Stretching, she yawned and turned in her chair towards Xellos' bed.
Only to find him gone.
She blinked and stood up. For an entire week, he hadn't moved more than an inch, or said
more than a few words. Now he was GONE?!
Could he really have been faking all this time and actually had the power to dematerialize
whenever he wanted?!
That's when she noticed it.
The door was open.
She stepped out into the hallway and heard something. Someone was panting. Turning
towards the sound, she saw him leaning against the wall and using it as a crutch as he tried to walk
down the hall and towards the stairs.
"Xellos!" The dragon rushed forward and took his arm. "What are you doing?!" she
cried. "You should be in bed!"
He surprised her by roughly pulling his arm from her hand. She blinked in shock. Only a
few days ago he was clutching at her hand and moaning her name in his sleep.
"I…Don't need….Your help!" he gasped out tiredly, taking another step. "I'm…not
some…invalid….For you to…pity!" He took another step.
"Don't be stupid!" Filia growled at him. "You're not doing yourself any good by
staggering down the hall like a whino!"
"I am…a Mazoku!" Xellos gasped out, taking another painful step as he leaned against the
wall. "The world…is…mine to…destroy…Its people…" He closed his eyes in pain and took a
breath. "…mine…to torment…I am…I am…" He gave up and collapsed on the hard wood floor.
"Xellos!" Filia cried, kneeling next to him.
"Nothing," he finished in a choked whisper. "Nothing at all…"
"Oh, knock it off," Filia grumbled, taking him by the arm and helping him to his feet. She
placed his arm around her shoulder and supported his weight as she started to lead him back
towards his room. "Now this time stay in bed!" she ordered.
They entered the bedroom, and the dragon unceremoniously deposited Xellos on his bed.
Pulling the blanket up around this neck, she tucked him in like she would a child. The Mazoku
continued to stare up at the ceiling.
She stood up and took a step back, looking down at him sympathetically. "Xellos….I
know it must be hard…I'm alone too, remember? But…you can't just…give up."
He didn't answer.
"Xellos," she tried again, biting her lip in thought. "There's still hope. Maybe Metallium
will take you back…"
Nothing.
"Well…Surely there's SOMETHING you can do…Right?"
Silence.
Filia growled and walked back to him, grabbing him by the front of his cloak and pulling
him to a sitting position. "Don't just lie there and ignore ME, Namagomi!" she shouted. She
shook him a bit, growling. Her tail popped out from under her dress and flicked from side to side
angrily.
She slapped him.
Nothing.
Growling, she threw him back into the bed and turned away from him. "How could I
EVER have respected you even for a second?" she growled. She faced the door, put her arms
over her chest, and huffed. An idea came to her, and she smiled. "But then again," she said, "I
guess that's what I should've expected from a MAZOKU. It gets a little hard, and they fold like
cards."
She could hear a slight bit of movement from the bed.
"Yes," she continued. "Once again, I've proven how superior we Ryuuzoku are. After all,
when I left my clan, I didn't just turn myself off and cry and moan about it. I showed the Elder
what I was capable of on my own. I guess Mazoku are just too cowardly to even attempt acting
without permission from their overlords!"
A little more movement. Maybe she was getting to him.
"Mazoku sure are tough when they have their dark lords looking over their shoulder. But
when the chips are down and they have to make a CHOICE on their own, they're nothing more than
children crying for their mo…" She broke off as she felt cold breath on the back of her neck. She
turned and found him standing only an inch from her, a scowl on his face. She hadn't expected him
to actually pull himself from bed.
"All right," he whispered out painfully. "If you're such a…damn expert…Teach me…"
"T…Teach you?" she asked.
"You have all the answers," he gasped out. "Tell me…Tell me how I do it…"
She smirked. "That…is a secret."
He actually chuckled. Looking at her, he shook his head. "You really don't know," he told
her. "You just think you do."
"I know you're being a baby about all this!" she cried. He was turning away from her.
"Fine! You want me to prove it!? You'll have my help! Is that what you want to hear?!"
"No," he whispered. "This isn't an…arrangement…It's a bet."
"A…bet?"
He turned back to her and nodded. "If you really know how I'm supposed to exist as a
nothing and teach it to me, you win."
"And if I don't?" She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. Here it was. The part
where he tells her if she doesn't, she has to sleep with him. Even as an invalid he was playing the
game.
"If you can't," he said with effort, "Then you kill me."
General Priest Jinnar placed his teacup down and smiled unctuously at his lunch
companion. "Now isn't this nice?!" he asked, his arms spread wide. "I had no idea that senior
officers got such nice lunch accommodations!"
Sitting on the table across from him, Callisto licked the blood from his lunch off his paw.
"Yes," he agreed without enthusiasm. "A pointless exercise since we don't require physical
food…"
"Oh, I don't believe so!" Jinnar objected. "After all, it allows us a chance to speak
outside of an…official…venue."
"Yes, I'm sure it does," Callisto said, wishing he were somewhere else.
Jinnar smiled. "You know," he began, "I do wonder whatever became of old Xellos."
Callisto looked up from his paw, and his eyes narrowed. "And what concern of it is
yours?" the cat asked. "You're the new General Priest."
"Oh, it's just out of curiosity," Jinnar told him with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I
guess I'm just feeling nostalgic!"
"Why?" Callisto asked with an arched eyebrow. "As I recall, he passed you over as a
potential student."
The General Priest's eye twitched. "Yes…" he said darkly.
"Then he recommended to your instructor that you be given remedial instruction in the art
of subtlety."
The vein in Jinnar's head began pulsing.
"And then he DID see to it that you and he would NEVER be placed on the same
assignment because the thought of working with such an unpredictable, rank amateur Mazoku such
as yourself, galled him to the extent that…"
"I GET IT!!" Jinnar exploded, jumping to his feet.
The cat didn't bat an eye. "So why should YOU of all Mazoku feel nostalgic?"
Jinnar smiled. "I heard he died. I just want to hear it from someone else."
Callisto looked him in the eye, glaring for several seconds. "He's dead."
"There! See?!" the new General Priest cried, his arms wide. "That's all I wanted to
know!"
"So now you know," Callisto said with just a touch of ice. "Now if you'll excuse me…"
The cat nimbly hopped down off the table. "Her Majesty asked me to prepare the situation reports
for the Xoana operations."
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Jinnar asked smugly.
Callisto stopped and sighed. Turning, he dipped his head to Jinnar. "By your leave, Lord
General." Without waiting for a reply, he turned and disappeared.
Jinnar's smile widened into a grin. "BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" He stifled his laugh
and turned. "IFFY!………..IFFY!!!"
In a flash of dark light, the female Mazoku appeared before him. She was holding a street
map of Seyruun….upside down…and trying desperately to make sense of it. The staff Jinnar had
given her as a badge of her fealty was held precariously in the crook of her arm.
"Now….I know I passed Ninth Street," she said to herself, too involved in the map to
realize she was in Jinnar's presence. "And I KNOW I haven't gone past Seventh Street yet….So
that leaves me on…..EIGHTH STREET!!!" She looked up from the map and at her surroundings.
Her face fell. "But this isn't Eighth Street either!"
"IFFY!"
"HUH?!" She turned and blinked. "Lord God General Priest Jinnar, Sir!" she cried. She
blinked in puzzlement. "What are you doing in Seyruun?"
Jinnar rubbed his temples. "Iffy…Try to stay with me on this…You're not in Seyruun right
now. You're back here."
She blinked. "Sure!"
Jinnar growled, but a second later, smiled. "I just confirmed that our dear Lord Xellos is
alive and well."
"You did?"
Jinnar nodded. "Callisto told me. As a Mazoku who's made himself an expert on lying, I
can recognize one instantly. Xellos is alive. I want him….not so."
"Not so what?"
Jinnar tried to contain his absolute rage. "I want….Xellos….XELLOS…." Iffy nodded in
understanding and bade him to continue. "X-E-L-L-O-S…" Jinnar continued. "Dead. Deceased.
Gone." He took Iffy by the shoulders. "Do you understand?"
"Oh, yeah! Sure!"
"Good. Then you can handle it."
She blinked again. "But…What about that whole Seyruun thing?"
"You can't do both?! What kind of assistant are you?!"
Iffy sighed in resignation. "Yes, Lord God General Priest Jinnar Sir…"
"Good! Now get going!"
With that, Jinnar disappeared.
Iffy sighed again. "Such is the life of a Lord God General Priest's Assistant, Second
Class, Limited…"
"Lina chan? What are you doing?" Naga asked as she leaned over her sidekick's shoulder
to see what the petite redhead was so enthralled in. Sitting on the table in front of her was a six
foot long oak staff, a red crystal about the size of her fist with a sizable crack in it, a bunch of
other, smaller crystals, and a hammer.
The redhead picked up the hammer and crushed one of the smaller crystals into powder
with it before turning to her boss and smiling. "I'm making Mister Xellos a new staff."
Naga blinked. "Oh?"
Shadow Lina smiled and nodded. "I figured that since his old one broke, he would need a
new one. So I found a branch from that tree Miss Dragon Lady decapitated and asked Lord Jeffrey
to shave it for me. Then I found this old, broken crystal at the magic shop down the street. Now
I'm preparing these other crystals to be fused with it."
The White Serpent nodded along with each step.
"I want it to be a surprised," the redhead continued. "So don't tell him, okay?"
Naga smiled. "Of course I won't. But you know, Lina chan, this staff won't be anything
like his old one. Don't be offended if he doesn't want it."
"Oh! I'm not worried about that!" Shadow Lina said confidently. "I'm packing this staff
with some of the most powerful magical crystals I have as well as any other strong magical things I
can get my hands on! By the time it's done, it'll be twice as powerful as his old staff!"
Visions of Xellos floating above whatever city Lina Inverse happened to be staying in and
using his staff to shoot giant fireballs down into it danced in Naga's brain.
"OOOOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!"
Shadow Lina blinked at the laughter. "Um…Did I say something funny, Miss Naga?"
"Not at all, Lina chan!" Naga cried. "As a matter of fact, let me help you make that staff
just as strong as it can be!"
The shadow's eyes lit up. "You want to contribute something, Miss Naga?! That's
wonderful!"
Naga nodded and removed the Claire Bible manuscript from her satchel. Opening it, she
tore out the first page and handed it to the redhead. "A page from a Claire Bible fused with the
crystal would surely help."
"Thank you, Miss Naga!" Shadow Lina cried. She took the page and turned back to her
work.
The sorceress smiled. "OOOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!
OOOOOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!"
"HAAAAAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAA!!!!
HAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!!!" Jinnar laughed. "Excellent work, my cronies!" The two
cronies in question, low-level Mazoku scouts, arched an eyebrow at being referred to as,
"cronies." Bowing quickly, they left the room as fast as they could. Jinnar cleared his throat and
called out. "IFFY!! IFFY!!"
Once again, the female Mazoku appeared, map still in hand, still upside down. "So all I
have to do is walk straight up this street and I'll be there!" she exclaimed happily. Looking up,
her face fell. "Hey! Wait a minute! There's supposed to be a street here!"
"IFFY!"
The younger Mazoku cringed and turned. "Oh! Lord God General Priest Jinnar, Sir!" She
snapped to attention and saluted smartly, trying to keep a hold of both her staff and her map.
"My scouts have just located Xellos," Jinnar said smugly. "He's in Saldellia."
"I guess he's on vacation!" Iffy commented. She laughed nervously.
Jinnar's eyes narrowed.
Iffy stopped smiling. "Sorry…"
"Enough jokes! Just go to Saldellia and destroy Xellos!"
"Um…Lord God General Priest, Sir, Jinnar, Sir?" Iffy began nervously. "I was just
thinking about something…"
"I'm breathless in shock," Jinnar noted dryly.
"Yeah, anyway, I was just thinking…Does Her Majesty know we're…you know…hunting
Lord Xellos down like a dog and gutting him like a pig? Because I think she might be a little mad
if we did that without her permission and…"
"SILENCE! IDIOT! DON'T YOU THINK I'VE ALREADY ACCOUNTED FOR
THAT?!"
"I'm sorry!" Iffy cringed.
"Hmmm…" Jinnar commented, rubbing his chin in thought. "On the other hand, as unlikely
as it is, you could be right. You'll have to just kill Xellos without Her Majesty finding out!"
"But how am I supposed to do that?!" Iffy cried in panic, clutching her staff as if it could
protect her from Jinnar's order.
"IDIOT! HE'S VULNERABLE NOW!" Jinnar took a breath and laughed.
"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh, I just had the most delicious idea!"
"Are we having lunch, Sir?!" Iffy asked, visibly brightening.
"NO, WE ARE NOT HAVING LUNCH!" he screamed in reply.
"Sorry…"
"If the scouts are correct, then that means that Xellos is so weak, so vulnerable, that even
humans could destroy him!" He laughed again. "Imagine! Humans! Destroying the great Xellos!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
"Yeah, that would be pretty cool, Sir!" Iffy agreed, nodding.
"SO MAKE IT HAPPEN!" Jinnar ordered.
Iffly flinched away. Recovering, she saluted smartly. "Roger dodger, over and out, Sir!"
With that, she floated about a foot off the ground and flew down the corridor towards the exit.
As she flew, she sighed. "This new job sucks," she complained. "How am I supposed to
get a human to kill Lord Xellos?"
Sighing again, she disappeared.
"You could…be an advisor!" Filia tried as she poured another cup of tea.
"Advise who?" Xellos asked, taking a sip from his own cup as he sat up in bed.
"Well, think about it," Filia urged him. "The Mazoku are a very real threat to the world.
You could advise kings and nations on ways to undermine them."
Xellos' eyes narrowed. "You mean turn traitor," he whispered.
The dragon held up a hand. "Who betrayed who first?" she asked. "You don't owe them
anything!"
"I owe Her Majesty everything," he said darkly. "She gave me life."
Filia sighed and took a sip of tea. So far, this wasn't going well. Thinking back on it, she
had been lucky. She had given up the Fire Dragon Temple, the only life she had ever known, but
right afterward, she had taken on the task of raising little Val. She had gone from serving one
higher purpose to the next in only a few day's time. She hadn't had to endure the feeling of being
lost. That's what Xellos was feeling now. He felt he had no purpose in life. Filia had spent the
last several hours convincing him that there were other purposes out there for him.
"Well there has to be SOMETHING!" she cried impatiently. "I mean, what's keeping you
here at all!?"
Xellos looked over at her, his face serious. "You are."
She blinked at him. "I am?"
"You still don't understand, do you?" he asked quietly.
Filia looked at him and swallowed back realization. "Xellos…why EXACTLY were you
expelled?"
He smiled. "That is…"
"The truth," she whispered, begging. "Just this once."
The Mazoku regarded her for a moment, then looked out the window, placing his teacup on
the saucer it came on. "Violation of the Ruby Eye's first law," he told her. "Disobeying a direct
order from my overlord."
She took a breath. "And that order was…"
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with," he told her dully.
"That night in my room," she concluded quietly. "That wasn't your idea, was it?"
"Filia chan," he began.
"She ordered you to rape me, didn't she?!" Filia was livid. She blinked in shock. "And
when you didn't…she threw you out."
Xellos said nothing.
"You…disobeyed Metallium…for me?" Filia asked quietly.
The Mazoku snorted. "Hardly." Filia's eyebrow twitched as a result. "You have to
understand how things work for a Mazoku, Filia chan," he continued. "To be perfectly honest, I
didn't realize I was disobeying her until she told me point blank that I had."
"Wait," she said. "I don't get this."
He sighed and continued to look out the window. "A Mazoku can no more disobey their
overlord than sing one of Miss Amelia's justice ballads. It's…alien…to us. A Mazoku CANNOT
disobey their overlord. But…" he went on with an upraised finger. "HOW we carry out the
orders issued to us is somewhat open to…interpretation."
Filia only blinked again.
"I fully intended to take you by force, Filia chan," Xellos admitted. "I just…couldn't
bring myself to do it THEN." He chuckled to himself. "I guess after so many years of
'interpreting' my orders however I pleased…Her Majesty got tired of it."
"I…I see."
"It's just as well," he whispered. "It wasn't an order I was in any particular hurry to carry
out." He rolled over onto his side, facing away from Filia. "I'm going to sleep now," he said
simply.
Filia stood up and walked silently out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.
Looking up, she saw Amara standing nearby.
"He's sleeping," Filia said simply and started for the stairs. Amara fell into step beside
her. "I don't know what to do with him," Filia confessed. "He doesn't want to keep going, yet he
does anyway. It's like he's looking for a reason to die more than he's looking for one to live."
"It's not a reason he's looking for, Filia," Amara told her. "It's your permission."
Filia turned to the other blonde and blinked. "What do you mean?"
Amara tried to find a way to word it. "I meant what I said about the female's life
superceding the male's," she explained. "I…told him that you didn't want him to die." She looked
sheepish. "So…now he can't unless you tell him it's okay…You're his mate, so you DO have
some power over him, Filia."
"Gee, thanks," the dragon growled.
"Filia! This is serious!" the older Ryuuzoku cried. "Right now he's at his most
vulnerable! He's LOOKING for an excuse to die! You can't give him one!"
"Alright! Alright!" Filia cried. "I get it."
"Good!" Amara told her. She started down the steps again. "Because as his mate it's
YOUR responsibility!"
Filia growled and started down the steps after her. "I am NOT his mate!" she cried
angrily.
"Finished!" Shadow Lina announced, holding the staff aloft.
Standing nearby, Jeffrey and Naga applauded. The staff in the redhead's hand was taller
than she was. The ruby she had repaired with her magic and infused with several other crystals
along with Naga's Claire Bible page sat on top of the staff, sparkling in the light. The wood was
polished smooth and varnished, making it look a little older than it actually was.
"I'm going to go give it to him now, okay?" she asked excitedly, rushing towards the steps.
Before she could make it there, however, she ran into Filia and Amara. "Excuse me, Miss Dragon
Ladies!" she cried. "I'm going to give Mister Xellos his new staff!"
"He's sleeping right now, Miss Lina," Amara told her with a slight smile. "Why don't you
wait until later, okay?"
"Oh…Okay." Dejected, the petite sorceress started back for her table.
Naga was waving a waiter over for a lunch menu when she noticed someone enter the inn.
She looked vaguely familiar, but couldn't put her finger on why. The White Serpent probably
would have just shrugged it off if the woman had not made a beeline straight towards her and
stopped at their table.
The brown-haired woman stood next to Naga's chair, looking over the sorceress with her
sapphire eyes. Naga made it a point to ignore her. Finally, the woman spoke.
"I've heard that you're a sorceress for hire," Greysword told the White Serpent.
"Mercenaries."
"We have been known to do charity work," Naga informed her haughtily. She looked up
and grinned at the swordswoman. "Care to make a donation?"
Greysword sat down at the table across from her and got down to business.
Shadow Lina sighed. Miss Naga was wheeling and dealing, and Lord Jeffrey was out
shopping for a new set of armor. The dragons were having tea over in the corner, and in a word,
she was bored. The staff she had made for Mister Xellos was sitting on the table in front of her,
looking at her like an unopened birthday gift.
Beckoning to her.
("Give me to Mister Xellos,") it seemed to say in her mind. ("I'll cheer him up right quick,
Miss Lina! Just give me a chance, and that poor old Mister Xellos will being doing cartwheels in
no time!")
The shadow looked from side to side, then whispered. "But he's sleeping," she told the
staff.
("Aw, shucks, Miss Lina!") the staff continued. ("If he knew he had a brand spanking new
staff waiting for him, he wouldn't be sleeping! No, Ma'am! Uh uh! No way!")
Shadow Lina thought about this for several seconds. What was more important?
Happiness or sleep?
("HAPPINESS! HAPPINESS! HAPPINESS!") the staff yelled to her.
The shadow looked from side to side again. Finally, she picked up the staff and started for
the stairs.
"Sounds ambitious," Naga commented. "Breaking into Seyruun is a difficult task, even for
someone such as myself, who happens to know the palace." She looked up at Greysword. "No."
The swordswoman's eyes narrowed. A second later, they softened again, and she sighed.
"Miss Naga…You don't understand how important this is to me."
"And you don't understand one thing about me," Naga told her. "I don't go to
Seyruun…EVER." She stood up. "I'm sorry that you've wasted your time." She turned to go, but
a hand snagged her wrist. Turning, she found Greysword had stood up and grabbed her.
"Miss Naga," the woman began. "I understand if you're reluctant given the odds…"
Naga grinned. "The odds? Never tell me the odds, child. I have my own reasons."
"But," Greysword continued, "This…means a lot to me." For a flash of a few seconds,
pain crossed the woman's face only to replaced right afterwards with a hard mask again.
Naga was silent for a moment. "Let's go for a walk."
Xellos' eyes were closed, but he wasn't sleeping. Nothings didn't sleep. They existed as
nothings.
How the mighty had fallen. A week ago the mere whisper of his name would have sent
dragons, humans, elves, and even other Mazoku fleeing in terror. The rumor of his approach
caused entire cities to evacuate and seek shelter. It had gotten to the point where he had to stop
introducing himself as a Mazoku just so he could get some work done.
Now he'd never have that problem again.
Nothings weren't feared.
They were laughed at.
Despised.
Nothing could respect a nothing.
Especially not dragons.
He sighed and continued to pretend he was sleeping. That's when he felt it. There was
someone next to his bed. He rolled over and looked up.
Lina Inverse stood there. The only woman to ever earn the respect of the Overlords of
Shabranigdo. She who called down the power of the Lord of Nightmares on a whim. She never
knew just how much respect she had among the Mazoku, and Xellos had been sure to never
mention it lest she get ideas. Somehow, though, he always thought she knew.
Was he dreaming?
Did nothings dream?
She held out a long, wooden staff and spoke. "Mister Xellos…"
He recognized the shy voice of the shadow and blinked.
"I…I made you a new staff," she told him. "I know it's probably not as good as your old
one…but…well…I made it myself…and Jeffrey and Miss Naga helped…And…"
She broke off as Xellos sat up in bed and regarded the staff closely. There was definitely
an astral essence there. She hadn't just bought it off the street or broke a branch off a tree. He
looked up at her. "Why?" he asked.
"Well," the shadow said, blushing a little and turning away. "Remember when Miss
Josephine was harassing me, and you taught me how to stand up to her?" Xellos nodded.
"Well…if you hadn't done that, I might never had gotten to be with Lord Jeffrey." Xellos only
blinked. "So…I guess…this is a way to say…thank you."
The Mazoku continued to stare at the staff, not quite sure what to make of it.
"You hate it, don't you?" Shadow Lina asked dejectedly. "I'm sorry. I'll go throw it in the
fire or something." She turned to go.
"Just a second, Lina chan," Xellos stopped her. She turned and blinked at the grin on his
face. "It's customary to test drive before one makes a final decision…"
Peering in through the window, Iffy suddenly eep'd and flew out of view. She floated
there, out of sight of the former Mazoku general and his guest. Clutching her staff, she began to
fret.
"The DRAGON SPOOKER is with him?! This is worse than I thought!" She sighed and
hung her head. "Lord God General Priest Jinnar is going to be SO angry… But what am I
supposed to do? The Dragon Spooker defeated Lord Hellmaster Phibrizzo, and Lord Gaav, and
Lord ValGaav, and the Great Ruby Eye…." She sighed. "It's hopeless…so hopeless…"
She floated down to the ground and started walking, her steel staff dragging in the dirt
behind her as she morosely marched away from her mission. It wasn't her fault. It was the
DRAGON SPOOKER, for Ruby Eye's sake! But you could bet that Lord God General Priest
Jinnar Sir wasn't going to be satisfied with that! Oh no! Lord God General Priest Jinnar Sir was
going to throw a temper tantrum…then liquidate her.
"This sucks," she sniffed. Without realizing it she walked into a tavern. Blinking at the
noise and lack of light, she shrugged and made her way to the bar. "If I'm going to be liquidated, I
might as well have something to eat before I go…" she commented morosely.
"Hi there, little lady," the man behind the counter greeted her as she sat down. "What can I
get you?"
"Something bloody," Iffy sniffed. "Preferably killed today and in the most agonizing way
possible."
The barkeep blinked, looked around, then put a jar of pickled pig's feet on the bar. "That'll
be a goldpiece each," she told her. Iffy paid and took one of the pig's feet, taking an unenthusiastic
bite out of it and chewing dully. "Hey, little lady," the barkeep began, "What's wrong? You look
like someone just killed your pet bunny."
She snorted. "I wish," she replied. "Then maybe this day wouldn't suck so much."
"Well, why don't you tell me about it?" he offered. "I have a good ear."
Iffy sniffled. "Well…okay. I just found out that there's this wounded Mazoku living
here…"
The bartender's eyes went wide. "A Ma…Mazoku?" he asked fearfully.
She nodded. "Yeah…One of the worst ones!" she said in admiration, admiration that the
barkeep simply took as awe. "I mean, he used to blow up towns like this one all the time!" She
sighed and rested her head on the bar. "I know I have to do something hard. I have to find a way
to destroy him, but what can I do?" Other patrons were turning around and listening as she went on
with her sob story. "It's just too hard!" she cried into the bar. "Even as vulnerable as he is right
now, what can I do all alone?!"
"Excuse me, young lady," a man in wizard's robes sitting nearby began. "Did you say
there's a MAZOKU in town?" The rest of the crowded tavern was looking and listening on in
frightened awe. This was big news!
Iffy raised her head and nodded, wiping a tear away. "He's in the inn down the
street…recuperating." She sniffled. "Soon he'll be back to full strength, and then NOTHING will
be able to stop him! And then I'm…then I'm…" She sniffled and began crying in earnest.
"You poor dear!" one of the barmaids cried, hugging the female Mazoku to her chest.
"There there…I know you're scared…"
"Hell! I'm scared too!" another barmaid called out. "A Mazoku in our town?!"
"Well what are you gonna do about it, Sheriff?!" one of the wealthy vacationers asked of
the local constable, who quite frankly had no idea what to do.
"Well we have to do SOMETHING!" someone shouted. "We can't let some Mazoku just
run around free! What happens when he's back to full strength!?"
"He could destroy the entire town!" someone else agreed.
"Then we have to put an end to him NOW!" the wizard who first asked Iffy about the
Mazoku shouted. "Before he puts an end to US!"
"YEAH!" the cry went up from the brave drunkards and whinos in the tavern. As orderly
as an angry, drunken mob can be, they filed out of the tavern, leaving Iffy in the gentle hands of the
barmaid, who asked if she would like some ice cream.
"Y..Yes," Iffy sniffed.
Of course, she still had no idea how she was going to get a human to kill Xellos…but ice
cream was good too.
"I was fourteen when it happened." Leaning up against a boulder in the onsen behind the
inn, Naga listened as Greysword continued her story. "All I knew was that my brother left the
house to go play in the woods and that he didn't come back for dinner. Or the next day. Or the next
week, or the next year." The swordswoman's arms were folded over her chest as she spoke. "My
mother and I were left to fend for ourselves. We didn't really know what had happened. Only that
he had left us." She looked up at the sorceress, her face a mask of anger. "I hated him for that."
Naga said nothing.
"When I was older, I decided to find him. Beat the hell out of him for abandoning us like
that. Mom didn't want me to go, but I wasn't about to stay in that rat hole town and rot with the rest
of the trash. Mom might have liked it, but I hated it….I guess just as much as HE did. So I left. I
wanted to find my brother, look him in the eye, and hear him tell me why. Make him give me his
excuse face to face."
"Sad story, but I've heard much worse," Naga told her.
"The real story hasn't even begun," Greysword told her seriously. "During my search, I
heard rumors, stories that included my brother's name. That's when I met Scarrin."
Naga blinked. "Who?"
"A mage. A man who had known my brother before…Before they killed him."
"So…You want revenge," Naga said with a casual smile. "Hire a murderer. It's what they
do…"
"Would you just shut up and let me tell the story?" Greysword growled. Naga rolled her
eyes and bade her to continue. "If you must know, I'm NOT after revenge. My brother was killed
by a Mazoku." Naga arched an eyebrow at this. "No…not 'kill.' 'Kill' isn't the right word.
He…took…my brother. Took his body as his own, corrupted it…" She looked up at Naga.
"Right now there's a monster in Seyruun with my brother's face. And…" A flash of pain crossed
her face again. "And I know he's in there…Trapped in his own mind…in agony."
"How can you be sure…"
Scarrin knew a man who helped the Mazoku do this. "Rezo…The Red Priest. He used my
brother's body as a vessel for this Mazoku." She looked away. "I don't want revenge, Miss Naga,"
she said quietly. "I want to finally put my brother to rest. After years of hating him without
cause…I owe him that much."
"So why is he in Seyruun?" Naga asked.
"I have no idea," Greysword told her. "Mazoku shit. I don't know! But he's there, and I
need your help to get to him." Naga put a finger to her lip in thought. "I'm not asking for much
here," the swordswoman went on. "Just help me get inside, and I'll take care of the rest."
Over the woman's shoulder, a mob was gathering at the inn's entrance…
Filia opened the door to find Xellos being helped up and steadied by a concerned shadow.
Xellos was leaning on the staff Shadow Lina had brought him, trying to maintain his balance on
unsteady feet while the shadow bustled around trying to help.
"What's this?" Filia asked, entering the room.
"I was just giving Mister Xellos his new staff," Shadow Lina confessed.
"You know he was sleeping," Filia told her, her hands going to her hips in irritation.
"I wasn't really resting anyway, Filia chan," Xellos interjected. He looked at the staff in
his hand. It didn't really feel right. It was…heavy.
And the finishing wasn't quite right…
And…
And it really didn't matter. Nothings can't be choosers.
"Do you like it?" Shadow Lina asked, her eyes shining.
He didn't say anything. The shadow's face started to fall.
"He loves it!" Filia announced. "Don't you, Xellos?" she asked him with a hint of acid.
He was about to answer when there was a commotion from outside their room. The door
was suddenly kicked in, and several men with torches and makeshift weapons crowded the
doorway.
"We're looking for the Mazoku!" the lead one, who looked like a wizard, shouted.
Shadow Lina squealed as Xellos gave her a push forward. "That's her," he told the
crowd. "She was killing bunnies this morning!"
"Mister Xellos!" the shadow whined.
Filia growled. "Namagomi…"
"Give him over," the leader warned. "All we want is the Mazoku. The rest of you can
live."
Before Filia could come up with a retort, Xellos stepped forward and smiled. "My, my,
my," he said. "All this for little old me?"
"You're the Mazoku?"
"Xellos!" Filia cried.
"That's right," he said smugly. "You're lucky to catch me now. Another day or two and I
would have been all set to destroy your entire town."
"What the hell are you doing?!" Filia hissed at him.
He turned his head to her. "Going out with a bang, Filia chan," he said quietly. He turned
back to the crowd. "Well…Shall we?"
The crowd surged forward. None of them had ever really seen a Mazoku before, and
therefore none of them realized that if Xellos had wanted to, he could just as soon reduce them all
to mulch. Instead, he allowed them to grab him.
"Wait!" Filia shouted, pushing herself through the mob. "Let him go!"
"Stay out of this, lady!" one of the men ordered her.
"NO!" she screamed back at them in fury. "Is this how justice is done in Saldellia!? At
the hands of an angry mob without warrant or trial?! Where's the REAL law?!"
The mob was quiet for a second. Xellos arched an eyebrow. Filia folded her arms over
her chest in triumph. Her success was short lived, however, as someone pushed through the mob
towards them wearing a constable's uniform.
"I'm here! Did I miss the burn'n?!" the constable asked.
"GET HIM!" The crowd was moving again, dragging Xellos down the stairs and out the
door.
"Miss Dragon Lady! What do we do?!" Shadow Lina asked fearfully.
"Go get Miss Naga and my sister," Filia ordered as she started down the stairs after the
mob.
"Will you help me?" Greysword asked Naga a final time.
Naga smiled. "What was your brother's name?" she asked sympathetically.
"Ze…"
"MISS NAGA!" They both turned and found Shadow Lina, Jeffrey, and Amara running
towards them.
"Lina chan?!"
"Some angry mob with pitchforks and torches took Mister Xellos!" Shadow Lina
blubbered. "I don't think they like him very much!"
Naga looked up and saw her Side-Kick of Questionable Worth being herded down the road
in the hands of an angry, pitchfork wielding mob.
"Well I'll be damned," she remarked to herself. "They really ARE carrying pitchforks…I
thought they only did that in plays!"
"We have to do something!" Jeffrey cried.
Naga eyed Greysword. "Miss Greysword, child," she began, "I have decided that you will
be permitted to join my band of heroes!"
"Um…Excuse me?" Greysword asked.
"We'll be traveling to Seyruun next," Naga continued with a wink. "However, if you're
not interested, I'm sure there are other places we can go…"
The swordswoman sighed. "What do you want me to do?"
"Hmmm…How DID you get so much wood so fast?" Xellos asked politely as they tied
him to a stake in the middle of the town square. He was also standing on top of several logs, wet
with oil to make them burn faster and hotter.
The man tying him down smiled. "We burn lots of folks 'round here!" he explained.
Xellos nodded. He watched as another man dropped the staff Shadow Lina had given him
on top of the pile near his feet. He nodded. "It's better this way," he whispered. After all, if he
didn't come quietly or if he fought them, they might have chosen to turn this into a fight. Then Filia
might have been hurt…
"STOP THIS!"
He looked up and found that Filia had pushed her way forward and was standing between
him and the crowd. The Mazoku sighed. "Filia, go away."
She ignored him. "How can you be such cowards?!" she demanded. "He's no threat to
you!"
"He's a Mazoku!" one of the crowd shot back. "He deserves it!"
Xellos nodded. "Very true!" he told them. "I am a Mazoku, and I do deserve it. Blah
blah blah! Blah blah BLAH!"
Filia turned and growled at him. "You are making this VERY difficult!" she spat.
"Soonest begun, soonest done," he told her darkly. "They're not doing anything you
haven't wanted to do."
She growled and turned back to the crowd.
He sighed. Yes, it was best to end this here and now. A nothing was of no use to the
Mazoku. They had no place…
"He's a horrible creature!" a woman shouted.
Yes, that as true. He WAS horrible… Sweet Ruby Eye, he liked being horrible. It was
one of the best parts of the job…
But he couldn't do that job anymore…
"He's a murdering monster!" another cried.
He nodded. Murder, while open to interpretation, was still nothing more than killing for
jollies. He liked killing…
But nothings couldn't kill…
His thoughts turned inward as Filia continued to debate for his survival. Occasionally,
words like "murderer" and "monster" seeped though this reverie. He didn't care.
He was going to die. After a thousand years, he was going to die.
Perhaps then, he wouldn't be a nothing…
(You are failing me.)
He blinked and looked up. Standing between himself and Filia, who was still pleading his
case to the mob, was Lina Inverse…only…not so…
(You are failing me,) he heard again in his mind.
This Lina Inverse was not the shadow he traveled with, or the woman who had fought Dark
Star with him. This Lina Inverse's hair was not red, but gold, and she stared at him with an
emotionless mask.
(You are failing me.)
"Lord of Nightmares," he whispered.
"ENOUGH TALK! BURN HIM!" someone shouted.
"Stop it!" Filia screamed at them. She drew her mace and pointed it at them. "I will
not allow such a thing!" She looked up as someone pushed their way through the crowd towards
her. Seeing her distracted, the mob lunged forward at her, the two men closest to her raising clubs
over their heads. She eep'd in surprise and braced herself.
*THOCK! THOCK!*
The dragon opened her eyes again just in time to see the top halves the men's clubs hit the
ground. The two thugs blinked in shock, staring at their broken weapons with puzzled looks. The
crowd itself seemed to fall prey to this shock and stopped their advance.
Before Filia could open her mouth to ask what had happened, a woman with brown hair
and holding a katana casually at her hip stepped between her and the crowd.
"I wouldn't do that again," Stevanya Greysword told them with a mischievous smile.
"Stay out of it!" someone near the back of the crowd shouted at her.
Vanya drew a line in the dirt in front of her feet with the katana and looked up again.
"Anyone crossing this line is going to regret it." She smiled. "So which of you ridge-runners
wishes to feel regret first?"
The crowd seemed unsure of what to do. Filia stepped forward again, brandishing her
mace. Looking up, she could see Naga standing near the entrance of the inn, smiling and giving her
the victory sign. She growled.
"Figures…"
Turning she saw Xellos, still tied to the post, staring in shock in her direction, yet not at
her. Not at anything.
What was going on?
(You are failing me.)
"I know," Xellos whispered. "I have failed everything. Metallium, Shabranigdo, my
race…"
The Lord of Nightmares stared down at him. (Metallium is irrelevant. Shabranigdo is
irrelevant. You are failing ME.)
"I don't understand," he told her in awe.
Around them, he could still hear the shouts of the crowd.
"He has to be destroyed! He's a Mazoku!"
(You have a purpose.)
"Not any longer. I am no longer a Mazoku, no longer a vassal of Metallium."
(Metallium's purpose is irrelevant. You are a Mazoku. You serve MY purposes. Just as
the Shinzoku serve. Just as the humans serve. You are failing me.)
Xellos shook his head. "I don't understand."
(Mazoku do not exist to obey Shabranigdo. You exist to serve the purpose I have set for
you.)
"He doesn't serve the Mazoku anymore!" Filia was shouting in his defense. "He's free!"
"THEN HE'S A ROGUE! THAT JUST MAKES HIM WORSE!" someone screamed.
"What is my purpose?" he asked the Lord of Nightmares.
Her face was still expressionless. (Without hate, there cannot be love. Without death,
there cannot be life. Without terror…there can be no peace…)
Pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. As he had been dying, Hellmaster Phibrizzo
had screamed that they had been created to destroy the world. Dark Star and Volpheid had joined
together simply to stop the constant fighting between light and dark…and that had to be stopped as
well…even though the world would have been destroyed.
The Lord of Nightmares didn't create the Mazoku to destroy the world…
They were supposed to TRY to destroy it.
They were supposed to be destructive, because without destruction there could be no
creation.
They were supposed to kill, because without death there could be no hope for new life.
They were supposed to be feared…
Because fear kept people alive.
"He's a rogue!" someone shouted again. "A rogue monster answering to no one!"
Xellos smiled. "'Rogue Mazoku,'" he repeated. "I like the way that sounds…"
For the first time in a week, he opened his senses and felt the fear of the people around
him. The Lord of Nightmares disappeared from his sight, either she had been a weakness-induced
hallucination, or a message…
Actually, he really didn't care.
He smiled.
That's when the bonfire mound around him blew up.
Filia and Vanya were thrown forward by the blast and hit the ground hard. Turning onto
their backs, they saw a windstorm surrounding the pyre, pieces of oiled wood flew about in
circles. And in the center of this tornado…
Xellos floated.
His eyes glowed red, and his smile was that of a lynx that had cornered its prey, a smile
Filia had not seen on him in weeks. He reached out with his hand, and one piece of wood flew
straight to it. The red gem at the head of the staff Shadow Lina had created for him glowed
brightly.
The crowd took several steps back in fear of this new development.
Xellos smiled. "Oh! By all means, don't go yet!" He raised his staff over his head. The
gem flashed, and suddenly, the oil-soaked wood flying around him burst into flames. "I thought
you wanted to have a fire," he told them smiling. With a wave of his new staff, the flaming
timbers flew out in all directions, striking various homes and businesses.
The mob screamed and started running around in a panic, trying to put the flames out.
"XELLOS!" Filia cried out at him.
Watching from their place near the inn's entrance, Shadow Lina gulped. "I guess making
him a new staff wasn't such a hot idea, huh?" she asked.
"I don't know," Naga said thoughtfully. "He seems to like it."
A flaming board struck the roof of the inn, setting it aflame. The four of them cried out and
did what they could to put the fire out.
Xellos was in heaven. There was nothing more exhilarating than soaking up panic and
bald-faced fear. It was something that had to be drawn out over a period of time, and then, when it
gives way to numbness, you toss in more fear. He opened his glowing eyes and watched the
mundanes, as tiny as ants to him, scurry about in a desperate effort to save their town. Try to
destroy HIM, will they?!
This was why he was created. Serving Metallium had only set the parameters of how he
went about it. He served a higher purpose, and he knew it now. He was Mazoku! He destroyed.
He killed. He terrified.
Because the Lord of Nightmares NEEDED HIM to do it!
It had been a long time since he'd destroyed a town. He looked at his new staff and
smiled. Why not truly test its power? With a single mental command, he floated into the sky.
Filia watched as he rose upward.
"XELLOS!" She growled. "WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, NAMAGOMI,
YOU'RE DEAD!"
Vanya stood up next to her and blinked, watching the Mazoku rise higher and higher into the
sky. "Holy shit!" she commented.
Filia turned to her. "Miss, thank you for your help earlier, however, I have to see to
something. Excuse me, and please step back."
The swordswoman blinked. "Stand back?"
The dragon woman closed her eyes, her hands going to her chest. She let out a cry as
golden light was emitted from her transformation. Vanya cried out and jumped back as Filia turned
into a dragon.
Xellos floated directly above Saldellia and hummed his favorite tune, using his new staff
as a conductor's wand, directing the tiny mundanes below him to new fires as they tried to douse
their town.
"Now let's see," he said to himself. He pointed his staff down at a restaurant. "This
looks like a good place to start. The gem in the staff glowed as it charged with dark energy. He
hummed for a moment, then, as the tune reached a crescendo, he released the energy.
The restaurant below erupted in a black fireball.
Iffy stepped out of the tavern and patted her stomach. She loved ice cream…well…as
much as a Mazoku can love ANYTHING. The female Mazoku blinked as she looked around.
Funny…the town wasn't on fire a minute ago…
She blinked as the restaurant she had just walked out of was struck by a dark blast and
exploded behind her. Turning, she saw the damaged and eep'd in surprise. Looking up, she saw
the source of the destruction.
Xellos….Xellos was pointing his staff in her direction…
"OH, CRAP!!" Iffy cried. She fumbled with her own staff for a minute. "HE'S ONTO
ME!!" Striking the ground with the semi-circular head, a black portal opened up below her.
"LORD GOD GENERAL PRIEST JINNAR!!" she wailed as she jumped in, panicking.
The portal closed behind her.
So many targets to choose from. So many ways to inflict pain and terror. He couldn't
decide which one to destroy next. The bakery? No. The whole town would smell like cookies for
a week…
The nursery school?
Nah, it was closed for the weekend…
Oooh! Oooh! The park! Everyone loves the park! You can't go wrong with blowing up
the park!
Drunk on his misery high, Xellos pointed his staff at the park…
Only to find it already burning.
"Oh, bother," he muttered. "I guess I'll do it randomly." He pointed his staff downward
and began moving it over different buildings as he chanted. "Eenie, meenie, miney, mail! Catch a
dragon by her tail! If she hollers, let her wail! Eenie meenie miney mail!" His staff stopped over
the local pet shop. "Gotta start somewhere." Energy began to collect in the staff's gem.
A flash of gold appeared before his eyes, and suddenly, a golden dragon was floating in the
air in front of him. He recognized the pink bow and shivered. With the return of his confidence,
his Peak had resumed in full force…moreso even, considering the high he was on right now.
"Xellos!" Filia cried. "Stop this!" Before she could react, Xellos had disappeared and
reappeared next to her head, wrapping an arm around her neck. He pointed his staff down at the
ground again.
"Look at it, Filia chan!" he said in glee. "So much power and energy! So much emotion!
Pain! Fear! Blood pumping at an incredible rate! The fire! The smoke! The terror!" He leaned
close to her ear and kissed her golden scales. "I am SO turned on right now…"
Filia squealed and flung him aside with a fling of her neck. "NAMAGOMI!! You can't
just destroy an entire town!"
He blinked. "Sure I can," he said. "You just have to use fire spells with the wood
buildings first, then use your high explosive stuff on the brick buildings…"
The Mazoku ducked as her golden tail whipped out of nowhere and nearly struck his head.
"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEAN!!" she screamed. "IT'S WRONG! It's…It's…" She growled.
"It's BAD!"
Xellos shrugged. "Good. Bad. I'm the guy with the staff…" Filia looked angry enough to
devour him. A part of him wished she would. "Come on, Filia chan!" he cried, holding his hand
out to her. "It can be something we do together! Quality time! Call it our first date!"
"Xellos," she began more calmly, "Stop this. Now."
The Mazoku grinned. "Or what? They would've killed me if they could."
"They were scared of you!"
"And now they have a more concrete reason to be so." He pointed his staff downwards
again.
Filia paused. How could she possibly stop him? She wasn't stupid; she knew she couldn't
kill him even if she wanted to.
She blinked as something her sister said came back to her.
("You're his mate, so you DO have some power over him, Filia...")
The dragon swallowed nervously and came up with an idea. Flapping her dragon wings,
she dived and hovered between Xellos and the town.
"Xellos," she began sweetly. "Do you remember our bet? You said that if I lost, I'd have
to kill you. Remember?"
"Yes," he drawled out suspiciously.
"Well…I won…" Filia smiled, some three hundred white dragon teeth glowing at him.
"Hmmm…"
She decided to turn up the heat and began to flick her tail from side to side. The Mazoku's
eyes watched as the pink ribbon on the end of her golden tail swayed hypnotically from side to
side.
"So…you see," she went on as he watched her tail. "I won…and that means I get a
reward. We just never discussed it." She smiled brightly.
Xellos, meanwhile, was still enthralled in the smooth swaying of his mate's tail…
"So…Xellos," she continued. "As my reward…could please, please, pretty please…NOT
destroy this town?"
His purple eyes swayed from left to right in time with the ribbon….
"Whatever you say, Filia chan," he said as if in a trance.
She smiled again. "Thank you, Xellos. Now why don't we go back down there and find
the others…before they burn to death?"
"Whatever you say, Filia chan…"
Filia beamed. Perhaps there was something to this Peak thing, after all…
"Stop shoving!" Naga complained as she nudged the shadow with her elbow.
"Shhh!" the others warned.
The Flaming Heroes remained very quiet as the small cart they were hiding in continued on
its way out of Saldellia. It was decided that the best way for the group to leave would be in secret
and had managed to bribe a merchant to take them in his wagon.
And that's how the Flaming Heroes found themselves hiding under a blanket, huddled
together in a rickety cart, fearing that they would be discovered and made to pay for the damage
inflicted on the town.
"This is YOUR fault, Namagomi," Filia's irate voice came from under the blanket. "AND
GET YOUR HAND OFF MY TAIL!!!"
"SHHHH!!!"
"Now, Filia chan," Xellos replied. "I would think you'd be happy that I was back to some
semblance of my old self." He broke off a second later. "Filia chan….is that your tail in my lap?
How lewd!"
"Oops! Sorry, Lord Xellos!" Amara's voice came from the other side of Xellos' voice
under the blanket.
"Amara!" Filia cried.
"I said I was sorry!"
"Jealous?" Xellos asked.
"Hmmph!"
"Um…Miss Naga?" Jeffrey's voice asked. "With all the hurry, I never got a chance to
ask…Who's this woman?"
"Guys, this is Vanya Greysword. The newest member of our band of unbeatable heroes!
OOOOHO…"
"SHHHH!!!"
"oooohohohohohoho…" Naga replied more softly than before.
"Hi," Vanya said from her side of the blanket.
"Hey," everyone else's voices came back.
"So…Where to now?" Shadow Lina asked.
"My friends…" Naga told them theatrically from under the blanket. "We're off to
Seyruun!"
"YOU LAZY, GOOD-FOR-NOTHING IDIOT!!" Jinnar screamed. Iffy sat dejectedly on
her knees before him, staring at the ground. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU HAD A CHANCE TO
DESTROY XELLOS, AND YOU LET IT SLIP THROUGH YOUR FINGERS!!! WHAT'S THE
MATTER WITH YOU?! CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT!!"
(It's not my fault,) Iffy thought to herself. (By the time I realized what was happening,
Xellos was already at full strength. There was nothing I could do. But does HE realize that? Oh
NOOOOOOO!)
"ARE YOU EVEN PAYING ATTENTION TO ME?!"
"Oh, bite me," Iffy muttered under her breath.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!"
Iffy sighed. "Scold!"
Jinnar continued to scream at his hapless assistant as the sun set over Wolfpack Island…
To Be Continued…