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

57- Present Company Included

Lina and Gourry sifted carefully through the ashes of one of the burned houses, looking closely for anything that had been left behind. They had joined one of the recovery groups searching for personal possessions that survived the fires in order to return them to the families. Lina enjoyed helping people- no, really, she did- but that wasn't her main objective this time. In addition to searching for personal items, she was searching for clues about the beast attack.

It unnerved Lina just how much experience Gourry seemed to have with this sort of work. While the main recovery team had to give Lina a lot of advice, Gourry fell right in line with the other workers, and Lina wondered where he'd gotten the experience. Something told her that it was a touchy thing to ask, so she kept her mouth shut, waiting for a better time later that night.

"I think this used to be a dollhouse." Gourry called from his spot in one of the rooms, and Lina carefully stepped around some of the wreckage to join him.

"You're right. It was a nice one too." She knelt down and poked around inside of what remained. "Look at these little pieces of cutlery. Tiny forks, knives, spoons… pots and pans, even!" She smiled. "I had a dollhouse when I was a kid, but it certainly wasn't this elaborate."

"It doesn't matter how elaborate it was. It's been turned into charcoal now."

"Thanks for that uplifting observation, Gourry." Lina rolled her eyes as she began salvaging what she could of the tiny furniture. "They said that the occupants of this house had two daughters and a son. I'll bet those poor kids are really going to miss this."

Gourry bit his lip and sadly watched her as she worked. "…I wish we could do more to help. We know what it's like to have a family to worry about in the midst of disaster."

"We're doing what we can." Lina replied without looking up. "And we're searching for the culprit, too. Whoever did this is going to pay."

"Pay with what? All the stuff that these families lost?"

"…Gourry…" Lina handed him the bag of doll furniture that she'd collected. "Let's stay focused on our jobs for right now."

"Right." He sighed and took the bag with him out of the room and back toward the street where the salvaged materials were stacked. As he set it down, he noticed someone standing across the street, looking intently at one of the burned buildings. It was a cold day, so the thick cloak they were wearing wasn't out of the ordinary, but the burned area of the city had been declared off-limits except to authorized personnel, and this person didn't seem to have any form of official identification.

"Excuse me," Gourry called out. "this area has been closed for safety reasons. Are you authorized to be here?"

The person looked up, not at all fazed by Gourry's words. "I'm searching for someone."

Gourry saw their face and took in a sharp breath, his whole body stiffening. It caught their attention, and they looked at him with an expression of concern that made him realize how unnerving his reaction had probably been.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to- er, well, you look a lot like somebody…" He began to apologize quickly, but the other person cut him off.

"Everyone looks like somebody, Mister Gabriev." they replied, unimpressed. "Where is Lord Pathosmaster?"

"It is you!"

Filia took a deep breath. "Okay. I can do this. I can do this."

"This" was a task that had been set upon her by the rest of the group after they failed to convince Pestis to track Azarel. They needed to know, or so they said, and they thought that the connection that she shared with him would help her change his mind.

But she had to do it without letting him know she'd been sent by the others. That was the tricky part, and she was considering turning around.

This is outright betrayal. I can't do this to him. He's my friend, and this relationship is so important to him. That's it. I can't. I won't do it-

"Hey, Filia! What are you doing, standing in the hallway like this? Are you okay?"

Filia jumped. "P-Pestis! I was, uh, just thinking about talking to you! I thought you were out in the garden!"

"Sorry. My hands were getting cold, so I decided to come in." he admitted. "I can't feel them getting cold, of course, but they start to get stiff after a while, and that's when I know to come inside… or at least put some gloves on. Do you get cold easily? I'll bet you don't, 'cause, y'know, dragon and all… Filia, you okay?"

"Oh! Yes! I just… wanted to talk to you. Is that alright?"

Pestis grinned and elbowed her. "We're talking right now, aren't we?"

"I suppose so. It's just that I had some questions…"

"Well, that's just peachy, because I probably have some answers!" Pestis beamed. "Let's go join everyone in the parlour-"

"NO!" Filia was surprised by the force of her voice. "I mean… this is more of a private sort of matter. I wanted to ask you about… well… about your love life."

"My love life?" Professor Nisery's expression changed suddenly to one of confusion. "Is this about Zelgadis? Because I swear, I really-"

"No, no, no." Filia shook her head. "It's not about- wait, why would it be about Mister Zelgadis?"

Pestis' face turned pink. "No reason. Carry on with your questions."

Filia sighed and shook her head some more. She drew a deep breath and continued "This is actually about Azarel."

Pestis flinched. "I don't understand you guys sometimes! I have never been romantically involved with Azarel- why do people keep thinking that? Platonic love is actually a thing, you know, and I-"

"I wasn't implying romance, I swear." Filia waved her hands. "When I said love life, that wasn't quite what I meant."

"Oh. Oops." Pestis scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "When I heard love life, I just assumed… guess I was the amatonormative one in this case, huh? That's my fault. I apologize."

"Don't worry about it." Filia crossed her arms and glanced down at the floor. "Should we… find someplace private to sit and chat?"

"Nowhere is more private than the courtyard on a cold day like today." Pestis offered. "Let's take a walk instead."

"Okay."

The two were quiet as they made their way out into the courtyard, strolling along the stone paths. There was salt along the edges to keep the walk from freezing overnight, but during the day there wasn't a need to worry about ice. Pestis had a habit of finding a decent rock and kicking it along with him as he walked until it strayed off the path or broke into smaller pieces. It grated on Filia's nerves when he would stop to find another rock, but it wasn't enough for her to say anything.

"So, what about Azarel do you have questions?" Pestis began again. "Is it something Azarel said, or-"

"I want to know about your relationship with Azarel. How did it start, and how did it get to where it is now?"

"Whoa, whoa." Pestis stopped abruptly. "I volunteered to give answers. This is verging very dangerously into backstory territory."

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were opposed to discussing your past."

"No, it's not quite like that." He shrugged his shoulders. "I just don't like to bore people with my life. There are so many more exciting things to talk about, y'know?"

Filia kept a static expression. "Mister Pestis, I want to know."

"You do?"

"Yes."

"Fine, fine. I'll give you the Reader's Digest version." He stopped to pick up a rock that he had been kicking along in order to examine it as he talked. "It started as a business partnership. When there were only two retainers of Shabranigdo, Azarel and I were the second-in-commands. Azarel to Phibrizzo and I to Vireas. Of course, lots of crazy stuff went down during the Shinma War, Vireas got sealed away, a whole new crop of retainers popped up, all with their own underlings… Phibrizzo had to diversify his workforce, and Azarel got kinda pushed to the side. I missed Vireas, Azarel missed Phibrizzo. That was the start of our friendship."

"I see." Filia nodded.

"As I grew father and farther separated from the Mazoku as a race, I grew father from Azarel too. Azarel was always trying to convince me to come back and work for Phibrizzo, but… I could never stand Phibrizzo, and I declined every time. In the meantime, while I was studying Mazoku in detail, I met this artist-sorceress, Maria Barton, who was interested in depicting moral struggles and the conflict inherent between all living things. What started as a friendship between artists and students of Black Magic turned into… well… we fell in love. Several years later, we married. Azarel was against it the whole time. I invited Azarel to be the Best Man at the wedding, but Azarel declined, and that was the last I heard from them for years." Pestis sighed and shook his head. "I say this with some guilt, because my relationship with Azarel does mean a lot to me, but those years I was married to Maria were the best years of my life."

"There's no shame in that. You were with someone who made you happy."

Pestis' eyes sparkled with warmth despite the cold air. "Boy, did she ever." He paused again and dropped the rock that he'd been holding. "But… back to Azarel… several decades into my marriage, the Mazoku started up the Kōma War, and we were inevitably pulled into it. That's how I met Azarel again. We were on different sides of the war… we should have been enemies… but I just couldn't bear to fight. I came across Azarel once, gravely wounded. The Golden Dragons were after Azarel because they- er," He stopped himself, remembering who he was talking to. "you know all about that, don't you? Anyway, to save Azarel from being ripped apart by the Dragons, I… well, I had to hide them somewhere… so I sealed Azarel away with Vireas. I had at least that much control over Vireas' confinement. Really, it was a ploy to get Phibrizzo to find and release Vireas, but it was also a desperate act to save a friend. Unfortunately, I think Azarel saw it as a betrayal. That's the end of that."

"…I see…" Filia murmured.

"Whew! That was more backstory than I intended!" Pestis exclaimed. "Heavy stuff, right? I'm really sorry about that!"

"No. Don't apologize. It was good to get an honest reply. I appreciate it." Filia nodded. "You do still care about Azarel very much, don't you?"

"Of course I do. That's why I can't let Lina and the others destroy Azarel. There must be a way to solve this without that kind of destruction."

"You're quite the idealist, aren't you?"

"Oh, you noticed?"

Filia laughed quietly. "I want to help. I know what it's like to care for someone who seems past redemption. Can we track Azarel again like you did before?"

"Track Azarel?" Pestis blinked a few times in an attempt to understand what she was asking. "Yeah, but why?"

"Just to know. You want to find out for sure that this magical beast attack was Azarel's doing, don't you?"

"Yes, absolutely." Pestis tossed a glance up at the tower that contained the meteorological laboratory. "But how are we going to get in there? The researchers keep it locked up tight."

"I can fix that." Filia gently pulled a key from her pocket, handing it to him. He took it with a gasp.

"You stole this?"

"I don't like the word stole. Think of it more as a… gift."

"Ah. Right." Pestis nodded with a grin. "A gift. I like that."

Azarel repeated the question impatiently. "Where is Lord Pathosmaster?"

"You no-good little- you were the one who did all this damage, weren't you?!" Gourry lunged forward to grab Azarel, but the Mazoku jumped nimbly out of the way.

"Tell me where I can find him." Azarel repeated.

"Don't start giving me orders!" Gourry yelled, pulling out his sword. It wasn't magical- he'd left his replica Sword of Light back at the palace- but it would work for him temporarily. "Look at all this damage you've done! These were people's homes!"

"No one died." Azarel shot back.

"Yeah! Because of evacuation orders and brave people like Amelia! What were you trying to do with this?"

Azarel's eyes closed. "I was trying to get the attention of a certain Mazoku Lord."

"Well, congratulations!" Gourry growled. "You've got the attention of a whole city! Are you happy now?!"

"It doesn't make any difference if I can't speak to Pathosmaster."

"You-"

Azarel raised one hand in an offensive pose, as though they were preparing an attack, but a third voice stopped them.

"You lay a single finger on Gourry, and I'll blow this whole block sky-high. You've already done enough to it. I don't have to worry about collateral damage."

Azarel's eyes shot over to where the sorceress was standing, poised to attack. "Good morning, Lina. It's good to see you after all this time."

"You have about thirty seconds to get out of here." she warned.

"Miss Lina, you must be joking. I haven't even explained myself. Pathosmaster made it clear when we spoke a week or so ago at the Lin Estate that he didn't want anything to do with me. He told me that I was chasing a foolish goal. I saw that, if I wanted to get his attention and show him I was serious about my work, I had to do something drastic. All the destruction that you see around you is only a response to his accusations and can't really be considered an offensive move on my part-"

"That's thirty!" Lina spat. "Now, go!"

"And where do you want me to go? Off to another part of the city to cause more destruction? To the North to release the Demon King?!"

"There's no way you can do that. Not without the Key of the Aqualord, and Lyos will never give that to you."

"There are plenty of other ways to gain access to the Aqualord's power. Don't underestimate me."

Lina and Gourry glanced at each other. It was a pretty cliché villain line, and they were almost certain that it was a bluff, but they wondered if perhaps it would be a good idea to let Azarel have their way.

"What will you do if we guarantee you an audience with Lord Pathosmaster?" Lina asked. "We can have him meet you here at a specified time of your choosing."

Azarel smiled. "Tonight would be preferable. Any time- my schedule's open."

"Then let's go full cheesy-villain routine and have you meet here at dusk." Lina answered. "Would you prefer him alone or with company?"

"Alone would be preferable."

"Then Gourry and I will accompany him as escorts."

Azarel's smile faded, and Gourry shot Lina an accusatory stare, but she didn't budge.

"…fine, then. That's all I came here for."

"What? Not to pick a fight to bolster your own ego? I'm surprised."

"Be quiet."

"You used to hang around us and gloat. What's the matter? Don't have anything to gloat about anymore?"

"That's enough."

"What? Are you afraid of us now?"

"I'll see you this evening." Azarel disappeared abruptly. It took Lina and Gourry a moment to realize what had happened.

"Immature." Gourry breathed.

"Very." Lina nodded.