As per the usual disclaimer, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy.

53- Under False Colours

"…well, egg, it's just you and me for the next four hours or so. What do you want to do?"

Enrique rocked back and forth on the uneven legs of his chair. It hadn't been long since the group left, but the silence was unbearable. It wasn't really silence in the true sense, given the loud noises of the outside city making themselves clear in the distance, but the silence within the room made him uneasy for some reason. Talking made it a little better at least.

"Your mom, Filia… she's really nice, isn't she? I heard that she adopted you. It's kinda like how Lina and Gourry adopted Zara, right? That's cool. I wonder if someone would adopt me if I were a human. I wish I was a human- er, at least not a Mazoku. Is being a dragon cool? Would you know yet? I think it'd be awesome to have a big pair of wings and be able to breathe fire and lasers-"

"Aww, are you talking to that egg? You are just so cute."

Enrique yelped and jumped several feet in the air. He took on a defensive stance against the figure who'd just arrived in the room. "Don't DO that! At least KNOCK on the DOOR first!" On second inspection, it was the Mazoku girl that he'd seen twice before. His body contracted into a more sheepish pose, and he gave an embarrassed wave. "Oh. It's you. H-hi."

"Hi." She imitated his wave.

There was a pause. Enrique suddenly remembered that she was talking to him. "Oh! H-hi… hi, me?"

"Yes, hi, you." Her expression was a mix of incredulity and amusement. "You're the only one here."

"W-well, there's the egg, y'know, and… while I'd like to believe it's decent company, you're probably right about that… still, I'm supposed to guard it, and…" His arms flailed around as he tried to make appropriate gestures to accompany his words. "…Why are you here? Everyone is at the restaurant, just like you asked."

"I know. I'm glad."

"So, uh, why are you here, then?" Enrique pressed the tips of his fingers together.

"Are you that thick?" She laughed, giving him a friendly punch on the arm. "I like you!"

Enrique stared at the floor.

"Besides that, Xellos wanted me to stay as back-up to look after the egg. It's very important, you know. Did you know that this is the last Ancient Dragon egg in existence? They were hunted nearly to extinction. This is the only living relic of a once-great race."

That gave Enrique the chance to look at something other than the floor, and when he did, he saw the egg with new eyes. "Really? I never knew that."

"Oh, yes. I learned all about it from Xellos. The Ancient Dragons were pretty much extinct by the time I was born, so I never got to see a real one. Xellos said that they were incredibly powerful- big creatures with silky black wings. A whole flock of them in migration could block out the sun in one location for hours." Her eyes were closed as she recounted the tale. "Their magical capacity was higher than that of other dragons too, and they could take down entire armies singlehandedly. They were like tanks with wings. Isn't that amazing?"

"I suppose." Enrique replied, still staring at the egg. He couldn't fathom how such a powerful creature could come from a small orb like that. "If they were so strong, why'd they go extinct?"

"Golden Dragons." she answered curtly.

"You mean like Filia?"

"Yes. But not her- Filia wasn't alive during the massacre either. It was the elders of the Golden Dragon clans who sought the destruction of the Ancient Dragon race."

"Why?"

"Personal grudge. Desire for power. Fear. The Ancient Dragons remained neutral all throughout the War of the Monsters' Fall. While the Golden Dragons fought viciously against the Mazoku- and the Mazoku fought viciously back- the Ancient Dragons tried their best to stay out of the conflict. After it was all over, instead of dissolving their armies, the Golden Dragons said to the Ancients, if you're not with us, you're against us, and massacred them all, just like the Mazoku had done to their own race during the war."

Enrique shuddered. "What a story. I hardly knew anything about dragons, but I always thought they were supposed to be good. But…"

"They missed one, of course. He fell into the hands of a former Mazoku, and ended up being a real pain for us in the long run." The Mazoku girl leaned on the desk, staring at the egg intently. "…is it… supposed to be that colour?"

Enrique was only half paying attention. "D-did you say former Mazoku? Like, he was a Mazoku and then he changed into something else?"

"Yeah. The Demon Dragon King, Gaav was sealed in a human body by the Aqualord- er, I really don't think this egg is supposed to look like this."

Enrique had a hard time catching his breath. "The power of the Aqualord can do that? Even to a retainer of Shabranigdo?"

"Yeah, um, have you been looking at this egg?"

"That means… a Mazoku could become human by requesting help from the gods…?" Enrique smiled. "That's-"

"ENRIQUE! Have you seen this egg?!"

Startled, Enrique turned around to see just what the Mazoku girl was talking about. He caught one glimpse of the egg and gasped. "Wh-what did you do to it?"

"I didn't do anything. I didn't touch it."

"Well, it wasn't that colour earlier."

"That's what I just said!"

"What's going on? What is it doing?!"

"It's probably hatching, idiot!"

"Are you sure?!"

"I don't know! I've never seen a dragon egg hatch before!"

"It's not like I have either! What are we supposed to do? Filia's gonna be so mad!"

"It's not like this is our fault!"

The egg continued to change colour, and the two tensed up, glancing at one another in fear.

"N-no…" Filia gasped. "…twins… that's why you kidnapped Luke! You were searching for a piece of the Demon King!"

"Twins like Luke and Enrico, being the sons of a powerful sorceress like Lina Inverse, would have enormous magical capacities, not to mention a predisposition toward the use of Black Magic…" Pestis murmured. "It only makes sense that they would be the perfect hosts for Shabranigdo."

"Um," Shizuri raised a hand. "I don't want to sound ignorant, but… Luke and Enrico aren't identical. Does that make a difference?"

The group paused.

"Oh yeah! How could I have forgotten?" Pestis clapped his hands together. "Lina did say that they were fraternal twins. I didn't think much of it, because I still can't tell them apart anyway, but I'm sure it does make a difference."

"Indeed. It makes a world of difference." Xellos nodded. "When Lord Beastmaster's researchers, myself included, heard that Miss Lina had given birth to twins, we knew that the likelihood was that they were not identical. But we had to make sure of it."

At this point in time, the waitress had come back to the table with the drinks. She handed Pestis his coffee and left the pitcher in the middle of the table. Xellos requested that they have a little more time to browse the menu, and the waitress glared at the unopened menus on the corner of the table before sighing and walking away.

"I don't get it. Enrico and Luke look the same to me. What makes them not identical?" Lyos groaned.

"Identical twins have the same genetic material." Pestis explained, taking a cautious sip of his coffee. "They're essentially clones of one another… in the non-magical sense, of course. But fraternal twins only share the same genetic material that any two siblings would."

"And how can you tell?"

"I can tell." Shizuri answered. "If you really look at their features, you can get an idea. Luke resembles both of his parents in different ways, but Enrico is all Gourry."

Lyos rolled his eyes. "They just look like babies to me. Even if they did have a demon attached to their souls, why bother now? Why not wait until they're older?"

"If the twins had harboured a piece of Lord Shabranigdo- which they unfortunately don't- we would've wanted to study them." Xellos answered, pouring himself a drink. "We are trying to identify the presence of the Demon King early on in order to see how it affects the lives of the humans. That could better help us understand how to trigger the release of a piece of Shabranigdo to awaken in the future."

"Is that also why you interrogated your old partner, Azarel?" Filia asked. She glanced for just a moment at the pitcher, but then looked away.

"Old partner? You're just as mistaken as Azarel was. We were never partners- rivals is a better term." Xellos answered. "And no, that interrogation was for a different project. You see, with Miss Lina's twins yielding no results, we're focusing on another project of ours. For that project, we're seeking information on the Key of the Aqualord."

Lyos tensed up and his hand flew from his drink to the hilt of the sword that he had attached to his belt. No one was touching that sword except for him.

"Why?"

"I'm afraid that's classified." Xellos apologized. "Does anyone want to look at any more of these files before I put them away?"

"No thanks." Pestis waved him on and took another sip of coffee.

"You don't want this sword, do you?" Lyos began nervously.

"Are you willing to give it to me?" Xellos opened one eye curiously.

"Not a chance!"

"Then I don't need it. There are other ways to get to the power of the Aqualord."

"Like what?" Filia frowned unhappily.

"I told you, that's classified. I've already divulged a lot about Lord Beastmaster's current projects, so I can't say anything more at this time. What I can say is that I want you all to keep an eye on Azarel. It's not that I feel threatened, but an unruly Mazoku like that can be a pain if not kept in check."

"I'm surprised at your attitude toward Azarel." Pestis observed. "I would've thought you'd have felt more loyalty than this."

"Loyalty?" Xellos laughed loudly. "Loyalty for what? For slaughtering Golden Dragons a thousand years ago? I have no connection with Azarel save for that one competition. Any alliance we would've had back then has no meaning now that Golden Dragons are no longer a nuisance species."

"N-no…" Filia stood up and banged her hands on the table. "No longer a nuisance species? That's it? That's how you really feel?!"

Xellos stood up as well and reached out to her apologetically. "Filia, darling, you know I didn't mean it like that. You'll always be a nuisance in my heart."

"You're kidding me, right?" Filia threw her hands up in the air. "All through this dinner you haven't once made an attempt to apologize to me! Accidentally stabbed, my foot! And you still act like you don't care at all!"

"…Filia, keep it down. People are starting to stare…" Pestis whispered quickly.

"NO! I will not keep it down! I came here tonight looking for answers- for some explanation as to why you would do this! This is not love, Xellos!"

"Well, love wasn't exactly what I was going for when I was carrying out executive orders." Xellos shrugged. "I don't understand what's got you worked up. You knew what you were getting into."

"Y-you… you can't act so careless."

"Actually, I can."

"XELLOS-"

"And, I think that's my cue to leave." Xellos began stuffing the stacks of files back into his bag. "I can see when I'm not wanted. Here's some money for my part of the bill- don't worry about the food, I got plenty to eat just sitting here."

"Xellos, where are you going?" Filia demanded, following him as he started to walk out.

"I've got business."

"It's always business with you, isn't it?! That's why you betrayed me! You can't leave like this- XELLOS! HEY!"

Pestis cringed and put his head down on the table as Filia followed Xellos through the restaurant, continuing to yell. "She's overreacting. We talked about this. I can't believe her." he murmured to himself sadly. Shizuri and Lyos watched in horror as many of the other restaurant patrons began to take notice of the fighting couple and strained to watch.

The fight apparently continued outside of the restaurant, but no one in the group felt like going after them. The waitress came by again to check on things, and Pestis put in an order for tiramisu. He felt bad not ordering any food, especially because of the ruckus that Xellos and Filia had caused. Lyos angrily downed the rest of the pitcher at the table, and then a few minutes later excused himself to the washroom in a fit of nausea. Shizuri looked around uncomfortably and tried a couple of times to speak to Pestis, but he was too buried in his dessert to pay attention.

After what seemed like an eternity, Filia stormed back into the restaurant and sat down at the table with a huff. The look on her face told Pestis and Shizuri everything that they needed to know, so they didn't ask.

"Where'd Lyos go?" Filia looked around.

"He got sick. I think the alcohol got to him." Pestis replied. He realized that there were only a few bites of tiramisu left, and he offered it to Filia. "Want some of this?"

"No." Filia replied curtly. "Thank you."

There were a few more minutes of awkward silence, and an older woman- clearly drunk- staggered past and called out to Filia. "You should dump him, sweetie. You don't need a man like him in your life."

Filia waved gingerly and offered a half-hearted thank you, but it was doubtful that the woman heard. The dragon sighed and put her head down on the table.

"I really made a mess tonight, didn't I?"

"I told you, nothing good ever comes of fighting in a place like this." Pestis replied once he'd swallowed the last bit of his food.

"Why do you care so much?" Shizuri asked. "He doesn't seem to care about anything you said. He was teasing you the entire time."

"It's just his personality. It doesn't mean anything… and yet, it infuriates me." Filia clenched his fists.

"That's why he does it." Pestis pointed out. "He loves to get on your nerves. You can't give him that satisfaction, Filia."

"I tried not to! I tried all through dinner!"

"Hey, guys…?" Lyos stumbled back to the table, leaning onto the back of his chair. "Let's get outta here soon, 'kay?"

"Are you alright, Lyos?" Shizuri asked in concern.

"I don't like what that guy said… 'bout there being another way to get to the power of the Aqualord an' all…"

"He was right, you know." Pestis responded. "Unfortunately, the Banisher is not the only reservoir of the Aqualord's power. Xellos knows how to choose his battles, and after seeing what the power of the Aqualord did to Azarel, I don't think he's in a hurry to start a scuffle with the Knight of the Aqualord."

"But what should we do now?" Shizuri shifted in her seat. "We promised the others that we'd join them in Seyruun once we got the information we wanted, but…"

"That's exactly what we should do." Filia decided out loud. "We'll return to Seyruun at once and tell the others what we know. We have to figure out what Lord Beastmaster is doing before we can put a stop to it."

"Now you're thinking rationally." Pestis smiled. "Tomorrow morning we'll start back for Seyruun. I'll take care of the bill here, and then we can leave- Lyos, wake up."

Lyos jerked his head up from the table. "Wha-? I wasn't asleep!"

Despite the waitress' poor attitude during dinner, Pestis left her a sizable tip. Wait staff were underpaid and underappreciated anyway, and he felt bad for putting her through all the trouble that their group caused. He should've known better than to schedule dinner with Xellos, but what could he do? Right now, it was all about putting the pieces together.