Chapter 1
Loosing the One You Love
By: Kaivie Willowroot
Filia woke up with a start as she sat bolt upright in her bed in the pottery shop. She panted in fear as the light through her pink curtains flickered through and danced on her matching bed sheets and her arms. Her heart calmed as she realized that everything she just went through was a dream, a non-reality.
She stepped out of her sheets, pulling on a robe over her and stepping out the door. The sun was well into the morning sky, lighting the shop nicely.
Well, I slept in a lot longer than I thought.
"Mom, breakfast is ready." Down the stairs was Val, having grown quite quickly in the past few years. He looked about ten in human years, standing at the bottom with some, slightly burn, pancakes with syrup.
"Thank you, dear." Filia took the plate and smiled down at him, taking her seat at the table where there was some tea already made for her. She sighed, feeling a little strange inside, feeling as if there was something different…like what she was doing wasn't real but was…she could never quite put words to it, but the feeling happened often.
Speaking of feelings, a rather creepy one began to crawl up the dragon's spine…
"Hello, Xelloss-san! Would you like some pancakes?" Val smiled at the mazoku who had suddenly appeared behind the blonde, who smiled back in return.
"Ah, hello Val-kun. Ooo, pancakes, don't mind if I do." The purple haired priest sat beside the young ancient and waited as Val put a couple of the slightly burnt pancakes onto a plate and smothered them in syrup.
All the while Filia was fuming silently. I know I always
taught Val to be polite…BUT WHY HIM! The huffing and puffing that occurred
when she explodes out loud even occurs in her thoughts. He always said that
if he was to be polite to everyone else, he was included…I have to admit though,
Xelloss is friendly with Val…but probably because it's on some sort of hidden
agenda!
Xelloss turned his face to Filia once her mental fuming finished, and smiled a little wider. "Well, Fi-chan, how are you?" Xelloss asked, with a strange edge to his voice.
Filia really looked at him, observing the mazoku's face, trying to determine what was off about him. Funny… She thought he looks like he's tired, come to think of it. I wonder what could possibly bother him that much.
She cleared her throat and looked back to her plate. "I'm…fine."
"You don't sound like it."
"I didn't have a very good night's rest, that's all. Like it's any of your business." She growled the last part, viciously stuffing her face with pancakes.
There was silence, surprisingly. Filia looked up to see that his eyes were open and curiosity was written all over them.
"I must be going…I have something to attend to…" Xelloss suddenly leaned back in his chair, and when it fell forward, he was gone.
"How rude…" Filia muttered.
"Gimme that, Gourry!" Lina yelled, grabbing the hunk of turkey that was left on his plate.
"No way!" He yelled back. A fight proceeded to follow as loud exclamations and empty food plates were flung about.
"Why does the day always begin and end with this sort of scene?" Zelgadis muttered, sipping his coffee glumly and looking a moody as possible.
Amelia sighed contentedly, her head resting in her folded ares, eyes closed and a cat like smile across her face. "This place is so quite. It's nice…well, with the exception of Lina-san and Gourry-san, that is, but no matter."
The group continued on with their night, proceeding normal as usual (well, normal for them) until later at night when they were about to proceed to bed. The front door bursted open, and a tall blonde woman with sunken eyes and a thin face stumbled in.
"Filia!" Lina ran up to her and held on to her friends elbow. "What happened to you?"
"Val…" Filia choked, obviously weak, "I..he's gone. Someone took Val." She collapsed in an exhausted heap, leaving Lina and the others to help her up into a room.
Filia woke up a few hours later to find several worried faces looking at her…well, mostly Lina and Amelia, Gourry was staring off into the distance and Zelgadis was making a point of looking sulky.
"Uhhhhhhh…" Filia moaned, her head was pounding and her eyes stung from the small amount of light that illuminated the room.
"Are you all right, Filia-san?" Amelia placed the back of her hand on the dragon's forehead in a motherly gesture to check her temperature.
"Val…someone took him. A week ago, I heard him crying, so I went to go check on him. When I opened the door, a bright flash of light blinded me, and suddenly…he was gone. He kept calling to me…" Filia sobbed, feeling hopeless as she remembered the incident. "'Mommy…'" Filia cried harder, feeling her whole body tremble from her gasps for air.
Amelia was holding her right now, looking worriedly from one friend to another.
"Do you have any idea who might have taken him?" Zelgadis asked quietly, actually hinting his concern. "Any clue at all."
Filia suddenly clenched her fists as she looked at Zelgadis with tears rimming her eyes. "That…NAMAGOMI! I am almost positive it must have been him. He visited us earlier that day, but he was acting strange. I thought he was up to something. He took my Val!" She wailed, the tears coming down in a new shower.
Like speaking of the devil, Filia felt an eerie, evil tingle all over her body as the mazoku materialized in the shadows of the room.
"That's ridiculous, I didn't take Val." He kept his whole body in the shadows, a silhouette clutching to a staff with both hands.
"Why should I believe you! You're evil, like you tell the truth!" Filia got to her feet, but was still woozy from lack of sleep, and stumbled as she went to charge Xelloss. Strangely, as she fell one of his gloved hands caught her and helped her gain her balance. But in the action, it brought his face to the light, and he was looking far more sickly than the last time she saw him, his eyes were closed but the smile was gone.
Amelia leaned toward Lina and whispered, "Lina-san, even though Xelloss-san is a mazoku, I never recall him ever lying to us. At least not a direct out-right lie. He would rather twist things around, wouldn't he?"
"That's true, but it doesn't mean that his master didn't take Val or something. Xelloss just merely stated that he did not take him. Is it just me or does he look as torn up as Filia?" Lina examined the priest closely as he came into the light.
"Don't touch me namagomi!" Filia yelled, pulling away from him as he sighed.
"Listen, Filia. I did not take Val. I have no interest in the child and he is not the reason why I am here, though it does bring up and interesting point to all this." He rambled, opening his eyes lazily as he talked. It was like he wasn't up to being himself.
"Lina…" Gourry finally spoke, poking Lina in the shoulder.
"What is it, Gourry?"
"Who's that?" He asked, pointing to Xelloss.
Xelloss sweatdropped as he looked at the swordsman and laughed a little. "Never fails, does he?"
"THAT"S XELLOSS YOU IDIOT!"
"Oh, and who's she?"
"THAT'S FILIA!"
"Ok…and who's Val?"
Lina yelled something incoherent as she clobbered him over the head. "Just shut up!"
"Xelloss-san, are you feeling well?" Amelia asked, looked at him with slightly worried eyes.
"I've been better." He muttered, looking at Filia. "How long has Val been gone, Filia?"
"He disappeared the night you came over, mazoku." She growled.
"For the last time, I didn't take him, but I might know who did." He looked at her with a serious set to his face, using both hand to hold him up against his staff.
"Out with it, already." Zelgadis muttered loudly, getting irritated by the drama Xelloss seemed to insist on playing.
"Well, there is reason to believe, I think, that the same person who took Val is the same person who took my master." His eyes looked hallow, like they lacked any sort of spark for anything.
They always had that evil gleam in them, or a mischievous one, whenever they were open. But they have…nothing. Filia thought to herself, her natural concern for others kicking in for the moment.
"Wait…someone took Ju-ouu-sama? What's going on?" Lina exclaimed, not quite believing what she heard. "How long has she been gone?"
"Well, two weeks. I…can't find her." Xelloss looked down and closed his eyes, trying to hide his worry from Lina and the others. I feel so weak…what's happened to me?
"Do you think shes…ummm…." Amelia was trying to step lightly around saying something so traumatic to him, assuming that the Beast Master was probably the only person he loved, if he was capable of such an emotion.
"Dead?" Xelloss finished for her. "No, not dead. If she was, I wouldn't have my capabilities still, I think…I don't know anymore. The mazoku are disappearing and I have no idea where they are going." He walked over to a chair in the room and sat heavily.
"A pity…" Filia muttered sarcastically, sitting on her bed and rubbing her forehead.
"If they are disappearing, why are you still here, Xelloss?" Gourry asked suddenly, an actual thoughtful one on his part.
"I don't know. There are still some of us out there, but a major majority is gone now. Dolphin and her minions were the first to go…though her vanishing isn't much of a change. Besides, the woman is bonkers."
"But…Val isn't a mazoku. Why would the same people take him if they are only after mazoku?" Amelia asked, looking a little perplexed.
"Because whoever is after the mazoku, is after the dragons also." Xelloss put simply.
"WHAT?" Filia's head snapped in his direction, her eyes large. "How do you know that?"
"Simple, the dragons were vanishing before the mazoku. My master, when she was still with me, asked me to investigate. So I went, and noticed that they were indeed going at a very alarming rate. Shortly after my master was taken, and I began to search for her. I decided to look over the dragons and see if I could find out who was taking them, that maybe they could lead me to my master. Well, it lead me to nothing. I decided to check on you, to see if you and Val were still there, and to my surprise you were. What I don't understand is why did they only take Val, and not you too Filia." Xelloss wasn't used to such long winded answers, he sighed again and clutched his head in his hands.
Filia feel back, speechless. "The dragons…are…vanishing?"
You two are next… the whisper came into both of their minds at the same time, quite unexpectantly.
"Get out of my head!" Filia yelled, clutching her temples and hiding her face.
Xelloss snapped his head toward Filia at her out of nowhere demand. He wasn't startled by the voice because he was often spoken to in his mind by his master, but…
"Filia, what did you hear?" Xelloss asked, getting up and standing in front of her.
"None of your business namagomi." She whispered, holding her head still.
"You two are next…" Xelloss said, mimicking the whisper.
"YOU! YOU ARE THE ONE TALKING TO ME IN MY HEAD?!"
"What's going on?" Amelia asked, looking between the two with confusion.
"Don't ask, and don't get involved yet…either of you." Zelgadis added as he saw Lina make what would look like an attempt to intervene.
Xelloss smacked his forehead in frustration. "No, you idiot. That voice has been talking to me too."
"You mean…that dream…" Filia asked, drifting off as she thought.
"Wasn't a dream. I don't sleep, really, it happened to me while I was traveling though the plane." He closed his eyes and scratched the back of his head. "We're next, huh? Yare yare…if they can take my master, I doubt we will be much trouble Filia."
"Yeah….wait, you saw the same dream? With the shifting figures and stuff?"
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"YOU SAW ME NAKED! NAMAGOMI!!!"
