22Title – Decisions part 2
Rating – PG
Source – Anime
Pairings – Filia/Xellos
Summary – Normally, something like that could have been brushed off. But with a mazoku like Xellos, things get complicated.
Author – Mistress DragonFlame
Notes –If you don't know, March 14th is 'White Day' in Japan, the counterpart to February 14th. On V-day, girls give guys things. On White day, the guys return the girl's gifts with one of their own (given, of course, if they like them in return).
Here is Xellos's Point of View.
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Xellos teleported into the room, rotating a shoulder absently. "Hello, Filia-san," He spoke out, knowing the owner of this lovely, small home. But a responding cry—be it welcoming, harsh, violent, or other—never came. "Filia-san?" He said again, looking around. She wasn't where she usually was at this time, curled up on her couch with her nose either buried in some shop finances or in a good book. How odd. He also didn't sense her within the general facility, so she had to be somewhere outside the home. Those pesky barriers she had erected around her home were such a bother sometimes. Without them, he would have been able to find the female with near instantaneous results. As it were, he was going to have to search each place around here—the backyard, the side yard, the local park, and her roof—to name a few.
He sighed, shaking his head as he set off to locate her. It was late, so she couldn't have gone off to market, or town. She hadn't planned on going outside of her little village for business—in fact, Jillas was seeing to her outside trade for some much needed clay and would be back next week sometime—so that left very few places for her to be.
Xellos grinned smugly to himself as he finally pinpointed her location. He teleported over, but decided he didn't want to reveal himself just yet upon sight of her. She was sitting surreally on the ledge of her roof, her hair tumbling down her back like a waterfall which even now flickered with gold as if twinkling merrily in the sun, regardless of the fact it was dark outside with barely a sliver of the moon showing through the black velvet sky. The mazoku loved her hair. He would love it even more if it was covered in sewer gunk, the shine long since conquered by the filth he would put on it. His smile twisted on his face. Xellos filed away the thought for later, wondering just how she'd react to that situation.
Filia wore nothing more then a simple pink dress despite the slight chill in the air, a similar style to the one she had worn decades ago when he had first met her. It hugged her frame very well, showing off just the right assets at the right places, much to his pleasure. A mazoku was by no means a physical being—hunger, lust, weariness and such were unknown to them. But that didn't stop them from taking enjoyment out of eating, sleeping, or in the gender that they preferred. Xellos personally was keener on females, much like his Mistress, so he had not denied himself the pleasure of mentally undressing his little dragon whenever the thought occurred to him. He grinned some more at the thought of her reacting to that piece of knowledge. But, he sighed, it was extremely improbable he'd ever have the chance to actually act upon his desires for her. Dragons were notorious prudes, good for little more then a quick rape and meal, after which they were pretty much ruined and had to be disposed of properly. Xellos didn't think it'd benefit him in the long run just to use the small female for a single desire, so he refrained from ever taking her in a physical way. That didn't stop him from imagining, or giving the occasional sexually tinted tease.
He sifted in his little nook in between the astral and physical planes. He wondered what she was thinking about now, being so quiet and still while watching the stars. Her emotions were just barely noticeable, flicking into life every so often, but never anything strong. He would have assumed she was meditating, if it was not for the slight twitching of her tail; while mediating, a dragon could be mistaken for a statue. But whatever, he finally popped back fully into the physical plane, showing himself a few paces behind her.
"Ah, so this is where you've been hiding, Filia-san." Xellos spoke out aloud, and noted her reaction. Instead of jumping in surprise, her shoulders just slumped, as if she had been waiting for him to make himself known. Interesting.
She groaned softly in disappointment, before swiveling to meet his closed-eyed gaze as he walked to her spot. "What do you want, Xellos? Can't you see I'm busy?"
Knowing her words were empty of the heat she attempted, he reacted sarcastically while still ignoring them. He plopped down next to her, close but not too close, and didn't return the stare she continued to give him.
"Hn," she said in way of acceptance to his answer. Her blue eyes left him, and she started to go back to the way she was before he revealed himself, but still somewhat paying attention to him, unlike when she ignored him that one day. Oh how he hated that day.
"So, how have you been?" He asked her, not bothering to turn and look. When silence was his only answer, he sighed and went on. "I've been good, thanks for asking. Been working on missions, and my current one is quite slow and tedious. You know the village Lina and the rest first arrived in after landing their boat?" Silence, "Yeah, there. Anyway..." Xellos let himself talk of his mission—of course, censoring it incase someone with unwelcome ears was listening—and all the frustrations it was causing him. The tasks were petty and annoying, all the humans needed to be wiped out of existence, his room was small, the food was bad, and everything smelled of fish. Everything. He allowed his hands to accentuate his comments, occasionally shaping something that he felt needed more then his words for her to understand. Xellos eventually partially forgot about his captive audience, so enraptured was he with his telling.
"And I swear to L-sama if that dog shits in my bed one more time, I'll—Huh?" Xellos paused in his rant, looking about the area for the disturbance that caught his attention. It was an odd... vibration, almost? It reverberated throughout the air, the ground, sending a ripple through even his vast aura. He didn't know where it was coming from, or what it was, but it was oddly... pleasing, almost like getting a light massage. "Filia-san, do you know what that is? That strange... noise, I think it is?" He twisted around, but saw nothing that was different then before, no new flair of energy giving away the creature or thing making such trembles.
"Filia-san," He said again, peering off into the distance from over one shoulder, still trying to locate the source that was all around them, "Is there something new around here that—" His comment was cut short, as Filia had just leaned against him. That she was resting against him was shocking enough on its own, but what she was doing... He knew exactly where the vibrations were coming from—the thrumming—and what was causing it. Her.
He froze, his words slowly dying on his tongue, his hands still frozen in mid-air before him, as the knowledge of exactly what her thrumming implied sank in. But... it couldn't be right... Xellos had barely even hinted at an interest, let alone done the required courting of a dragon. He even knew of one case where the dragoness in question took over six decades and a near constant flow of gifts, praise, and lavish attention before she gave in to one of her many suitors.
Slowly, he dropped his hands from in front of his chest, and turned his head to look at her. She was, apparently, perfectly oblivious to him, in between the state of meditation and sleep, a look of perfect contentment on her face as the thrumming continued. Silence rang through the air except for the deep, reverting noise coming from the dragoness, and the distant chirping of crickets, and Xellos was scared to break it. That if he did, the moment would be lost forever and he would never again get to see his pet dragon in such a way. He was effectively held in suspended animation at that moment, not giving the slightest twitch to disturb her rest against him, nor making a single sound to jar her back to reality. She probably didn't remember it was him, he thought surprisingly bitterly to himself. He would find out who she believed he was, and then kill the person. Filia was his.
But, regardless of his carefulness, Filia stirred slightly anyway. She blinked, and then turned her head to sleepily regard him. He, at that moment knew, that she knew who he was, that it was the infamous Trickster Priest, Golden Dragon slaughterer, the Mazoku among Mazoku, who she was resting against. He waited for her to react, to jump away from him, to do something... but she didn't. She just looked at him, as if waiting for him to do something. He moved a hand, no more then a twitch, but she didn't jolt 'awake' or anything. He moved the hand again, raising it almost hesitantly to cup her cheek as he inched closer. Her skin was cooler then a human's, he noted, but smoother from what he could tell beyond his gloves. But even with the touch, she didn't move, so he did something he had thought about for years.
Purple eyes watched her intently as they carefully kissed, touching for the first time flesh to flesh. Always there was some cloth between them before—a glove, a shirt, a cloak— always, but now? Her skin was as smooth as it seemed, and it was slightly chilled, just a hint of the cold air around them. Xellos was fascinated as her sparkling sapphire blue eyes slid close easily, allowing and welcoming his simple kiss as she continued to thrum.
He didn't know what set her off, what pushed her normal thought process back into place, but she suddenly sprung away from him, her thrums ceased with a small cry of start, stumbling over herself almost in her haste. He watched, feeling blank, as she stared in horror at him, face draining of all color. Something he had never tasted before from her, fear directed at him—not even when he threatened to kill her to force her once Elder to undo the seal around the last Dark Star weapon had he tasted it before—wafted off her easily, mixing along with horror, dread, shame, and nearly overwhelming sadness.
He didn't move, or say anything, his expression giving away nothing, but she set her self, body tensing, jaw setting, as she forced her emotions into anger before turning and storming off, back down into the house without a word passing between them.
Xellos surprised himself by finding a frown on his features at her departure. He was not going to allow her to flee from this.
Grabbing up his staff, he raised from his seat, teleporting easily to where he knew she was, the resounding bang a dead giveaway.
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"Ah, Filia-san, it's a lovely day isn't it?" Xellos appeared with a smile on his face, casually sitting in a chair at her kitchen table. Today was a lovely day, he got a new mission, it was in a town with some wonderful ice-cream, and this one allowed him lots of spare time. Spare time he was going to use observing his favorite pet, of course.
Speaking of the pet, the dragoness did an odd thing. His smiling being traded in favor of a slightly curious look, he watched as she froze in her spot, the pot she had been holding nearly slipping from her fingers. "Filia-san?"
Filia turned to look at him, and he jerked back in shock. Her blue eyes were wide and filled with water, and a hand came up to press against her mouth as tears began to stream down her face. She didn't say anything, but her sorrow only grew as the seconds passed until she collapsed in her spot, sobbing full heartedly.
Xellos couldn't help but start at the abrupt emotion. Sure, this wasn't a new experience for him. He'd had other women (and a very effeminate man once) cry at the mere sight of him, the sight of what he represented. But not Filia, never Filia.
"F-Filia-san?" He said, backing away slightly, anxious. He frantically recalled every moment of their last few encounters, but nothing seemed any different then any other one before. So why was she crying at all, let alone like she just found out everyone she ever knew was dead and he was the barer of bad news? Scratching absently at a cheek, he tried to reason out her behavior. He figured out nothing abnormal had transpired, and decided a direct approach would be best. "Something wrong, Filia-san?" Somehow, her howls increased at his question.
After waiting about five more minutes, Xellos sighed as she showed no signs of stopping. "Well, if you're not going to stop that, then I'll just be going." With slight sulk, he teleported off, leaving her where she lay, curled up on the floor.
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"Now, I say, this is getting quite annoying." Xellos huffed, placing his hands on his hips in an indignant pose directed to the sobbing dragoness on the floor. This was the third time he appeared before her that she reacted as such, and it truly was getting on his nerves. The first time he just left her to it, the second time he stayed in the astral field to watch her without her knowing saw that it had taken her a good two hours after his departure before she quieted down and took an exhausted nap where she lay on the couch. Now he wasn't going to leave until he solved this stupid puzzle.
He tapped his foot impatiently as she continued to wallow in her sorrow, eyes squeezing out a seemingly limitless supply of tears. He gave her a brief glare before making an exasperated tisk. Fine, he was going to correct this himself.
Bending down, he easily scooped the dragon woman into his arms and lap, positioning them both so they were comfortably leaning against the side of the couch, and out of the rapidly cooling spilt tea puddle. He settled in, and held her to him, ignoring her small attempts at escape. He stroked her hair as her head lay against his chest in a comforting manner, murmuring meaningless words as he had seen humans do to their crying females. It seemed to do something, as after a few moments she stopped her weak protests and fully relaxed against him, clutching at his shirt as she continued to sob.
Xellos had to admit that he didn't like her crying, especially this type. Her face twisted unattractively, her eyes clouded over with water, she lost much of her ability to interact, and it wasn't his favorite flavor of emotion, nor did it supply as much nourishment as anger, jealousy, or other such negative emotions. This was one of the reasons he didn't much care to hang around the always mopy Zelgadis; it was like eating broccoli. He could live off it, but he didn't want to.
He sighed and leaned back further on the couch, vaguely noting how she was getting his shirt wet. But that didn't really bother him, so he didn't do anything about it besides make a small comment attempting to get her out of her funk. It didn't do much, but it did help none the less as her crying seemed to be slowing. He smirked softly, redirecting his mutterings to quiet teasings. Though she didn't get upset like she would normally, it did seem to help the situation. He watched her avidly as she was curled in his lap, admiring how she seemed to mold against him, how he seemed able to change her emotions with just a few simple actions. He stroked her back in small caresses, idly moving through her hair as he went. His smile quirked slightly oddly as he relaxed his head back to rest against the seat of the slightly threadbare, but plush couch. He always found her reactions mesmerizing and he didn't know why. He had spent years—if you added up all the different days, hours, minutes he had spent in between missions he could spare to it—contemplating that very question, but he was unable to come up with a reason. He simply did. Like how he had purple hair, purple eyes, pale skin and a continuous squint.
He also noted, vaguely, how the human form seemed to be made for this sort of thing. They could position themselves around each other with ease unknown to almost all other species. Lizard-men, dragons in their natural form and such, all had a large tail that constricted their movements, and they simply weren't made to curl around one another easily. Fox people and such had an easier time, but they had to deal with fur and such, a sort of natural clothing, so they couldn't get really close. Yes, he decided, he enjoyed being in a human form for this sort of thing.
Oh my, when did that happen? Xellos had just turned back to look at his dragoness, finding she had fallen asleep on him. Her breath was even, her cheeks still stained from her tears, but her face had relaxed from the harsh emotion as if it had never been there before. He reached up a hand and brushed away the trails, then smiled when they were gone completely. There, that's better. Then he carefully moved her to the couch, taking the always present blanket from the back of it and placing it over her. He would put her in her own bed, but he had never gone in there for some reason, and he didn't really feel the need to break that record. Her shields over it were useless, of course, but he for some reason had never set hide or hair in there.
Straightening, Xellos grinned to himself, pleased that he seemed to have corrected the crying problem. True, she did cry herself into sleep again, but this time her aura seemed much calmer then before, like the turmoil had disappeared. His task done, and his dragon asleep, the mazoku teleported away, back once again to his dull mission.
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Xellos frowned, an angry stare directed towards the seemingly oblivious Gold. It's not that he was upset with her for attacking him the very next day after he comforted her (sure, it did ruffle his feathers a bit, but he could handle it from her), nor was it because she was grouchy as hell and moody enough to dwarf pregnant!Lina for three consecutive days (which also irked him, but he could brush it off... kinda), oh no, those weren't it. The reason he was currently glaring at her, was because she was ignoring him! No one ever ignored HIM, the Beast Priest, the Mazoku among Mazoku, the Trickster Priest! And yet, here she was, making lunch for her rag-tag team of employees and infant dragon son without a single glance his way since he appeared. Not a single word he said had snagged her attention, or a single movement. And it pissed him off. She was possessed, he knew, and he wasn't going to stand for it. Hm, but Amelia's difficult to get to now that they added Holy Magic to the spells protecting the White Magic capital. How best to collect her?
Well, regardless, if she was going to ignore him like that, he will do things he normally wouldn't. A frog here, a chair strategically placed, plants, paint, buckets, doors, windows, and a chicken or two—all were at his disposal. And, as the master of tricks, he used them well. By the end of day, he was smug to note, her patience was wearing as thin as the paint on the bottom of the chicken's foot as it ran around the room, continuously avoiding her grasp.
"You're never going to catch it like that," He reclined easily in the air, openly. After all, if she was hell-bent on ignoring him, then he didn't need to fear about her attacking him. And, if he wasn't hovering over some piece of furniture, it meant it was in the way, further aggravating her. But regardless, Filia ignored him (but gave a revealing annoyed twitch of her aura) and lunched for the terrified bird as it walked cautiously along her couch. With much squawking and feathers flying everywhere, the Gold Dragon once again missed and the bird frantically flapped and scrambled to another location, knocking over a vase what it was at it. "See? I told you."
Filia panted, angrily batting some mud-caked hair (from a previous prank) from her face. Positively evil eyes turned to look at the bird, blood lust springing from her being. That vase was the last straw, dammit!
The chicken, as if sensing its approaching doom, hurriedly fled the enraged female. Of course, chickens weren't the brightest of creatures, so it chose to hide itself behind the book case. A book case where it could only escape the way it came, the way that was now covered by Filia.
"I'm going to have roast chicken tonight," She laughed, almost manically, her hands twitching as if yearning to be around the creature's neck. But, as she lunged for the fraught fowl, it disappeared into thin air. She landed, instead, with a thump onto her wooden floor, behind the book case, blinking in confusion at its sudden disappearance.
"Aw, poor birdy," Xellos cooed from his spot, cuddling the chicken to him (which had apparently passed out). "Did that meany dragon stupid head to this too you? Oh, don't worry, I won't let her get you, no no..." Of course, his eyes weren't looking at the bird, but focused solely on the dragoness still lying on the floor. And as he continued to comfort the dumb animal, he saw her whole being twitch in rage as she slowly stood up.
"Xe...llos..." She spat, as if it was a curse. He grinned, loving the boiling anger she radiated as if she was a blaze. Quickly, she turned and rushed to him, grabbing him by the collar and forcefully dragging him down to her level. He peered into her glaring blue eyes, seeing his death in them. Had he been a man (or a lesser mazoku) he honestly would have been worried, but he wasn't, so he just faked it. "I have had it with you!" She nearly screamed; her face merely inches from his own. "I'm dirty, I'm tired, my house is a mess, my neighbors now think I steal their underwear, and I've been chasing a stupid chicken for the last three hours!" A vein pulsed above her brow, and she could barely form words through her rage, which continued to grow as time went on. Eventually she just shoved him away, clutching at her hair as she stormed off, her screaming increasing with each step until reaching a crescendo and was viciously cut off. "You're cleaning up, or so help me I'll make you regret it!" Then her door slammed shut, almost enough to shatter the wood.
Xellos stood, still holding the unconscious bird to him, openly gapped at her. Then he looked around, and gapped at the (horribly) messy room and knowing the rest of the house was just like it. Oh hell no—she left him to clean up this mess?
Well, he sighed, at least she was paying attention to him again. With that, he vanished, taking the chicken with him, and the house was instantly reverted back to what it was before. Hey, being a Mazoku has its advantages.
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"Yes, sir, right away sir," Xellos chimed automatically to the fat human who squinted at the papers before it, sitting behind its desk. The mazoku was certain there was some hog in the male's genetic line, for it to look, act, sound and smell like it did.
"Well then, Ah does reckon yews can leave, ya'heah?" He snorted and grunted out, his drawl barely understandable. He took a deep snort, and then spat a snotty wad into the metal vase next to the desk for that very purpose. Xellos contained his disgust, and his smile stayed firmly where it was at.
"Yes, sir," He said while bowing his exit. His smile and seemingly pleasant demeanor continued as he made his way to his assigned room, throwing the occasional greeting to all he passed by (who either snubbed him or were so stupid they were confused as to how to respond). But as soon as his door was closed, and he knew no one was in the room, his smile dropped in time with his eyes opening, glinting in the light of the candles that flared into life at his entrance. His walk was no longer fluid and careless as he strode to the rickety structure and enlarged, flat pillow that they passed for a bed and matrices. His dexterous fingers unbuttoned his ratty uniform vest, and then helped him nearly fling it from his form. He was quick to undo the buttons on his white uniform shirt and be rid of it as well, before sitting on the bed to start undoing the horribly done uniform shoes. He had just undone the laces when he smelled it, the smell that permeated through the continuous fish stench that always hung about every thing in sight.
Lips pursing, he turned his head to look at the enclosed sheet they tried to tell him was a pillow, seeing a neatly done pile of dog shit right on it. Xellos honestly had no idea how the pampered mutt kept getting in his room, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it's fat and ugly owner, the head seamstress, who hated him for smiling too much and not being as down trodden as her, let in the overly fluffy excuse-for-a-dog rat in on purpose, even though he couldn't prove it, and she always had an excuse (and probably intimidated witnesses) that kept her in the clear. For a human, he admired her spitefulness and ability to manipulate those around her, it made him grin and consider turning her to their side. But that pile of shit now, today, had snapped his last nerve.
His staff appeared in his hands as he viciously swung it around, shattering the bed and neighboring night stand on impact, and each burst into flame so hot, they were reduced to ashes in less then five seconds. Xellos stood tall and proud, breathing deeply even though he didn't need oxygen to live. He took one last breath, then looked around him. The bed and night stand were gone, as well as the chair that had been at the foot of said bed. The only piece of furniture left was the dresser (which he only got two of the five shelves, as the rest were for stowing some of the thousands of lady's dresses his current 'employer' collected) as it was situated on the other side of the tiny room. The room was smoky, but somehow still smelled of fish, so he went to the window and let it open (a feat only he could do, with his inhuman strength), allowing it to escape into the cool night air.
He returned to his room and waved his staff, creating a replacement the (sadly) exact double of the previous bed, nightstand and chair out of highly concentrated astral energy (much like what his clothes were made out of, as well as his being). Minus the crap, of course.
Xellos laid down on his new bed, looking up at the ceiling in a bored manner. He let his thoughts wander (this time, refusing to linger on his horrendous mission), and wasn't too surprised when they landed on a certain dragon. He wondered what she was doing, right now. By the time difference, she was probably finishing up her story or her accountant work before heading off to bed. Val, the infant dragon terror, was definitely asleep by now, probably with Gravos not too far, and Jillas—he recalled—had gone off to fetch some needed material in another town. But they were inconsequential, and could be written off without another thought. But Filia... Xellos frowned to himself. He, by all rights, more then likely knew exactly what she was doing, right down to what she was dressed in. So why did he desire to go and see her, to confirm and observe? Well, he reasoned, she has been acting weird lately. She could be doing something abnormal. But then again, she had been acting quite normal for a few weeks now. What's to say she'd be different now?
And why was he so interested? He frowned at the once-again question. If he were to add up all the time he spent on that question, between missions, during trivial tasks, as he pretended to be a sleep, he would easily compiled at least two, three years. Maybe even more. While it's hardly a drop in the bucket compared to his many years of life, it's still the longest unanswered question he ever pondered. And he still wasn't anywhere near to solving it! But oddly, while it did puzzle him and frustrate him somewhat for its inanswerablilty, he never got angry over it, or stopped watching his dragon. It was just too intriguing not to.
Before he even realized it, he had gotten up, changed into his normal attire, made a shadow clone to pretend to be asleep for him, and had locked his door with a spell to prevent any 'accidental' entries by those unwanted. The clone was just a mass of energy, looking vaguely like an old tattered cloak in a shape of a man, but it could respond in his voice the way he would if here, and would notify him if he was needing to return.
So, a fresh smile on his face, he teleported off, to where he knew his gold would be, rotating a sore shoulder absently.
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PS. You guys are so effing lucky to get this chapter. I had actually completed it a few days ago, however I got grounded as well. Mother took my laptop, and thus my story, and hid it away. Thank the gods that I found it in time to up-date.
