Author's Note: Waaaah! I'm soooo sorry this took so long. I know I promised to have this up sooner, but I'll admit it - I'm very lazy. I'll try to make sure it never takes 4 months to get a chapter up ever again. I'm really sorry, folks. ~_~

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A young yellow fox looked around the port city he and his mother had just arrived at. Neither of them had never been to any settlement this big before, and it amazed them both. But they had a mission. They had to find someone, and quickly.

"Palu, are you sure he will be here?" the fox woman asked weakly, her body bent over with disease.

"Yes, mother, the man in the last town said he'd be here for the summer festival," Palu replied, putting a paw across his mother's thin shoulders.

"We had better find him soon. I don't know how much longer I can travel like this.." The fox woman's strength was fading fast, especially after so much traveling.

"I know. But he'll know how to help. Uncle Jillas will know what to do. I'll buy you a room at an inn, and then go looking for him. This is a big city, but if he's here, I'll find him. I promise, Mother!"

Taking his mother's arm, Palu lead her to the first decent looking inn he could find, and rented a room. The young fox was very worried. A few months ago, his mother had gotten a strange disease that had weakened her to the point that she couldn't work on the farm anymore. None of the doctors he knew were able to come up with a cure, or even an explanation. In desperation, Palu had sold the family farm and used the money to set out to find the one person he looked up to and knew would have an answer. Unfortunately, all he'd been able to find out was that Jillas was now a traveling entertainer, showing off his skill with gunpowder through fireworks displays. But Palu knew it was all he could do, and that's what made him continue on his search.

That evening, after searching for several hours in the new city, Palu returned to his mother to find her asleep. She was the only family he knew of, since his father had died so long ago. She had raised him to be a good fox that helped other whenever he could, and now he had to help her.

"Mother. I promise I'll get you some help." he whispered and kissed her cheek lightly. Then he curled up on the floor under a blanket and fell asleep.

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"You didn't exactly find your cure, Zelgadis-san? You look normal enough to me." Filia said, a bit confused. Zelgadis certainly didn't look as chimerical as he did before. When Filia had last seen him, his skin was blue and stony, and his wiry hair had seemed to defy gravity.

"Well, Amelia found a very old book of spells in one of the palace's private libraries," Zelgadis began.

Amelia stepped forward and took over the story. "Zelgadis-san and I found someone to translate it, and they said it was a simple spell from long ago for removing spells that had turned people to stone. He also said that it might work to remove the golem nature from a chimera like Zelgadis- san."

"Wow! That was lucky," commented Filia.

Zelgadis nodded agreement. "It was a complex spell, but it worked. Unfortunately, it only removed my golem nature. So I'm still part demon."

"But Zelgadis-san still has all his magic. And pretty blue wings! Show them, Zelgadis!" Amelia smiled happily at Zel.

He rolled his eyes, but said, "Okay, whatever, Amelia." and began to concentrate. After several seconds, Zelgadis fell to his knees, blue- feathered wings coming through his clothing in the back. Amelia applauded, and Valgaav toddled over to touch them.

"Mithter Zelgadis?" the young dragon said cautiously as he reached out his hand.

Zel looked over at Valgaav and smiled. "Go ahead. I don't know why everyone else likes them so much though. I don't see what's so special about wings."

Valgaav was so fascinated by them though that Filia began to wonder. "Does he remember something about his past life? Because as a half Ancient Dragon, Val had wings like that, only they were black.. If he remembers that much about himself, might he also recall his hatred for me?" Filia thought to herself. She shuddered. Every night she wondered what would happen if little Valgaav were to remember his hatred for golden dragons, and dreaded it. She thought she was repenting enough for her race's horrible sin by raising Valgaav, the last of the Ancient dragons.

Zelgadis picked up Valgaav and held the little one gently in his arms, asking, "So, how are you, little guy?" and dispelling Filia's fear.

Valgaav smiled up at Zelgadis. "Happy!" He said with a smile. He then continued, "Mithter Zelgadis, you're wings are purdy."

Amelia grinned at Valgaav and ruffled his hair. "You're so adorable!"

"Zelgadis, couldn't you use a demon banishing spell to remove the demon part of you?" Filia asked, an idea forming suddenly in her mind.

Zelgadis shook his head. "Those sorts of spells are for getting rid of demons possessing people, not the demons themselves."

Amelia nodded as Lina, Gourry, and Jillas came into the room and all sat down on the sofa. There was silence for several seconds, (an amazing thing in the Slayers universe) then Lina suddenly grabbed Gourry's hand and held it to her abdomen.

"The baby's moving, Gourry! Can you feel it?" she exclaimed.

Gourry nodded, growing excited. "Yeah, that's neat, Lina!"

Lina closed her eyes. "It's talking to me.. It's saying. 'I'm hungry'." Filia, Amelia, and Zelgadis sweatdropped.

"We'd better get something to eat right away, Lina! I'm hungry too!" Gourry said.

"Alright! We'll go to that fish place in Seiryuun. Come on, everyone!" Lina jumped up, pulling Gourry up with her.

Filia smiled. "I'll treat you all this time." Lina cheered. Filia knew that it would cost a small fortune to feed her friends, who seemed to have bottomless stomachs, but she was so glad to see them all again that she didn't really mind. It was just like back when they all were adventuring together. She picked up Valgaav and followed her companions outside.

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Ashdar was an old dragon. He'd been alive longer than any other dragon could remember, but there were some Mazoku who still remembered a world without him. He was powerful, and he knew it. You couldn't tell, though, if you saw him sleeping in his cave with his golden head resting on his front paws. Ashdar had lost his family in the fight against the Ancient dragons. He harbored a great hatred for them, but since it was thought they'd been purged from the world, he'd simply withdrawn himself to his cave, only coming out to eat.

This particular day, he was awakened by an unusual scent; one he'd not smelled in years. Opening his now blind eyes and raising his head, he sniffed at the air again. He couldn't possibly mistake the scent of Ancient dragon in the air.

"I thought I'd killed them all." the elderly gold dragon thought to himself. "Oh, well, I can get this one more." He stood, stretched, yawned, and crawled to the opening of his cave.

Ashdar spread his wings and roared in hatred, his fighting blood stirred in his body by the smell of his hated foe. And then he took off, heading for the human city of Seiryuun, where he knew the dragon would be hiding.

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Author's Note: Yup, sorry again about how long that took. I have a lot more time now that it's summer, so hopefully it won't take 4 months to get the next chapter out ^^;;