Chapter 33

-Knock knock-

Xellos stood up from his seat on the edge of the bed and walked over to the second door in the room, opening the door revealed a very irritated monstress glaring at him with fiery pink eyes. "Xellos," she said tersely as she walked past him.

"Kerry. Glad to see you could make it," Xellos replied as he shut the door behind her.

"Why though? Why am I always the one being called for this crap? I have other things to do you know!" Kerry snipped, clearly irritated to be here.

"Because Val is comfortable with you. And you can drop the act, I know you have a soft spot for him too. You know she's started calling you aunty K to him in secret," Xellos said as he locked the door and stashed the key away in its usual spot.

"Oh whatever. And aunty K? Really? That's the best she could do?" she seemed to be more disappointed in the name choice rather than the fact that she had it in the first place, but Xellos decided to keep that observation to himself as he left the room with the blue haired girl in tow.

They walked through the house and outside to find Filia on her knees attempting to do some gardening, Val pouncing around chasing random grasshoppers through the tall grass. She looked up as they were walking down the steps, raising her brow in confusion. "Xellos. Miss Kerry? It's nice to see you again but, why are you here?" Filia asked wiping the sweat gathering on her forehead.

"Because stupid dragons be acting stupid. Hey kid! I'm told you can shoot fire now, wanna come show your Supreme Lady your new skills?" Kerry called to Val nodding over her shoulder. Val upon seeing the girl chirped in excitement and bounded towards her, running around between her legs and snagging her cape in his jaws, beginning to tug her towards his 'practice yard' as it was being called now. "Hey hey calm down snapper! This is not how you treat your almighty superior!" Kerry and Val very quickly disappeared from view around the corner of the house, their voices quickly muffled in the distance.

"Hey wait! What? Xellos what is this about?" Filia called out as she set her tools down and began standing up. She had barely gotten to her feet when Xellos had grabbed her hand and began dragging her out of the yard and towards the outer border of her home. "Woah woah Xellos hold on! Stop it! Let me go! What are you doing?" Xellos just kept dragging her as she stumbling behind. Seeing that he was making a beeline for the edge of her protective barrier she began resisting in earnest. "No. Xellos no! Stop it! Hnng I said STOP IT!" She tried digging in her heels and yanking her arm out from his hold, but his stride never faltered and his grip held strong, instead all her efforts got her was Xellos yanking her towards him and lifting her over his shoulders in a fireman's hold, then continuing on his path more briskly as she kicked and screamed at him. "NO! NONONONO LET ME DOWN LET ME DOWN YOU STUPID FIL-!" her screams cut out as he made it outside the barrier and teleported away.

/

They reappeared high above the clouds in the air, Xellos holding Filia to him around the waist, the clouds below obscuring the world beneath them. Filia grabbed a hold around Xellos's neck and held on for dear life. "XELLOS! XELLOS WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" Filia screamed as she stared down in terror at the staggering height they must be at. The wind was fierce and bitingly cold above the cloud cover.

"We're here to stop this nonsense and get you to transform already. Now off you go," he released his hold around her waist, now the only thing stopping her decent was her own grip around his neck.

"Nonononono please Xellos please don't do this! I'm begging you please!" Filia was outright crying in desperation as she held on for all she was worth, her legs kicking in the air as she tried to wrap them around his own. Xellos regarded her tear soaked face, her eyes wide with absolute fear as she begged him. "Please, please Xellos I'm begging you! Please don't make me do this! I can't, I can't do it please!"

Xellos gently held her waist again and brought her in for a kiss, grabbing a hold of one of her hands while he did so. When he broke off the kiss he held her hand off his neck and held her out away from him. "You can do it Filia, I know you can," before she could protest again he let her go and she plummeted down.

"AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Filia screamed as she plunged down through the clouds. Her whole world was rushing winds and grey clouds for a few seconds before she fell through the other side and saw a blue ocean miles below her. She felt like her heart had actually left her chest as she hyperventilated, falling and spinning wildly for a terrifying while until she managed to stop her spin, facing the earth as it came rushing towards her, the winds deafening her to her own screams.

'Oh no oh no oh no, I need, I need to think, come on Filia you can do this, just do it, just transform and fly back up there and kill him. But what if it didn't work? What if it didn't work!? What if I'm less dragon than they think!? What if I can't transform at all!? What if I'm too different now? What if it didn't work!?' Filia continued to plummet to what was looking like her death, tears streaking the sky behind her. 'I can't do it! I can't do it!' The water was getting closer and closer with every passing second as she wallowed in her despair.

Then suddenly Xellos was falling beside her, she looked over to him, his face a blank mask as he stared at her. 'I'm very disappointed in you Filia. I expected more,' she heard him say over the link. Her soul turned cold at his words. He expected more. He expected more!? Had she not done enough already? She had done more in a few short years than what most of her race would do in their lifetime! She aided in the defeat of a demon lord from another world! She was raising the last of an otherwise extinct race of dragons! She had defeated a curse placed upon her at birth that was specifically designed to kill golden dragons that defected!

Time slowed down as Xellos slowly began to reach a hand out for her. She really had done so much, gone through so much. She's done things no other of her kind had even comprehended to be possible. She even dived head first into the unknown when she chose Xellos to be her mate. She had shown she wasn't afraid of the unknown, so why was she hesitating now? Why was she, Filia Ul Copt, letting a fear of an uncertainty control her? She was better than this. She was better than this!

Filia's eyes turned to steel as she pulled away from Xellos's outstretched hand. Angeling away she dove on ahead, facing the oncoming water. Closing her eyes she summoned her powers and shed her human form. She was engulfed in golden light as her body morphed and grew. Finishing her transformation she pulled up sharply, sending a shockwave into the ocean below her as she skirted its surface and pulled up skyward and back up towards the clouds.

Xellos felt boundless pride in his dragon as she soared. Her gold and red mane flying behind her, red trimmed golden wings spreading wide as they caught the wind and carried her upwards. Flying to catch up to her he noticed she had her eyes closed and a look of relief on her draconic features as tears leaked down the red wings of her eyes. 'See? I told you you could do it,' Xellos said over the link. Filia opened her blue eyes that seemed to be sparkling in the sun, giving him a smirk as she turned her head to him, opening her mouth and firing a laser breath at him that he barely managed to dodge away from, exploding on the ocean surface behind him as she took off.

'What was that for?' He asked as he caught up to her.

'You deserved it,' she retorted as she put on a burst of speed, he was legitimately starting to have trouble keeping up with her.

'Why?' he asked as he flew above her and landed sitting down where her neck met her back.

'Because I said so. Now hold on if you want to come with,' Filia responded as she pulled up and flew straight up, quickly making it past the clouds and further up. She kept going until the air grew thin and she felt light headed. She then let her wings go lax and they dove into a free fall. She relaxed into the weightless feeling free fall gave until they broke back through the clouds, righting herself she beat her wings and flipped them around in a large loop. The pull of gravity intensifying for a moment before she overcame it and powered through it. She then twisted them into a spiraling barrel roll, Xellos grabbing a fistful of her mane and hunching down close to her neck to prevent himself being thrown off of her. She eventually stopped the roll and lifted higher in the air, finding an air current to ride on as she glided through the sky.

Xellos's hair was a wind swept mess as Filia glided through the sky, "Feel better then?" He asked as he patted his hair back down, noting the waves of contentment coming from her.

"Mmmm. That was still a horrible thing to do. But, I'm glad you did it, even if I'll hate you forever for it," replied Filia. It felt so good to be flying again. The wind in her face, the slight strain against the membrane of her wings that kept her airborne, to think she almost let herself never feel this again.

Xellos gave her neck a gentle rub, "That's the dragon I love," Xellos said with a smile. Filia felt her own smile form as they slowly began descending down.

"Xellos, mind pointing us to land? It's been so long since I've flown my stamina's not what it used to be," Filia called as she felt her exhaustion begin to take hold, keeping them in the air becoming a greater burden. Xellos pointed her towards the east and she flew where he instructed. Land coming into view a short while later. She saw a cliff face and put the remainder of her energy into flying upwards a bit more to land on top of it. She hadn't even fully touched down when she was enveloped in golden light, Xellos quickly getting off and landing in front of her just in time to catch her as she transformed into her human form and lay unmoving in his arms. The setting sun casting a warm golden light upon her peaceful features and making her hair shine.

"Atta girl. You did good," Xellos said softly as he lifted her into his arms. Filia opened her eyes and looked up at him with a smile, raising a hand to his cheek and bringing them together for a kiss. She then rested her head into his chest as he carried her away, the setting sun at their backs.

...

...

"Are you really carrying me away into the sunset right now?"

"We're walking away from the sunset Filia, keep your facts straight".