"What was that all about?" Lina asked no one in particular.
"Maybe she had a bad dream," Filia suggested.
"Must have been a pretty bad dream to get her wailing like that..."
Amelia sniffed the air slightly and cringed a little. Now that everything had become calm again, she noticed the weird odor in the air. It wasn't unpleasant, just very strong. It kind of reminded her of perfume only a little more pungent. "What's that smell?" she more thought outloud then asked.
The other woman paused and sniffed as well. "Hey, yeah, what is that?" the red head chorused.
"What? I don't smell anything," the blonde insisted.
"Do you smell it too, Miss Destiny?" the princess inquired. The ice woman nodded. The other women paused to think. Amelia glanced at her companions and really looked at them for the first time since their abrupt awakening. "Miss Filia, are your lips swollen?"
Her comment caused Lina to stare at the dragon woman as well. "You look flush too. Are you sick?" the red head questioned.
Unconsciously, Filia reached up and rubbed her face and lips. They didn't feel swollen to her, though her skin felt a little warmer the usual. "I feel just fine."
"Yeah, well, you look kind of weird, like you have a lot of make up or something on."
The blonde walked over to the mirror in the room. What could they possibly be talking about? 'If that namagomi did something to me last night...' Her thoughts trailed off as she saw her reflection. Just as Lina and Amelia had pointed out, her lips were a deep shade of red a looked a little bigger. Her cheeks were flushed a soft pink as well. She stared unblinking for several long moments before fainting.
~~~~~
"Filia's hot? Does she have a fever or something?" Xaina inquired innocently.
"No, she's in heat, not hot... well, if you ask a male dragon she is probably quite hot right now... but that's not what I'm getting at," Xellos tried to explain.
"But isn't heat just another word for hot?"
"Well yes it is... maybe I should l try explaining this another way. Xaina, have you ever wondered where babies come from?"
"No."
"Would you like to know?"
"No, not..."
"Great! Good to hear you're curious! You'll need that curiosity in the years to come! Your four years old and it's time you learn the facts of mortal breeding practices... I'll teach you about monsters' when your older and a little more mature."
~~~~~
Filia rubbed her aching head. Lina and Amelia had helped her to a bed to sit just as she had been regaining consciousness. "Miss Filia, are you alright?" Amelia asked with great concern.
"Yeah, I think so," the former priestess sighed. "I just had the strangest vision..." Her eyes spotted the mirror again. A moan escaped her lips. "No, this can't be happening."
"What?" the women inquired at the same time. Even Destiny seemed a little curious as to what was going on, though she said nothing.
"I'm... I'm... I'm..." Filia whimpered.
"Your what?"
"I'm... I'm... I'm..."
"Oh, just spit it out already!" Lina growled.
"I'm in heat!" the blonde cried. Lina and Amelia exchanged confused glances and then urged her to continue. "I'm suppose to take a mate and have children."
"Oh..."
~~~~~
Xaina floated a few feet further away from Xellos. Now that she was out of the room, she was beginning to feel a little better. "That's gross!" she snapped.
The trickster shrugged. "That's just part of what happens. You wouldn't be here if your parents hadn't done that."
"I don't care! That's just disgusting! Why would anyone WANT to to stick their tongue in someone else's mouth!?! Think of the germs! The cooties!"
"You don't get sick by kissing people, Xaina... actually, there was this one time... but that's not important. Now come back down here. I still have more to teach you..."
"I don't wanna know the rest!"
"You have to learn it sooner or later and now is as good a time as any. Why, by your age, I already knew the breeding capabilities of half the species on this planet."
"I don't care what you knew! I don't wanna know more!"
"Aren't you the least bit curious?"
The neko child crossed her arms together and gave him a pouty look. "Not at all."
"Well, that's too bad because you're learning it anyway."
~~~~~
"So... ah, how exactly would you, ah, go about getting a mate?" Lina hesitantly inquired.
"Normally, he would be within my own area..."
"Which isn't exactly possible now. So what do you do if this happens?"
"This doesn't happen!" Filia snapped as she leaped to her feet. She glared at the red head.
Lina put up her hands defensively and smiled nervously. "Hey, whoa, calm down Filia. I'm just trying to help here." She waited a moment for Filia to cool her temper again. The dragon woman snorted and plopped back down on the bed. "Ok, so you don't have a group of dragons around. Just don't take a mate. You do go through this more then once in your life, right?"
"Yes," Filia sighed and she covered her face with one hand. The other hand supported her elbow. "But I have to take a mate."
"Why? Is there like some sort of law that says you have... to... There is, isn't there?" Filia nodded weakly. "Oh, great," the sorceress grunted sarcastically.
"I don't have to have children but I do have to take a mate. Every dragon maiden must take a mate during her first blood fever..."
"Blood fever?" Amelia inquired as she dried her face off after washing it.
"Being in heat," the blonde explained. "Dragons call it blood fever. If I don't take a mate now, I'll never be allowed to have one."
Lina massaged her temples while she processed the information. "In other words, we have to find some gold dragon who's willing to put up you for the rest of his life... Not that living with you would be bad or anything," the red head quickly added as she caught sight of Filia's blood curdling stare.
"Aren't there a lot of gold dragons at Dragon's Peak?" the princess broke in.
"Dragon's Peak? Hey, yeah! That isn't even too far from where we are, I think. Maybe two weeks walk. It'd be a lot less for a dragon who's flying there, I'm sure. You can catch up with us afterwords and bring whoever get's su--lucky enough to have you as his bride."
"Go there? Alone?" the blonde whimpered.
"Uh, yeah. We still have to get to Saillune, remember?"
Fear swept over Filia's face. "I can't go alone!"
"Why, Miss Filia?" Amelia questioned.
"Because Xellos will follow me!"
Lina and Amelia blinked several times in confusion. "Why would Xellos follow you? He doesn't have anything to gain from making you crazy while your getting a husband. I can't imagine he has any orders to follow you exactly, either. He has absolutely no reason to go after you," the petite woman pointed out.
"It has nothing to do with gaining anything or orders."
"What then?"
Filia hesitated. She wasn't exactly sure she wanted to tell them about it. Some parts of the blood fever were quite disgraceful to her people. Her mind reasoned that they would figure it out anyway, so it was better if she just told them. "Well, you see," she began. She rubbed one arm as if it were sore and kept her eyes to the ground. "When a dragon has the blood fever, she let's out a whole bunch of pheromones in the air..."
"We noticed."
"And, well, that kind of makes her seem more attractive to male dragons... and..."
"And what? I don't see how this has anything to do with Xellos."
"Welllll... it kind of makes monsters have the same effects as human get with certain drugs..." she mumbled.
"Xellos can get high off your scent?" Lina demanded. Filia nodded weakly. Her sapphire eyes were still focused on the ground. Had her cheeks not already been bright red, the other women would have noticed her blushing. "Explains what happened to Xaina this morning. Aren't dragons and monsters suppose to be bitter enemies?" Again, Filia nodded. "They why the hell would you develop something that would attract your enemies to you!?!"
"It's not like we like it!" Filia snapped back. "It's the reason many dragon maidens were kidnapped and killed by monsters! If any of us could change it, we would! Oh! I hate this!" she cried and flopped back on the bed.
~*~*~
Zelgadiss sipped his coffee quietly in the common room of the inn. The place was almost deserted, save for two or three early risers and a waitress. The chimera preferred things this way. Being alone was the ideal setting as far as he was concerned, but he usually made himself content when there were a handful of other people there. The coffee was pretty good this morning. It wasn't too bitter and not too sweet. It was perfect for beginning the day.
Of course, that was not how his day had begun. The sun hadn't even come up when his day started. It began when the little brat Xellos always had with him had started screaming and crying. Someone had made her stop, but then the Lina, Amelia, and Filia had started talking about something and ended up yelling at each other. Gourry had somehow managed to sleep through the whole thing, much to the chimera's annoyance. Well, he seemed to have half woken up when the kid started wailing, but then drifted right back off. Zel had been tempted to wake the swordsman up just so he wouldn't be the only who had to listen to the women carry on next door, but then remembered this was Gourry; nothing short of Lina being badly hurt put Gourry in a bad mood for long.
His mind drifted back to the "discussion" the females in his traveling party had been having earlier. He had distinctly heard Filia yell something about Xellos following her. Didn't he always follow her so he could annoy her? Hadn't Xellos once mentioned something about her giving him the best meals? Why should she be so much more upset about it now...
"Ah, Zelgadiss!" Zel choked on his coffee when the monster in question appeared right in front of him. "Just the person I was looking for!" Xellos chirped in his usually smug voice. "I need you to watch her for me while I do a little... research." The trickster dropped Xaina in the chimer's free hand and then disappeared. Zel blinked several times as he stared at the child suddenly placed in his care.
__________________________________________________________
(*shudders* Something about Xellos explaining the birds and the bees just scares me. I wonder how traumatized Xaina is going to come out of this? *starts grieving for the poor child's innocence* Anyway, I'm off to write the next chapter and I have no idea what is going to happen yet. Please review. I love reviews. They give me something to live for... something besides school, anyway.)
"Maybe she had a bad dream," Filia suggested.
"Must have been a pretty bad dream to get her wailing like that..."
Amelia sniffed the air slightly and cringed a little. Now that everything had become calm again, she noticed the weird odor in the air. It wasn't unpleasant, just very strong. It kind of reminded her of perfume only a little more pungent. "What's that smell?" she more thought outloud then asked.
The other woman paused and sniffed as well. "Hey, yeah, what is that?" the red head chorused.
"What? I don't smell anything," the blonde insisted.
"Do you smell it too, Miss Destiny?" the princess inquired. The ice woman nodded. The other women paused to think. Amelia glanced at her companions and really looked at them for the first time since their abrupt awakening. "Miss Filia, are your lips swollen?"
Her comment caused Lina to stare at the dragon woman as well. "You look flush too. Are you sick?" the red head questioned.
Unconsciously, Filia reached up and rubbed her face and lips. They didn't feel swollen to her, though her skin felt a little warmer the usual. "I feel just fine."
"Yeah, well, you look kind of weird, like you have a lot of make up or something on."
The blonde walked over to the mirror in the room. What could they possibly be talking about? 'If that namagomi did something to me last night...' Her thoughts trailed off as she saw her reflection. Just as Lina and Amelia had pointed out, her lips were a deep shade of red a looked a little bigger. Her cheeks were flushed a soft pink as well. She stared unblinking for several long moments before fainting.
~~~~~
"Filia's hot? Does she have a fever or something?" Xaina inquired innocently.
"No, she's in heat, not hot... well, if you ask a male dragon she is probably quite hot right now... but that's not what I'm getting at," Xellos tried to explain.
"But isn't heat just another word for hot?"
"Well yes it is... maybe I should l try explaining this another way. Xaina, have you ever wondered where babies come from?"
"No."
"Would you like to know?"
"No, not..."
"Great! Good to hear you're curious! You'll need that curiosity in the years to come! Your four years old and it's time you learn the facts of mortal breeding practices... I'll teach you about monsters' when your older and a little more mature."
~~~~~
Filia rubbed her aching head. Lina and Amelia had helped her to a bed to sit just as she had been regaining consciousness. "Miss Filia, are you alright?" Amelia asked with great concern.
"Yeah, I think so," the former priestess sighed. "I just had the strangest vision..." Her eyes spotted the mirror again. A moan escaped her lips. "No, this can't be happening."
"What?" the women inquired at the same time. Even Destiny seemed a little curious as to what was going on, though she said nothing.
"I'm... I'm... I'm..." Filia whimpered.
"Your what?"
"I'm... I'm... I'm..."
"Oh, just spit it out already!" Lina growled.
"I'm in heat!" the blonde cried. Lina and Amelia exchanged confused glances and then urged her to continue. "I'm suppose to take a mate and have children."
"Oh..."
~~~~~
Xaina floated a few feet further away from Xellos. Now that she was out of the room, she was beginning to feel a little better. "That's gross!" she snapped.
The trickster shrugged. "That's just part of what happens. You wouldn't be here if your parents hadn't done that."
"I don't care! That's just disgusting! Why would anyone WANT to to stick their tongue in someone else's mouth!?! Think of the germs! The cooties!"
"You don't get sick by kissing people, Xaina... actually, there was this one time... but that's not important. Now come back down here. I still have more to teach you..."
"I don't wanna know the rest!"
"You have to learn it sooner or later and now is as good a time as any. Why, by your age, I already knew the breeding capabilities of half the species on this planet."
"I don't care what you knew! I don't wanna know more!"
"Aren't you the least bit curious?"
The neko child crossed her arms together and gave him a pouty look. "Not at all."
"Well, that's too bad because you're learning it anyway."
~~~~~
"So... ah, how exactly would you, ah, go about getting a mate?" Lina hesitantly inquired.
"Normally, he would be within my own area..."
"Which isn't exactly possible now. So what do you do if this happens?"
"This doesn't happen!" Filia snapped as she leaped to her feet. She glared at the red head.
Lina put up her hands defensively and smiled nervously. "Hey, whoa, calm down Filia. I'm just trying to help here." She waited a moment for Filia to cool her temper again. The dragon woman snorted and plopped back down on the bed. "Ok, so you don't have a group of dragons around. Just don't take a mate. You do go through this more then once in your life, right?"
"Yes," Filia sighed and she covered her face with one hand. The other hand supported her elbow. "But I have to take a mate."
"Why? Is there like some sort of law that says you have... to... There is, isn't there?" Filia nodded weakly. "Oh, great," the sorceress grunted sarcastically.
"I don't have to have children but I do have to take a mate. Every dragon maiden must take a mate during her first blood fever..."
"Blood fever?" Amelia inquired as she dried her face off after washing it.
"Being in heat," the blonde explained. "Dragons call it blood fever. If I don't take a mate now, I'll never be allowed to have one."
Lina massaged her temples while she processed the information. "In other words, we have to find some gold dragon who's willing to put up you for the rest of his life... Not that living with you would be bad or anything," the red head quickly added as she caught sight of Filia's blood curdling stare.
"Aren't there a lot of gold dragons at Dragon's Peak?" the princess broke in.
"Dragon's Peak? Hey, yeah! That isn't even too far from where we are, I think. Maybe two weeks walk. It'd be a lot less for a dragon who's flying there, I'm sure. You can catch up with us afterwords and bring whoever get's su--lucky enough to have you as his bride."
"Go there? Alone?" the blonde whimpered.
"Uh, yeah. We still have to get to Saillune, remember?"
Fear swept over Filia's face. "I can't go alone!"
"Why, Miss Filia?" Amelia questioned.
"Because Xellos will follow me!"
Lina and Amelia blinked several times in confusion. "Why would Xellos follow you? He doesn't have anything to gain from making you crazy while your getting a husband. I can't imagine he has any orders to follow you exactly, either. He has absolutely no reason to go after you," the petite woman pointed out.
"It has nothing to do with gaining anything or orders."
"What then?"
Filia hesitated. She wasn't exactly sure she wanted to tell them about it. Some parts of the blood fever were quite disgraceful to her people. Her mind reasoned that they would figure it out anyway, so it was better if she just told them. "Well, you see," she began. She rubbed one arm as if it were sore and kept her eyes to the ground. "When a dragon has the blood fever, she let's out a whole bunch of pheromones in the air..."
"We noticed."
"And, well, that kind of makes her seem more attractive to male dragons... and..."
"And what? I don't see how this has anything to do with Xellos."
"Welllll... it kind of makes monsters have the same effects as human get with certain drugs..." she mumbled.
"Xellos can get high off your scent?" Lina demanded. Filia nodded weakly. Her sapphire eyes were still focused on the ground. Had her cheeks not already been bright red, the other women would have noticed her blushing. "Explains what happened to Xaina this morning. Aren't dragons and monsters suppose to be bitter enemies?" Again, Filia nodded. "They why the hell would you develop something that would attract your enemies to you!?!"
"It's not like we like it!" Filia snapped back. "It's the reason many dragon maidens were kidnapped and killed by monsters! If any of us could change it, we would! Oh! I hate this!" she cried and flopped back on the bed.
~*~*~
Zelgadiss sipped his coffee quietly in the common room of the inn. The place was almost deserted, save for two or three early risers and a waitress. The chimera preferred things this way. Being alone was the ideal setting as far as he was concerned, but he usually made himself content when there were a handful of other people there. The coffee was pretty good this morning. It wasn't too bitter and not too sweet. It was perfect for beginning the day.
Of course, that was not how his day had begun. The sun hadn't even come up when his day started. It began when the little brat Xellos always had with him had started screaming and crying. Someone had made her stop, but then the Lina, Amelia, and Filia had started talking about something and ended up yelling at each other. Gourry had somehow managed to sleep through the whole thing, much to the chimera's annoyance. Well, he seemed to have half woken up when the kid started wailing, but then drifted right back off. Zel had been tempted to wake the swordsman up just so he wouldn't be the only who had to listen to the women carry on next door, but then remembered this was Gourry; nothing short of Lina being badly hurt put Gourry in a bad mood for long.
His mind drifted back to the "discussion" the females in his traveling party had been having earlier. He had distinctly heard Filia yell something about Xellos following her. Didn't he always follow her so he could annoy her? Hadn't Xellos once mentioned something about her giving him the best meals? Why should she be so much more upset about it now...
"Ah, Zelgadiss!" Zel choked on his coffee when the monster in question appeared right in front of him. "Just the person I was looking for!" Xellos chirped in his usually smug voice. "I need you to watch her for me while I do a little... research." The trickster dropped Xaina in the chimer's free hand and then disappeared. Zel blinked several times as he stared at the child suddenly placed in his care.
__________________________________________________________
(*shudders* Something about Xellos explaining the birds and the bees just scares me. I wonder how traumatized Xaina is going to come out of this? *starts grieving for the poor child's innocence* Anyway, I'm off to write the next chapter and I have no idea what is going to happen yet. Please review. I love reviews. They give me something to live for... something besides school, anyway.)