A/N: Insert usual disclaimer stuff here. This is the sequel to Penance and Pursuit of Merit.
Again, I went back and chopped this fic up into chapters. If you want to read the thing straight through, with no chapter divisions, just head on over to my site, Because I chopped it up, some of the chapter transitions may be strange. Sorry about that.
Reviews are always welcome and encouraged!
Filia's head snapped up as she felt the dark presence materialize out of nowhere. Standing up straight, she looked about the kitchen, seeing nothing. A frown settled on her brow and she concentrated, searching. Whatever it might be was very strong and very close.
"Mama, what's that?" Val said, trotting into the kitchen. "Do you feel that?"
"Yes, honey," Filia said, glancing down at the child wrapped in a sling around her torso. The baby stirred and blinked up at her as if wondering what all the commotion was. "Val, I want you to stick close to me and be ready to take the baby and run, okay?"
"Do you think it's bad?" Val asked, golden eyes wide as he curled his fists in Filia's skirt.
"I think so," Filia murmured. "We're going to go to the front window and see."
"Is it the baby's mama?" Val asked, still clutching her skirts as they moved stealthily into the living room.
"No, I'm pretty sure it isn't," Filia whispered. "Now be quiet, please."
Val nodded, face somber and wary.
Filia peered out the window and saw a tall, dark figure standing a few hundred meters away from her cottage. Black robes fluttered about the person in the wind, and a large ruby set in the end of a staff shone in the sunlight. "Oh, no," Filia murmured, clutching the baby to her, eyes widening in fear. What was she going to do? There was no way she could fight off Xellos, and she was certain he meant harm. The evil was rolling off of him in waves, much more strongly than it ever had before. The carefree nature of his evil had disappeared entirely, and she shivered in the chill his energy was putting off.
"Mama, where did he go?" Val whispered, tugging on her skirt.
Filia gasped and returned her attention to the figure only to find that he had vanished. Cold sweat beaded along her hairline and she looked around the house, frantic. Her heart began to pound in her chest and she felt terror steal through her chest, making her breath come in short, frightened brusts.
Then someone knocked on the door.
"Mama, I'm scared," Val whimpered, hiding behind her skirts.
"I know, honey," she murmured, reaching around and smoothing his sea-green hair. "Don't worry. I'll protect you."
"And I'll protect you," Val replied earnestly.
Filia smiled in spite of her fear at the little boy's bravery. If it were anyone but Xellos she knew that Val could actually defeat them. Ancient dragons were very strong, even at a young age. However, none of them had the slightest chance of beating Xellos. She was about to say something else when the knock came again at the front door, the sound more commanding than before.
"Should I get the door?" Val asked her, golden eyes curious and frightened at the same time.
"Wh-who is it?" Filia called, the blood draining from her face.
"May I come in?" came the polite reply.
"I don't know if it's a good idea," Filia said loudly, at a total loss.
"I think it's a better idea than refusing, for all involved," the voice on the other side of the door said.
"Come in," Filia replied after one long, heart-stopping moment, her voice shaking. "It's open."
Her heart pounded in her chest and she stared in fear as the knob turned, the latch clicked open, and the door slowly swung inward. In the doorway stood Xellos, looking exactly like she had last seen him, save for the expression on his face. For a split second he looked at her, slitted eyes boring into her, his face cold and menacing before falling back into the ambiguous smile he always seemed to wear. "Hello," he said, tones not as bright as she remembered them. "I think you made the right decision."
"What do you want?" she blurted, panic rising within her. Xellos was different somehow, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"I mean you no harm," he replied, leaning his staff against the wall and spreading his gloved hands before him. "If you cooperate, that is."
"No one is gonna hurt my mama!" Val cried, darting out from behind Filia's skirt.
"Val, no!" Filia gasped, trying to snatch up the child and failing.
Val let loose a feral snarl and sank his sharp teeth into Xellos' thigh, growling and biting. Xellos paused and opened his eyes, blinking down at the child gnawing on him. "Oh, I see you still have little Valgaav in your care," he said mildly.
Filia blushed as she watched Val tear at Xellos' leg, horribly embarrassed. "It's just Val," she said quickly. "Val, stop it!"
Xellos smiled down at the child, no real humor in the expression but no anger either, and tore the boy from his leg, which took some effort and time. He hoisted Val up by the back of his shirt and looked straight into his face. Val growled and took a few swings at Xellos, but the Monster simply held him out at arm's length. "Strong little fellow," he said nonchalantly. "A tad unmannered, though."
"Val, stop it this instant!" Filia said. "You shouldn't attack people unprovoked!"
Xellos gently set the child down on his feet and nudged him towards Filia. "You should listen to her, little Val," he said, his expression falling back into his normal one. "After all, it isn't a good idea to provoke someone else, especially when you don't know what his or her capabilities are."
Val snapped at Xellos one last time and scurried to Filia's side. "Don't you hurt my mama," he growled.
"I won't hurt your mother," Xellos said with a sigh. "I'm just here for information."
"What do you want to know?" Filia said sharply.
Xellos sighed and sat down in the nearest chair, lounging as if he had lived there for years. "Why don't we discuss it over tea?" he said. "I would really like you to calm down."
"No. Just ask what you will and get out."
Xellos shook his head and clicked his tongue. "Now, now, Miss Filia. Where are your manners?"
"I have no desire to be polite to a Monster," she snapped. "Now what do you want?"
A strange expression flitted over his features for a moment and he pursed his lips before his smile returned. The observation made her pause; Xellos was obviously having a difficult time maintaining his control. "Lina was here about six months ago," he stated flatly.
Filia was silent for a while before nodding. "Yes, she was."
Xellos leaned forward in his chair, steepling his fingers. "Why?"
"Why what?"
A slight scowl marred his pleasant features. "What was she doing here? What was happening to her? Why was she in so much pain?"
"I don't think she'd want me to tell you," Filia said. "I would if I could, but I'm not supposed to."
Xellos stood up, the benign mask he wore disappearing in an instant. "You are mistaken if you think you have a choice in the matter," he said quietly.
Val roared and latched himself onto Xellos' other leg, breaking the heavy, danger-laced mood. He growled and whipped his head back and forth like a dog, tearing a hole in the fabric of Xellos' trousers. "Val!" Filia shouted, horrified.
"Now you are provoking me, little one," Xellos said, watching Val tear at his leg but making no move to stop him.
"You be nice to Mama! She was just trying to help Miss Lina!" Val snapped.
"Do you have a boot or something else he could chew on?" Xellos asked curtly. "I am beginning to find this bothersome."
"Just you wait until you have kids," Filia growled, then gasped and clamped her hands over her mouth.
Xellos noticed her reaction and turned his attention towards her, ignorning the boy chewing on his leg. "What's that tied around your chest?" he asked softly.
"Laundry," Filia blurted.
"That's an odd way to carry laundry. Laundry often doesn't move of its own accord."
"Maybe a lizard got into the wash," she stammered.
His eyes opened a fraction, glistening slits in the flawless skin of his face. "Don't lie to me, Filia. It's unbecoming, even of an ex-priestess."
"Why do you care?" she replied. "You're a Monster!"
"Now, again, but not always," he murmured. "Now show me what you have wrapped up there."
"No," Filia gasped, but was too paralyzed by fear to stop him as he reached forward.
"Don't you touch the baby!" Val howled, and Xellos flinched as the boy bit him savagely.
Xellos moved as if he was going to snatch up the boy and rend him limb from limb, but stopped in midmotion and stared at Filia. "Baby?"
"Lina was here because she was pregnant, Xellos. She didn't want anyone to know about it, but she knew she couldn't be alone during such a time, so she came to me. I could heal her if anything happened, and I live far enough away from everyone else that no one would find her here."
"Lina's. . .baby?" he whispered.
"Yes," Filia said, squeezing her eyes shut as tears began to leak from the corners.
"I lost her," Xellos said, reaching down and picking up Val. The boy struggled, but Xellos was too strong for him. "I lost Lina."
"I'm sorry for that, but I can't let you see it," Filia said, starting to cry in earnest.
"Filia, please," he replied, and the tone of his voice was so raw that she hazarded a look at him. He looked torn, as if he was on the verge of something but couldn't manage to push past a barrier. Glancing from the boy to Filia, he set Val on the ground. "Go to your mother, Val. I promise I won't hurt her. Sometimes adults just get upset at one another."
"Come here, Val," Filia said before Xellos could continue. She knelt and put her hands on either side of the boy's face. "Don't attack him any more. Mister Xellos and I are going to talk, so you just go upstairs to your room."
"But, Mama-"
"No buts. Please just do it."
Val's lower lip stuck out in a pout, but before long he was clomping up the stairs, obviously miffed but obeying nonetheless. "He means the world to you, doesn't he?" Xellos said softly.
"Maybe," Filia said, narrowing her eyes, then blushing as Xellos came forward suddenly. His hands parted the fabric of her wrap and exposed the wide-eyed baby's face.
"By the depths of hell," he breathed, eyes opening. "This is my baby!"
"That's what Lina told me," Filia said, utterly defeated. There was no turning back now. She watched as his long fingers ran over the baby's thick, dark hair, the same color as his. Two pairs of amethyst eyes met, one set human, the other most decidedly not. "She didn't want to keep her, but I couldn't bring myself to give her up for adoption."
"It's a girl?"
"Yes. I kept her, hoping that Lina would someday come back for her."
Xellos' face hardened and he looked Filia straight in the eye. "She won't," he said matter-of-factly.
"What? Why not?"
"I don't want to discuss it," Xellos said, pulling off a glove and tracing the roundness of the baby's cheek. "What's her name?"
Filia swallowed hard. "She doesn't have one. Lina wouldn't name her."
"And you never did?"
"It didn't seem right. . ."
Xellos looked down at his daughter for long moments, the only sound in the room the breathing of the two mortals. "Lecia," he finally said.
"What?"
"That's her name. Lecia Inverse."
"Lecia," Filia murmured, looking down tenderly at the baby. "That's a lovely name."
"I'm glad you approve. Now please hand her over."
Filia's eyes widened and she stared at Xellos, slack-jawed. "What?"
"She's my daughter. Please give her to me. I'll be taking her now."
"But, but-"
"Filia, I think you know that it would be unwise to cross me," he said, features hardening.
"But she's a mortal, Xellos!"
That strange expression passed over his face again and he sighed. "Listen, how would you feel if someone wouldn't let you have Val back? He's your child, isn't he? He might not be of your blood, but he's yours nonetheless, correct?"
Filia examined Xellos' eyes, watching him as some sort of conflict waged within him. That's what was wrong- Xellos' balance seemed off! It was if he had been split somehow, and he was at war. . . "Yes," she said gently.
"Well, Filia, I was human at one point in time, and I wouldn't trade that time for anything. Lecia is all I have left from that, and I would like to have her."
"Xellos, I don't know if this is a good idea."
"She's my family, Filia!" he said. "Can you really deny someone their family?"
She eyed him warily, unsure if he was sincere or if it was another of his Monster's tricks. Could she really entrust the child to his care? On the one hand, she could never want for a stronger protector, but on the other, how would the child fare without human interaction? "Will you love her?" she whispered at last.
"Monsters can't love," he murmured, his face looking oddly pained, and she realized that she was getting the honest truth from Xellos for the first time. "But I can treasure her, and I shall."
"It's a big step. Babies are a lot of work, especially human ones. Even with his occasional uncontrollable transformation and tantrums, Val was a lot easier baby than she is."
"May I hold her?" Xellos asked, and his tone of voice nearly broke her heart.
"I suppose. Support her head," Filia said. "She's old enough that she can sit up on her own, but you still need to be careful."
"I will be," Xellos murmured, gently taking the child from Filia. His face was filled with disbelief as he held the baby girl against his chest, looking down into her face. "Hello, little one," he cooed. "I'm your father."
The baby made a noise and reached up, taking a fistful of hair and yanking. Filia winced and reached out to take the hair from the girl, but Xellos simply smiled. "Don't bother. It doesn't hurt me at all. Remember, Monsters don't feel that sort of pain that easily."
"Okay," Filia said, watching with concern.
He closed his eyes and pressed his nose against the baby's head, inhaling deeply. "She smells wonderful," he murmured.
Filia felt tears come unbidden to her eyes as she watched Xellos look over his daughter. She would have never thought that a Monster could be so tender and gentle, but he was treating his daughter as if she was the most precious thing he had ever seen. Suddenly there was no doubt in her mind that Xellos would do his best for the little girl, a thought she found odd. It seemed that his time as a human had deeply affected him, and he was still affected by it. Perhaps he was still human enough to raise the girl well. She smiled to herself and wiped at her eyes. Well, he was probably more human than she was. It was obvious to her that Xellos missed Lina deeply, and she knew that he had loved her. Xellos had loved Lina very, very much. "You can take her," Filia said softly. "Besides, you know I couldn't stop you if I wanted to."
"I do know," Xellos replied, not taking his eyes off of his daughter. "She's so perfect, so utterly perfect, and she's mine."
"Well, I suppose this is late, but congratulations," Filia said, smoothing the girl's hair.
Xellos nodded and turned away, holding the child close. "Thank you," he said softly, and before she could reply, he was gone.
