Dear Diary
By Ice Queen
Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers, all hail the people who
do!
AN: Warning! Try Spoilers! Kinda... My take on the Xelloss/Filia thing, if you don't like
the couple don't read. If you do, well,
tell me what you think, k?
Dear Diary: It's me again. I know I can talk to you, nobody else understands the pressure
I'm under right now! What if I'm
wrong? What if Lina and the others
aren't the prophesied ones? It makes me
tremble to think how I could have ruined the fate of the world this way. And to think! I have to spend time in the company of that... of that namagomi!
Sometimes he
makes me so infuriated that I could just... Ohhh.... I don't know! But then he does something, something
completely unexpected. I guess he just
likes to keep my emotions high, monsters like him enjoy that kind of
thing. He's completely unexpected,
deriving pleasure from my rage, but even stranger, loving to throw me off
balance.
He saved my life once.
I know, he said it was just to throw Valgaav off balance, but he did
save me. I keep telling myself I would
have teleported in time, but late at night, when the wind is slamming against
the shutters and the only sound I can hear is my heartbeat... well, I have my
doubts.
Oh, but he's a hentai!
I swear that he riles me more to see me transform more then to feed off
my anger. You see... *Blush* I have to
get naked in order to change into my dragon form. I really must learn to control my temper, but that... Xelloss
makes me so mad! And I know he's just
as happy to see me hike up my skirts and grab my beloved mace-sama. I wouldn't be surprised to find a twenty
tucked in my garter one day. I just
hope he never thinks of that, I would never be able to live it down!
The others seem to tolerate him, even worse, they
actually seem fond of him! I can
understand Lina... she is slightly evil after all, but even Amelia doesn't seem
to mind him and she's the princess of a holy city! I suppose it helps that Zelgadiss can't stand him either, but
he's nowhere near as tormented, teased, or purposely infuriated by that
trickster as I am.
I must stop thinking of him and get back to my true
goal. We must keep this planet from
being destroyed and find the other weapon of light. I have no time to deal with a meddlesome killer, slayer of
dragons, the one who took out most of my race!! Ohhhh... he makes me so mad!
It was just too tempting to resist, and he had never
passed up temptation. Grinning even
more then usual he quickly yanked the abandoned pink book off her table and
teleported far away.
"Why... Filia-chan, I never knew you
cared!" The sound of his laughter
made the young priestess to wake up with a jerk.
"Wha-what?
Where's my diary?" Her hand
drifted up to her heart as her face paled.
Just as quickly as it had paled it turned bright red, steam coming out
of her ears.
"NAMAGOOMMMMMIIIIII!!!!!!"
***********
"She does have such a high opinion of me, doesn't
she? I must say even I had no idea she felt
so deeply... Perhaps there could be more entertainment to this small dragon
than I had thought..." The
mysterious priest was mumbling to himself, one amethyst eye open, the other
tightly closed.
"A twenty, huh?
How amusing! And here I thought
that she had no sense of humor."
The other eye opened slowly as the smile on his face took an unfamiliar
slant. "We shall see who has the
last laugh, my darling Filia, yes, we shall see."
**********
"Miss Lina, is it just me or is miss Filia acting
even more... unusual then usual?"
Amelia said softly, trying to keep the aforementioned dragon from
hearing.
"What do you mean, Amelia? She seems alright to me!"
Lina said, tossing Amelia's fears aside as though they were all her
imagination. But she's right...
The red-headed sorceress thought to herself, Filia hasn't acted right for
the last week, and there hasn't been a sign of Xelloss anywhere...
Filia, sneezed, wiping her arm across her nose as she
trudged on silently. Her heart was no
longer in the task before her and she couldn't seem to dredge up her usual
enthusiasm for anything. It was rather
odd considering that most times she would have been joyous at the fact that the
mazoku had decided to stop following them around. Yet the fact that she had never gotten her diary back tended to
put a damper on even that high. There
were things in that harmless looking book that could get her excommunicated
from her position as priestess. Several
studies she had done concerning their religious beliefs had made her question
the very grand elder himself. If these
thoughts and theories were to get in the hands of the enemy... who knew what
could happen?
She shook her head, a tremor of fear racing down her
spine. With her diary in the hands of
the very same mazoku that had destroyed millions of her own, it could well mean
the end of dragon kind itself, false teachings or not. Her anxiety got to be too much for her and
she stopped mid-stride, whipping out a tea set and placing it in front of
her. Just as she was about to pour the
teapot was taken out of her reach by a disturbingly familiar lavender gloved
hand.
"Now, now, miss Filia, why don't you allow me to
pour." His smug voice asked,
causing her to stay perfectly still for a second the yank up her skirt and pull
out her beloved mace. Well, she would
have pulled out her mace, but it wasn't there anymore. She gaped down at her leg, her mouth
dropping at the sight of a fifty dollar bill (convert it to whatever type you
want) snugly tucked where the mace was supposed to be.
"Wow Filia!
Where'd you learn that trick?" Gourry asked innocently, causing
even Xelloss to face fault with the rest of the onlookers. Lina, having been the first one to recover,
bonked him soundly on the head.
"That... I... Umm... Darn you namagomi!" Filia cried out, running away from the group
as fast as possible. Tears silently
streamed down her face, though she never even noticed them, with the white-hot
embarrassment she was experiencing.
"Mr. Xelloss that was unjust! I demand you apologize right now!" Amelia shouted, pointing her finger as an
announcement that she was about to start a speech. Before she could though Zelgadiss agreed.
"She's right, you know. Even you should know better then to treat a Priestess of the Fire
Dragon King as a common street walker.
Though I suppose it's only to be expected." Zel would have said more, but said
mysterious trickster had already disappeared.
"Well... I guess we should have seen it coming. He is a mazoku after all." Lina stated,
philosophically. They shrugged, sitting
down to the tea that Filia had left behind.
There was no reason to let it go to waste!
*****
She was curled up against a large tree, silent tears
flowing down her face as she stared off into nothingness. She was such a pathetic sight that something
made him almost regret what he had done... Almost.
"Now now, tears are not befitting in one such as
yourself. Such loveliness should never
be marred by sorrow..." The voice was
husky, drawing the shocked glance of the young dragon up with a gasp. Xelloss stood in front of her, his
handkerchief held out as a sign of well meaning.
"What would you know, anyways? You would have to have a heart to
understand!" She said, shoving the
proffered hanky away and pulling out her own.
It was bright pink and had a tiny golden dragon stenciled in the
corner. He almost laughed, but figured
it might not be the wisest thing to do at the moment.
"That wounds me, Filia-chan, truly. I suppose you golden dragons have the market
on hearts and such, no? Perhaps I might
have one if you were willing to share."
His last words were whispered in her ear, the hot breath running over
sensitive flesh and forcing her to jump with a little more haste then she
wished to show. She jumped to her feet,
glaring at him with the self-righteousness of a million years of good breeding.
"I would never, NEVER share my tea with a namagomi
like you, much less my pure innocent heart!" She shouted, her tail sticking
straight up and her eyes bright red.
"If you ever so much as suggest such a thing I shall hunt you down
and make you pay!"
"You? A weak
little golden dragon, make me pay?" He asked, the incongruity of the
statement sending him into gales of laughter as he rolled on the floor in SD
form. "That is to laugh! Fi-Chan you truly are the most amusing
creature!" He said, between gasping
laughter.
She glared down at
him, remembering that she was still lacking her beloved mace, than turned away,
heading back towards the other with a small huff of contempt. "I suppose it isn't much of a threat to
a cold blooded bastard such as yourself." She stated, unable to keep
herself from glancing backwards once more.
"It would be much better revenge if I were to tell you that I was
in love with you, wouldn't it?
Something akin to Amelia's Life is Wonderful song, no? Too bad Golden Dragons aren't allowed to
lie, isn't it?"
His heart, or whatever took its place in pure evil, had
stopped at the sentence "I was in love with you" and refused to start
up again. He sat there, completely
still as she strutted away casually.
For once, both of them knew who had won the battle this time, and it
wasn't Xelloss.
*******
He sat in his crowded little library in subspace, his booted
feet propped comfortably on his desk and a well worn pink book in his
hands. Every once in a while he would
pound on his chest, disconcerted by the lack of beating that he had grown
accustomed to. He didn't need a
heartbeat to survive, this human body was merely a guise he had achieved in
order to fit in better, but he had grown used to the little details... such as
a timed thudding from his chest cavity.
Xelloss shoved the thought to the back of his mind,
flipping the pages of the book backwards a few times. He didn't know what he found so fascinating about her words. Perhaps the unique way they flowed together,
or the way that her feelings seem to have soaked into the very texture of the
book. No matter, he
thought. Perhaps this shall keep me amused
until my next duty.
Dear Diary.
I don't know why this is bothering me so much. I have to have faith in the prophecy, the Grand Elder has never
truly led me false. It might have
helped had The Knight of Ceifeed been able to explain why I now travel with
this ragged band. Perhaps it is merely
my fate to be stuck with gluttonous heathens that care not about the planets
fate.
I would feel so much safer if they weren't
traveling with a demon. But this is no
ordinary demon. I have heard tales of his
fame and ruthlessness since I was a hatchling.
It's hard to reconcile such a gruesome killer with the harmless
prankster whom he portrays himself as.
He is refined, cool at times and merely acts the
fool to get his desires. I would almost
like him if he were not pure evil. He
has the most, and I shudder to say this, class in the group. His etiquette and manners are as fine, if
not better then those of mine own.
I suppose its no wonder that evil comes with
class. He is rather high on the demon pecking
chain, his mistress must enjoy a properly trained fool.
His heart had begun beating again. He hadn't even noticed while he was reading,
but at the moment it felt as though it were trying to break through the very
ribs that encased it. White-hot rage
had encompassed him at the words 'A properly trained fool.' She had struck too close for comfort in his
opinion and for that she had to suffer.
His dragon would not get away with such impertinence.
He shoved away from his desk, clearing away the room
with a wave, then teleported once more to the mortal playing field, his usual
smile firmly in place.
*********
"I suppose it's only fitting that I would go and
forget to demand my diary back the one time I had the upper hand..." Filia said, her voice no more then a low
mumble lest the others picked up on her words.
"Though it was almost worth it to see that useless namagomi
speechless for once."
"It's true that few catch me off guard like that
my dear Filia!" She jumped,
whipping around to find herself nose to nose with a smirking mazoku. "But fewer still have lived to tell of
it." He finished, enjoying the
slight flush over her cheeks.
"I want my Diary back!" She shouted in his
face, ignoring that subtle threat he had just given. "Give it to me you useless namagomi! And give me back mace-sama while you're at
it!"
"Oh no, my dear dragon." Xelloss said,
pulling the diary from out of his cloak.
"This stays close to the place I should have a heart at. Very close." He said, shoving the book
into hiding once more. Filia screamed,
growing talons that were aimed straight at his face.
He dodged easily, floating in the air and flipping
through the pages of the diary once more.
"I must say it is rather amusing to read, although you have truly
lived an overly sheltered life, haven't you?" He flipped to a certain sketch that he was fond of. "Would this little demon chibi be me
perchance? He is rather adorable if I
do say so myself."
"GIVE IT BACK!" She screamed, clasping her dragon priestess jewel and beginning
to change. Just as she had almost
finished the transformation Xelloss pulled out a camera and started taking
pictures. She stopped, replacing her
clothes quickly, a bright red blush on her face.
"And it was just about to get interesting too...
oh well, these will do to start my new calendar Dragu Babes... Perchance
you have a sister?" He asked,
opening one eye speculatively. She
developed a very pronounced twitch at that moment. "Not that you won't bring customers, my dear. It's just..." He dodged the boulder
aimed at his head and continued. "Men like some variety in their
dragons! Perhaps a brunette? No?
Blue?"
Filia picked up her favorite teapot and hurtled it
straight for the area between his closed eyes, growling when he dodged it once
more. "I see, you're jealous. Now Filia-chan you know you're the only
dragon for me! I'm asking purely for
business reasons!"
"DIE NAMAGOMI!!" She shouted, throwing the nearest thing, which just happened to
be Gourry. "Wait!" she
shouted, before (the irritated by being used only as a prop) Gourry could reach
his destination. She grabbed Gourry out
of the air and yanked the sword of light out of his holster.
"Hey!
That's mine!" Gourry said.
"I'm merely borrowing it to relieve us of an irritation,
Mr Gourry. You may have it back when
I'm through." Gourry nodded,
appeased by her answer. She held it in
both hands, an almost evil smile on her face. "Light... Come...
FORTH!" She shouted, making the
mazoku's eyes open widely.
"I see... I hadn't known you hated me that very
much, Filia..." He stood still, as
though daring her to do it. The light
glowed strongly in her grasp, fueled by both her rage and the great white
energy that she possessed. *Small note: I know the jap name for the sword is
hikaru no ken, or something like that but I don't actually know how to spell,
so Icy cheating^_^*
Filia's hands clasped even tighter around the hilt of
the sword as she pulled it back into a wild swing such as with mace-sama. She swung it slowly in an arch, expecting at
any moment that he would teleport away, yet he stood. His shockingly wild eyes glued to hers as though wanting
something she could never give him. The
sword crept closer, heading for the place he should have had a heart, but never
seemed to reach.
Clank... She dropped the handle to the ground, still
staring into his eerie amethyst eyes, then turned, walking away as though
ashamed. The rest of the group shook
off the trance that had seemed to overtaken them, running up to the place where
Xelloss still stood. Just as they were
about to reach him he teleported away, leaving the group only the sword of
light, still lying where Filia had dropped it.
*********
"I could have killed him... I should have killed
him... Why didn't I kill him?" She
muttered to herself, making a cup of tea out of pure habit. The idea that she had had the chance to kill
her greatest enemy and couldn't follow through went against every bit of dragon
pride that she possessed.
"Perhaps you might miss me?" The oh-so annoying voice asked from
behind. "It's really not that
difficult to admit your feelings. I am
rather hard to resist!" She
turned, finding Xelloss once again close enough to kiss. Not that she wanted to. She scowled, glaring into his eerie eyes. "What?
No smart commentary? No great
put-down? No beautifully uncontrolled
rage? Filia-chan are you sure you're
feeling alright?" He asked,
putting one hand to her forehead to check her temparature.
She suddenly smiled, an evil look that would have
done Xelloss himself proud. "Life
is wonderful, isn't it? Such a
beautiful day to be alive!" He
winced, pulling back into himself.
"Such a glorious day to be near friends!" She was shouting by this time, mercilessly
enjoying his whimpers of pain. She
stopped, bent down to where her lips almost touched the outer ring of his ear
and whispered. "That's what you get for taking away my mace, namagomi. And
until I get the diary and the mace back you can expect more of the
same." She walked away, her tail
twitching triumphantly from the bottom of her skirt.
Something within his twisted little mind began to
grow as he glared at her retreating form.
For some reason he would never be quit of this irritant, and the worst
part was... he had known from the moment he had set eyes on her. L-Sama surely must be punishing him. As soon as he had recovered sufficiently to
teleport, he left, once again to hole up in his tiny library and read the
ever-present diary. He stopped for a
second, a befuddled look on his face as he pounded at his chest once more. There... his heart beat started again. This
was really beginning to be an irritation... Perhaps he might ask Beastmaster
about it, she had made him, after all.
******
Dear Diary:
It has come to my attention that there is an evil presence in our
midst... Yet this is not just any evil presence, this is the one that I have
been warned of from days of old. I do
not know why Xelloss has decided to join my small band of travelers, but such
is true.
This could well be my chance to rectify the wrong
he did to my people. I might, just
might, be able to find his weakness and use it to rid this world of an evil
even greater than... Well... A really big evil guy. You know what I mean. I
would never pass up a chance to kill him! Never! For the lives of the millions he so needlessly killed and for the
glory of my royal race I shall destroy this... this namagomi!
And then I shall save the world. With the help of
Lina and her followers of course. I shall show the Grand Elder that I am no
mere babe!
Xelloss jerked out of his dream-like state and,
re-reading the last sentence, started laughing like a fool. "No mere
babe? Indeed!" When he had recovered his composure he read
on, his lips moving unconsciously with the words, Filia's voice in his head.
I grow weary of his ever-present need to protect
me, to shelter me from the evils of the world.
I know he feels that I should be untainted as one of the royal
priestesses, but he has taken it too far.
There are times when I hear the others whispering, only to have them
stop as I draw nearer. What are they
hiding from me? Why will no one answer
my questions concerning the ancient ones?
All I'm told is that they grew too powerful. I should be satisfied with what I am given. May Ceifeed forgive me for my doubts.
His eyes slowly opened, a speculative gleam shining
out. So even the grand Dragon Priestess
wondered about the superiority of her race... How amusing! Perhaps she wasn't as naive as he had first
believed! He closed the book, pocketing
it back next to the temperamental beating from his chest. He didn't have time for this entertaining
little dance she tried to lead him on, he had to get the last of the weapons
before Lina and the others did... Speaking of which there were a few people
with bad haircuts that he needed to talk to.
Again, the area where he had stood disappeared, leaving behind just a
faint whiff of black.
******
(Later that
evening)
She found her mace waiting in front of her door. A dark purple ribbon tied around it,
taunting her. She reached down, picking
up her beloved mace-sama, and watching as a small scrap of paper fluttered to
the ground.
I have
returned your mace, for this you owe a boon,
In order
for you to receive your diary you must
Trust me in the days to come, even if
It means
your very life.
Forever
your tormentor,
Xelloss
She growled, turning back into her room and slamming
the door shut loudly. From within the
shadows a figured watched, listening to his heart once more. They were drawing near, and he had the
feeling that his lovely little dragon would hold the key to this amusing
puzzle.
It really would be a pity if he had to kill her. For some reason she and this heart thing
seemed to be connected. He touched his
chest, satisfied that at the moment it was beating nicely. As he had thought often before, although he
didn't need it... He had grown accustom to the sound. He walked away, whistling, never noticing the creak of the door
as someone watched him go.
(Epilogue)
She had waited until the small fox had fallen
asleep. They were on their way to
Seirune to start up a shop, the first legitimate job Jilias had ever had, she
only hoped he would refrain from destroying it. After the fight she had found her diary in the same place she had
always kept it, buried under her girdles.
Although she was blushing she was happy enough to have it back that she
refrained from screaming. She flipped
through the pages, trying not to laugh at the little doodles he had drawn of
her in the margins.
"I guess I shouldn't have worried, he already
knew much more about my race then I ever did." She said to the night sky, regret buried deep in her voice. Filia shook it off, flipping to the last
page, surprised to see someone else's writing, though she knew she shouldn't
be.
Dear Filia Ul Copt's Diary: I hope this sees you
well, Fi-Chan. You do know that I will
try to avoid killing you in the future, you provide such entertainment as it
is. There are some things that you wish
to know about your race, perhaps even one day you will be curious enough to
overcome your pride and ask me.
I don't suppose you could explain the human
meaning for the heart, could you? I
suppose I could ask Lina, but she would merely try to find out why I'm
asking. It just seems that whenever
you're near my 'excuse for a heart' as you so love to call it, seems to
stop. In all my many years I have never
had this peculiar problem... It is rather irritating after a while.
No matter, I doubt this shall be the last time you
hear from me. You're rage just tastes
so sweet that I know I shall never be able to help myself. Forever your mazoku, Xelloss
Filia closed the diary slowly, tucking it under her
pillow. L-Sama had surely doomed her,
she thought with a bittersweet smile.
***********
Deep within the Sea Of Chaos a golden laughter was
heard, and all returned to black.
The End