Slayers SEED: Phase 04

by Handsome Puppy

Disclaimer: Slayers belongs to Hajime Kanzaka/Rui Araizumi/Kadokawa Shoten/TV TOKYO/SOFTX/Marubeni. The title of Gundam SEED belongs to Sunrise/Bandai. This story and all the original characters are mine. This story is AU.

"Luna-san?" Filia gasped when she saw the human girl with straight black hair in a waitress' uniform walked down the forest path. She jumped off the tree limb to meet the Knight. Xelloss followed suit, grumbling something under his breath.

"How are you doing, Filia?" Luna Inverse greeted her with a nod.

"I am ok, Luna-san." Filia smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just visiting a friend." Luna shrugged. "Say, Xelloss, what's the latest situation with Caiza and his minions?"

"They're going all out now." Xelloss informed. "The attempt to capture the Clair Bible containing the spell to access the Sea of Chaos was a failure, but that won't stop them. I would say that eliminating the Light would be on the top of their priority list right now."

"Hn, I thought as much." Luna Inverse raised an eyebrow, though it couldn't be seen through the thick bang that covered her eyes. "Lina on the case by any chance?"

"Judging from her previous experiences and actions, yes, I'd say that she's definitely involving herself." Xelloss grinned.

"Well, tell her to ease off some. She is no match for the current Caiza." Luna fished out an envelope from a pocket of her waitress apron. "If she won't listen, give this to her."

"Another 'Do it. -Big Sister' letter?" Filia took it and guessed.

"Close. Except this one has a few more words in it." Luna laughed.

"Speaking of Lina-san, what happened to them?" Filia asked.

"I left right after you were taken so I don't really know." Xelloss scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously.

"Oh, don't worry. They are staying in an inn. The one you passed by before entering the forest."

"How did you know this?" Filia was puzzled.

"I am Lina's big sister, am I not?" Luna chuckled.

"We'll have to hurry up and meet up with them." Filia said, ready to teleport out. "Thank you, Luna-san."

"Hold on, Filia-san." Xelloss took hold of her arm to stop her. "I need to report to my mistress first."

"No need. Luna just told me everything." Another figure materialized before their eyes. She appeared to be a beautiful young woman, with shiny long blond hair not unlike Filia's, except hers was wavy instead of straight.

"Beastmaster-sama." Xelloss let go of Filia's arm and bowed to her with respect.

"Beastmaster-sama!" Filia exclaimed.

"I am glad to see you faring fine, High Priestess Filia ul Copt of the Ryuuzoku." Zellas smiled slyly. "You probably know who I am already. I am Zellas Metallium, Beastmaster under Her Lordship."

Filia wasn't sure what to make of it or how to react. She could only nod politely and look between the three nervously.

"About the status of..." Xelloss started, but he was cut off by the Beastmaster.

"Like I said, Luna told me everything just now." Zellas said. "If I know Caiza at all, he's most certainly making the information regarding the 'bearer' of the Clair Bible very public by now. Be prepared, as you will probably have to face powerful oppositions other than Caiza and his campaign. Their main objective would be to capture the Gold Dragon alive so it's possible to retrieve the information. However, Caiza wouldn't make such careless mistake, which means that whoever gets involved will likely end up trying to kill the Light anyway."

Zellas looked seriously at her loyal servant. "Xelloss, you are to stay with the Gold Dragon and protect her until the whole ordeal is over."

"Understood, Beastmaster-sama." Xelloss bowed, glancing at Filia briefly.

Filia was shocked at the Beastmaster's order. The Mazoku Lord actually commanded her priest to protect a Ryuuzoku?

"That's all. You may return to your companions now." Zellas waved her hand to signal them away before disappearing with Luna Inverse.

+ - + - + - + - + - +

Silence hang for a few seconds, then Xelloss smiled. "Let's go, Filia-san. I bet Lina-san-tachi are busy stuffing food down their throats right now!"

Which, in fact and surprisingly, was not the case. When the two teleported to the inn, they did find the group sitting around a table in the dinning hall, but there was nothing except drinks on the table. Apparently, even Lina and Gourry lost their appetite while their friends were missing and were probably in grave danger.

The dramatic reaction, then, could be understood when Lina and Gourry dropped their jaws before rushing up to the two like hurricanes, all the while yelling like a pair of maniacs.

"Filia! We were so worried!" Lina screamed into the dragon priestess' uncovered ears, giving her a bear hug.

"Thank goodness you're all right!" Gourry had the two girls wrapped in one big group hug.

Zelgadiss remained seated, but a small smile crept up his face as well. A smile of relief and joy.

A series of intentional coughs caused the merry group to look at the Beast Priest. "Aren't you going to welcome me back?" The said Mazoku pointed at himself with an innocent grin.

Lina blinked a few times and loosened her grip on Filia. "Um... Hi, Xelloss."

The group once again re-seated. Lina and Gourry happily stopped a waitress and ordered to their hearts' content. Even Zelgadiss ordered a plate.

"Do you want something, Filia? My treat!" Lina said. Zelgadiss' eyebrow shot up in shock.

"That's ok. I'm not hungry." Filia declined politely.

"You should eat something, you know. Even a dragon needs her daily ration to stay in shape." Xelloss said, holding a finger up. He turned to the waitress. "Get her some roast beef, please."

"What did you do that for?" Filia said after the waitress left, not sounding too thrilled.

"Well, I figure that you can't feed me if you're too tired to be mad at me. It is then essential that I have you fed first." Xelloss grinned. "I believe the humans call this a symbiotic relationship. You feed me and I'll feed you."

"Wha.." Filia edged away from the smiling priest. "Parasitic relationship is more like it! I can take care of myself just fine, thank you!"

"So you say." Xelloss' smile remained on his face.

The stacks of empty plates and saucers were cleared away after a rather franzy feeding time. Lina-tachi settled down, ready to hear what Xelloss had to say. Before Xelloss had even spoken two words, though, Gourry got up from his seat. All eyes followed the blond swordsman as he walked around the table to stand beside another blond. This particular blond, however, was asleep and unaware of his presence.

Zelgadiss sighed. "Well, why don't we get a room for Filia to rest in?" He got up and walked to the counter.

"Just one room with two beds will be enough, Zelgadiss-san." Xelloss called out merrily.

Zelgadiss turned to look back. "Why?"

"Well, Filia-san and Lina-san will stay in the same room, right? I have to stay with Filia-san, and you probably wouldn't let me be alone with the two girls, would you?" Xelloss said as if explaining that the sky was blue and the grasses were green.

"Make sense..." Zelgadiss mumbled, then he suddenly jerked his head back. "What are you staying in the girls' room for!"

"Yeah, pervert!" Lina added from across the table.

"But he does have a point there, Lina." Gourry said with a cocked head.

Lina frowned and stared at the ever-smiling priest. "Fine! Do as he says, Zel." She said grumpily.

The chimera said nothing and continued to the counter. A few moments later, he returned with a key in his hand. "Let's go."

Zelgadiss led the way, Gourry followed him with Filia on his back, and Lina and Xelloss a few paces behind.

Gourry gently tucked the sleeping dragon in one of the beds and grabbed a chair to sit beside the bed.

"Watch over Filia while we talk, ok?" Lina said, sitting down with Zelgadiss and Xelloss around the small round table in the other corner of the room.

"Sure thing." Gourry smiled.

"Is it just me, or does he really love taking care of others?" Zelgadiss said, casually glancing at the blond briefly.

"Well, Gourry enjoys being a big brother, if anything." Lina shrugged, recalling her first encounter with the swordsman. "Besides, they do look like siblings with their long blond hair and blue eyes."

"It's not normal for Filia to be in such deep sleep, though. She seems awefully exhausted." Zelgadiss looked at the priest intently. "What happened after the battle at the forest shrine?"

"Yes, Xelloss." Lina stared at the smiling man. "What happened to Filia?"

"You really want to know?" The Beast Priest tilted his head as if in thought. "Well, let's see..."

"She was taken to Caiza-sama's palace in the astral plane. She was dying because she couldn't heal herself. She was interrogated by Caiza-sama regarding the content of the Clair Bible. She was dying because she couldn't heal herself. Then I showed up to pull her out from death's grip. She opened a path and went to the Sea of Chaos. She met the Lord of Nightmares. She got transported to where I was waiting. She learned of your whereabouts from Luna-san. She tried not to scream when my mistress appeared. She teleported to this inn with me." Xelloss blurted in one breath, smiling innocently all the while. "Anything else you'd like to know?"

"LORD OF NIGHTMARES!" "LU.. LUNA ONEE-CHAN?" Zelgadiss and Lina cried out at the same time.

"Yes, is something wrong?" Xelloss offered another seemingly harmless smile. "Oh, and you're screaming, Lina-san. You might wake Filia-san up."

Lina quickly covered her mouth with a hand, though she didn't bother to conceal her other signs of fear and extreme anxiety. Stealing a glance at the sleeping girl, Lina breathed a little and put down her hand, looking somewhat more composed, though her voice still wavered a bit. "So... so Filia met my sister?"

Zelgadiss had proceeded to process what Xelloss said while Lina went berserk. He crossed his arms and looked at the priest. "So what you are saying is that the Clair Bible contained a way to the Sea of Chaos, and now Filia is the only one who knows it."

"That's one way to look at it." Xelloss nodded.

"I guess that Caiza guy still want Filia dead, then?" Lina asked with narrowed eyes.

"Yes. They would need to get rid of her before she could use that against them, and Caiza-sama is tricky. According to my mistress, he will involve other Mazoku and have them do the dirty work, using the Clair Bible Filia-san took as bait."

"What about YOUR mistress? Isn't she interested in what Filia knows regarding the Clair Bible?" Lina looked at the Mazoku. "Didn't she order you to find all the Clair Bibles?"

"Oh, you know? Though it is only partially true." Xelloss grinned. "At any rate, it is in Beastmaster-sama's interest that Filia-san live, at least until the situation with Caiza-sama is resolved."

"Hey..." Gourry called from his post beside the bed. "Sorry to interrupt your talk, but I think you should take a look at this."

"What is it, Gourry?" Lina sighed and walked over.

"This." Gourry pointed at the sleeping Filia, whose outer robe parted slightly when she stirred in her sleep and revealed the inner robe.

"This is...?" Lina blinked at the golden emblem on the inner robe. "A six-pointed star?"

"What!" Xelloss' eyes snapped open suddenly and he appeared beside Lina. Zelgadiss also came over to see.

"This doesn't look like any crest or symbol of Ryuuzoku origin." Zelgadiss observed.

"But it doesn't look like just any six-pointed star, either. It's faint, but there seems to be some kind of aura emitted from the symbol..." Lina noted.

"Speaking of which," Gourry spoke up. "These aren't the same clothes Filia wore this morning."

"Lord of Nightmares." Xelloss said with a serious expression. "The six-pointed star is an indicator and reminder of some sort of agreement or condition between L-sama and Filia-san."

"What?" Lina's eyes widened.

Xelloss shrugged. "I don't know anything about her meeting with L-sama. I'll have to ask her after she wakes up."

"I suppose so." Lina sighed, turning to the Mazoku priest again. "Now, tell us EVERYTHING you know about the situation with Caiza..."

+ - + - + - + - + - +

Darkness greeted Filia as she slowly opened her clear blue eyes. The small window let in some moonlight and allowed her to make out her surroundings somewhat. On the bed to her left slept the sorceress Lina, and on the floor between the two beds were Gourry and Zelgadiss. Filia looked around the room and found no trace of Xelloss.

"And I thought he is supposed to stay with me in case anything happens..." Filia murmured to herself as she sat up on the bed.

"Miss me, Filia-san?" A low chuckle sounded just a metre away. Filia stared as Xelloss appeared sitting on her bed. She almost shrieked but caught herself in time, not wishing to disturb the others' sleep.

"Were you here the whole time?" Filia asked with a whisper.

"Yes. My mistress ordered me to stay with you, remember?" Xelloss answered in a similarily low voice.

"Why does she want me alive? Didn't she send you to kill the Golds during the Kouma War?"

"You are Light, Filia-san, and therefore needed in order to defeat Caiza-sama." Xelloss replied casually. "Besides, we are not at war with each other right now."

"Meaning that if we are in a war, you'd kill me?" Filia said, looking away sadly.

Xelloss smiled a little and wriggled a finger. "That is a secret."

Filia looked down, knowing she'd receive such answer. Sighing slightly, she lay back on the bed.

"Ah, don't go back to sleep yet, Filia-san. I have a couple of questions for you that I want answers of." Xelloss stood up and walked up to her.

"What do you want?" Filia frowned. "Can't this wait until morning when Lina-san and the others are awake, too?"

"Actually, no." Xelloss grinned. "They've already know enough. They won't ask you any more questions."

Filia glared at the handsome smiling face and sighed in defeat. "Fine. What do you want to ask me?"

"First thing first." Xelloss held up a finger. "A bed is not a very good place to talk, is it?"

Filia blushed when she realized that their nearness did appear to be compromising. She pushed the blanket away and got off the bed to stand.

"Better. But I have an even better idea" Xelloss grinned mischieviously.

Before Filia reacted, a black aura wrapped around her and teleported the two elsewhere.

Filia looked around at the surrounding trees and recognized the place. "Wolf Pack Island?"

"Yup. I figure it'd be much safer if we talk here. Other Mazoku can't interfere."

Filia sat down on a rock, while Xelloss chose to hover in front of her cross-legged.

"Can we start talking already? I don't want to stay here for too long." Filia said irritatably.

"Of course." Xelloss smiled. "What did you and the Lord of Nightmares talk about? What did L-sama say about Caiza-sama?"

Filia tilted her head a little, recalling the unusual meeting. "She appeared rather annoyed about Caiza, saying something about him not learning his lesson after Fibrizo was destroyed."

Xelloss nodded. "That's predictable. What else?"

"...and she said that I have to join my power with that of Darkness to destroy Caiza." Her voice was almost inaudible.

Xelloss chuckled at this. "My, my. I thought I told you that already, Filia-san."

Filia looked away, face crimson still from what she was going to say. "She also told me that cloak you lent me was part of you."

"Indeed." Xelloss nodded. "Though it's a pity that I can't feel anything if the part isn't on me..."

Filia's face grew redder, if that was even possible. "PERVERT!"

Xelloss licked his lips as if savouring the flavours and grinned slyly. "Such sweet taste of anger, mixed with the spice of embarrassment."

"Arr! I don't want to talk to you anymore!" Filia stomped her feet. "I am going back to the inn."

She made as if to teleport, but a gloved hand stopped her by grabbing her shoulder from behind. She glared at the owner of the offending hand. "WHAT?"

The usual smile was absent from the face of the Beast Priest, and Filia couldn't help but swallow nervously. "Wh... What?"

Xelloss' other hand brushed her outer robe aside to reveal the emblem in question. "What's this?"

Filia blinked, a strange look on her face. "I don't know. Is there something special about this marking?"

Xelloss cocked an eyebrow. "Didn't L-sama cloth you?"

"Yes... so what about it?"

"Aren't you even suspicious about the symbol?"

"No... I just thought that it's L-sama's crest or something." Filia started to grow uneasy. "It's just an ordinary six-pointed star, right, Xelloss?"

Xelloss sighed and touched the marking gently. "I'm afraid not, my dear Filia-san. Yes, this star is her crest, but she never impose her marking on anyone unless there's some kind of contract." He looked up into Filia's startled eyes. "Though it appears that you are unaware of the contract yourself."

Filia stared at the symbol, trying hard to recall anything that could be called an agreement between her and the Lord of Nightmares. Suddenly, her eyes went wide as she finished mentally replaying the scenes. "It can't be..."

"What can't be?" Xelloss noticed her reaction. "Did you remember something?"

"But she said it so casually, I thought-" Filia brought a hand to her mouth to cover her shock.

"Well, what is it?" Xelloss frowned. The will of the Golden One meant as much to him as his mistress' will. He'd even consider lending a hand if Filia was unable to accomplish the task.

"It's after she pointed out about your cloak.." Filia started reluctantly.

"What about my cloak? She told you that it's part of me, then what?"

"She said that Mazoku don't normally give out any part of themselves to anyone." Filia's voice trailed off.

Xelloss blinked. L-sama told his dragon THIS much? How was he going to keep playing games with her if she figured out too much? He tried to look unconcerned. "So?"

Filia looked down with embarrassment. "She asked me to..."

"She asked you to...?"

"She asked me to take care of you." Filia let out finally.

It was all the Beast Priest could do to not stare at the dragon maiden in front of him with utter shock. When he finally found his voice, it was husky. "What was your reply?"

"I said 'I will'." Filia simply didn't have the courage to look up. Her face felt so hot, she thought she was having a fever.

Xelloss was quiet for what seemed like hours before he broke the silence. "Why?"

"I'm not so sure myself." Filia smiled a little. She looked thoughtful. "As a Ryuuzoku, I've been taught that Mazoku is my biggest enemy. I was convinced in the beginning, hearing all these stories about your race and, in particular, you. You follow the orders and commands of your superior with the utmost obedience. You kill without hesitation. You wiped out the Golds. You do things with calculation and manipulation..."

"You make me sound like a bad guy, Filia-san." Xelloss grinned, though his smile seemed a little quizzical, uncertain of where she was going with the conversation.

"...But you helped save the world with Lina-tachi once, and you saved me many times, too. Today, you even went so far as to heal me and cover for me at your own expense." Filia looked up into the priest's open eyes. "I know you did all these because you either had no choice or were ordered to... but I can't hate you anymore. Not after what you did for me."

Xelloss was silent for a moment before his smile returned to his face. "I didn't know you are so easy to influence, Filia-san. That's very un-Ryuuzoku-like, you know."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Filia glared at him.

"Nothing." Xelloss grinned innocently. "Shall we go back to the inn?" Filia nodded, and the two teleported themselves back to the room.

"Go back to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us." Xelloss watched the dragon maiden climbing back into bed.

"Do you think we'll be attacked tomorrow?" Filia yawned a little.

"Oh, most definitely. The question is, who did Caiza-sama share the information with, and who would act first."

Filia sighed and closed her eyes. "Good night, Xelloss."

The expression on the Beast Preist's face turned soft as he watched the peacefully sleeping girl. "Good night, Filia-chan." He whispered and vanished from view once more.

to be continued...

Author's Note:
Guess what? Two chapters in a row! Consider this as my Christmas present to you. :) These two chapters are the last of my stock chapters, meaning I have no more stock left from two years ago and will have to start writing again. Ok, I lied. I still have about a half chapter's worth of material written, but hopefully this will give me enough push to pick up from where I left it. BTW, I just realised that I can use Mozilla Composer to easily turn my text file into html for submitting. That sure beats inserting all these p and /p tags just so I can have the break lines and title formatting. Why didn't I think of that before? XD

I hope I did Luna all right; I've never seen her and only heard of her. Let me know what you think of the story so far. Also feel free to rant 'cause I don't know when the next chapter will be out. Stay tuned, as there will be new enemies and allies. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year:)