Disclaimer: don't own slayers. *cries*

The following morning, Filia ventured out of the safe room to the kitchen.

She couldn't see Xelloss anywhere, to her relief. She grabbed a selection of porridge and cereals, and took them to the safe room. On the way, she stoppped into her room to get a hairbrush.

Xelloss sat crosslegged on her neatly made bed, drinking tea.

"Did you sleep in my bed?!" She exclaimed from the doorway.

"That's a secret." He replied looking at the cereals she held. "Going to make me breakfast in bed?"

"No, because you are ON MY BED!" She growled.

"Then who is the food for? All for yourself? Selfish dragon."

"It's for Phylis." She replied haughtilly, going and opening the door to the safe room. "If I bring Phylis out, will you go away?"

"That depends." Xelloss shot a one eyed glance at toward the room he couldn't enter. "It all depends on whether 'Phylis' is why I'm here, doesn't it?"

"You stay right here. I'll fetch her." Filia said sternly, putting the food on the dresser and going to the safe-room. She came back a few minutes later, a small golden haired child, dressed in a long Navy blue dress at her side. By human standards, the child looked about 3. She had shoulder length hair and deep, dark blue eyes. she looked older than she was though. Phylis was only four months old.

Xelloss slipped off the bed and crouched by the child, so he was still looking down on her. Filia clutched her mace tightly. One wrong move by that mazoku and he'd experience a mother's wrath.

With a single finger-tip, he lifted the child's chin to look her straight in the eyes. She shied away a little from his piecing stare, but was held firmly in place, by his other hand on her shoulder and his hand gripping her chin. His attention seemed to flicker to some unseen force around and within the girl. Filia began to worry, she reached out to grab Phylis, but Xelloss relented his grip first, letting the girl scamper and hide behind her mother.

"Now you leave." Filia said.

Xelloss stood up, and calmly sat on her bed again.

"She has a good heart. Why would I be interested in her?" he looked at Filia darkly, with dangerous narrow eyes. "I want the other one." he added with an edge.

"Other... one?" Filia stammered, shooing Phylis back to her room. "You mean... Val?"

"Don't play games with me dragon-girl."

Filia gulped. Now it was certain Xelloss knew, she had little, if any choice.

"If I bring him to you, what will you do?"

The glare she recieved scared her enough to run back to that room and fetch what Xelloss desired.

Slightly taller, stockier, older looking than his sister, the boy had waist length black hair that looked blue in some lights. He was dressed in what were once a smart pair of trousers and a shirt, both of which were now covered in mud and torn. Filia held his hand tightly as he tried to pull away from her.

"Eros, no!"

"Eros..." Xelloss mused. "Ironic... Let him go Filia."

She didn't let go.

"If you do anything to him..."
Eros broke free of her grip and ran over to see the stranger sitting on his mother's bed. He circled the bed uncertainly, then suddenly plopped down to sit on the edge looking between the two.

Xelloss waved his hand over the child's head and grinned.
"that's the one." With that he floated up to the window. Eros jumped up and screamed.

"MAMMY! HE FLIES WITHOUT WINGS! MAMMY MAMMY!" Faster than Filia could stop him, he jumped to grab on to Xelloss, however, faster than the child he warped behind Filia.

"Have a problem with him then?" He murmered in Filia's ear.

"No kidding." Filia sighed as Eros landed hard and took his frustrations out on the wall around the window. He knocked the shutters off the wall then began to rip up Filia's nightdress, that had been neatly laid out by the bed. Xelloss smirked and folding his arms.

"You should be careful, or people might think he's a mazoku."

"Me being one of them." Filia replied, lifting Eros off her bed and standing him on the floor before her and Xelloss. "BEHAVE!"

Eros pouted then pointed at Xelloss.
"He's funny! He got funny clothes eyes and hair and flies better than you mammy." Xelloss couldn't resist. He hovered in the air, then floated upside down. "see mammy!"

"Eros, wait outside. I want to talk to the man." The child slammed the door as he stomped out of the room. Filia glared at Xelloss, only momentarilly distracted by a crashing from outside.

Xelloss, still crosslegged and upsidedown in the air cocked his head to oneside as he asked innocently,
"What?"

"You've seen him. So leave."

"Or you'll do what?" he asked, turning the right way up and floating infront of he face. "What?"

Filia paused to think, there wasn't anything she could do.

Xelloss vanished as she considered her options, leaving his voice in the air.

"I'll be back when you've had time to think about this. You may want to consider Phylis'safety." And with an evil cackle his voice faded away.