· · · · · · ·

If killing me will appease you, quick, kill me.

At the heart of the demon's sea forever lay a wound in the world. He was there, forcing her hand to tear it open further. All would come to an end under Dark Star.

Devils from this world or another, her dragon senses cried out in warning. Dark Star Dugradigdu needed only to look and every holy fiber in her body screamed like Hell had grown beyond Megiddo.

In these nightmares Filia always was helpless and unable to change anything, but tonight, for the first time she realized it was not truth. She was in her bed, caught in memories she couldn't escape without waking. Desperately she told herself this, but nothing she felt became any less real.

Valgarv threw her away, but continued to regard her with cold eyes. She remembered earlier nightmares where Lina never arrived and they were swallowed together, but he'd say one thing first.

"Your bear this blame."

A bamboo stick sailed in from the left and knocked him off balance. Staggering, he tripped over his own feet and fell back. It was almost comical. Even Dark Star looked more like a caricature as he made wide eyes at the silly scene.

Now Luna was at her side, tapping another stick in her hands like a school teacher reprimanding an unruly child.

"You didn't do it. Not the squishing of the Ancients, not Dark Star's invitation to prom," Luna said, and down came the stick on Filia's head. "Cut it out."

The formerly solemn, dreadful scenery changed to a happily distorted restaurant, where Filia and Luna waitered on a table with Lina and Gourry. Those two gorged themselves, as per usual, but in between bites Lina spat out, "Dammit, Filia, duty's fine but I hate the martyr act."

"Hear hear, something I agree about with this little monster," Luna said, knocking the table. "Seriously, Filia. What has happened to today that I find you like this?"

"I don't know," Filia said. There probably was a prompt, but she was too distracting by the jarring contrast between the mood of her nightmare and the jolly scenery. Her mother, her cousins, uncles and aunts, her grandfather and a horde of family friends occupied the restaurant, all in the traditional robes of the second holy order and off course human form. They looked happy, but in the middle of the restaurant was a row of caskets. Flowers were arranged around them and every so now and then one of the group came up and paid respects. In the caskets lay her elder, her father, and herself.

Luna groaned. Still balancing the service plate on one hand, she went over and kicked the caskets, and for good measure set them on fire.

"That's better," Luna said. "I was planning that tonight we try commanding the little piece of Valwin we stored in your soul, then catch up complaining about idiots assuming we bang everyone we fight with, but ... the plans changed."

Amidst the burning fire, there was a new casket, in which Valgarv lay. Not for long, seeing as he was getting up.

"Huh. Nice visit card, Rangort," Luna muttered.

"Rangort?" Filia managed to stammer when Luna grabbed her and pulled her through the floor. They fell across the familiar passage to the edge of her soul.

Just barely had their feet touched proverbial ground or something hit Filia square in the face. Yelping, she pulled the shards of a yellow ball off her face. Luna had suffered a similar fate, except with a brown ball.

"What the hell?" Luna said as she tossed the shards away.

"Earthlord Rangort has a thing for throwing rocks at people," Filia said through gritted teeth. She nodded at the fence.

The Life Law Circle was mostly closed, but beyond it stood a humanoid of indiscernible gender, with light brown skin and wavy dark hair. The clothing they wore was colorful and ornate, one might suspect an outgoing, extravagant personality to match this appearance.

"Dropping by for soul food?" Luna asked.

The humanoid inclined their head, peering at the piece of Valwin that lay sealed within Filia's soul. Only a thin wire still connected the lifeless head to the outside world, a wire which Rangort now had their hand around.

"What is the meaning of this?" they asked, tugging once. Filia felt her entire soul jolt. Valwin had merely extended some power, but Rangort was consciously here and could do so much more. And wanted more. The Life Law Circle expanded, Filia could not tell whether by her own weakness of the effort of the god. Rangort wanted in and the dizzyingly pleasant pull in her mind made it seem such an easy, right thing to oblige ...

Luna didn't care for that. Her smirk dropped and she bolted forward, forcing the circle closer with both hands. This was a mistake, Filia felt the godly power seep through the fence. Rangort could not enter her mind or soul, but could very much affect magic on her. A serpentine tendril came from the hand, wrapping around Luna's neck quicker than she could respond. With breaking force, she was pulled against the fence. At the moment of impact, all of the coherent image Filia used to navigate this 'place' blurred, because she didn't so much feel Luna's pain as that she felt it and was overpowered.

"You're not getting in her head," Luna whispered somewhere without direction. It sounded entirely too calm was someone being choked.

"Then answer me another way. Did Zelas give you any instructions other than to find your sister?"

"No."

The surrounding blurred again, the feeling went beyond pain, like her very being was being undermined. How long it went on and how deep it went Filia couldn't understand, all sense of time and self drifted in a void.

Rangort wanted to know why Luna and Filia did what they did here, Luna told them with a sense of irony that it was defense against this exact act. Rangort did not like this answer and wanted to know more. Luna refused, to Rangort's anger. For the first time, Filia truly feared her gods.

This fear finally overcome that sense she had to submit to holiness and she tried closing her soul's window to Rangort. She couldn't do it alone, but Luna's will was in perfect accord to hers in this matter.

When orientation returned, Rangort stood on the other side of the fence as if nothing had happened, but Luna lay in a heap, breathing heavily. Filia rushed to her, helping her stand. She was pushed away as Luna struggled to her feet. Her bangs were shorter, revealing her hateful yet so human eyes. The smirk was back, she looked more manic than ever.

"That no also meant you can't get into my mind, dusty."

"Wrong, I can get in. I merely cannot afford to be noticed by my other numbers at this point, so I did not call for more power. Your objections mean nothing."

"The best surprise of the year. Anything else you wanted to share?"

"I've been trying to tell Filia Ul Copt that she needs to wake up," Rangort said, inclining their head to Filia.

"What? Why now?"

"Because Valgarv woke up. Stop his fight before it escalates, there are already to many witnesses."

Luna cast a quick look at Filia, who didn't know what to do with those words. Valgarv was gone. He had to be. This was a nightmare after all.

"The kid's not that guy, I met him. I'd have tasted it if anything of that monster was still in there."

"It's hard to tell what he exactly is, what with his abnormal astral composition," Rangort said. "Regardless, it is a fact that he is ruining the secrecy we must tend to. Filia, you must let either I or Luna aid you in removing the sleep spell that holds you."

Luna snapped her fingers. "Let's do this the quickest way."

An abyss opened between Luna and Filia, just a tiny one, but it was still a technical mile wide. No, it made no sense, but she dreamed. It had to be, her son wasn't Valgarv.

Luna suddenly stood behind Filia, raising her leg back.

"Wait!"

"Objection received and declined," Luna said as she kicked Filia.

"Luna, you're mean!" yelled as she flailed down the darkness.

"Thanks, it's family tradition!" Luna called back.

· · · · · · ·

Filia woke up, groaned and pulled the covers over her head. Another nightmare about Valgarv. It took a little before she realized Luna never was in her nightmares. Frowning, she sat up.

The details of her dream fell into place and with it all sense of a good night's sleep were gone. She jumped off the bed, materialized her clothes and bolted out of the door. Val's door was open, his room empty. As she feared.

She kicked in the door of Jillas and Elena, finding them both firmly under a sleep spell. She dismissed it and started rummaging through Jillas's trunk. The vulpen was still rubbing his one eye when Filia started throwing gunpowder bags and bullets at the bed.

"Miss Filia, is something the matter?" a horrified Elena asked.

"Yes! Emergency! Jillas, wake up and get armed! We're doing operation bat. Oh Siephied, oh Luna, we need to hurry! Wait, we need to pack too! Jillas, by the time I woke up the kids and Gravos, you must be ready!"

She sped out of the room, leaving the befuddled vulpen to catch up. They'd manage, they always did. Gravos was to his feet much quicker after Filia dismissed the spell, but when she came to the room of the cubs it was empty.

Filia took in the hollowness, not knowing how to place this in her panic. The reality crept onto her mind that she was more concerned with Val than what happened to the cubs. Whether kinder or more egoistic, she wanted to say she was just better prepared for Val being in trouble — Valgarv hadn't really woken, he was gone — but children were missing and her thoughts only spiraled back whether this had anything to do with Val, before worrying over them.

"Miss Filia?"

Gravos's heavy hand on her shoulder didn't quite shake her out of it, and all she said was, "They're missing too. We have to find them too. Oh, miss Luna should have left me more time to ask questions ... that's assuming Rangort would bother answering! Arrgh!"

"I'd be all for tracking them down, but why don't you tell us what exactly happened?" Gravos said. "No offense, but you're panicking."

"Valgarv's fighting dragons!"

"I don't get it."

No, this wouldn't do. She slapped herself on the face with both hands before turning to Gravos.

"Gravos, you will escort Elena as she tracks down Palu and Molly. Jillas is coming with me to help Val."

"What makes ya think they're not in the same place?" he asked.

"Because Val won't be so foolish to get them involved in a fight," she said. Gravos frowned (deeper than usual, as he often seemed to frown) and was about to speak, so Filia added, "I've been told he's violent by a reliable source. Leave it at that, we don't ha—"

"Where's the enemy?!" Jillas yelled as he jumped out of his room, guns in both hands. Filia recognized the sleeker look of the weapons, nodded and said, "Follow me. Gravos, you explain to Elena."

Elena's confused gaze met hers, almost Filia stopped to explain. She couldn't though, not now.

She teleported herself and Jillas out of the temple, using the heavy holiness of the place to navigate from here to the nearest familiar area, the elven village. They arrived in the house they'd inhabited before moving to the factory. This way they circumvented the guards outside the temple, but they still landed the thick of activity. There was so much noise outside it was a wonder no one noticed the glow of her teleportation. However, a quick glance revealed that with all the light spells and torches, the place was drowned in yellow light. The elves were too busy preparing for a potential assault on top of that.

From the shouts, she learned bare little but the same rumor that her son was half devil. He was indeed in a fight with dragons, but where? Nobody seemed to know, or those that did had no interest in explaining any of the others. Filia sorely wished she could just teleport where ever she wanted. The nocturnal darkness made it even more difficult to navigate, she couldn't even see any detail on the surrounding mountains so any haphazard teleporting around might just kill her. Manifest in one bad location, and you could end up with a disintegrated foot or merged with a rock or tree.

Jillas pulled her sleeve. "Over there, gunmoll!"

Where Jillas pointed, she spotted the distinct blue, white and yellow that signified Memphis Linesword. She was uncharacteristically accompanied by beige, green, blue and pale yellow : Palu and Molly. Memphis held Palu with both arms, and Palu held Molly. Before her stood two elves whom Filia vaguely recognized, likely her parents.

"Mister Jillas, can you get closer to them? See whether they're alright, but don't let anyone but Memphis know we're here. We have no idea what the attitude is right now, for all we know we are to be arrested."

"I'm on it."

Jillas sneaked out, slipping through the shadows like the expert thief he could be if only he bothered. After what felt like entirely too long for Filia, saw his ears peak behind a barrel near Memphis. Thank goodness she noticed. Filia couldn't understand what she said, but her parents looked very confused as she darted into a back alley with the cubs.

Filia's clenching hands made marks in the windowsill, by the time Jillas returned her gloves were full of splinters and the sill was missing pieces. Jillas brought her up to date after making a little fuss over whether or not Memphis would get his kids to safety. A group of superstitious young elves and dragons had gotten it in their head that if Val was devil spawn, then maybe the other Ul Copts also were demonic in nature. They'd abducted the cubs to experiment, sure they would find evidence and present this to proud parents. Everyone else had sleep spells cast on them ... Val too, they said. Him having shaken it off was taken as evidence of wicked sorcery.

Jillas hesitated, but she urged him to continue. What he told her then sent chills down her back, even though the words were so simple.

"They say that when Val arrived, he killed them."

As much as she tried, she couldn't see couldn't see her little boy do it. She saw Valgarv, grinning madly as he aimed with nonchalant ease, madder yet when his prey was female ... no, not. He wasn't here. Val was just cornered, he was just defending himself. No revenge, he'd done it for Molly and Palu. Rangort was wrong, it wasn't Valgarv.

Repeating that to herself did little to calm her terror.

"You okay?"

She stiffly nodded. "I'm alright, but Val isn't. Did miss Memphis tell you were the battle is?"

"Yeah, somewhere down that canyon, they're herding him to the river. We won't be able to hear them, they've throw sound muffle spells all over the place to prevent avalanches."

"Then we'll find the river first. Maybe we can spot something from there, if not on the way," she said with failing voice.

They slipped out of the house and Filia transformed once she was well out of sight. The mountain range was dark under the moonless night sky and the air was so cold Filia cast a warmth spell for Jillas.

The lake and river glistened with the light of the milky way above, she followed it until she saw flashes of light to her left. Cutting sharply, she sped towards the battle ground. It had moved far away from the temple ruins, into the valley between a triple mountain circle where two roots of the river met.

"Mister Jillas? I'm about to cast my light spell, ready your weapons."

Operation bat was an emergency plan they had devised, where Jillas would use a more lethal variant of his usual bullets to shoot the wings of enemy dragons. Sheer wind pressure could rend apart the smallest tear in a wing, bringing down the dragon. Ideally, it would be a gradual descent so no one had to turn into a splatter.

Filia circled the battle, barely perceivable beyond the glint of attacks, smaller light spells and Zenaffa armor. The silhouettes of dragons and armored elves in flight were her best guess of where the center was, Val himself she did not see. Odd, sound muffling or not she should see a dragon his size.

"Oh my, what would you be doing so high tonight, miss Filia?"

She snapped her head to the source, who moved along with her flight effortlessly. "Xelloss! I could ask you the same. Why aren't you helping Val?"

"I'm afraid I can't. Not only am I too busy eliminating any devils who could snitch this all to Dynast Grauscherrer, your son is wearing a Zenaffa armor. I cannot teleport him."

That didn't sound right. How could he fight when locked in his child form? A Zenaffa armor might explain why he did not fly, but it shouldn't have enough mass to encompass even a golden dragon, let alone a grown Val.

"What do you mean?"

"He fights in a form that's rather similar to Valgarv. If I'd judge by the emotional landscape I tasted earlier, I dare say it's not merely his body but also his mind down there."

"No." It came out pathetic, and she didn't even know who she said no against. But Xelloss did not lie.

"I'm afraid I cannot be of help with any of your misgivings about that. Now if you'll excuse me, we have an audience of about fifty lesser demons who are terribly curious why we get along so well," Xelloss said with a shrug.

He vanished, off to kill his kind while Filia still wasn't sure she could get out of this without any of her own dying.

"We better move now, gotta save the lord," Jillas said. The click of his guns told her he was a lot more prepared than she was, and he had no fear for seeing Valgarv. The lord Valgarv.

Filia descended in a broad circle, chanting below her breath a light spell strong enough to shroud a small area in daylight, creating a small star. It drained energy and she guessed they hadn't done it yet to avoid giving Val a clear shot with laserbreath.

When her star unfolded, they had only a few seconds to asses the scene.

Warriors were in a wide circle around dry corner of the riverbed, at their center was a bloody battlefield. Dragons with broken wings and cracked necks, a few elves in distorted heaps with uncommanded armor writhing around them. A circle of three elves and two dragons, still stood, all of whom had a variant of a spear.

In their midst was what seemed to Filia a chimera of her son and Valgarv. He had the height and wings of the warrior, though his hair was long like her son's and he had no horn or facial markings. His jacket was shredded in the back, the pants only holding up because they were made up of loose enough stretch cloth to deal with spontaneous tail growth. In his pose was all of the feral aggression she knew Valgarv to hold. A distorted, asymmetric white metal surrounded him.

Her nightmares came true, seeded in how he was imperfectly reborn, how there was still devil in there and that the old hatred would well up. She couldn't see where defense stopped and spite began for him.

Her star's light froze the scene, all eyes drawn to it and thus her as well.

"Restrain her!" That was Azonge's voice, Filia realized. He had to be one of the transformed dragons in the circle, but she didn't have time to really look. Five airborne dragons broke formation to surround her. She recognized the technique, her own clan had used similar to tackle dragons to the ground. They'd herd her down first, then tackle.

"Mister Jillas, your cue!"

With uncanny precision, he shot the nearest dragon in the left wing, the second close after. This caused enough confusion to let Filia slip through, but more dragons joined to intercept her.

"Both wings," she said with hesitation, and Jillas obliged without. She dove down twirling around her axis, so Jillas had aim at all next three dragons got tears in either wing and fell faster. The others had to try and break their fall.

The battle below picked up again. Val tried flying to meet her, but didn't get far with the Zenaffa armor holding him captive.

Jillas tossed a circle of bombs around him, which exploded with complimentary smokescreen. This caught all of the Kataart inhabitants no shortage of confusion. Technology and magic in these regions was thus that prince Posel's magic tanks were a thing and fireballs were a thing, but exploding cannonballs were not and Filia had forbidden him to use them when Memphis practiced; they did enough damage without gunpowder.

"She can use traceless magic too!" someone called. The other dragons backed off.

Filia was seconds away from the rising smoke. The elves darted out of it, but the dragons just struck their wings to regain clarity. From behind, she saw Azonge rear his head, preparing to fire at Val ... who didn't see it.

Filia leaned aside and Jillas saw, wasting no time to shoot.

The bullet hit him in the knee, right in the weak flesh of the inner side. Azonge roared out and collapsed, all his weight coming down wrong. If heavy creatures fell, even from a small height, they could die. Dragons never wore Zenaffa armor because in order to fly or even walk with all their weight, they needed to constantly invoke environmental magic. Azonge was in range of Val's distorting field, so he fell without those magic. The sickening crack of breaking bones was both horrific and a relief.

She herself was affected as well, so she landed at the edge of the barely perceivable field and transformed, making sure her weight was acceptable before marching into the smoke. Jillas stayed behind, keeping an eye on the enemy.

Her footsteps were heavy, but magic wasn't gone, just harder to wield. It was very likely the Zenaffa armor had something to do with it, interacting with Val's inherent distortion.

When a glimpse of black feathers passed by, she called, "Val! Come here!"

The glimpse vanished and she ran after it, almost tripping over Azonge's twitching wing. She could see him clearer now, he was bloodied and in pain. His wings and neck stuck at an odd angle, and on his neck Val had crawled. Both his arms had transformed into their semi dragon shape and the claws were digging into Azonge's neck.

"Val, no!"

He responded in no way, no glance or hesitation. Azonge started to trash around, and Filia was knocked off her feet. She couldn't get closer, and Val didn't listen. Through the wildness, glimpses of his face revealed that mad gleam. The joy he took in a fight brought to the end.

Filia had to do something, or else she might just as well lie down and die.

Wouldn't it be terribly handy if she could just take away his anger and make him calm? Where every other dramatic emotion ran wild, that thought struck root. For all Luna's fears and all Filia had seen in their shared dreams, it didn't feel so evil anymore to tamper with someone's mind if this saved lives.

Rash acts would not help everyone thought. Val suddenly becoming complacent however would make him an easy target when the others would attack. Gods knew they had every reason to take the opening, Filia wasn't blind to the carnage Val had wrought. But if she could use fusion magic, she'd be able to dissolve everything they could throw his way, even the magic that powered the Zenaffa armors.

She had no hopes for perfect fusion magic, but if only a little was at her command she could buy herself the time to bring this all to a stalemate.

There was a mental component to fusion magic. Amelia had declared it to be the power of love, but Filia was loathe to apply this on anything that involved Xelloss. That, and the reality was a lot more basic, as she'd realized while creating the vessels. It came down to a concord that required not only a common goal but also trust that the other wasn't about to use their magic in any unwanted way. He probably had an idea what was happening around here. Filia's gamble lay not just in that Xelloss was reasonable and beyond silly doubts, but in herself too. She didn't trust him enough, but ...

She focused a Holy Rezast on herself. It would have been something to be proud of, if she could say she could put her vices with Xelloss aside and wield fusion magic through the strength of her own mind. As if she had time for such arrogance! She let the magic corrode away at all her negativity. It didn't vanish entirely, but there was an overpowering calmness that let her focus on the small core that remained : knowing that at the end of the day, Xelloss would see to it that she and her family were unharmed.

She let go of her light spell, casting a variant of the Zelas Phalanx that drew on the power of Xelloss instead. Suddenly close, she felt the crawl in her spine that indicated Xelloss. He said nothing, did not appear. For a moment she doubted it worked at all, but when the threads turned a blue fire, she knew it had.

Fanning her hands, numerous threads of neutralizing magic flared into the clearing sky, at the elves and their armors and at the dragons in the air. She drained their inherent flight magic, cat's cradle on a magic level. The fusion flicked away, unstable and weak as it was when it only built on a vague idea (that both Filia and Xelloss needed to end this), but it had done it's task : the skies cleared.

She cast another Holy Rezast, focusing it on Val this time with every enforcement she could. The thin red circle expanded and turned white, large enough to capture both Azonge and Val inside. The four points could dimly be seen inside, only with her mind's eye. And somehow, perhaps only by the power of imagination, she saw the miasma itself, and the way it anchored within living beings. Val's hot red rage was torn away, and then she knew why a holy circle was red at all : it absorbed it in return for positive energy. An exchange after all.

Silence fell as their struggle ceased, like surprise had caught them both. Val's bloody grip on the dragon's neck loosened and he finally looked at Filia. Azonge stopped thrashing, she heard him mutter the start of a healing spell.

Almost, but never quite, Val was like a child again who feared reprimand. He did not move, however.

Filia could not see herself as the true mother, felt like the intimidated priestess before the demon. The sound of her footsteps on the rocks was too hard, the sharpness of the wind on her skin too distinct. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, its effect only suppressed by the Holy Rezast. When she grabbed his draconic arm and pulled, she couldn't hide the trembling.

"Val, it's enough."

"But he—"

"Enough, Val! Do you even see what you're doing? This is murder!"

"I'm defending us," he growled without sounding like his heart was in it anymore. If anything put a strain on the Holy Rezast spell, it was Filia's rising anger exactly because of that. Why didn't he stop if this wasn't what he really wanted?

"No! We don't need them to die!"

"I'd beg to differ," Xelloss said icily from somewhere behind them. "They won't just let you go."

"Shut up, garbage," Filia snapped, but couldn't look back. She tugged at Val's arm again. "You don't have to kill him. I'm here now, the others are waiting. We're going to leave."

Val's claw opened, Azonge's head fell to the ground with a sickening thud.

"Lord Azonge, command that your warriors give us free passage," she said.

"And die when you have a clear shot? We'll die making a stand," he rasped.

"You idiot! Swallow your pride already!"

Azonge's red eye narrowed and he growled deeply.

Giving up on reasoning with Azonge, Filia tried pulling at Val's wing to no avail. Val wasn't even regarding her anymore, he kept watch on those around like a hawk. By now the smoke had subsided and the warriors were reformatting. A single high roar made them freeze.

Milgazia descended before them while the immediate attackers cleared the way for him. One armorless elf remained, the commander of the Zenaffa armor that encased Val.

"Please come closer, then you'll be able to command it," Filia said, forcing her voice to be even. "Let us go and we will leave."

"Can you assure our safety?" Milgazia asked.

"I can," she lied. Again she put her weight on Val, this time she succeeded, but only because someone invisible had given Val a push. Xelloss was still around, albeit immaterial.

Milgazia cast a light spell, and now Filia saw what the shadows had hidden before. Val was covered in bruises and wounds, which would have torn all her concern to him if she didn't see his victims just as clearly. Few in ways that did not indicate a painful death. With the Zenaffa armor around him, Val had resorted to raw physical attacks, in which none could match him. The elf's fear to approach was more than understandable, given he needed to step past three mashed corpses.

It took but one quick touch of a finger for the armor to recognize its master and reconnect. It quickly curled around the elf, sprouted wings and off they were.

Val let out a deeply held breath. He fell to his knees, wings drawing back into his body like he gave up a strain held too long. She took him by both arms and forced him to look at her.

"Don't ever do this again," she said. Whether it came out as she wanted she could not tell. Val didn't stop looking lost, but he started to morph back to his child form, healing his own wounds in the process. Gently, she scooped him in her arms.

"It this also usual business, Filia Ul Copt?" Milgazia asked, his voice even now a dreary monotone.

"No, it's not," she said. "Forgive me."

"What for? Did you have a hand in this?"

"No, but ... " She held Val closer and his arms encircled her neck. There was nothing she could say to Milgazia and his people, even as she felt she should have foreseen this, that she should have been there, been more cautious, been many things just out of her reach. Been so much she couldn't achieve.

"Mister Jillas, let's go!"

The vulpen was at her side at once and she expanded the teleportation field. The start of Milgazia's words — objection or otherwise — was drowned out by her own wordless chant. Then the hollow echoes of the ruins surrounded them.

They had arrived in the most magically significant area, easiest for Filia to tune into. There, she sank through her knees, exhaustion finally catching up with her. Val's arms tightened around her neck for a moment, then he pushed himself off her lap. Still wordless, he looked around the softly lit hall.

"Hey, gunmolly," Jillas said. "Isn't this where you work? It sounds too empty."

He was right : every single vessel was gone. For what little Filia's heart hadn't already sunk, it now the another dip. She didn't entirely know what it meant, but the most obvious was that somewhere between last evening and now, Xelloss had vacated the place. He'd been here. Couldn't he have noticed the elves sneaking around? Or had he come here after the battle started? In that case, he could have taken the time to talk to Milgazia and make him end the battle earlier.

In the many competing emotions she felt, anger was crawling up, but there was no garbage to rage at.

She set Val down before her, but he refused to meet her eyes. She ran her hands through his hair and said, "Val, please tell me your side of the story."

His small fingers clutched her robe, a few tears dropped down his face until he broke down crying. Jillas knelt down behind him, putting a hand on his back. They stayed like this for a while, one confused boy between the two who knew what he was but not how to help him.

She remembered the rest of her family now the rush was subsiding. It was well possible they would be cornered as well, though she believed Memphis wasn't likely to let them get hurt. Especially not when Milgazia was in charge and Azonge knocked out. He'd be up in a few hours, however.

She wanted nothing more than to find the rest and leave before that happened, but her energy was so low she wouldn't be able to teleport immediately. Given how quiet it was here, it wouldn't hurt to stay. Truth be said, she was terrified that if she went into the halls and met anyone, Val would again see a reason to fight. Jillas was out of bullets, she couldn't even promise safety.

Picking up Val, she walked to the kiln, where the three sat down just out of sight of a potentially opening door.

"Wanna tell us what happened now?" Jillas asked Val.

"Yes," he said in a small voice.

He starting from the end, a disjointed account of how everyone started swarming him, how some called him devil spawn and others recognized him as Ancient Dragon. The Zenaffa armor was hostile and didn't obey, yet didn't leave either. They tried impaling him with spears, he dodged every time.

That was when he said it : "It was just like when the other goldens killed my clan, except they used those magic sucking machines to disable all our shields. Then they came with the spears. They herded us together so that even if those willing to fight shot their laserbreath, we killed ourselves as well. I had to live, mom. I had to fight, they were going to kill me too!"

How had he remembered that? Why?

"Val, how do you know that?" Jillas asked where Filia dared not.

"Claire's been helping me. The girl in the bible dimension. I'm sorry, mom. I didn't want to worry you by saying she was there. Xelloss said ... "

"Said what?" Jillas asked.

"You'd all be worried if you knew. But he also said we should be kin slayers together. Mom, I don't know anymore. What was I supposed to do? I promise I'll do it right next time!"

She ran her hand through his hair again, which was as much a comfort for him as it was for her. There was no one in the world she could ask for advise about the murderous past of a child crawling back up and she had no wisdom of her own to share here. But she could hardly tell him that, so she gave him the same old worlds and her useless gestures.

"Only defend yourself as far as you need to go, or you will be like those who did you wrong. Xelloss was wrong to encourage you and I'll ... just don't ever listen to him again, I beg you."

"I'm sorry."

"Val ... " She wanted to say it was alright, but it really wasn't. What could she say now, demand he make it up? How could she ever ask him to pay for this, let alone for the millions who had died when Valgarv guided Dark Star to the dragon temples? "What exactly did Xelloss tell you that made you think it was alright to kill them?"

"They'd chase us if I didn't, and then you'd all be in danger. That I might just as well learn it, cause they weren't going to stop."

A typical Xelloss twist of the truth. He probably had said so right in the middle of the battle, when Val couldn't think straight.

"What kind of danger, Val?"

"He didn't say."

"Xelloss was pouring oil on the fire, Val. We are now in greater danger than before because they've seen you kill. You should have gone to lord Milgazia as soon as you saw him and asked for protection."

"Then why did he tell me those things?"

"Because that gives Xelloss power over what you become," she said. "One day, when you are strong enough, Zelas will want to use you for her ends and that's why Xelloss is always around. Innocent remarks and small lessons can amount to instability in the future."

"Yeah," Jillas said. "Like that pot you made when you were four, with all the small rocks in it."

"It broke really quickly," Val muttered. "I guess if I'd break I could be a devil."

"Not if you stay strong," she said, for the first time managing a smile.

Filia didn't actually have a reason to believe Zelas planned to recruit her son, but it didn't do harm to be prepared. One day Filia would tell him that in a past life, Xelloss had tried to torture him to death. She no longer doubted she'd do so. But not now. Valgarv's hatred for golden dragons was lived on, Val did not need another target.

"Alright, I'm feeling better. Let's go meet the others, I'm sure they're done packing," she lied.

"But mom ... Claire's still in the mountain. Can't we take her along?"

"I don't know. I'll have to see what I can make Xelloss spill."

Honestly, she had no interest in letting anyone whose company Xelloss endorsed hang out with Val. It was possible that the Ragradia remnant he had mentioned was in fact this girl, but according to Lina and Milgazia Garv had dealt with that remnant for once and for all. SHe wanted to know before deciding.

"Val, tell me all you know about this Claire," she said as she took him by the hand. "But speak quietly."

Jillas went ahead, sniffing out anyone in the way. Val brought his voice to a whisper.

What she heard surprised her greatly. It had never occurred to her that gods could survive destruction, let alone that thoughts could have ghosts. Luna had assured her that Siephied's mind was all gone and that she had virtually no knowledge or memories in her heritage. Val's explanation of Claire being Ragradia's life affirmative thoughts was way out there. What did that even imply about the piece of Valwin's power that resided in her own soul?

For one, it stuck here and there she'd been doing magic without out loud spells several times this evening. For another, she was recovering energy a little too quickly.

Val's rattled on over all the things Claire had shown him, and Filia spent her mental time between wondering whether she was something of a chimera now or not, and whether Val's cheer was a cover or whether he still felt the remorse she's seen just minutes ago.

There was a distance between the work hall and their quarters, but they met no one. The temple had flooded empty, or everyone hid. They arrived without incident. Gravos had finished pack the saddle, Filia all but needed to transform and slip under it. She would have done so if Memphis hadn't sat atop it, talking with Elena and Gravos.

Her eyes widened when she realized what particular greenhead had just arrived. Val turned his eyes down in response to her fear.

"Don't panic!" Memphis yelped, sounding like she was about to panic herself. "I just brought the kids back and thought I'd stick around to see whether anyone needed healing. It's alright!"

"You don't sound like you believe anything's alright, lass," Jillas said.

She gave him a pained look. "You have to admit this is all really crazy, Jillas. We're all really afraid, okay? It's not just Xelloss now. They're thinking about sealing you all."

Jillas gave a shrug and a smile. "It just comes with the family, the craziness. And I'm betting you we're not going to end up sealed."

Filia cringed. Crazy was hardly a suitable word to describe any of these otherwise perfectly sane people, save for the potential that Valgarv started looking out of her son's eyes.

"The old dragons say he's an Ancient Dragon, but they're all supposed to be dead. Is he perhaps —"

"Miss Memphis, this isn't a conversation we can have today," Filia said. "Please let us leave."

Memphis looked a little miffed, but Filia honestly didn't care right now. She prodded Val to join the cubs and stepped below the harness. Transforming was a clumsier affair if she did it like this, but she could deal with the discomforts once everyone was teleported somewhere safe. Her energy really was building up, she felt she could bring them at least a short distance. Still, not as far as she wanted. She had a decent sense of where Luna was, but it was still a place she had never actually been and a quarter across the globe.

When Gravos had secured the traps and everyone had climbed on, Memphis stood before her with both hands on her hips as if she desperately wanted to pose a confident air.

"So ... eh, keep in touch? You're going to Sailoon, right?"

Filia sighed. "Probably. How many others know?"

"Just me and uncle Milgazia. We won't tell, promise."

Filia wondered just how much fear for her life was behind that. Perhaps Xelloss had spoken to them, or perhaps Memphis seen family members die today. Perhaps both. And there was nothing Filia could change about it.

"Thank you, miss Memphis. Pass on my gratitude to lord Milgazia as well."

"See you -sniff- later!" Jillas said with a snotty nose, as he always got teary with farewells, even if he did not care for the departing. With Memphis he did, so it was worse. Filia managed her second smile tonight and let them them exchange exercise plans they had to keep till they met again.

Once all were on her back, Filia teleported away. She planned to hop several magical key points until it was safe to fly. Her first designation was a small bundle of inconspicuous but clear energy that seemed to pull, Val assured her it was the Claire Bible entrance.

Upon arrival, she filled most of the area before what appeared a solid rock wall. The magic was strong here, enough to let her navigate at least to the city where she'd seen the tanks.

She was about to take that leap when Val said, "Mom, we could just hide in here till you're stronger. Claire will protect us, she knows the whole maze. I bet she means that since she made this spot stronger."

"Actually, I advised her to do so."

Off course, wishing Xelloss wouldn't show up eventually was wasted on the stars. As if he had no care in the world, he drifted cross legged above Filia, peering down through squinted eyes.

"Xelloss, tell me, is there any reason aside of your sick sense of humor this disaster had to happen?"

"Oh, I'm to blame now? Excuse me for keeping your son safe."

"There were at least five things you could have done that did not involve encouraging him to be a kinslayer!"

Xelloss shrugged. "Considering the situation was bound to explode sooner or later, I figured it wasn't a big deal. The skirmish provided good cover for me to perform a more thorough cleaning. You see, you have not even heard the most dangerous whispers, but I'm afraid certain devils have. An untimely end to our vacation here was inevitable."

"Give a straight answer for a change, sewer priest. Did you set this up, or in any way send the ball rolling on what happening tonight?"

"No. As my lord likes to say, unforeseen circumstances always happen. Such is the nature of the beast called chaos. Modern day chaos, off course, not the void," he said with his sickeningly happy smile and a wagging finger. Filia just wanted to slap it away, but even that she couldn't pull off.

"I suppose I could seize control of the dragon tribe," Xelloss continued, " but such a thing would draw too much attention from the surrounding devils. I have so far been able to ensure the demise of those who got too close and those who have seen me. However, I cannot guarantee perfection. Ah well, such is the way. Now, miss Filia, I have come here with an offer that could help us both."

"No," Filia said at once.

"Are you sure, miss Filia? There are an awful lot of dragons and devils around here, and I believe you're close to your limit."

No, she wasn't sure at all. "Okay, spit it out."

"I had not expected you to be able to even manipulate my energy," he said. "Let alone do anything that intricate as wielding the Life Law."

"Off course not. It won't be the first time your arrogance let you underestimate an opponent," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. Luna had a big share on Filia obtaining that knowledge, but Xelloss did not need to know.

"Yes, well ... if you can repeat what you did there, then you may be able to make it happen quicker than I and my lord can. I would like to hire you to employ that power."

On better days, she would have appreciated the non-backhanded compliment and made a spiel about how unusual it was for him not to be covertly rude, did that hurt? Now it just annoyed her, he was wasting time.

"I want details."

"We will create something within the space of the Claire Bible. I'm sure Val already told you about Claire."

"We can't do creation magic, we can't even do proper fusion magic! What I did there was a far cry from what miss Amelia and mister Zelgadis could do, let alone miss Lina."

He reached into his satchel, and produced a red gem. "Oh, I think we will have creation magic."

He took Filia's claw and put the gem in it. It had the strangest radiation, rife with familiar devil resonance. Lina had carried four of these.

"How did you get a new demonsblood talisman?"

Xelloss shrugged. "My lord alone knows the origin. Now please hurry up and decide, miss Filia. We are out in the open."

Val pulled at her mane.

"Mom, I think we're going to get Claire out of there! She said something about leaving, but that she'd first have to go to a special place for it. But if what Xelloss says works, we can bring her out right here! Please?"

"I ... there's no risk for us in this?" she said, tilting her head at Xelloss.

"Not from what I've been given to understand," Xelloss said, poking the gem once. Leave it to him to treat such a potent magical item as a toy.

A soft, red glow arose, and power radiated to the point where Filia's spine itched from the demonic energy.

And then ...

"Dammit, Xelloss, why did you call me?"

Both Xelloss and Filia did a double take, the former by poking again, the latter by dropping her jaw.

"I know it's you on the other side, Xelloss. Answer me!"

It couldn't be. Or perhaps it could. That sounded an awful lot like Lina Inverse.

"What's going on?" Filia asked.

"Hey, Filia. We're at that part already? Xelloss, Tel Al Metaliom."

"Ehm, what? I'm afraid I don't understand," Xelloss said, poking a third time. "Tell all who?"

"Neither do I!" Filia cried. "For heaven's sake, miss Lina, where are you?"

"Eh ... I can't tell you where I am, Xelloss isn't allowed to know the details yet. It's complicated. I'm guessing there's a disaster of some sort that means everything's on the fast track?"

"Absolutely!" Xelloss chirped. "We have a potential war on our hands and no idea who started it."

"Ugh," and the gem flickered in irritation. "Filia, you better rile up to channel Siephied. I'm going to do a lot of long distance mumbo jumbo."

"There's a plan that both you and Xelloss work on?"

"Well, yeah. Wait, no to the contract. But there's a plan. A very off time plan. This whole thing wasn't supposed to happen till another two years at least! And I was supposed to be back!"

Filia almost let out a sigh of relief, but remembered Xelloss was involved and this required skepticism. She invoked her priestess powers and sent an holy query through the gem. The curse magic made it difficult to keep stable, but it reached the other end.

On the other end, beyond a distance farther than she could feel, was indeed the soul signature of Lina Inverse.

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