Hello, everyone. As per usual, I don't own anything- I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy.
48- Discovery and Discordance
Filia was more dazed by the idea of what was happening than the pain. She managed to pull herself to her feet, but was sent reeling again soon afterward. With the chaos going on around them, the twins were upset and began to cry. Xellos tapped Enrico on the head with his staff, gently, it looked like, but the child immediately went silent. Filia couldn't catch her breath.
"Enri-"
"Don't worry, Filia. Don't worry." Xellos reached his staff over and tapped her on the forehead as well. The world seemed to spin, and she blacked out. He made sure that she was lowered gently onto the carpet before turning his attention back to the child in his arms. Luke was squirming and whining, but calmed down slightly as Xellos stroked his cheek.
"…you called?" A small Mazoku peeked her head in the door.
"Good job, Lorelei. Right on time."
"Whoa! What happened? I thought you said that you weren't going to hurt her!"
"I didn't. She's just unconscious and the wound is no longer bleeding." Xellos' attention was still focused on Luke as he wrapped the child in a blanket. "She'll be fine in a few days. The Dragon Race is notoriously resilient. How did your meeting with Pathosmaster's general go?"
Lorelei pressed her lips together for a moment and then answered. "He's tricky. He seemed ignorant of most Mazoku customs, but I can't imagine that he would be…"
"It might have to do with how he's being handled." Xellos offered. "Lord Pathosmaster has never been one to follow convention."
"Enrique tried to tell me that Pathosmaster had given him permission to refuse Lord Beastmaster's offer."
"You didn't take that as an answer, did you?"
"Of course not. I made it very clear that he was only to relay the message."
"Good." Xellos had finally gotten Luke quiet and was trying to keep him that way. "What did you think of Enrique?"
"He's dreamy." she answered, resting her head in her hands.
"That's not what I…" Xellos' voice trailed off. "So Zara has good taste, then?"
"Well, obviously."
"I suppose then I can trust you to keep an eye on him- get my bag for me, will you? I set it down in the chair over there."
Lorelei obediently complied. "You know, I could carry the baby, if you wanted."
"No, no. He's special cargo- my liability. Just carry the bag and my staff, will you?"
She rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright."
After gathering up the rest of the supplies and checking on the gift he'd left Professor Nisery, she turned back to Xellos.
"Are we going to leave the egg and the other baby unsupervised?"
"Well, Beastmaster only needs one of the twins, and the egg must stay in Filia's care. What do you think?"
Lorelei sighed. "Once everything is delivered, I'll come right back here."
"Good. Meanwhile, Lord Beastmaster wants some time alone with this child, and I have business with our high-profile prisoner."
The two Mazoku left the room and everyone in it just as they had set it all up. It was only a matter of time before someone stumbled upon it, and by then their plan would have long since been put into action.
"Hey, Lina, why'd we have to go all the way to that other estate if you were just gonna sell the item to Miss Lin?" Gourry was asking the important questions.
"I didn't know who I was going to sell it to. Miss Lin is the highest bidder, Miss Lin gets the piece. It's that simple." Lina defended.
"That was an outrageous price she paid for it, though…"
"Supply and demand, Gourry. That's a one-of-a-kind piece, so only one person can own it."
"Right, right. The limited edition effect. Got it."
Miss Hayze led the group back to her estate in time for dinner, a triumphant smile covering her face. Even having to go with Lyos to see the healers for her evening treatment couldn't dampen her mood, and everyone was glad of it- especially Lina. She tried to convince everyone that "seeing customers happy" was the most rewarding part of her job, though they all knew otherwise.
"Miss Lin will be a few minutes. Shall we go ahead and set up for dinner?" Amelia offered. Pestis jumped up and down excitedly.
"Ooh! Dinner! I'm ready to eat!"
"Someone needs to go get Filia." Zelgadis instructed. "I'll go see if Enrique is still in the music room."
"I'll go meet Filia upstairs." Lina volunteered eagerly. "I hope the twins haven't been too hard on her. They can be fickle sometimes."
"I bet I can beat you there!" Zara challenged, making a head start for the stairs.
"We'll see about that!" she laughed.
"Should we follow Professor Nisery?" Shizuri asked Amelia as they watched Lina bound up the staircase just slow enough to stay one step behind her son.
"Where did he go, anyway?" Gourry started looking around. "I thought you said something about dinner, but he ran in the opposite direction of the dining room."
"I think he went out to the patio." Amelia pointed. "He must've thought we were eating outside."
"But it was raining when we came in." Shizuri pointed out.
"He probably forgot. We've eaten outside so many times before…"
"He'll come in when he notices the weather."
"You think? He can be really empty-headed sometimes."
"But to stand out in the cold rain like that…"
"He's a Mazoku. I wonder if he even feels cold like we do."
"That's a good question…"
"I guess I can understand forgetting things like the weather." Gourry finally interrupted the girls' conversation, sighing and staring up at the ceiling. "I always seem to end up forgetting different sorts of thi-"
His sentence was interrupted by the sound of a child's scream.
Amelia stiffened. "Th-that sounded like Zara-"
"ZARA! LINA!" Gourry was running up the stairs two-at-a-time. Amelia and Shizuri exchanged a panicked glance. They started up the stairs and got about halfway before they heard Zelgadis' voice from behind the staircase.
"What's happening? Is everyone okay?" "Was that Zara? What's going on?"
Zelgadis and Enrique were hand-in-hand and both spoke up at the same time as they hurried around to the front of the staircase. "We don't know." Amelia replied. "Lina and Zara-chan went upstairs to check on Miss Filia and the twins, but it sounds like something is wrong. Mister Gourry ran on ahead-"
"Well, then, let's follow him!" Zelgadis grabbed Amelia's hand in his empty one and pulled her and Enrique up the staircase with him. The group had to pause a moment to catch their breath by the time that they made it to the third floor, but down the hall they could hear Zara yelling, Lina and Gourry arguing, and a baby crying.
"FILIA! ARE YOU OKAY?" "-his eyes were clouded over, I had to use a flow break-" "-I don't understand where he could have gone-" " PLEASE WAKE UP, MISS FILIA!" "-I don't know, I can't explain it-" "-it's not like he could have wandered off on his own-" "WHAT SHOULD I DO? SHOULD I USE A HEALING SPELL? MISS FILIA!"
Amelia rushed to Filia's side as soon as she saw the damage. Zelgadis was more concerned about Lina, who was cradling Enrico almost desperately, and he hovered over her to see if there was anything he could do to help. Shizuri comforted Enrique and Zara, the latter of whom had decided that he wasn't helping anything by standing around and screaming.
"The wound isn't very deep, and it's been cauterized. Whoever did this to Miss Filia wasn't trying to kill her." Amelia spoke up as she worked a recovery spell. "However, she has been stunned. If Luke is really missing, I'd imagine that this is all an elaborate kidnapping."
"Who would kidnap just one twin, though?" Gourry had his arms around Lina's shoulders.
"It makes sense if they were trying to take a hostage." Shizuri offered. "Two infants are far more trouble than they're worth, considering how much effort would go into caring for them. For the purposes of a hostage situation, only one is necessary."
"Of course, for a hostage situation, the victims would need to be notified." Zelgadis interrupted. "Has anyone seen a note asking for a ransom or something of the sort?"
"I'll bet Filia could tell us." Shizuri murmured.
The group paused. It was silent, save for the sound of Amelia's healing spell. The spell then flickered out, and a quick flow break served to return Filia to consciousness. With Amelia's help, she sat up and looked around.
"Miss Filia, are you okay?" Zara stood next to her, his hands clasped in concern.
Filia blinked confusedly. "…what? What happened?"
"That's what we were hoping you could tell us." Shizuri replied.
Lina knelt down beside her, still rocking Enrico back and forth. "Who attacked you, Filia? Please, you've gotta know- where did they take my baby?"
A look of horrified realization slowly crept upon Filia's face as she turned her attention away from Lina and scanned the room. Her gaze eventually fell to her own pink dress and the deep purple stains on the front of it.
"…is this blood… mine…?"
"You were stabbed, it looks like. It wasn't deep enough to truly hurt you, just enough to stun you…" Amelia began.
"…so that someone could run off with Luke." Zelgadis finished.
Filia's eyes took on a look of panic. "…no… this can't… it's not…"
"The spell used on both Filia and Enrico affects consciousness and interferes with memory. I'm not surprised that she can't remember her attacker." Zelgadis explained, picking up the basket with the Ancient Dragon egg in it. As he did so, his elbow knocked the small wrapped gift off the table and onto the floor. "Enrique, could you pick that up for me?"
"This wasn't here before." Enrique said as he scrambled to retrieve the gift. Zelgadis gave the basket to Filia, who took a moment to fawn over it, making sure it was completely safe. "It says it's for Professor Nisery."
"What?" The statement drew several people's attention at once.
"What does Pestis have to do with this?" Zelgadis grabbed the package from Enrique. "Is there a sender's name on the package? How do we know who left it?"
"I have a hunch…" Lina spoke up.
"Now, now, we can't jump to conclusions so quickly." Amelia interrupted her. "It's not right for us to just automatically assume that it was Azarel."
"Should we open the present?" Enrique was standing on the tips of his toes beside Zelgadis, trying to get a better look at the gift. "Lord Pathosmaster isn't here to open it himself, but I could probably open it in his place."
"I don't think it matters. This looks like a birthday present wrapped for a little kid." Zelgadis untied the ribbon and began to tear at the paper. "It's some sort of box, I guess. There's something inside…"
"A flower barrette?" Shizuri reached over Zelgadis' shoulder and pulled the object out of the box. "It's a women's hair accessory… not that I'm one to judge the professor on his style choices, or anything…"
"Th-that!" Enrique shrieked and pointed. "That's Azarel's!"
Shizuri flinched automatically and dropped the barrette. It landed near Enrique's feet, and he jumped away from it as though it were dangerous.
"Azarel never let anyone even get close to it. It was super precious to them… and I think it was something Lord Pathosmaster had given them a long time ago!"
"I've seen this before. It definitely belongs to Azarel." Gourry picked up the barrette and examined it. "It doesn't seem like anything special, though."
"It… it meant something important to Azarel." Enrique was still trembling. "It wasn't just a trinket, it was symbolic of a relationship that Azarel held very, very dear…"
"If Azarel is giving this back to Pestis, does that mean that they're… breaking up with him?" Lina ventured. "Like they don't want to be friends with him anymore?"
"I thought they already weren't friends." Gourry examined the barrette closer. "I mean, judging by the way they fought a couple months ago…"
"I don't get it." Lina shook her head. "If Azarel wanted to give that back to Pestis, why not do it in-person? Why hurt Filia? Why take Luke? It doesn't make any sense…"
Filia buried her face in her hands and sobbed. "This is all my fault. I'm so sorry, Miss Lina, Mister Gourry. You trusted me with your children, and I… I…"
"It's my fault too!" Enrique jumped in. "I was supposed to be helping, but I…" His voice trailed off as he seemed to remember something. "…that's odd. Something here doesn't add up. I need to talk to Lord Pathosmaster."
"What's wrong?" Amelia asked. "Did something happen?"
"Yes, but… it doesn't seem to have any connection to Azarel's attack, as far as I can tell… unless…" Enrique squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. "Ah! I don't know anything! Lord Pathosmaster, you've gotta help me!"
"Where is he?" Zara hovered next to Enrique, not wanting to get too close, but still wanting to help.
"I'll find him." Zelgadis answered sternly. "Someone needs to go inform Lyos and Miss Lin about what's happened."
"WAIT! What about Luke?!" Lina shrieked. "We can't just forget about him! H-he's so tiny, he needs special care… he likes to eat at the same time every day, and if he doesn't get his afternoon nap, he gets cranky… and, and, when he gets really upset there's a certain song that he likes me to sing for him to calm him down- Azarel won't know all this!"
"There's got to be something we can do." Gourry pleaded.
The group was starting to argue about it as Zelgadis slipped out of the room. He wasn't sure how he was going to tell Pestis what had happened, but he was going to try. If anyone knew where Azarel might be hiding, it was Pestis.
Xellos pressed himself against the heavy door as he opened it, bracing himself for an attack from the prisoner locked within the room.
He was not disappointed.
Azarel's attacks were physical, as the cell blocked connection with the astral plane. A Mazoku could still throw kicks and punches, but, of course, Xellos was ready for that kind of assault. His own hand-to-hand skills were not too shabby either, and he quickly disarmed Azarel. The Mazoku fell in a heap in one corner, momentarily stunned.
"Any prisoner hoping for escape will attempt to assault a visiting guard. Don't pretend that your attack was unexpected." Xellos scolded.
"Why are you here?" Azarel hissed. "It's been weeks. You can't interrogate me any more- I've told you all that I know."
"Oh, we know that. We no longer have any reason to interrogate you- in fact, we no longer have any use for you at all."
"What do you mean?" Azarel demanded. "You're not saying that you're gonna…"
"No, no!" Xellos waved his hands and walked over to Azarel, reaching out to take one of the Mazoku's arms. "I'm saying that we're going to let you go."
"…go?" Azarel looked up at Xellos, who was helping them to their feet.
"Yes. It's been a real pleasure having you as our guest, but unfortunately that time is now at an end."
Azarel's eyes narrowed. "What kind of game are you playing?"
"Game? No game. There's just no reason to keep you. You're free to go at your leisure." Xellos waved his hands. "Farewell. Adios. Aloha. Auf Wiedersehen. Vale. Sayonara. And all those goodbye sayings…"
"Xellos, I don't think-"
"Lord Hellmaster." Xellos interrupted Azarel mid-sentence, effectively cutting off the Mazoku's train of thought. "Unless you agree to leave of your own free will, I'm afraid that I will have to escort you off the island in a most unpleasant manner. You don't want that, do you?"
Azarel's shoulders hunched over in dismay, but the Mazoku stayed confident, at least with words.
"I'm onto your little game, Xellos."
"My little game?" Xellos' mouth stretched into a wide grin. "It's really not mine- it's Lord Beastmaster's. And, I assure you, it is anything but little."
There was a long silence as Xellos propped the door open. He paused at the doorway, beginning to exit back into the hall. His eyes and Azarel's met briefly.
"You have ten minutes to exit the island before Lord Beastmaster's underlings will be commanded to kill you on sight should they find you here."
"Don't worry." Azarel murmured in reply. "They won't."