Memoir - 1
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Xelloss yawned. Valteria hadn't let him sleep in this morning. It wasn't fair. Firia was away on a trip. He should be able to wake up whenever he pleased! Young children were entirely too energetic.
But a good pot of tea would stir his mind awake. Xelloss dropped in the peppermint leaves. He really didn't understand this 'proper breakfast tea' concept. Peppermint was good for any time of the day, as far as he was concerned.
Valteria had the eggs and bacon covered, so all Xelloss had to take care of was the biscuits. Fair enough. He made short work of the dough and popped the baking pan into the oven.
"Hey, Terry. Can I season the eggs a little? You're a tad conservative with the salt." He grabbed for the salt shaker, which Valteria clutched behind his back.
"Absolutely not. Don't you remember what happened the last time we let you touch anything that was sitting over an open flame?"
Xelloss planted his hands on his hips. "I will have you know that I am perfectly good at brewing tea!"
"Tea doesn't count!" Valteria adopted Xelloss' obstinate pose down to the scowl of authority. "You ruined an entire pot of spaghetti sauce! Mom never bought bay leaves again!"
"I can salt eggs, Terry! What harm can a little salt do?"
Valteria shook a wooden spoon in front of Xelloss' nose. "In your hands, this salt shaker could kill a city!"
"Now wait JUST A- the biscuits are done."
The chefs attended to their separate duties with no mention of the argument. Xelloss nudged the biscuits off of the baking pan and onto a wide plate with lavender tulips sprinkled delicately on the rim. Firia had painted the china set a few years ago when she'd been bedridden with some sort of flu. She had liked the design so much that she even made a teapot to match after her recovery. Xelloss lifted the lid of the tulip-shaped pot and peered inside. He dropped a handful of cloves in and let them brew with the peppermint.
Xelloss looked over to Valteria, who was sprinkling a little more salt on the eggs before laying them in pairs onto two tulip-bedecked plates. The ten-year-old jumped as his father whapped him over the head with a dishcloth. "Hey! What'd you do that for?!"
Xelloss held his head aloft, looking down his nose at Valteria. "For being stubborn." He carried the teapot and biscuits over to the table and poured two cups of tea as Valteria laid bacon onto the plates. He glared at the back of Xelloss' head and popped the yolks of his fried eggs with a fork. He then laid out the plates and sat down to eat.
"Hey!" Xelloss blinked at his eggs. "Terry, you know I like the yolks whole. What'd you do that for?"
Valteria held his head up in a perfect imitation of Xelloss' previous haughty expression. "For being stubborn." He then cut his eggs up into neat, even pieces and ate with satisfaction as his father glared at him.
"Well." Xelloss sipped his tea and cut his bacon into small pieces. "I see how it is."
"Yup. You're not blind yet." Valteria took a sip of his tea with Xelloss' same air of aloofness. He then choked.
Xelloss raised an eyebrow. "What?"
Valteria glared at his father. "How many cloves did you put in the pot, Dad?"
"Oh! Just ten. I figure that way it's five each, right?" Xelloss smiled and started to work on his sadly mutilated eggs.
"..." Valteria got up and poured himself a glass of orange juice.
Xelloss sighed between forkfuls of eggs. They still needed a little more salt.
Breakfast passed with no more quarrels. The pair then got to work. Just because the shop closed when Firia was gone didn't mean that there was nothing to do. On the contrary, Xelloss and Valteria tried to work extra hard when Firia was away. It meant they had time for heavy-duty repairs and cleaning. It also meant that Firia would be very impressed when she returned and probably express her gratitude via cookies.
Xelloss and Valteria would do an awful lot of work for a cookie.
Today's stint of spring cleaning involved the the kiln room and the ceramics workshop. Firia had built up quite a lot of additions to the house over time. There was a woodworking room, and a painting studio, and a very large warehouse to hold both handmade and purchased goods. Xelloss and Valteria never had to look far for things to do under their many roofs.
Valteria swept the ceramics workshop. This was quite a task as the vast holdings of clay in the room amounted to a great deal of dry clay particles. The room had all kinds of nooks and crannies for dust to huddle in, and Valteria was determined to raid them all.
Xelloss tackled the kiln room. The walls had row upon row of shelving along them. Bisqueware was strewn about, waiting for a coat of paint or glaze. And the kilns squatted along one bare wall, doors hanging open like gaping mouths. Xelloss always fancied the kilns to be dragons in his mind. Squat little fire-breathing dragons that feasted on clay. He never shared this private daydream with Firia. As he dusted the endless rows of shelves and fired ceramics, though, Xelloss imagined the kilns fighting over a particularly iron-rich chunk of red earth.
After a few hours, the two met outside and sat on the steps together. The day was hot and pretty, and the shade was cool and had a nice personality. The pair were tired. They watched the clouds float across the sky as the occasional bird flitted overhead.
These were the best moments. At times like this, neither father nor son really talked. They could just sit together, enjoy the view, and be happy in each other's company.
These were the moments when Xelloss and Valteria never bickered at all.
Thirty minutes passed before either really thought about anything in particular. Then the thought of food ran across Xelloss' mind.
He ruffled Valteria's hair. The teal locks were mostly tied back in a very short ponytail, but the bangs were fluffy enough, parting in the middle of the boy's forehead. It was similar to Xelloss' hair. About seven years ago he'd started growing it just a little longer in the back so that he could keep it in a ponytail most of the time. Valteria had adopted the habit as well, leaving Firia to nag at both of them for never doing anything with their hair.
"Terry? What do you want to eat for lunch?"
Valteria blinked. "Hmm. We still have that cheese, don't we?" He traced an absentminded groove in the dust with his shoe.
"Mmm-hmm. I baked a loaf of bread just yesterday. I could put some slices in the oven and we could have hot cheesy bread."
The groove became a spiral. "Hmm. That sounds good."
"Yup."
The two sat in silence for a few minutes.
Xelloss sighed. "But it requires getting up."
"Yup." Valteria swept the spiral away with a flick of his toe. He looked up. "We'll have to get up anyway."
"Why's that?" Xelloss closed his eyes and leaned back against the rough wooden door of the workshop.
"Some idiot looks like he wants to shop."
Xelloss opened one eye. Sure enough, a man was walking toward the store with what was obviously an intent to enter. "Argh. I'm going to have to go and tell him when we'll be open." The weary husband heaved himself to his feet. "You can stay here."
"I was planning on it." Valteria leaned back and closed his eyes, smiling.
"Change of plans. Go make the table."
Valteria opened one eye and stared at his dad as he walked off. He sighed. "Stupid shoppers." Then he got up and trotted into the house.
* * *
Xelloss always felt a little strange when dealing with Firia's shop. He helped out in it whenever he could, of course, but he never ran it. That was Firia's job. She WAS the shop, really. She knew ceramics inside-out and backwards. Her head was a veritable encyclopedia of antique facts. She could answer any question that a customer could possibly think of. People came to her from some very faraway places for her expertise. She could find anything, and if it couldn't be found, she could probably make it. And she supplied very good maces at a reasonable cost.
The shop wasn't itself without Firia around. So when she went on her buying and trading trips, the place closed. All Xelloss did at these times was keep it clean and politely tell people that they couldn't shop today.
He came to a stop at the storefront, right under the hanging sign with its crossed vase and mace. Firia had never made up her mind over what to name her shop. Everyone else just called it "Firia's Unbreakables" until it stuck.
"Hello!" Xelloss smiled and waved to the man as he walked up. "Firia's Unbreakables will be closed until my wife comes back from a merchant's run. She'll be the one you want if you're looking for information on those hard-to-get rare collectibles, or maybe just a little advice on touching up your family china. Come back at the end of the month and she'll be here with a whole new stock!" Xelloss held the grin in place. Firia had made him memorize the speech after Valteria had informed her of Xelloss' habit of happily telling people to go the hell away.
The man looked rather nonplussed. Xelloss was used to this dissapointed reaction from eager customers. "Look, I am sorry you missed her. If you want, I can leave your name with her and she'll probably give you a discount on your next purchase. My wife really likes to establish a good relationship with her customers and feels pretty bad when one comes all this way to the shop only to find out that it's closed."
The man sighed. Xelloss raised an eyebrow. Dejection was pretty normal, but this man looked downright annoyed at him. "My name," the man grumbled, "is Warren."
Well. I'll make sure you don't get a discount, Mr. Warren. "Right! Well, we're about to have lunch now, and I'm sure you're probably doing the same soon enough." Xelloss waited for the man to catch his subtle hint. He really wanted to be rude about it, but he had gone SO long without angering a potential customer. Why waste breaking his record because of THIS surly bozo?
"Your wife, huh?" Warren scrutinized Xelloss as an indescribable expression perched about his face. "I can't believe it."
Xelloss' heart froze for a moment, but he kept his face and posture composed. It couldn't...the man's teal eyes DID look like slits, didn't they? It was a little difficult to notice at first. Dragons had slitted eyes. And Zelas' minions...didn't they all have dagger-shaped pupils just like Xelloss used to have? He couldn't really recall. He couldn't tell...maybe the man was just normal. He looked normal: shoulder-length periwinkle hair in a ponytail. Lean build. Plain and worn traveling clothes. He wasn't even Xelloss' height. Maybe he was human. Just a really rude one. But...
They're coming to get me! They'll take me back to Devil's Nest! Or to Zelas! "Um. Well, it was pretty lucky that we found each other."
"I can certainly see that." The man's gaze flickered to the scar on Xelloss' right cheek, just under his eye.
And Zelas will punish me so badly for confessing her secrets under torture. I do remember THAT much about her. "Well. Yes. So, how did you find Firia's shop? She likes to know how word gets out."
"I guess if you look hard enough for something, it can't help but get found."
Either fate...they're the same thing, really. Either way I'll wish I'm dead... Xelloss' thoughts leapt to Valteria. He had to keep Valteria safe. But how could he signal him without letting Warren know about it? He had to keep up the illusion of calm. Oh gods, what if it WAS a mazoku? Then he could just taste Xelloss' panic, no matter how well he hid it! "So, where are you from then?"
"Oh, across the ocean. A nice little island."
SHIT!! He WAS one of Zelas' mazoku! He'd been toying with Xelloss all along, sensing his suspicions from the start! What fight could Xelloss put up? He wasn't the mazoku he'd been eight years ago. He had no magical skills now, and what fighting prowess he had would be meaningless against a mazoku opponent.
But Valteria...
"Was that your son I saw you sitting with a few moments ago?"
Oh please no. No. Nonononono.... "I beg your pardon?" He could still stall. Maybe Valteria was listening now. Maybe he would be smart and run. Valteria was a fast flyer, and a clever boy. "Oh, that neighbor kid? He probably ran off. He does that a lot, now and then."
Warren chuckled, shaking his head. "You have neighbors around here? This is the only house within a two mile radius."
"He's a very fast runner. I see him going at it all the time." Xelloss willed his heart to stop beating so fast. It was hammering against his chest, trembling like cornered prey. Please let Valteria be listening. Please please please-
"I think Dad wanted you to leave."
Xelloss couldn't believe his eyes. Valteria was standing beside him, holding a mace out so that the spikes on the end just barely avoided touching Warren's neck. How did he- he must have heard Warren and gotten suspicious! And then he'd grabbed Xelloss' mace and come out to help him.
It was very touching, but Valteria didn't know what they were dealing with! This was a mazoku, probably a higher ranking one considering how haughtily he carried himself. Well, all mazoku were haughty. At least, Xelloss vaguely remembered that they might be haughty. He wasn't sure. But Valteria couldn't hurt the thing with just a mace! Especially THAT mace. Firia had cast it especially for Xelloss, making adjustments for the huge differences in strength between her and him. It looked formidable, but it was hollow, and much lighter than the usual stock.
"Valteria!" Xelloss used the boy's full name, a true rarity for him. "This doesn't concern you. Now give that to me!" Xelloss couldn't decide whether to keep his eyes on Valteria or Warren. The latter appeared to be slightly amused.
"Dad, I really think you should let me handle this." Valteria kept the mace at Warren's neck, his eyes not wandering from the stranger for a moment.
"VALTERIA!" Oh gods please oh gods please... "GIVE me that mace!!" Xelloss had never yelled at Valteria so forcefully. He couldn't remember a time when he had needed to.
"...Dad..." Valteria's eyes stayed on Warren. "Dad, are you sure you know what this-"
"NOW." Please!
Valteria bit his lip, sighing through his teeth. He handed the mace to his father, gaze still rooted to Warren. Warren only smiled as if he thought this was the best entertainment he'd witnessed in years. Maybe it was, at that.
Xelloss grabbed the handle of the mace as his son let go. "Now- AUUUGH!"
What am I doing on the ground? How did I end up here? Xelloss inhaled sharply as pain washed over him, hitting him hard and leaving him nauseous.
"DAD! Dad, your hand! Dad!" Valteria was at his shoulder, kneeling in the dirt with him. "Are you okay? Dad, I'm sorry! Are you okay?"
"I..." Xelloss stared down at his hand. It was pressed between the ground and the mace's handle. A wave of nausea hit him again. "Ugh...wha...what happened?"
"I-I was trying to t-tell you that I wasn't holding your mace!" Tears budded in the corners of Valteria's eyes.
"You wha- OH." Xelloss mentaly cursed himself. This was one of Firia's maces! As an Ancient Dragon, Valteria could toss something like this around like it was a stick. But Xelloss was as strong as a human who didn't care too much for heavy lifting. Just the handle was enough to...
Chaotic Mother, how many bones in my hand did it break? Xelloss squeezed his eyes shut. How were they going to take care of this? Firia was the healer of the family. Xelloss had a nice body of knowledge on home remedies, but this was nothing that could be solved with a few herbs or a special tea! Well, there was a doctor within maybe ten miles of the house...Valteria could fly him there pretty quick-
Suddeny, reality flew back to Xelloss like a boomerang. Warren!
"You two are very lucky I'm not a dragon." Warren shook his head, chuckling. "They're not nearly so easily amused. Now, why don't you invite me in?" He flicked his wrist, unlocking the shop. The door opened politely as Warren gestured to Xelloss. The mace lifted away gently, allowing unseen forces to carry Xelloss' body through the door. Warren followed him inside. He paused a few feet in and looked over his shoulder.
"Valteria? Be a good boy. Show me where the kitchen is." Warren's fanged smile left no room for argument and no question of how much obedience he expected from his host.
Valteria stepped inside, leaving the mace in the dirt. The door shut itself behind him.
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