Chapter 4
Val lifted his head as he heard the shifting noise he'd come to recognize as the sound of Xellos teleporting.
"You're finally back! I thought I was going to die of boredom before you got back." Val said, glancing out the window at the night sky momentarily and then back and Xellos smiled at the young ancient dragon in an amused sort of way. As Xellos was about to speak the sound of stomping footsteps sounded from behind him and he turned to see Filia standing at the bottom of the stairs.
"Oh, hello Filia! It's a nice evening isn't it?" Xellos asked casually and Filia glared at him.
"You are aware that you're not welcome here. Now get out." Filia ordered and Xellos rolled his eyes, turning back to face Val.
"Anyway, as I was about to say Val, you sounded like you haven't seen me in forever. I wasn't gone all that long." Xellos said, completely ignoring Filia. Val got to his feet, stretching.
"Hey you! You need to listen to me!" Filia yelled and Xellos looked over his shoulder at her.
"Yes Filia? Do you have something you need to say?" Xellos asked and she snarled at him, her hand inching toward her mace.
"Val, sit down a minute because I want to discuss something with you." Xellos said, taking a seat at the table.
"Sure, what's on your mind?" Val asked, sitting back down. Filia glared at the back of Xellos' head for a long moment before moving to sit at the table as well, her eyes fixed on Xellos.
"Do you mind, Filia? You're crowding me..." Xellos said, scooting his chair a bit away from her because she was glowering at him. Val waited patiently as Xellos recomposed himself and prepared to speak.
"I wanted to mention that I've been assigned another mission." Xellos said and Val sighed, resting his chin on his palm.
"Another mission? But you just got back!" Val complained but Filia looked slightly hopeful at Xellos' announcement.
"Don't worry Val, this is a different kind of mission. I wanted to know if you'd like to come along with me?" Xellos asked and Val blinked a moment.
"Sure, I'll go with you. What kind of mission is it?" Val asked and Xellos grinned, obviously expecting that question.
"Ah, this is a rather special mission. I've been instructed by Lord Beastmaster to resurrect some old friends." Xellos said and Val furrowed his brow.
"Old friends? Resurrect?" Val echoed.
"Xellos! You wouldn't!" Filia spat.
"Please Filia, let me finish before you begin the screaming. As I was saying, I'm going to resurrect some old friends. Remember how I mentioned the people I had to work with alongside Filia to kill Darkstar? The sorceress Lina Inverse, her companion Gourry, and of course Zelgadis the chimera and Amelia." Xellos explained. Filia stood up from the table, her expression was a mix of rage and disbelief.
"You can't do that, Xellos!" she said, raising her voice.
"Oh, but I can! I know the perfect spell and everything!" Xellos replied.
"That's not what I mean't and you know it!" Filia yelled and Xellos shrugged.
"I'm not just doing this on a lark. The balance of power is greatly tipped in favor of the gods so this is simply a measure to right the balance. It's not like Lina's going to willingly team up with the mazoku, she's more like a rogue force but better that than letting the balance slip." Xellos explained.
"Xellos! You filth!" Filia growled but Xellos' attention had already shifted to Val.
"Oh yes, we will have to do some stealing in order for everything to work as I've planned it. Namely, we'll have to steal Lina's and the other's coffins. You okay with that, Val?" Xellos said.
"I can do that, no problem." Val replied.
"No problem?! Excuse me a moment here but there is a big problem, you can't just go stealing coffins! Val I forbid you to do that!" Filia ordered. Val crossed his arms over his chest and eyed Filia critically.
"Make me. Oh that's right, you can't." he said and Filia balled her fists angrily.
"Come now Filia, you don't expect me to do this all alone? It's hard trying to move four coffins!" Xellos said in a sort of pleading voice.
"Shut up, you! Val, you will not go anywhere with him, especially not to steal coffins, and not with him!" Filia roared at her son who shrugged nonchalantly ignoring her demands.
"Filia, save your voice because forbidden or not I'm going to go." Val said.
"You can't do this!" she said in a strained tone but neither males were paying any attention at that point.
"So, are you up for a little adventure?" Xellos asked jovially.
"Of course, anything!" Val replied and immediately got to his feet, ready to go.
"Where in Cephied's name do you think you're going, Val?" Filia asked, turning to Val who rolled his eyes at her words and cursed under his breath.
"Oh come on Filia! Let him have his freedom! Can't you see you're smothering him?" Xellos said, getting to his feet.
"I'm smothering him? Hah, more like being a good mother trying to keep her son free from your negative influence." Filia shot back and Xellos smirked.
"Oh yes, I'm just such a bad influence, telling him the truth and all." he said sarcastically.
"How do I know you haven't lied to him to and filled his mind with all sorts of rotten ideas?" Filia asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I thought you'd done a good enough job of that myself, Filia. I didn't think it was necessary to delude him any more since you'd done so marvelously." Xellos said and Filia's tail whipped across the floor irritatedly.
"Uh oh, looks like I hit a nerve that time. Well, before this escalates any further come on, Val." Xellos said, grabbing Val by the wrist and teleporting, leaving Filia behind. The two rematerialized up high on a tall building in the midst of a large city.
"That was great back there, you really had her going. So, where is this?" Val asked, looking around.
"This is the city of Seiruun. It is here that Lina and the others are entombed. Are you ready for a bit of thievery in order to get the bodies somewhere safe to work the ritual?" Xellos said and Val grinned.
"This is already shaping up to be more than I bargained for." he said.
"Wanna go back home?" Xellos teased.
"Yeah right, and listen to Filia lecture about how she doesn't want me near you? Forget that! Now, lets get to this mission." Val said and Xellos nodded, looking the city over, his expression thoughtful.
"There, that temple is where they're crypts are." Xellos said, peering across the city at a large temple near the center of the city. Leaping from rooftop to rooftop the pair made their way across the city in the dark of night. They landed on the roof of the temple and Xellos peered about as though looking for something.
"We must be careful not to be spotted by guards." he warned in a hushed voice and Val nodded. Xellos teleported them into the lower levels of the burial chamber, far from where the guards would normally even bother to patrol.
"Okay, now we've just got to steal the coffins, right? But where do we take them?" Val asked.
"I'll take care of that. The main thing is getting them out of Seiruun first, then we can move them where we need them for the ritual." Xellos said, staring about the dark room.
"It's so musty in here..." Val muttered, striding to one of the four coffins set in a row.
"What do you expect it to smell like? Flowers? It's a tomb, of course it's musty. Anyway, we have to figure out how to move them all... If we could take them all at once that'd be preferable." Xellos said, considering this a long moment.
"We could just take the bodies and leave the coffins..." Val suggested.
"No, it would be better to take the coffins. Do you really want to handle a thoroughly decomposed body? Besides, we need them intact and if we dropped an arm or something then we couldn't resurrect them properly." Xellos explained and the idea of carrying a decaying corpse was enough to change Val's mind.
"How many of these do you think you could carry at once, Val? I would think several since you are a dragon after all. Think about how Filia can wield heavy objects easily and she's only a weak gold dragon. As an ancient dragon you should be much stronger, even at your age." Xellos said and Val thought a moment, looking at the coffins.
"I don't know... Maybe two? One on each shoulder or something like that." Val said and Xellos thought a moment.
"And if they were stacked? Could you carry all four?" Xellos asked and Val thought a moment.
"I could try I suppose." Val replied, and then lifted one of the coffins carefully and stacked it on another, and then repeated the act with the other two individual coffins. Val knelt by the first two and lifted them onto his shoulder and then got to his feet.
"I'll give you a hand with these." Xellos said, moving to help Val lift the other two since Val had only one free hand. Once Val had two on each shoulder Xellos took a step back, smiling and nodded approval.
"Okay, let's go!" Xellos said, placing a hand on Val and teleporting them both and the coffins. When the two rematerialized they were in a small forest clearing that Xellos had scouted out previously for the purpose of holding a resurrection ceremony. Val set down the coffins and then sat on the ground to rest a moment.
"Great work, Val! That was flawless! I would've had to make four trips to try and move them all if I'd done this by myself." Xellos said. Val grinned, happy to help Xellos with his mission.
"Now, let's see who's in which coffin..." Xellos said, moving to un-stack the coffins and then stepped up to one of them, opening it. Val glanced over and then turned away, the smell of rot assaulting his senses.
"Well... This looks like it was... Lina... Yep, she's sill got the talismans I gave her." Xellos said, coughing slightly and taking a half step back.
"So, how does this whole resurrection thing go?" Val asked, getting to his feet.
"Well, this is a bit different than your typical resurrection. Normally the party being resurrected would be alive and then would have to be killed before resurrection could take place. Now in this case the ones I need to resurrect are already dead so that changes things a slight bit, that and there is four of them so the spell has to be altered slightly." Xellos replied.
"Go on." Val prompted and then waited for Xellos to continue explaining
"Let's set things up for the ceremony as I explain. We must set the coffins so they face the four cardinal points, North, South, East, and West." Xellos said, temporarily closing the coffin he'd opened and pushing it so that it was lined up with the North. Val assisted Xellos in moving the other three. Xellos examined the coffins and then nodded his approval of their placement. Reaching into his bag he fished out an ornate looking dagger.
"Hold this." Xellos said, placing the dagger in Val's hands and then looked about the clearing for a long moment before a smirk curled the corners of his lips.
"Ah, and it looks like I even have the final ingredient... A live sacrifice..." Xellos said darkly, turning and staring at one side of the clearing.
"What are you talking about, Xellos?" Val asked, looking confused.
"Come out Filia. I know your over there." Xellos said slyly and at his words the dragon maiden stepped from behind a tree, glaring at Xellos.
"Filia! What the hell are you doing here?" Val asked.
"Simple, Val. Filia has been following us since we left." Xellos replied.
"I won't deny it, I have followed you! I knew you were up to something!" Filia said.
"Indeed... And you played right into my hands to become the live sacrifice for the resurrection. Val, give me the dagger." Xellos said, smirking a bit more malevolently. Val looked at Filia a long moment who met his gaze pleadingly but then he sneered, handing the dagger to Xellos.
"And now, Filia.... You will die!" Xellos said, taking a slow step toward her.
"Don't come any closer! I mean it! I'll kill you, Xellos!" Filia screeched. Xellos paused for a moment, glaring at Filia for a long moment before beginning to laugh.
"I'm just kidding, Filia! I don't want to kill you!" Xellos managed to say in-between laughs. Val raised an eyebrow and laughed quietly to himself.
"That isn't funny you scum! Normal people don't joke around like that!" Filia yelled.
"Oh come on, Filia. I think you'd know enough to see that it was all a hoax. That whole sacrifice bit is nothing more than a big myth that humans made up because it sounded scary." Xellos said, finally recomposing himself.
"I knew that!" Filia replied, stamping her foot angrily.
"Sure you did Filia... But I do actually need you here anyway Filia." Xellos said and Filia stared at him.
"I don't need your whole body, I just need to cut off your tail is all!" Xellos said cheerfully, gesturing with the dagger.
"Oh! You JUST need my tail is all?! Just my tail? Are you sure you don't want and arm and leg as well? Why don't you just hack me up already Xellos! You know what? Forget it!! Like hell I'm going to let you cut off my tail!" Filia raged, flailing her arms as she spoke.
"Hah! I got you again, Filia! You really are too gullible! I don't need you at all for this ceremony. I just thought I'd give you a good scare to teach you a lesson for following and not minding your own business. It was worth it too! You should've seen your face when I said I was going to kill you, and then when I said I wanted to cut off your tail. I haven't seen anything so funny in years!!" Xellos said, laughing so hard that he had to prop himself against one of the coffins to keep from falling over.
"Xellos you bastard!" Filia screamed, shaking her fists at him.
"Settle down, Filia. There's no reason to be so angry, I haven't done anything to you. Anyway... I do want to keep things moving and get the ceremony underway. Filia, would you mind not interfering?" Xellos said.
"What do you think!? Of course I'm going to try and stop you." Filia said.
"Okay then, Val would you mind making sure your mother stays put for the duration of the ceremony?" Xellos asked. Val nodded and moved to stand near Filia who warily watched her son. Xellos moved to he intersecting point between the coffins taking a moment to open the coffin lids before gazing about in thought and then raising his arm in the air above him. The clearing was suddenly illuminated by bright light emanating from a glowing sphere.
"It couldn't be... The Claire Bible?!" Filia gasped.
"Indeed it is, Filia! I managed to persuade Milgisea to lend me the Claire Bible just for this ceremony. He was rather agreeable about it too, handed it over without any argument. This is actually what I truly need for the ceremony because it not only informed me how to perform the ceremony but for the ceremony to work the caster must be in possession of the Claire Bible." Xellos replied. Filia grew quiet and watched as Xellos carefully lowered the sphere level with his chest. With his free hand he rolled up the sleeve of his left arm and then ran the blade of the dagger smoothly across his wrist several times, pressing the blade deep. He then dropped the dagger on the ground and held out the wounded arm over the first of the coffins. Ebony colored blood dripped from the wound onto Lina's corpse. Xellos turned, repeating the action with each of the corpses. He then returned to facing Lina's coffin and held his wrist over the Claire Bible, allowing some of his obsidian blood to drip onto it.
"Now! In the name of Lord Ruby Eye and the Lord of Nightmares be reborn!!!!" Xellos said loudly, his voice resonating in the clearing. Closing his eyes Xellos began to chant and dark energy flared around him reaching outward like wisps of flame and enveloping the coffins. Slowly the bodies began to regenerate, the process of decomposure reversing. The spell continued until all at once the four figures in the coffins drew breath. The moment they came to life Xellos broke off the chant, the dark energy receding. Lina sat up abruptly in her coffin, staring around in shock, her crimson eyes becoming catlike with vertical pupils the only noticeable difference from the transformation. The others slowly sat up and gazed about in confusion.
"Wh-where am I? I was dead!" Lina said and then looked up at Xellos who was smiling at her.
"Xellos, what are you doing here? Wait a minute... If I was dead and now I'm alive and you're here... That must mean... You didn't?!" Lina exclaimed and Xellos levitated backwards in the air grinning.
"Of course I did, Lina!" he said.
"Dead? Who's dead? When were you dead?" Gourry asked, staring at Lina who then noticed that her three other companions were there.
"Quiet Gourry! You guys, you're all here too!" Lina said and then looked at the coffin in a creeped out manner.
"Okay, what's going on?" Zelgadis asked, staring around.
"Why don't I explain." Xellos said, gaining the four's attention as they climbed out of their respective coffins.
"Yeah Xellos, that might be nice." Lina said. Filia stared at her former companions in disbelief after not having seen them in well over a thousand years.
"Here goes! Under orders from Lord Beastmaster I have resurrected you as mazoku! How's that?" Xellos asked.
"You what!? What did you go and do that for!?" Lina yelled.
"Huh? What did he do?" Gourry asked, still confused.
"You yogurt brain! You don't know the difference!! Nevermind, Gourry." Lina said, resting her head in her palms.
"So, what gave you the crazy idea to revive us as mazoku?" Zelgadis asked.
"It wasn't my idea! Lord Beastmaster ordered me to do it to balance the power of the mazoku with that of the gods. Of course it was realized that you're not going to actively join forces with the mazoku but your existing as mazoku was still worth resurrecting you." Xellos explained and Lina nodded.
"Oh no... So I'm a mazoku now? But mazoku are bad! What am a gonna do... Oh well, at least I have Mr. Zelgadis..." Amelia sighed.
"You have me?" Zelgadis asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Miss Lina?" Filia finally spoke up and Lina turned to see her standing at the edge of the clearing with Val near by.
"Filia! Wow it's really you!" Lina said cheerfully.
"Oh miss Lina, how could you?" Filia said sadly and Lina raised an eyebrow.
"How could I what?" Lina asked as the others turned to look at Filia.
"How could you let that filth Xellos resurrect you as mazoku!?" Filia wailed.
"What the hell do you mean, Filia! We were dead! It's not like I could tell Xellos not to or stop him or anything. I really wasn't my choice. However the truth is even though I don't appreciate being resurrected without my consent it will be nice to live again! There was still so much for me to do in this world! Food to eat, bandits to kill, treasure to get!" Lina said cheerfully.
"That's the spirit, Lina!" Xellos added in.
"Miss Lina! How can you so casually accept being mazoku! You're horrible!" Filia yelled.
"Don't be such a tight ass, Filia! Sheesh, you're so anal... Aren't you happy we're alive?" Lina asked.
"Well yes but no at the same time, not if it means you're mazoku." Filia replied and Lina rolled her eyes.
"Forget it Lina, Filia's not going to let up on that point. Hey, isn't that Valgaav?" Zelgadis said, staring at Val.
"No guys, this isn't Valgaav any more. He's Val now." Filia explained.
"Oh right, I forgot about him being reborn and all. Hi Val!" Lina said cheerfully.
"Hello, I guess." Val said.
"Well, I guess I should be returning this..." Xellos said, looking at the Claire Bible.
"Wait a minute Xellos! That thing you have there looks just like the Claire Bible!" Lina said, pointing at Xellos.
"Quite deductive, Lina! Actually it is the Claire Bible! I borrowed it from Milgisea to resurrect you." Xellos replied cheerfully.
"In that case could I see that Xellos, I'm sure it would be able to tell me how to cure me." Zelgadis said, looking at Xellos.
"Sorry, I can't do that! I promised Milgisea that I'd only use it to cast the spell and then I'd return it. I told him I wouldn't let anyone else touch it." Xellos said and Zelgadis growled.
"Come on Mr. Xellos, just let Zel see it!" Amelia said.
"Nope!" Xellos said and then tossed the sphere into the air where it promptly disappeared.
"What did you do with it?!" Zelgadis yelled.
"I returned it is all." Xellos said and Zelgadis glared.
"Anyway, why don't we all head back to Filia's shop for a meal?" Xellos purposed, gaining Lina, Gourry, and Amelia's attention.
"A meal? Sure Xellos, let's go!" Lina said.
"It's worth coming back to life to eat again!" Gourry said.
"Hold on a minute! I never gave permission!" Filia said and Lina whirled on her.
"You wouldn't deprive your old friends of food, would you, Filia?!" Lina asked, giving Filia a dangerous grin.
"Well... Um.. No I guess not." Filia sighed.
"All right then! Now that you're mazoku you should all be able to teleport. Just picture being there and you will!" Xellos said, levitating to stand by Val taking hold of his arms and teleporting.
"Oh yeah, that's right! We have powers like him now!" Lina said, grinning.
"You don't intend to use your powers do you, Lina?" Filia asked and Lina rolled her eyes.
"No Filia, we all intend on selling them at cheap prices! Yes we're going to use our powers. We're certainly not walking to your shop from wherever here is!" Lina said, looking at the others who nodded in agreement.
"Fine!" Filia said, teleporting herself back to the shop. After several minutes the others had teleported as well and all gathered back at Filia's shop to eat a meal and discuss what had happened.
"It's nice seeing you after all these years!" Xellos said, smiling at the others.
"Well, you're not exactly the first thing I'd wanted to see after being brought back to life." Zelgadis muttered.
"Actually even though I've been taking all the credit this wouldn't have been possible without Val's help, right Val?" Xellos asked, patting Val on the shoulder and smiling.
"I didn't do all that much." Val said, grinning back at Xellos.
"Don't you put the blame for this on Val! This is all your fault, Xellos!" Filia spat.
"But Miss Filia, it's good that we're alive again! Just because we're mazoku doesn't mean we have to be bad! I intend to use my powers for justice!" Amelia proclaimed, standing on her chair.
"Yeah Filia, there's no reason to be so mean to Xellos." Gourry seconded.
"You're all on his side! This isn't fair!" Filia said, crossing her arms.
"Not that you don't have a nice shop Filia but it's no inn so we'll probably run across the street and lodge at the inn for tonight." Lina said as she finished off the rest of her food.
"Okay Miss Lina. You'll probably be more comfy there." Filia said, smiling. It was hard to hold a grudge after not having seen her friends in years. The group of resurrected comrades shortly after made their way across the street to the inn, checking in for the night.
"So, was this a fun night or what?" Xellos asked Val.
"It certainly was interesting. I can say that much." Val replied, smiling at the violet haired mazoku who watched him.
"Oh sure, fun! Bringing the dead back to life is always a fun activity!" Filia said sarcastically.
"Yep, it is Filia!" Xellos agreed and she ground her teeth becoming enraged.
"I was being sarcastic." she muttered and Xellos shrugged. Val yawned and Xellos looked out the window noting that the moon had risen to it's fullest.
"Oh wow, it's really late! I was having such a good time I lost track of time! I'd better let you two get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning!" Xellos said, teleporting from sight.
"In Cephied's name I swear he drives me crazy...." Filia muttered, letting herself slump
forward on the table as Val got up and left to go to his room.