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

61- Three Sides of the Same Coin

"Lord Pathosmaster! What a completely unexpected surprise!"

Xellos' words hung in the air for a few moments, enveloped in a silence that made Filia dizzy. Professor Nisery was busy contemplating what to say next. He didn't want to put himself at a disadvantage when dealing with a Mazoku with as sharp a tongue as Xellos.

"It's an honour to have been able to catch you off-guard, Xellos." Pestis finally spoke up, entering the room and approaching the side of the table where Filia and Xellos were standing. "Though it's unfortunate that Filia's and my ruse was so transparent."

"Though Filia is your type, I assumed that your affections already lay elsewhere." Xellos shrugged. "And you're certainly not Filia's type."

"Hey!" Filia bristled.

"If you're going to make an offer for Val's allegiance, you shouldn't do so in secret from the one who already has a claim." Pestis continued. "It's common courtesy."

His statement caught Filia off-guard. As much as she was willing to play along with Xellos' assumptions, she wasn't sure whether the professor was doing the same. His voice sounded completely serious, but she had never given him any reason to believe that he had any claim over Val.

"Um," Filia began, "I think that the only one who really has any claim over Val right now would be his mother- me. So, if we're going to-" Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the little dragon, who had climbed up onto one of the table displays and was reaching for a low-hanging chandelier. "VAL! Get down from there!"

At the sound of his mother's voice, Val jumped and landed back on the tabletop, where his claws tore into the tablecloth again. Filia scooped him up in her arms and held him close.

"He's hungry and instinctively searching for food." Pestis observed. "Hasn't he had breakfast yet?"

"We haven't had the time, what with being interrupted and all." Xellos' voice was pleasant, but there was an undertone of accusation toward the professor.

"Here. Why don't you give him breakfast, then?" Filia handed the dragon to Xellos and motioned toward the kitchen. "In the meantime, I'd like to speak with Professor Nisery privately."

Xellos pouted, but a few eager screeches from Val prompted him to move in the direction of the kitchen. Once he was out of earshot, Filia grabbed hold of Pestis' shirt collar.

"What are you doing? I never gave you any claim to Val!"

"Of course not. I was just playing along." Pestis put his hands up innocently. "Wasn't that what you were doing?"

Filia suddenly felt sorry for her aggressiveness and took a step back. "Yes, but… why are you trying so hard to pick a fight with Xellos? Isn't that a bad idea?"

"All I want to do is protect you." Pestis replied. "The last thing I want is for him to take advantage of your feelings. You know he would."

"I didn't need you to tell me that." Filia replied curtly.

"But you were so close to kissing him-"

"So what? That was my decision, not his." Oops. Filia hadn't meant to destroy her plausible deniability like that, but she was sure that Pestis saw the whole thing anyway.

"But-"

"I don't need you two fighting over me. It's obvious that you're using Val as a cover to fight over me, and using me as a cover to fight over something with even higher stakes. Why use two levels of secrecy? If you want to argue about something, do it outright!"

Pestis was silent for a long moment. He took a deep breath and grabbed Filia's hands, holding them close to his chest. "Filia, listen to me. We're both trying to settle this without declaring war. I know that Xellos has the authority from Beastmaster to do so, and he knows that's the last thing I want. Fighting over a baby dragon, even one as important as Val, isn't grounds for declaring war. Fighting over control of the Aqualord's Barrier, on the other hand… well, that's a different story."

Filia hadn't known the full extent of the conflict. The word "war" made her uncomfortable, but being the pawn in a game of war made her even more so.

"Isn't there some other way to resolve this? You'll never get anywhere fighting under pretexts like this. The true conflict is unavoidable."

"I refuse to start a war." Pestis declared firmly.

"Don't you get it? If you blindly support your warped idea of peace, you're only furthering the conflict." Filia knew she was being harsh, but his words had hit her laced with bad memories. "I've seen leaders- Golden Dragons, even- who were so concerned about protecting the peace of this world that they were willing to sacrifice the lives of others and even the safety of other worlds in the process. You can't become that, Pestis. You're better than that."

Pestis' mouth hung open for a few seconds. He didn't know how to respond. He wanted to protest, but something in that didn't feel right. "…Filia… do you think that I'm becoming a monster?"

She bit her lip. "I think-"

"Look who I found in the kitchen!"

Xellos' voice interrupted their conversation, and the two turned around, gasping in unison. Xellos had Val perched on one shoulder with a glass bottle in one hand, and in his other hand he had a firm grip on the arm of a young man who was trying fruitlessly to wrench himself out of Xellos' grip. Both Filia and Pestis recognized him easily.

"It's a little early in the morning for cocktails, don't you think, Lord Hellmaster?" Xellos continued, finally letting go of Azarel's arm. The Mazoku silently pulled away and stood back, glowering at the group. Xellos turned back to Filia and Pestis, offering them the half-full bottle. "Kerosene, anyone?"

Filia's nose wrinkled as she caught wind of the strong smell. Pestis accepted the bottle and examined it, but eventually placed it on the table. "Azarel, what were you thinking?"

"He's not willing to answer, but I can harbour a guess." Xellos offered in reply. "It's not a secret that kitchens and utility closets are great places for bomb-making. I'm more partial to potatoes than flammable liquids, myself, but anyhow… I assume our friend here decided to use an attack on the courthouse as a ploy to draw attention away from the Mazoku culprits. If the ingredients of the Molotov cocktail could be traced back to one of the Seyruun palace's kitchens, there might be an investigation opened into possible anarchy- and even treason, should Philionel have been present at the time. That would allow Azarel and myself to slip away secretly and without facing immediate trial. Am I wrong, Lord Hellmaster?"

Azarel crossed his arms and looked away. Xellos laughed and clapped his hands together.

"And you would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for that meddling priest and his dragon!"

Val seemed to think this was funny, and chirped happily. He'd clearly been fed in the meantime, which Filia was glad of. She, as an adult dragon, could go a long time without food, but Val was just a baby, and needed all the nourishment he could get.

"Azarel, we need to talk." Pestis sighed. "This is getting out of hand, even for you."

"Even for me?" Azarel's brow furrowed in offense. "What about Xellos? You're not seriously siding with this childish idiot, are you?"

"I will only deny the latter accusation. I am quite intelligent, thank-you-very-much." Xellos spoke up in his own defence. "And I can assure you that Lord Pathosmaster has made it clear that he wishes to have no part in an alliance with Lord Beastmaster."

"I am not on Beastmaster's side and I am not on your side." Pestis wagged a finger in Azarel's face. "There's more than two sides of the same coin."

There was a pause.

Filia reached out to him awkwardly. "Uh, did you mean to say-"

"I know what I said." He batted her hand away, but his face had visibly reddened.

Xellos cleared his throat. "Er, should we take this discussion somewhere a little more conducive to logic and reasoning. The library, perhaps?"

"I don't give a damn." Azarel spat.

"The library it is, then."

"Um, I don't think that's such a good idea. Zelgadis is sort of the librarian, and I don't think that he'd-" Pestis' protests fell on deaf ears. The two Mazoku had already teleported away. "H-hey! You can't just leave me!"

"He took Val!" Filia bristled. "That bastard!"

Pestis hung his head and trudged toward the door. "…we'd better head toward the library, then…"

"Aren't you a Mazoku? Can't you teleport?"

Pestis pouted. "But the Astral Plane is scary. I don't wanna go there."

"Professor Nisery, you may be on the brink of a war with two other Mazoku lords. Doesn't that scare you?"

Pestis didn't respond.

Zelgadis felt someone brush against his arm. He was still half-asleep, and really didn't feel like getting out of bed. "Give me a few minutes, would you, Amelia?" he groaned, turning over and pulling the blankets over his head. There was a moment of quiet, and then he felt a weight on his shoulder accompanied by a low meow.

"Oh. Kaz. It's you." Zelgadis peeked his head out of the blanket and the cat jumped down from his shoulder onto the pillow. "…Amelia's not here. Do you know where she went?"

Obviously the cat wasn't going to respond, but that didn't stop Zelgadis from asking. He sat up and Kaz jumped into his lap.

"It's not like her to be awake this early. Maybe she's worried about what happened last night. I don't blame her, do you?" Zelgadis gently stroked the cat's head as he spoke. "But if she's not here, I don't have a good reason to stay in bed, do I? What a pain. I really haven't been getting enough sleep lately."

Kaz's ears twitched and his head spun around toward the door. He jumped out of Zelgadis' lap and approached the door, pawing at it unhappily.

"Something wrong, buddy?"

Zelgadis stood up and threw on a bathrobe before opening the door to look out into the hallway. He didn't quite make it to the hallway, however, as he ran into someone trying to come into the room.

"Ah! I'm sorry!"

"Amelia?" She had almost tripped, and Zelgadis put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. "Where've you been? It's not even six-o'clock yet-"

"Th-the library." she breathed. "There's something going on there. Mister Xellos is there… a-and Azarel…"

"In the library?" Zelgadis exclaimed. "They wouldn't dare." He was already several steps ahead of Amelia, running down the hallway. She called out to him, but he didn't respond.

"Don't you want to… get dressed properly or something…?" Amelia figured that showing up in his pyjamas in front of a group of Mazoku lords would be like something out of a cliché nightmare, but it was obvious that Zelgadis hadn't thought it through- or perhaps he didn't care.

"What is going on here?!" It went completely against Zelgadis' nature to yell as he entered the library. He knew that the safety of the library (and the world, of course) was more important than the sanctity of the solitude, but that was little help.

Xellos, Pestis, and Azarel were gathered around the fireplace and Filia had hidden behind a bookshelf, listening intently to the conversation with Val clutched protectively in her arms. Upon hearing Zelgadis' entrance, they all turned and looked.

"Oh. It's you." Azarel scowled.

"Zelgadis! What a pleasant surprise!" Xellos was a little more cordial, but it came with a twinge of sarcasm. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that the dress code was sleepover casual. Now I feel overdressed- how embarrassing."

For the first time that morning, Zelgadis actually glanced down at what he was wearing. His face reddened and he tied his bathrobe more tightly around him before clearing his throat and continuing. "I need to know what you all think you're doing. This library is not the place for a fight, certainly not at six-o'clock in the morning."

"Believe me, a fight is the last thing any of us want." Xellos assured him. "We were trying to talk things over so that we could come to a consensus about what to do next. You know all about the Demon King of the North and the barrier that keeps him in place, don't you?"

Zelgadis marched over and sat on the edge of the table that was in the middle of the chairs that the Mazoku were using. "Of course I do. What of them?"

"Lord Pathosmaster here wasn't familiar with the way alpine glaciers worked, so I was giving him a quick geology lesson."

Zelgadis glanced over at Pestis, who seemed more interested in his shoes than in the conversation that was going on. "Really, Pestis? Isn't your home in the mountains?"

"Well, yeah… but I don't care about glaciers." His voice was much more quiet than usual.

"He thought that glaciers were static blocks of ice." Xellos' voice was condescending, and Zelgadis didn't like that very much, but he wasn't going to call Xellos out on it. "I was just trying to get him to understand that glaciers are dynamic. They're constantly moving and changing, almost like a living entity, and the barrier is specialized to account for that while still keeping the Demon King perpetually imprisoned."

"Or so Ragradia wanted." Azarel muttered.

"The Ruaidhrí glacier sits on the slope of the Kataart mountains' highest peaks, at more than 7,000 metres above sea level. It's approximately 27 kilometres in length, and the Demon King is sealed near the source. The glacier has actually been growing the past few decades, due to longer-than-average winters and mild summers." Xellos continued.

Zelgadis nodded. "I've heard all of this before. In spite of the large concentration of miasma due to the Demon King's presence- or perhaps because of it- Ruaidhrí has become somewhat of a tourist destination lately. The native people of the region have begun leading expeditions through a series of tunnels that cut through the mountain almost directly to the glacier source."

"Have you been?" Pestis asked.

"No. I've been to the Kataart mountains many times, but never as far north as the Eastern Peninsula."

"The barrier keeps the Demon King firmly in place, despite the advance and retreat of the glacier itself. There are some really fascinating mechanisms involved that I would love to study more, given the chance, but that isn't Lord Beastmaster's objective, so I've put it to the side." Xellos admitted.

"Xellos," Pestis spoke up nervously. "I appreciate your education about glaciers and everything, but I'm having trouble applying it because I don't know what your final objective is regarding the barrier. Azarel wants to break the barrier and release the Demon King, I want to repair the barrier and re-seal the Demon King… and what do you want?"

"Me?" Xellos pointed to himself. "I'm carrying out Lord Beastmaster's orders. That's all."

"And those orders are what, exactly?" Zelgadis pressed.

"Well, now, I'm afraid that I can't exactly divulge that kind of information to anyone. If it were only Lord Hellmaster and Lord Pathosmaster here, I might be able to tell them, but… there are quite a few non-Mazoku types around here as well."

Amelia was standing with Filia behind the bookshelf. The two glanced at one another nervously, but didn't say anything.

"…however, for the sake of compromise, I suppose I can divulge a little bit. Beastmaster is hoping to do further research on the Aqualord's barrier for the sake of a personal project of hers. Our objective is not really the Demon King, but the barrier itself. The Demon King needs to remain, though, or there'd be no barrier to study."

"What kind of studies are you wanting to do anyway?" Pestis asked. "If you're endangering the barrier through your project, it could endanger your project itself. What if you released the Demon King by mistake?"

There was a pause. Xellos burst into hysterical laughter, having to stop and catch his breath before he could talk again.

"R-release the Demon King… by mistake…? Professor Nisery, do you have any idea how the Aqualord's barrier even works?"

Pestis frowned and puffed out his cheeks in embarrassment. "I know a little bit about it, I guess."

"It takes a lot of work to break that barrier!" Azarel exclaimed. "Lord Phibrizzo worked really hard and couldn't even break it on purpose! How could you say that someone could break it by mistake-"

"Now, now, there's no need to get testy." Xellos placed a hand on Azarel's shoulder, and the Mazoku scowled at him. "It doesn't really matter what kind of research Lord Beastmaster wants to do. In the end, it's not going to change anything-"

"Actually, I think it is."

The whole group paused and turned to Zelgadis.

"What makes you say that?" Xellos asked.

"Think about it." Zelgadis continued. "Azarel did some poking around the barrier and damaged it enough to actually alter the world climate. What might running these so-called experiments do to the climate?"

"I don't think that's any of my concern." Xellos replied curtly.

"It's of my concern." Pestis spoke up.

Xellos stood up and began pacing back and forth. "There really does seem to be an issue in coming to a consensus. Might I suggest, then, at least a minor battle- just to decide who really gets control of the barrier? It would be a battle, yes, but to prevent an even larger war. No whining, no complaining, winner takes all. Okay?"

"Yes! Absolutely! That's what I've been saying!" Azarel yelled.

Pestis was silent. Zelgadis reached out to him, but he batted Zelgadis' hand away.

"Alright, Xellos. State your terms."

Filia's breath caught in her throat. "…Pestis?"