Chapter Three
Clow winced when yet another shouting match began between Lina and Kerberos. It had been two days since they (Lina, Gourry, Amelia, Xellos, Clow, and Kerberos) had left Seiruun, and already two of them couldn't get along.
"We're NOT taking you into a town and that's final! With our luck, you'd scare all of the people away and we'd never get another decent meal!" Lina said, fangs bared and eyes glowing.
"So what do you intend for me to do?! Stay outside of a town while you all feast heartily and to your heart's content?!" Kerberos retaliated, also baring his fangs as he and the Sorceress Supreme went head to head.
"That's enough!" Clow shouted, finally losing his patience with the two and ramming the end of his staff into the ground. Both Lina and Kerberos froze and stared at him in shock.
"We've been hearing you two argue since we left Seiruun. We are all going into town together, and that is final!" Clow said, the look in his eyes telling both sorceress and guardian beast that he was not a man to be messed with when he was angry.
"His anger is a delectable treat, but I almost feel as though I have felt this aura before. But where? Where have I felt it?" Xellos thought, as Clow calmed down from his rare show of temper.
"Hey, Lina-san, isn't this the town where Filia-san lives?" Amelia asked, looking around as they came to the outskirts.
"I think you're right, Amelia. Let's drop by and see if Filia is home…." Lina murmured, a sly smile lighting her features.
"Uh-oh……………………" Clow thought, as he reluctantly followed Lina to a small shop near the town's center.
"Vases and Maces? What kinda name is that?" Kerberos asked, as he looked to his master for answers.
"I don't know. But I have the feeling we're about to find out…………the hard way." Clow muttered, as Lina started pounding on the wooden door.
"Ne! Filia! Open up, dammit!" Lina shouted, impatiently. Immediately, a window above them opened, and what appeared to be a young woman peered out at them; her hair disheveled and her eyes blazing.
"Lina Inverse! Couldn't you have chosen a better time to come by?" Filia asked, angrily.
"What's the problem? You're not usually one to be sleeping the day away like this, Filia!" Lina replied. Filia sighed in irritation.
"Val's been awake since two days ago. He won't sleep, and he refuses to eat. I don't know what to do." Filia said, as the sound of a baby crying came from within her room.
"Let me see him. I think something might be going on." Clow said, as suspicions arose in his mind. Filia nodded, reluctantly, and disappeared from view. She reappeared at the door with a baby in her arms.
"I don't know what else to do. By all appearances he's a normal, healthy dragon child; but something is keeping him from eating and sleeping." Filia said, so distraught by her foster child's odd behavior that she didn't notice Xellos standing there. Ever so gently, Clow took the child from Filia's arms and gazed down at him. Val blinked up at the tall sorcerer with clear, innocent eyes, unafraid.
"Sorcery of any kind is always well hidden by illusion. There is something darker at work here." Clow murmured, as he focused on an aura that was hidden around the child.
"Disperse." Clow murmured, so softly that even Xellos had a hard time hearing him. There was a brilliant flash, and then they all saw Val peacefully drift into slumber in the sorcerer's arms.
"Amazing……………" Filia muttered, in disbelief.
"That was Elvish magic." Gourry said, matter-of-factly, from behind Lina. Everyone turned and gave Gourry a disbelieving look; he knew what kind of magic it was without being told?!
"How do you know, Gourry?" Lina asked, curious as to how her usually dimwitted companion knew.
"I saw my mother use the same spell once." Gourry replied, simply.
"Then that would make your mother an elf, correct?" Clow asked, as he handed the child back to Filia.
"Yes." Gourry said, as comprehension filled his bright blue eyes for the first time.
"Then all four races are accounted for in this group; elves, humans, Mazoku, and Ryuzoku." Clow said, as he looked knowingly at Filia.
"What're you getting at, Clow?" Lina asked, again.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Clow in turn asked, succeeding in annoying the whole group.
"There's something strangely familiar about him………….." Filia thought, as she eyed the mysterious sorcerer warily.
That night found Clow in the woods near Filia's hometown. The rest of the crew was inside, enjoying a home-cooked meal for a change, while he stood alone on the shore of a lake.
"Clow! You comin' or not? The food's almost gone!" Lina shouted.
"I'll be there in a moment, Miss Inverse. There is something I must do first." Clow replied, looking away and back at the mirror-like surface of the lake.
"This is going to be much harder." Clow thought, watching as the moon rose, signaling the start of his spell.
"Silver rays…………..Silent watcher of the stars…………." Clow murmured, as winds rose around him. In the shadows, Xellos watched in amazement and shock.
"This is Mazoku magic! What in the world is he?!?" Xellos wondered, his eyes wide as the human sorcerer used one of the most powerful spells in his race.
"Come unto me and form my servant…………." Clow whispered, gritting his teeth when slicing pain raced through him because of the dark magic. With those words, the winds rose to a loud roar, whipping Clow's robes and hair wildly, and forcing him to one knee. As before with Kerberos, two wings formed in front of him, but this time they were pure silvery white. With the last vestiges of his strength, Clow once again stood, and addressed the folded wings that were suspended weightlessly over the lake.
"Yue, come forth." Clow called, his tone commanding, yet gentle. Immediately, the creature within the wings complied, revealing a more human, almost angelic, figure.
"I am here, my master. And I will ever serve you." Yue murmured, softly.
"Thank you for coming, Yue." Clow replied, then promptly passed out.
"Master!" Yue yelped, startled that his master had just lost consciousness.
"Clow! What's goin' on out here?!" Lina shouted, as she and her companions ran over, skidding to a halt when they saw Yue kneeling there, with the unconscious sorcerer in his arms.
"Oh man, what happened to him?" Gourry asked, as he watched Lina approach the thoroughly shaken young Mazoku.
"I take it he just pulled another stunt like he did in Seiruun. Except this time, it's different. This guy's a Mazoku." Lina said, as she pointed Yue out.
"Then he's not coming in my house. I don't want him anywhere near Val." Filia snapped, irritably.
"What have I done wrong?" Yue asked, completely at a loss for the reason that these new people should hate him.
"Nothing. You've done nothing wrong." Amelia said, gently.
"Then why can't I go where Clow-sama is going?" Yue again asked, sounding every bit the frightened child that he was (he did look to be only thirteen or fourteen years old at this point). It was then that Amelia's heart melted.
"Filia-san, we can't just leave him out here. He was just born a few moments ago." Amelia said, arguing the young Mazoku's case.
"Yeah, Fi-chan, don't be heartless. You wouldn't turn Val away if the situation were different, would you?" Xellos asked, impertinently. Filia growled.
"Of course I wouldn't! But this isn't Val! This is a newborn Mazoku! He's just as dangerous as a mature Mazoku!" Filia snarled.
"I dunno, he doesn't look that dangerous to me." Gourry stated, as he ruffled Yue's hair in an almost brotherly way. Yue in turn gave Gourry a look of confused innocence.
"What I'm trying to figure out is how Clow could have had control over Mazoku magic. It just doesn't seem possible, yet here's the proof that he did it. What's more is the fact that he created Kerberos with Golden Dragon magic before, and that should have been impossible as well. He even has a good grasp over Elven magic! What is he, really? Is he human or what?" Lina asked, as she gazed at the unconscious sorcerer.
"Maybe we will find out the answer to that question when he wakes up. For now, let's get him inside." Filia said, her temper having cooled somewhat. Amelia, Gourry, and Lina followed without question, as Gourry carried Clow inside with them. This left Yue standing alone in the moonlight that had birthed him, looking a little like a lost kitten standing in the rain.
"You there. Are you coming inside or not?" Filia asked, testily. With a start, Yue returned to himself and rushed inside to join his master.