Chapter 20

'Oh no, please not again'. Filia was back in the grey mist, on the verge of running as she desperately searched for a way out. "Ceifeed, why is this happening to me?" Filia pleaded mournfully, wrapping her arms around her in an attempt to comfort herself. The out of the corner of her eye she noticed something that was never there before, it was a door. Surprised, Filia went to investigate. She stood in front of the door. It was a simple brown with a silver handle, but no peep-hole and no key hole. She moved to the side to see around it, but only saw empty space. It seemed to lead no where and there was nothing around to hold it up, it was just there. Standing back in front of the door Filia hesitantly raised her hand and placed it on the handle. Taking a deep breath she slowly turned the handle and opened the door. As she stepped through there was a brief flash of light and Filia was standing in a child's bedroom. The walls where a baby pink and had golden stars placed at random along its surface. There was a small bed with white covers in the corner and the floor was littered with dozens of different toys, ranging from stuffed dolls to small piles of toy building blocks.

"It's my old room," Filia said out loud as she looked around her childhood home. She then looked down at herself and gasped when she saw the little white dress with pink flowers she used to wear when she was small. She ran to the mirror she had in the corner and saw that she was in the body she had when she was very small. Her dress coming down to her shins of her little legs, long white socks and pink sandals and her favourite pink, blue and white stripped hair band in her hair, which only just came to her middle back.

In the mirror she caught the reflection of something on the floor behind her, she turned around and there, sitting in the centre of her room on a small fluffy rug, where two small stuffed animals. One was a lavender coloured wolf, its pink tongue hanging out the side of its mouth, and a green dragon with over exaggerated yellow eyes. Little Filia knelt down near the toys and picked them both up before smiling brightly and hugging them to her. She then sat comfortably on the rug and began to play with the toys.

Filia wasn't sure how long she sat there with her toys, when she heard a knock at her door and a voice she hadn't heard in a long time. "Filia sweetie, its mommy. Me and daddy need to talk to you, can we come in honey?"

"Come in mommy!" Filia said with a smile, still playing with her toys. The door opened and Filia's parents stepped in. her mother was in a yellow dress and had long pale hair that stopped at the small of her back and chocolate eyes. Her father stood a head taller than her mother with golden hair down to his shoulders and sky blue eyes and the robes of a high ranking dragon priest.

Despite their entrance Filia continued to play with her toy wolf and dragon. It was a short while before her father spoke. "Filia, why are you playing with those toys?" her father asked.

"Because I like them," she said with a shrug as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"Sweetie, we need you to give us those toys," Filia's mother spoke in a light but serious tone.

Filia paused in her play and looked up at her parents. "What? But why?" she asked, her tone hurt filled.

"Don't question us Filia, just do what your mother tells you and give her the toys," Her father snipped at her, his voice rising.

Filia quickly jumped up, snatching her toys with her and clutching them to her chest. "But I don't want to. I like them and they're mine. Why do you want to take them from me?" Filia pleaded, her eyes beginning to burn with unshed tears.

"Now Filia, don't be silly," Her mother said in a soothing tone as she knelt in front of her daughter, putting her hands softly on her shoulders. "Come on honey, just give us the silly toys and then we'll all go out to the park and pick some flowers, and maybe we can get some ice-cream while we're out, how does that sound honey?" she said with a warm smile, lightly stroking her thumbs on Filia's shoulders reassuringly.

Filia felt all her tension begin to melt away at her mother's actions and comforting smile. What was the harm in giving her the toys, after all her mother did mention they could get ice-cream. Filia's clutch on the animals loosened. She looked at her mothers warm eyes and slowly started to hold her arms out. Filia's father smiled as did her mother. "That's a good girl Filia, well done," she said as she shifted to receive the toys.

Filia was studying her mother's eyes when she saw something flash through them. It was only for a second but she felt herself cringe internally at the look that passed through those eyes.

Filia's own eyes snapped wide open and she snatched the toys out of her mothers grasp and held them even tighter to her chest. "NO! I wont give them to you, you can't make me!" Filia nearly shouted as she gave a stubborn glare at her parents.

Suddenly the surroundings went dark, and so did her mothers expression. "You selfish little BRAT!" she grabbed Filia's shoulders and her grip began to tighten painfully. "Why can't you be like all the other good little children and do what you're told!" she shoved Filia back, making her stumble and fall to the floor as her mother towered over her with her father.

"Mommy please, stop!" Filia sobbed as she tried to back away from them.

"It's time you got what you deserve Filia. If you had just listened to us and did what we told you this would never have happened," Her father said sternly.

"But I don't understa-hand, why are you do-hing this? Why do you want to ta-hake them from me-he?" Filia was openly crying now, her eyes going red from her tears.

"Oh would you stop whining and just give me that!" her mother snapped and reached out to grab the stuffed dragon from her. But as her hand got close to the toy its mouth suddenly opened and snapped down on her hand, digging its surprisingly sharp teeth into her flesh. "YAAaaaah!" her mother cried as she snatched her hand back and clutched in her other hand, black blood dripping from between her fingers. The green dragon growled at the parents, spreading its wings and baring its bloody teeth in malice. "Why you little-"

"please don't hurt us, just leave us alone, please mommy," Filia begged, still not relinquishing her hold on the toys, even though one of them did have blood dripping from its mouth, she just knew it wouldn't hurt her.

"Silence! You are no daughter of mine!" her mother then spat at the ground in front of her.

Filia felt as if her heart had just been ripped from her chest, leaving her cold and in agony. "Mommy, daddy…" Filia barely whispered past her sobs.

"Filia, not only have you betrayed your race, you have betrayed us as well. You deserve everything that is coming to you," her father growled, his eyes stone cold, his voice cut through her like sharp icicles. The pair began to advance on her, everything else around them going black as their features shifted and warped to reveal two ugly beasts with rows of sharp jagged teeth, and eyes the colour of blood.

Filia fell to her knees, clutching the toys to her, her eyes tightly shut, wishing for it all to stop, for them to just get it over with and the pain she felt.

They never even got to touch her before her purple wolf came to life and transformed, growing in size and appearing as the violet wolf that had saved her before. He stood over the little Filia, crouching low to her so his chest blanketed her and the still snarling green dragon. The wolf bared its teeth and growled so low and deadly that the ghastly things that were Filia's parents stopped cold.

The 'father' growled back. "You cannot protect her forever beast priest. Sooner or later you will let your guard down, and the second you do she will be lost, and so shall you along with her," he snarled.

The wolf growled again and raised his head in a loud, angry howl. The two figures began to writher in agony, their bodies starting to fade away. The wolf howled again, and more of them began to disappear, leaving nothing of them but their shadows. One long, final howl drove the shadows away, banishing them into nothingness, at least for now.

The little Filia was still curled up on the ground, her eyes clamped shut with the occasional sob wracking her small frame. The wolf bent head down to the girl, a small comforting growl coming from his chest as he nuzzled his big nose on her small head. He finally coaxed her to look up at him until their eyes met. The wolf's eyes narrowed slightly when he noticed that Filia's usually youthful bright eyes, that followed her even into adulthood, were missing their usual little sparkle. Her eyes were red from crying and almost lifeless as they stared tiredly at the wolf.

They where back in the mist, Filia was her older self again, she was still on her knees with the wolf standing in front of her, the green dragon no longer in sight, and her eyes containing the same lifelessness as before. "Xellos," Filia's voice was almost pleading. "I'm not sure how much longer I can go on for". Tears started to slowly trickle unbidden down her face, "Xellos, I'm dying".

/

Xellos's eyes snapped open as he sat up from his spot against the wall of his study, eyes darting around the room before he relaxed and leaned back against the wall, bringing his staff from its post against his shoulder and lying it in his lap, stroking the orb at its tip that was quickly fading from a bright blue glow to its usual blood hue.

"Hmm, how troublesome," Xellos said to himself as he contemplated the dream he shared with Filia. 'There is definitely more to those dreams than what meets the eye, the real question is what, and why?'

But first, and just as important, he was going to have to figure out the whome. Xellos uncrossed his legs and stood up from his resting place, time to go do some dragon hunting, he phased out without a word.

/

Little Val's eyes slowly fluttered open as he awoke to a new day. Peering over the pile of cushions that surrounded him in his nest he saw his mother, her eyes were still closed and her chest rose and fell with each gentle breath. Giving a tiny squeak of a yawn the hatchling rose and stretched out like a cat, gently digging his claws into the soft bedding. Now firmly awake the young dragon looked around the room for something to do until his mother woke up. He heard a creek and whipped his head to the sound. The door to the bedroom slowly opened, but when Val peered his head around he couldn't see anyone. Wanting to investigate, Val got up and climbed his way out of his make-shift nest and jumped down to the floor, the soft carpet cushioning his fall and muffling the sound. He trotted to the door and looked around, no one was in sight. He lifted his head up and sniffed the air, locating a scent he took of down the hall, quickly vanishing from sight.

/

Filia slowly and reluctantly opened her eyes. She did not wish to wake up, feeling as emotionally and physically drained as she did, she could have sworn she never even went to sleep she was so tired. But the light that managed to stream through the only gap in the curtains reminded her that her son would be awake soon if he wasn't already, and would want his morning feed soon. She stretched her arms above her head with a yawn and turned her head toward the empty nest beside her, wait a second…empty! Filia blinked and sat up straight, frantically searching the cushions and the rest of the bed, her heart beating so erratically she thought it would jump out of her chest. She looked up to the open door and both she and her heart stopped cold. Filia could feel her fear snaking up her spine like icy tendrils and coiling around her chest. With swiftness she didn't even know she had she leapt from the bed, not caring that she was only clad in her light pink night dress, and sprinted on her bare feet and into the deserted hall, her head darting from left to right trying to spot her lost hatchling. 'Oh god oh god please no please no please Val where are you?'

"Wow no wonder Xellos keeps you around," a voice from above her had her nearly leaping out of her skin with a shriek as she spotted the floating figure of Kerry above the door frame, relaxed as if she were lying on an invisible couch, " your adrenalin and fear have a rather exotic spice to them," she spoke as if she were testing the quality of a red wine.

With a small jump Filia grabbed a fistful of the monsters cape were it clasped at the front and brought her face nose-to-nose with her own. Her furious blue orbs shooting daggers into the startled pink eyes of the girl. "WHERE IS HE!" Filia's aura was flaring and her fangs more elongated as she roared in the monsters face, if she had the physical capability Kerry knew she would have been sweating profusely by this point.

"Whoa whoa, c-calm down Goldie, where's who?" Kerry managed to stutter before Filia roughly shook her with the grip she had on her cape, snarling at her.

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN AND TELL ME WHERE MY BABY IS!" Filia snapped, her eyes promising bloody murder if she didn't get the right answer.

"O-Oh! You mean the mini black dragon? Yeah I saw him not too long ago".

Filia roared deeply and furiously in her face. "WHERE!"

"H-He was scuttling happily towards the south wing last I seen of him, but don't worry, he's being watched b-" Kerry didn't get a chance to finish before Filia had released her and started off down the hall, combining sprinting and the occasional short teleportation until she disappeared from sight.

Kerry gave a few startled blinks before straightening herself out. "Well, I guess I better go and look out for her". But before she could start to pursue the fleeing gold she halted in her steps, a far away look in her eyes. She then narrowed her eyes in what looked like confusion "Uh are you sure about this one?" she said to the empty are in question. She then gave a startled look and raised her hands in surrender with a hesitant smile "Ok ok if you insist, sheesh no need to get you tail in a knot," she sighed and clasped her hands behind her head, steadily walking in the opposite direction from Filia down the hall.

Filia re-appeared in the junction where all four wings connected. Pausing to catch her breath she looked down the hall leading to the south wing. At that moment Filia almost wished that she had some of Xellos's abilities, mostly were he doesn't have to see where he is going to teleport. Before now Filia never had a problem with that, it was a safe and easy way of getting from point A to point B without ripping big holes in the astral plane, but now…

Filia resisted the urge to sigh in defeat, if she didn't need to see where she was going she could have been at her sons side in an instant, but she dare not even attempt it, or she might end up inside a stone wall, or worse. Taking a deep breath to strengthen her resolve she squared her shoulders and proceeded down the south wing with a new found determination.

A short while later she noticed that instead of the hard floor she was walking on, her feet now came into contact with relatively soft grass. There were very few torches in her area, but when she peered ahead in the distance, she began to see patches of light coming in from what she assumed to be windows. Moving closer she saw trees, bushes, ferns and anything else the light managed to catch. Although she wouldn't quite consider it a forest at this point, the indoor greenery was still rather remarkable. If she didn't feel so pressed for time in searching for Val, Filia felt she might have enjoyed a nice picnic in here under one of the apple trees across from one of the many large glass-less windows. Pulling herself away from her daydreams Filia continued her search, keeping all her senses alert for the tiniest indication that Val was nearby. At this point she decided against teleporting all together, otherwise she could end up missing any signs of her son, a decision that proved wise when she noticed fresh tracks in the ground. She knelt down and lightly fingered the edges of the footprints. Some of them she recognised as Val's with his four long toes with a very slight impression of punctures from his tiny claws. But what worried Filia were the other tracks that accompanied her son's. They all resembled paw marks from some four legged creature. Now Filia was never an expert on tracking, but her gut instincts told her that these were wolf tracks, ranging from tiny ones belonging to small cubs and prints the size of her outstretched hand of the much (very much) larger pack members.

"Oh Ceifeed I pray to you, please don't let them find him before me," Filia shuddered to think what might befall her son if he were to face a pack of wolves on his own. Getting back on her feet she started off again, this time at a gentle run as she followed the trail left behind by her son, praying to every higher being she knew that Val was safe. As she ran her surroundings gradually began to change. She noticed a lot more trees were growing and the hall itself was getting larger and wider. The grass was getting longer and she tripped once on an exposed root, falling to her knees and grazing her arms on the ground, only to get back up and continue running. The available light was becoming sparse as the forest grew dense, devouring the sunlight hungrily and casting eerie shadows along the ground, making the trail she was following harder to see.

Suddenly Filia stopped. She could have sworn she heard something in the bushes beside her. A twig snapped behind her and she darted around to spot whatever was there, and when she did she quickly wished that she hadn't. Standing there were two wolves blocking the way she had come, both had soft brown coats and yellow eyes that seemed to glow in the forest gloom. Then from either side of her came two more wolves, all of them staring her down and growling low in their throats. Filia gulped as panic started to back into her chest. She took two steps back when she heard another growl from behind her, turning her head she saw another wolf, this one with black fur. It regarded Filia for a few moments, before it raised its head and growled out a single word "Follow," and then turned its back on her, starting back down the path. Looking around and realising she had no other choice, seeing as the other wolves were blocking her only other escape routes, she obeyed and timidly followed the black wolf, its fellow kin walking with her to make sure she didn't get any silly ideas of running away. A short while later the black wolf changed course and started walking of the small trail they were following and headed through the thick trees. Filia hesitated, but with a persistent nudge to her leg from a wolf she managed to get her feet moving and quickly walked after the wolf, trying to stay close enough not to get lost, but still far enough for comforts sake.

The wolf then stepped out of the foliage and into a clearing, followed by a very nervous Filia as her eyes swivelled around, taking notes of her surroundings. She saw more wolves wandering around the clearing. Some stopping to stare at her while others who were lying down raised their heads to look. To one side of the clearing Filia spotted movement and looked to find a small gathering of pups running around and jumping on each other. Then there was a tiny growl and Val popped out of a nearby bush to pounce on a few of the pups, playfully biting ones ear before its kin joined the fray and tackled the baby dragon, knocking them all over as they tussled on the ground.

"Val!" Filia exclaimed as she quickly made her way to her baby. Val's head popped up at his mother's voice, with a happy squeak he untangled himself from the mound of pups and happily trotted to his mother. Filia fell to her knees and scooped young Val up and held him close to her chest as he cheerfully nuzzled her neck and shoulder in greeting. Filia breathed a sigh of relief that he was ok and gave him one more squeeze before she held him at arms length and gave him her best 'you're in so much trouble' face (she had been working on that face for a while now, the trick is to not cave at the sight of the kicked puppy look the baby ancient would give in response). "Val, don't you ever, EVER, go off on your own like that again, EVER! Do you have any idea how worried sick I was?" Filia scolded the hatchling. Val dropped his head down and tucked his tail between his legs. His wings pressed themselves firmly to his sides and the very tip of his tail slowly started to curl around his mother's wrist, his yellow eyes that should not look that adorable gazed up at her pleadingly in apology as he let out a small whimper at his mothers temper. All of these small things combined into one lovable baby dragon quickly began to destroy all of Filia's defences before she finally caved.

"Oh Val I'm so sorry, mommy didn't mean to yell, you just scared mommy that's all," Filia brought the dragon back to her chest in a soothing hug as she gently stroked the back of his long neck. "It's ok, everything is going to be alright honey, just don't scare me like that again, ok?" Val gave a little growl of agreement and began to nuzzle her shoulder again.

"Are you quite done with your little reunion? I'm getting rather bored with all this coddling". Filia's blood ran cold at the steely voice. She had never heard this voice before, but she could practically feel the power and authority in its tone crash through her in waves. She slowly turned her head to the side and felt her adrenalin go into overdrive when she saw long tanned legs, a white skirt resting on the thighs, smooth bare stomach, a loose white top covering a modest chest with strands of long golden hair tumbling around bare shoulders and piercing red eyes just shy of matching that of ruby eye himself. The woman brought a long smoke to her ruby lips and took a leisurely drag from her reclined position atop a boulder before blowing a small cloud into the air, eyes never leaving the frozen gold that sat before her.

"Now, I am going to forget your rudeness of not acknowledging my presence for now, and inform you that your worries where unfounded. The little one was perfectly safe in my care and the care of my wolves," the woman gestured with her free hand the gathering of said wolves in the clearing, golden bracelets clinking with the movement.

"A-and w-who may I ask, are y-you?" Filia desperately tried to keep her voice steady, having a rough idea who this woman was, but praying to all that would listen that she was wrong.

The woman raised an elegant brow at the gold. "You mean you don't recognise me? Huh, Xellos did say you can be rather naïve at times, but I was unaware that it was to this extent," she took another drag of her cigarette. "I am most commonly known as Beastmaster, but since we're practically family, you can call me Zelas, for now at least".

There was a very audible gulp as Filia tried to steady her shaking hands. "Beastmaster Zelas, as in Xellos's mistress Zelas?"

"Unless you know of any others who bear the same name, and if you do please inform me, I want a head start at hunting the unworthy creature," Zelas smirked, a brief flicker of light reflecting of long blood red nails.

"N-nono, I w-was just, surprised to be meeting you so soon," Filia said hurriedly as she put Val down beside her and attempted to dust off some of the dirt of her dress. 'How was I unable to sense her? Beastmaster being such a powerful monster lord I should have felt her presence long before I even got to this clearing. And here I am in my nightdress, covered in dirt and making a complete spectacle of myself. If first impressions really are everything then I've effectively shot mine into the dung-heap. Where's Xellos when you actually need him? Then again knowing Xellos he would probably find some way to make this whole thing a thousand times worse, not that it could get much worse'.

Zelas raised an eyebrow at the gold. "My dear, you have been living in my castle for a week by this point, and you still think it was too soon for me to say hello. No wonder the dragons took so long to make decisions, it would take weeks for them to even greet each other, let alone sit down and have an intellectual discussion".

'It just got worse, I see where Xellos gets his habit of belittling dragons from,' Filia silently seethed as Zelas twirled her free hand in the air before a simple white wooden chair with a cushion appeared by the bolder where Zelas sat.

"Take a seat my dear, or are you quite comfortable there on the ground?" Zelas asked Filia, motioning towards her unmoving form.

"Oh, thank you Ma-am," Filia replied in surprise as she rose from her position and sat down in the offered chair.

"Now child, I will ask that you not call me Ma-am, it sounds so old fashioned, call me Zelas".

"Right, of course…Zelas," Filia replied 'I don't know if I'll ever get used to that'.