12This is slightly... well, it IS bigger then the original. This is the story of the choice not taken, what would have happened in the real world if Filia chose to kill Xellos. It's almost the same as chapter one, but it changes somewhere along in there, before going in a whole new direction.
"Filia-san, are you alright?"
Filia jumped at the sound of her name, quickly turning to the voice. "What? Oh, no, it's nothing. I guess I'm just… nervous. That's all." She gave a half convincing smile over at the tall Dragon Priest next to her.
He smiled at her with his deep gold diamond shaped eyes and cocked his head to the side, golden hair that was held up in a pony tail falling to the side with his movements. "It's all right. With what is predicted to break by the end of this week by way of prophecy, it's easy to see why. Just remember, we are fighting for our lives, the lives of our children, and our ways of goodness. You are perfect for the job assigned to you, don't worry about it so much." He then continued walking on for a bit, but turned when he realized Filia wasn't following him, and that she was again staring off into the distance. "Filia-san?" The sun was just above the ground, teasing it for when it would finally sink, cloaking the world in darkness.
"…I think I'll go flying for a little while, to sooth my frayed nerves. I will see you tomorrow, alright?"
"Just be sure to not go very far from the temple. Mazoku can break through our shields easier the farther you go out." The handsome priest turned and left then, leaving Filia to herself.
Filia stared into the horizon for a bit, looking at the snaking river a ways off. She then turned down the path heading to the launching pad where dragon solders could more easily fly off to battle. No one bothered her. Everyone was either too busy with their mundane chores or thoughts, or they saw her High Priestess ornament on her chest. Once Filia got to the end of the huge flat pad area, she put her hands to her brooch, making it glow. Soon, a golden dragon with a pink bow on it's tail was were Filia once stood. A flap of her powerful wings, and she was off, soaring.
Filia absently frolicked through the skies, aimlessly heading in no direction other then away. Then, a thought struck her, and she sharply turned her directory. She knew not, and cared not, how long it took her to reach the cliff hanging over the river she had spied earlier, but she assumed it wasn't that long as the sun just finished setting. She back flapped until she settled her great bulk on the ground, before transforming to her humanoid shape. She shivered a little when a small wind brushed past her, but she paid it no heed. She sat down with her legs dangling over the side of the sharp cliff, and looked at her surroundings. There wasn't a settlement near her, and she was glad for it; it didn't disrupt the beauty of nature, and failed to cover the star-splattered sky with light.
Another light wind came soon after she settled down in her spot, and she felt a surge of evil power wash up and down her spine; a sign that something wicked was near. And a powerful one.
"The stars are bright tonight." She said calmly as Xellos sat down next to her, his feet handing over the cliff as well.
"I noticed that. It's as if L-sama herself was peering through a black cloth with a bunch of little wholes in it."
"More then likely, she is. It's not every day that Mazoku and Ryuzoku decide to wipe one another out of existence completely."
His smile turned quirky as he gazed into the cool night. "She's probably getting a right kick out of this."
Filia laughed a single humorless laugh in her chest before taking a deep breath of the brisk night air. She shivered again as her body registered the cooling night and not just a wind. A warm hand crept around her waist and she was drawn into Xellos's side. She gladly leaned into him and breathed in his strong, powerful scent. She felt him do the same to the top of her hair, and could hear it through his chest. She closed her eyes and snaked one of her hands around his waist, the other on his chest beneath her chin.
They relished the moment, just sitting there in that embrace, forgetting the world around them. But it was not to last, as the moment was shattered by Xellos's voice. "You know after this, if I see you I will try to kill you."
"I know." She replied in a small but clear voice. "You also will get no quarter from me."
Xellos chuckled deep within his chest at the absurdity of that thought. "We'll see, Filia, we'll see."
Again they were silent. Their mere presents enough for both of them content for the moment.
Filia's eyes were unfocused as she stared at nothing and everything, her head towards the distance. Silence was settled about them for a while, both counting each of the millions of the stars.
Xellos signed again, before gently pushing away from her. She, too, drew away, until she was in her position as before. He stood up and looked down at her, she up at him, gazing at him with a bit of remorse and nothing else. "Well, I cannot dally any longer. Organizing lesser mazokus is a task never finished." He smiled down at her, and she could not tell if it was genuine or not anymore.
But, nether the less, she returned it as he disappeared into the night.
Halycon flexed into a crouched position atop the brown, sun-beaten rock, ready to pounce on the swarm of angry dragons. Cries of rage were everywhere around him, and he savored it. Then, when the timing was correct, he sprung the trap made of his own body and began to rip and tare at the beasts. He used their powers against them, making them aim at a certain spot, before moving just in time, forcing them to attack their comrade. Brethren mazoku were around him, screaming as they died upon the spears, spells, and laser breaths of the Golden solders. Blood and gore and terror was everywhere; the play ground of mazoku. He grinned, as another wave of the Gods was destroyed. But then, sudden pain bit through his side, and he hissed from it. He looked down and saw a handful of dragons casting spells from the ground. They were hidden somewhat by trees and bushes, but bright raze of energy gave them away. He grinned sickeningly despite the pain—easy targets. He gathered up his power into wind around him before dive-bombing them. He ripped through their line with little difficulty, and only sustained a few more injuries.
Cackling madly, he rejoined the haze of the battle with renewed glee.
Xellos walked along the body littered ground. It seemed every single dragon and mazoku had been killed in this battle—another standstill in the War that promised many similar outcomes. He grinned as he smelt the seared flesh and reviled in the after math of all that hatred. But movement caught his eye. Ah, so a mazoku was still alive, if just barely. He walked over calmly to the injured demon. Yes, he did remember that he was spawned from Zelas, as Xellos himself was, and went by the name of Halycon. He was rather ugly, with his bulging awkward blue flesh, odd bumps everywhere, three glowing green eyes, and sharp spikes every angle. Xellos noted him breathing heavily, but was happy with the blood and bits covering himself.
"Well then, I see you've had a bit of fun." Xellos commented airily, as if asking about the weather.
Halycon spit blood from his odd mouth, and wiped his chins with the back of his long clawed hand looking things. "Fun is an understatement. The gore was marvelous. Dragons screaming in agony, the smell of burning flesh, and all that anger…."
Xellos sweatdropped as the mazoku went into a life tale. Well, he earned it, the Beast Priest supposed. He did survive what was supposed to be a kamikaze mission. Oh well, he could always be sent into another and used until killed. So, the Lesser Beast Master sucked it up, and smiled at the yapping demon… until a spark of light caught his eye. He opened his twin violet orbs quickly and looked sharply at its origin, gasping, he jumped back, but not in time. The most powerful lazer breaths he had ever seen swallowed up both him and the lesser demon. He screamed in anguish and pain as the holy power lased through him. Soon, he himself evaporated into nothing. He, in every sense, was dead.
The holy power did not last long. It dimmed, and faded until it disappeared completely. If you were to follow its energy trail, along the rows upon rows of dead bodies, ruined weapons, and scorched marks upon the ground, you would find a bleeding, gasping source. It looked mangled. Blood flowed freely from the gash along its neck, over the High Dragon Priestess crystal. Its foreleg was broken, its tail twisting in a non-natural form. Dirt matted along a vicious rip along her side, and the rib bone could be easily seen from it. The once magnificent wings were shredded and useless. Despite all of that, a pink bow still pitifully clung to the tip of the tail, signifying this dragon to be Filia.
Her neck was stretched out in an odd angle, as if it just collapsed from firing at something that was not directly in front of her. As she coughed, blood came out in spurts. But, she was not just coughing. Tears were also falling as she sobbed uncontrollably.
She didn't know how long she was out there, or if she was even awake during the entire time. But the next thing she knew other High Dragon Priests and Priestesses, the healers, where casting the strongest healing spell on her they knew. During all this time, she never stopped crying. The others around her, nameless faces, cept trying to sooth her, yet 'quietly' talking amongst themselves that they had high doubts that she would make it. But she didn't care. She didn't want to live anymore. Why wouldn't they let her die?
"Filia-san! Filia-san! Talk to me!" The tall handsome dragon priest from so long ago, when Filia met Xellos for the last time before she killed him, he was also called Yugo. "Stay with us, Filia-san!"
"I…I…" She sobbed. "I k-killed h-him!"
"Killed who? Come-on, Filia-san, think! Focus, who did you kill? Just focus on that, don't think of anything else!" Sweat was dripping down his face from the effort of maintaining such a high volume of magic required to cast such a powerful healing spell. When he saw the other healers next to him start to give up, he growled an order to keep it up. He would not allow Filia-san to die.
"Xel… I killed Xel…los! The-the Lesser Beast! I…k-killed him!" She gasped, her mind starting to fog over with oblivion.
"What!" Yugo nearly stopped casting, but doubled his efforts in an attempt to bring her back to the conscious world. He noted the other healers do the same, whispering to one another.
"The Be-ast Pr-Priest!" She blinked as if rudely awoken, yet still semi-unaware of what was going on around her. "Xellos! I killed him… I killed… him…" She coughed hugely and blood was emptied from her lungs. Once her airways were clear, she took several deep breaths as if she had been plunged underwater for hours.
"How? Come on Filia-san, how did you kill him! Did you sneak up on him? Stay with us!" He was working himself to exhaustion. Froth was starting to form at the corner of his mouth, but he would pass out before he gave up on her now. For not only was he honor bound by himself, to never let a friend go without a fight, but duty bound to try his best to save the one who said they ended almost half of the war by themselves, killing one of the few major threats left.
But Filia was too far-gone. She sunk completely into the void, hoping she would never surface again.
She didn't have a choice. Yugo had decided this choice for her; she would live.
Filia awoke to the most beautiful surroundings she had ever seen. Her sore eyes opened to see pure white tapestry hung over the softest bed. Soft golden sheets made of the finest silk caressed her bandaged human form. She wondered dully who had changed her into this form and why they did and why did she ach so much? Her eyes focused to see a young nurse sitting next to her. Short, chin length golden locks and golden diamond shaped eyes made her look pleasant. The girls' eyes were filled with such aw, yet held a hint of fear deep in them. Her pink lips moved up and down, trying to say something. Filia wondered what she was trying to say.
"I…I… I have to get the Elders!" She gasped finally and fled from the beautiful room.
Filia's mind ached. She had migraine and it wouldn't seem to be going anywhere soon. But that didn't seem to be the only tenderness. Past the stinging of her side and neck, through the throbbing of her arm and tail, there was a deeper hurt. She couldn't think clearly enough to know what it was, but all the other aches and soreness and everything seemed like an annoyed moth to a raging bull when compared to it. It seemed bottomless, wanting to swallow her very soul in the endless torture.
She turned on her side, away from the empty chair that the child once sat in; seeing it seemed to hurt her even more. She blinked. Yugo was sitting in another chair, leaned over and was asleep, half on the bed. Dark rings under his eyes showed he had a long, strenuous night. Why was he there? Who was he again?
And then it hit her.
Oh, L-sama, it hit her like a train hitting a harmless butterfly. Tears instantly sprung to her eyes as a pitiful whimper escaped her. The whimper turned to a sob as she started to bawl again. Her racking cries of anguish hurt her sides, but that was nothing compared to what was eating at her. She got so loud, that the over worked Yugo was jolted awake.
"Filia-san! You're awake!" He cried back, yet for him it was joy. "You've been out for two weeks, we didn't know if you could make it. You're a hero!" His smile faded as he saw blood starting to bloom across the sheets. "Filia-san! You're hurting yourself!" He sprang up and circled around, forcing her straight on her back.
"I-I killed him! Oh, L-sama, I killed Xellos!"
"I know, I know, Filia-san, why are you crying? This is one of the best things you could ever do to further our cause and help save millions of lives!"
"But I killed him! Why didn't you people let me die!" Filia started to thrash, further aggravating her semi-healed wounds.
It was then the girl from before came back with the elders from this particular temple came. The girl gave a startled gasp, gave a frightened helpless look behind her, before bolting over and started to restrain Filia as well. Filia had gotten so bad with her mad struggle to harm herself, they actually caste a sleep spell on her. She breathed heavily until it finally over powered her and she was plunged into unconsciousness again.
When she woke up again, she was in a smaller bed surrounded by the elders, Yugo, the nurse, and a few beefy guards, presumably to be able to hold her down. She didn't care anymore. She just sat up and stared at her hands. She didn't say anything, just sat there.
The Supreme Elder shifted in his chair. He cast a glance all around before clearing her throat. "Filia-san. You said, in the field, that you killed the Lesser Beast Master, Xellos Metallium."
"Just Xellos. Metallium is the Greater Beast Master's, Zelas Metallium, name. Xellos is just Xellos."
The longhaired old man looked indignant, but continued. "Right. You said you killed the Lesser Beast Master Xellos. We have since confirmed his death. As there are no other people to account for his sudden disappearance, you are the one sighted for it, and thus a hero. We need to prove this. How were you able to kill him when he can kill an entire army with a single finger?"
"…" Filia bowed her head a bit more, biting her lip. "You may not be aware of this, but a long time ago I traveled around with Xellos-san. I traveled with him for about 3 months."
Everyone around her gasped. "Why did you allow yourself to be in his vial presence!"
"I didn't have a choice. I was on a mission. You, Supreme Elder, at least, know I use to be a High Priestess of the Fire Dragon King. I actually quit that job. I hated it. But that is not the point. When I was in the service, there was this prophecy. It predicted the world would be swallowed in the Darkness Beyond Darkness, Chaos itself." She took a deep breath. "I was sent to get the current Knight of Cepheid, Luna Inverse. She declined, but pointed me to her sister, Lina Inverse."
The nurse gave a frightened squeak at this. Lina Inverse! The legend Enemy of All Who Lived! She was one of the most groundbreaking people in all of the history books!
"I was kind of reluctant, and nothing to say about Lina. Only after receiving a note I had gotten from her sister did she accept. I remember it so well, Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev, Zelgadis Greyswords, Amelia Wil Til Seiruun, and Xellos made up the group."
"You mean Xellos, The Beast Priest, joined a troop to save the world? I don't believe it."
"Well, you have a right to doubt it. He didn't join us to save the world; that was a side affect to him. His mission was to convert my son, Valgaav at the time, to his master's side since Lina-san had killed Gaav, the Demon Dragon King. He even offered Lina, who Valgaav was after for avenging his lords' death; I thought Lina was Xellos's friend. Valgaav declined, and Xellos was then under the order to kill him. But, the rest of that story is irrelevant to this…"
"N-no! It's not! Shina," The Elder directed the girl, "Go get some writing things and hurry back. Get all of this down! Please, continue, Filia-san."
"Well, after he just betrayed Lina-san, he saved my life. I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but he did it. The part that confuses me is that he dropped me on Valgaav after. Anyway, he disappeared after that while the group and I struggled to figure out what was going on before the Dark Lord, Dark Star, who had combined with that world's god, and thus went insane, consumed our world. Those world servants, you could say Dragons, but they were not in any sense dragons, were trying to banish Dark Star to this world, and thus destroying it. Our magic could not harm these worlds' beings. But, in the end, in the fight to save the world, I had to expose my full being to him. I had to combine my powers with his." Filia smiled sadly. Shina, in her little nurses' outfit, scurried in and was writing furiously with every step. "In the end, everything was saved. We never found out the reason Xellos was so willing to help, but at the time we were desperate. Xellos had popped in unexpectedly to my home several times on occasion thereafter." Filia sighed. "Different times, better times. It all changed when this war started to form. He didn't come see me, and I didn't try to see him. I knew my duty as an Ex High Priestess and joined your ranks. But, we saw each other once more, a few days before the first clash of powers. We both agreed that the next time we saw one another, we would try to kill each other. It was just fate that I got him; I know for a fact he would have stabbed me in my heart if he saw me."
Filia reached up and wiped her tears from her face. She had started to cry when she told of their last meeting. "I had been with the other Backers on the ground when we were attacked by a demon unseen. He caught us off guard and when we were attacking so we couldn't defend ourselves. Everyone else was killed, but I had blocked it just enough to survive. Later, once the battle died down, there was no one left. Xellos appeared a bit off, I guess musing over the remnants. Then, the demon that had slain my comrades staggered forth. Xellos seemed surprised he was alive. I knew it was time. I lifted my head and started to gather my energy. I poured all my emotions into that blast; love, hate, loyalty… everything. He screamed as he died, just like everyone else as they were slaughtered during the previous battle, just as I did when I was ripped to shreds. In the end, we are all the same."
"No. When we die, our souls go to Cepheid to help regain his strength. When Mazoku die, they disappear into nothingness, just as they deserve." The Elder growled, suddenly very displeased with Filia for thinking such a traitorous thought.
Filia looked at him with a blank face, but it completely disarmed his statement. She held up her thumb and forefinger with them nearly touching. "I was this close to going beyond the reach of magic. In that space, there was nothing but darkness. Death is a void that no one can evade. Unless you actually died and came back to life, then you have no idea."
Everyone shifted nervously. Well that ruins it. Before, she would have turned into a public speaker to encourage the warriors during this time of war, but now that she speaks against the teachings, she can't. Honor bound them to still treat her like royalty, but they would hide her from the public eye. Yugo cleared his throat. "Thank you Filia-san, for telling us these things. We will let you rest. Shina here will be your privet nurse during the day. Kenji will be your nurse during the night." He reached over and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, as if he was her elder brother. "If you need anything, tell me, ok?"
Filia nodded, not wanting to speak again. She clutched at the fine silk bedding, fiddling with it.
And so the days past. Filia healed completely and had started to move about the previous room lifelessly after she had been moved back into it. Everything was prefect in there. Not too warm, not too cold. The room's furnishing alone cost more then the entire Seiruun palace.
One day, Yugo came to visit her. She was sitting at the beautiful table, staring limply into the bright red flowers brought to her. She slowly turned to him when he sat down next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. He had banished the servant girl assigned to her, saying he wished to be alone with Filia.
"Oh. Good morning, Yugo-san." Filia sighed, before turning back to the plants.
"Good afternoon, actually, Filia-san. I brought tea." He set the steaming pot of tea on the table and set up two cups. One for her, and one for him.
Filia turned to look out the window now. "Afternoon already? Huh. I didn't notice."
A long silence passed as Yugo gazed at her with such pity. Finally, he asked the questions plaguing him for a long time. "Filia-san, why are you so sad? Why did you want to die?"
"I killed Xellos." She blankly replied, her voice dead.
Yugo blinked. The reason clicked, and flickered into live in his mind. It all made sense now. "You loved him."
He got no response.
"You actually loved Xellos. But… if you loved him, then… why did you kill him?"
"I had to. I had to honor that promise I made to him on the cliff that night he actually held me within his arms."
He had no reply. He stood up and hugged the small dragoness. He should not have saved her; he should have let her die. That would have been the most humane thing he could have done for her. They stayed like that for who knew how long. She was unresponsive to the comforting arms around her.
"What odd choice of flowers you have there, Filia-san." Yugo broke the thick silence, gazing with Filia at the red plants. "Dragon's Blood, if I recall correctly. Beautiful and extremely rare, it's a much sought after flower. But, it has a property to it most do not know. But a single petal from its rose-like bud contains enough sweet tasting poison to kill a full-grown dragon. If added into a warm liquid, it would take affect very quickly. But, it is a violent, painful death from which blood clots and then bursts forth from the skin of dragons." He finally tore himself from her unresponcive hug and picked up his unused teacup. "Well, Filia-san, I'm going to leave the tea here, incase you want to drink some in a bit. I'll see you when I see you, ok?"
Filia turned to him, gazing at him. She didn't reply until he was at the door. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He said, closing the door behind him.
They found her lying on the floor, dead in a pool of her own blood, not ten minutes later. A cup of spilt tea in her hands, a single red petal at its bottom. The words "And thus the unspoken prophecy is fulfilled." etched in the table in elegant, bloody writing.
