Filia returned home at about sometime in the afternoon. Tired from work, she had left about a day before to go do some business with a person who wanted to buy a lot of her creations. Her business was going successful, and these things normally happen every once in a while.
She then entered her shop, to see Jillas waiting at the counter. He then ran to her, shouting about how Val has been asking him where she is.
"What happened to Val, then?" she asked him.
""Its very strange…before he would cry for hours shouting that he is lonely without somebody like you around, but now what he would do is to ask where you are, then run to the beach and look at the sun." Jillas then relied
"Did you check out what he was doing though?" she then inquired
"No, boss…I left him to do whatever he wanted. I don't know what would happen if he would go start crying…"
At that moment Val suddenly ran from his room, having just heard from Gravos that his mother was home. He then ran straight to his mother, and hugged her.
"Where did you go? I missed you…" he then asked her
"Sorry, Val…I had to do work…"
Later on that day, they were standing under a large cherry blossom tree in the backyard. Val was playing with Filia's hair, while she sat down.
Everything seems to be so boring nowadays. Nothing exciting has happened or once. I even miss that damn namagomi, Xellos. Wonder where the others are now…she then thought.
"Ma, where is dad?" Val then suddenly asked out of the blue.
"What do you mean Val?" How the heck did he know about that? I don't think I have even taught him what 'Dad' means… she then said while thinking.
"Nothing…" he then said to her and returned to playing with her hair.
The next day, the ex-priestess then started her daily ritual. AFTER asking Jillas about what Val was doing yesterday. The scared little fox then said to her that he was playing with the neighbor in the morning before she had arrived. She was worried about Val, and where he had learnt about it. That must be it. She then thought. I don't know why the heck I was so worried. He must have got t from that boy next door. My work must be getting to me…and so she continued on, and sang the song 'Alone' to Val that night.(song is by Shimokawa Mikuni from the anime Saiyuki.)
The next day, the question was out of her mind, and she then started on watching her shop. That morning, she was cleaning so that everything will look better for later. After she had finished with one cabinet, she turned around and went on to the one on the other side. Suddenly, a very well-known mazoku appeared in front of her and she was startled to death.
"Wha- NAMAGOMI!" she then shouted.
Outside the shop, a small boy reading a small comic book was innocently passing by, and suddenly the tree beside the bench outside the shop fell down, and he was about to be squashed, if not for the fact that he evaded it just in time for the bench to be broken.
"Oh, hi Fi-chan…nice day for a visit, right? Beastmaster-sama had given me a break since I have been working too hard…" he then said all of it while giving the ryuuzoku a hand.
"I don't need help from a filthy mazoku, so go away." She then said while trying to stand up and control her anger at the same time
"Trying to control your anger I see…and I thought that you would have improved in your temper since we have last seen each other…too bad, Fi-chan" he babbled on and on, not noticing that Filia's tail seems to have popped out, and flames were seen behind her, making her look very dangerous.
"Stop...calling me Fi-chan you namagomi!" she then shouted to him, and avein popped out.
"I was just saying hi. What's so wrong about it?" he then responded while trying to keep his face straight.
"Shut up!" she then responded. At that very moment, Val then came in.
"Dad!" he then shouted. Val then ran to Xellos to hug him, which the masochist accepted happily. Filia then stared at the scene in front of her. This was just wrong. I mean, if Lina or anybody else with them for the matter, had stepped in at that very moment, then they must be looking at the irony of the facts now, right? Just think of it. The once-bent-on-destroying-the-world-dragon-turned-to-mazoku, namely Valgaav, hugging Xellos Metallium? This was just wrong.
As Filia watched them, she started to put two and two together, Val running to the beach looking at the sunset, him strating to stop crying, his asking of 'Dad' a while ago…
Yes, one would normally think that these things had anything to do with this at all. Except…
Last clue: Val was HUGGING Xellos when he was most definitely not supposed to.
Of course, Filia didn't believe what all of these clues led to at first. And so another shriek was heard from outside, making the tree next to that last one get destroyed.
"VAL WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
