Author's notes: Thank you for the beautiful reviews all. Well, with no further ado, I give you the next chapter. Aren't I just wonderful at coming up with titles? Heh heh, well you can't say that I don't at least try.

Shattered Pieces

Why was he still here…? By all reasoning he should have left already. Of course, reasoning had escaped him some time ago, but he able to grasp onto at least one thing, a scrap of information that both confused and startled him. Filia didn't hate him anymore. In fact, she hadn't reacted violently towards him since the day he first appeared at her doorstep… wasn't that yesterday? It didn't matter because right now she had no negative emotions for him.

If this was the case then why did he stay? He even continued to follow her as she progressed towards the shop she treasured so highly. Xellos smiled at the bitter irony of it all. The once feared Beast Master; the one who killed so many golden dragons during the war, had no one to turn to but a golden dragon. It stung him just thinking about it, though that sting wasn't nearly as strong as another fact… He knew it was only through the Greater Beast Master's 'good graces' that no other monster knew about his current situation.

There was something else… it was pulling him, and suddenly something more forceful than his simple thoughts invaded him. He froze in his tracks.

"She's calling…" he whispered.

Filia glanced back at him and quickly came to a standstill when she noticed the horror-stricken expression on his face. His eyes where wide and fearful, and even before he said anything more, she knew.

"Lord Beast Master…" he murmured drawing himself closer. "She's calling… I can't ignore it… I have to go now."

The thought of what would happen to him if he returned clawed into him, and he screamed and fell to his knees. Filia ran to his side and helped him up. The people of the town were not used to such a disturbance. They were watching them strangely from a distance, from their shop's windows and doors.

"Xellos," she said under her breath. "We're almost to the shop. Please try to hold on until then…"

"Hold on?" he snapped wincing against another stab of pain. "To what? If you know please tell me because I'd really like to hear it!"

"Don't get snappy with me!" Filia responded angrily as she pulled his arm over her shoulders to aide him in walking. "I'm trying to help you if you hadn't noticed!"

She immediately regretted yelling at him. Xellos didn't trust her very much. She knew that and she accepted it. He was a monster after all, and monsters really couldn't trust anyone could they? But when he tensed and tried to pull away from her, she felt by some means rejected… She fought the urged to let go of him, knowing full well that in this state he probably couldn't stand.

"Look," she said calmly. "If you want to go back, I'm not going to stop you."

"I wish you would…" he remarked in a soft cheerless voice. "I really do."

Filia wanted to roll her eyes at this; Xellos still wasn't making sense to her. Instead of reacting however, she focused on getting them both to the shop. It took sometime since Xellos had lost most of his momentum, but they made it.

There were a few customers idling around the shelves of pottery, and Jillas was behind the counter. Filia couldn't see Grabos anywhere, so she assumed he was out back with the new pieces that were suppose to have arrived that day. Was that dust? Filia took a good look at the shelves nearby and sure enough, there was dust starting to gather. How many times had she told Jillas to dust that spot?

"What are you doing?" Xellos asked glancing up at her curiously with one eye.

"It's a force of habit," she replied truthfully. If anything was out of place, there'd be hell to pay…

Jillas bristled when he saw that Xellos was in close proximity to his "big sis." He didn't like the monster… Why was Filia letting him get so close to her and Valgarv? It didn't make any sense to him.

A crash sounded from somewhere in the back and Jillas paled. Grabos had dropped something and was proceeding to curse his frustrations. He obviously didn't know that Filia was standing there in the shop with her big heavy mace ready at her side. Jillas was too shocked to say anything, and it was already too late to utter a warning.

"Excuse me Xellos," she said sweetly, but it was obvious even to the customers standing nearby that she was ready to explode. Her eye twitch and she spoke through her teeth. "I have something I need to take care of…"

She let him go, and the monster stumbled back and ended up leaning against the wall. Filia walked with a fire in her step towards the backroom, pausing only for a moment to set Valgarv's basket on the counter. When she vanished into the back, Jillas, Xellos and the customers all waited to see what would happen, and what they saw was a large blur go shooting through the shop, out the door, and into the street. Filia's mace had connected.

"Ah! Boss!" Jillas cried helplessly from the place he was rooted.

Filia walked back into the room and brushed her hands off. The deadly mace was nowhere in sight, but she had a pleasant smile back on her face. The customers all decided that leaving was a good idea at this time, and they all began filing out.

"Sorry," she apologized to them on their way out. The people nodded to her while continuing their uneasy retreat. When everyone had left, Filia swung the sign to 'closed.' She had seen the mess in the back. This shop wasn't going to be open again until she got everything back in order.

With the shop completely empty of clients, Filia was free to chew Jillas out. The fox man knew this, and he coward as she strode towards him. It had only been one day… How could they possibly cause so much disorder in one day?

"The pottery ya order arrived…" Jillas said meekly.

"Yes I see that," Filia replied placing her hands on her hips. "And half of it has been cracked or damaged in some way! The box Grabos dropped has been completely destroyed, and now I'm going to have spend even more money on getting it replaced!"

She paused and waited for an explanation, but the fox man remained silent.

"Don't you have anything to say?" she hollered. "I only left you two alone in the shop for one day and this happens!"

Laughter interrupted Filia's rant, and she turned to Xellos who had been the source. His laughter wasn't mocking, and it wasn't crazy like it had been the other day. In fact, the monster seemed genuinely amused. She smiled.

"If you're feeling better Xellos, you can help me clean up this mess," she told him.

"I can't," he said moving away from the wall. There was an air of melancholy around him as he gave her a parting look. Lord Beast Master's call couldn't be ignored. He had to go. Even though every fibre in his being dreaded it, he knew avoiding it would be impossible. Before he could be overtaken by the wave of pain, he vanished from her shop to return to the place he feared the most.

"Xellos!" Filia called after him, but when he didn't answer her, she knew he had truly gone. Something weighed heavy in her heart, and suddenly the realization hit her. She might never see Xellos again… Why was she feeling this way? And more importantly, why did she care?

. "Um... Big sis?" Jillas began unsurely. The fox man had finally gained enough courage to speak. "Why was that Xellos guy here?"

"Because," Filia began. Her voice sounded a little distant, but Jillas decided not to make a note of it. "He's in trouble…" the words slipped from her mouth before she could catch herself. She hadn't wanted to admit that it was possible that his Mistress could want him dead… or worse.

"What can you tell me about the Greater Beast Master?" she suddenly asked Jillas.

The fox man looked at her strangely. "That would depend what ya wanna to know." He replied. "We never heard much because Lord Valgarv was never interested in those kinds of things."

"Tell me everything you know," she said.

Jillas sighed. "Well ok... Let's see… I heard that she was very devious, and that most of the Dark Lords could never tell what she was planning. She kind of kept to herself I guess, though just a few years ago she began dealing with the Hell Master." He grinned. "Although we don't have to worry about that anymore!"

"Is that all?" Filia asked sounding disappointed.

"'Fraid so," Jillas replied.

There was silence between them for a few moments. Filia knew he was wondering why she had asked him something like that, but what could she tell him? She was actually concerned about Xellos. If he didn't return soon she wouldn't be able to stop worrying.

After cleaning up the shop, she returned home with Valgarv and fell into bed. She placed the basked beside her and sighed as she stared up at the ceiling. Her mind racked for the answers to the questions that had been plaguing her that day, but she found none... There wasn't even a scrap of peace between her raging thoughts. Eventually her questions faded away, and she was able to drift to sleep; a sleep that was filled with dreams of the past.

Author's note: I actually think that this chapter… how should I tell myself this lightly..? It didn't seem as good to me. I don't know! Maybe I should stop drinking so much iced tea so I can concentrate more on what I'm typing. It's settled then! While I'm writing the next chapter, I won't be drinking iced tea.