Filia hastily dashed around her mace and pottery shop, trying to avoid stepping on any of the merchandise in her frantic hustle. She swiftly dropped to the floor at the edge of the left wall, her pink dress ruffling up from the pressure of the air, revealing her golden tail out from under it. The tip of it, shaped as a heart, twitched in irritation as she searched around the dusty boxes on the floor, coughing as a cloud of rust arose from them. She ducked her head down just below a wooden shelf holding a variety of powerful maces that she had made herself to sale. She hadn't cleaned in the corners beneath the display shelves since she bought the shop, and now she wished she had. A patch of dirt smudged across her face, dust pilling into her golden blonde hair. She let out a fierce sneeze as she thrust out her arm, reaching for a small box hidden behind all of the other larger boxes and cases. With a last striving effort, her white-gloved hand grasped the edge of it, and pulled it out onto the main floor. Filia gave an exhausted sigh as she set the small box on her lap, tracking dirt onto her white cloak. She wiped her forehead with the back of her glove, the dust rubbing off on her face and making her face even dirtier than it already was.
"Oneesan, please hurry! I don't know what to do!" Her employee and friend, Jiras, could be heard frantically yelling from behind the yellow shop curtain towards the back of the store. Her home was built as part of the shop, not fancy or big, but in a very convenient place. She was able to work and relax freely with both being so close together. She moaned with tire as she pulled herself up from the ground and dashed behind the curtain, clutching the box tightly to her chest. She scurried in, seeing Jiras and her other companion, Grabos, struggling with nervousness as the Ancient baby dragon howled and screeched beneath Jiras' hold. She giggled cheerfully, approaching them with a grin.
"You're doing fine, Jiras-san. Just keep a hold of him for another quick minute, okay?" She strolled past them and into the kitchen, not waiting for either one to reply, mainly because she knew they would just moan and whine with impatience. Filia carefully set down the box on the counter, fumbling to open it with her haste. She lifted out a long glass baby-bottle, smiling pleasantly. She hastily opened the cupboard, grabbing out a can of milk mix and setting it beside the bottle. Taking out a silver spoon, she accurately measured the correct amount of powder into the bottle with gleaming satisfaction. Putting the can back in its appointed place, Filia lifted the tea pot of half-boiling water from the hot stove and poured it into the bottle until it was filled. Switching the stove off, and putting the teapot back down, she screwed the cap tightly onto the bottle and hustled back out into the living room.
"Oneesan, please! He keeps growling at me! I think he's angry!" Jiras pouted, his hands shivering with fear from around the newborn dragon. Filia laughed again and sat down beside him on the comfortable couch. Jiras gently handed the baby to his 'Big Sister' and jerked his hands away from it, horrified. The little thing only curiously stretched its neck out towards him, crooning with its golden eyes gleaming. Filia stroked her hands soothingly over his gleaming black scales with a feather touch that was as comforting as a mother's touch.
"He's not angry, silly Jiras-san! Baby dragons can't cry like human babies do, so they have to growl or hiss to show that they want something. Oh, isn't he just the sweetest little thing you ever laid your eyes on? Good, Valteria, good! Look at what Filia brought for you!" She chirped in a cute voice that made Grabos and Jiras shrug with misunderstanding and irritation. Filia revealed the bottle to the child from underneath her cloak and offered it to the newborn with a warm smile. Valteria crooned with enjoyment as he sank his small dagger-like fangs into the cap and sucked the milk down diligently. Filia kept a strong hold around it, making sure the baby didn't pull it away from her, struggling against its strength. Jiras and Grabos softened a tad from their nervousness as they watched the tiny dragon gulp down the milk, and finally each stroked his neck as he drank, feeling more relaxed and familiar with the baby now. After all this was the child that they had waited for to hatch for so long.
"Valgarv-sama, I can't believe that's really you," Grabos said wearily, his eyes never leaving his 'Master'. Jiras nodded with agreement as he reached over and patted Valteria on the head platonically. It crooned, squinting up its eyes in joy, and rubbing against Jiras' hand. The red fox laughed cheerfully, watching as Filia finally withdrew the empty bottle from Valteria's mouth and let him lie down on her dirty dress. The dragon yawned, curling its long tail around its small body, golden eyes shutting as it sank its sharp claws into Filia's cloak with comfort.
"Ah, tired already? Sleep soundly my Valteria... Good," She whispered in a gentle voice, wrapping her arms around the sleeping dragon with a loving, feathery touch. She swiftly rocked him back and forth with care, almost drifting herself off to sleep with her own movement. Jiras and Grabos just leaned back on the couch watching their newly born master fall into his first sleep.
I wish I could have known that something like this would happen before I did it. I suppose it really doesn't matter anymore... Garv-sama is dead... If I die then he will be waiting for me in the afterlife. And yet, no matter how long I struggle to clear it from my mind, I will never forget my regret for having allowed my master to go off alone to defeat Lina Inverse. I want to see her dead... Want to see her blood staining the very ground that I am standing on... She deserves to die! She who took the one thing in life that mattered to me and vanquished it in a single blow. And still I do not understand how it is that one normal girl was able to destroy Garv-sama.
'Normal girl'? Well, I suppose not... What was she? Her magical powers far exceeded those of a human. She was able to take in the spiritual force of The Lord of Nightmares and use it to her advantage. She was able to destroy Ruby Eye Shabranigdo, The Hellmaster, Phibrizo, and my Garv-sama single handedly. Her only affections were extended to a man she pretended to care nothing for... Her eyes were as red as blood. Perhaps I have clouded judgement, perhaps my own flame of revenge has taken over me, but if my predictions are right then Lina would be a part of the Dark Lord, Shabranigdo. If he was sealed behind the eyes of a human after he was slain by Cified, why not her as well?
She is the devil, that Lina... All the humans ever think about is how evil the Mazoku tribe is, but we have just as many feeling and emotions as they do! Did she ever once think that these beasts she was killing without a thought might be important to many other people around them? Did she ever once think about how important Garv-sama might have been to someone like me when she had that blade of darkness shoved through his body? She is so heartless and cold-blooded... A human body with a Mazoku inside, yearning for release by both sides. Lina must have Mazoku blood within her somewhere... Where else would she get this overwhelming power? Why else would The Lord of Nightmares grant her The Giga Slave? Why else would Xellass Metallium have her priest and general, Xelloss, follow behind her like a magnet? I have already heard that her sister is working under Cified, one of the most powerful Mazokus. And if I'm correct, then Lina and Luna are just the products of Shabranigdo and Cified's revenge on each other, still battling each other in human forms. It will only be a matter of time before Lina follows after her sister and is drawn into the darkness of the Mazoku.
But none of that matters now... Oh, Maryuoh-sama I'm sorry about this... I will probably be joining you soon... If only revenge hadn't possessed me after your death, I wouldn't have tried to awaken Darkstar like this. Soon... Very soon his mind will gnaw away my soul and take complete control over me. I'll be like a puppet on un-willing strings. Forgive me for never being able to avenge you, Master...
Filia sat silently at the kitchen table, fumbling with the teacup in front of her, sighing. There was a steaming kettle sitting on the counter with a container holding many different flavors of tea next to it. She silently watched the flavor spreading out in the hot water, her expression emotionless and hard to read. She continually stirred the hot liquid with a silver spoon, never once picking it up to drink. For some reason she just didn't feel thirsty anymore, as she had been when she woke from her vivid sleep. She gazed out the window at the drifting darkness of night; the stars light dim against it. The moon was hardly in sight, clouded in shadows. It must have been far into the night already, though she too wrapped up within her own painful memories, just now noticed. How long had it been since she defeated the one man she cared so much for? It hurt not being able to remember him and it hurt even more when she was able to remember him... He was like a blurred soul now lost in her memory...
"Hey, can't sleep?" Filia sprang up startled as Jiras quietly crept into the kitchen. "I had a pretty gruesome dream... Don't think I can sleep now," he whispered as he sat down beside her at the table. She broke a smile, standing up and walking to the cupboards above the counter. She took out another glass, filling it with the boiling water and setting his favorite flavor of tea in it. Returning to the table, she offered it to him with a grin. He took it with a look of pleasure and assurance.
"I don't know why but I can't seem to sleep either... I've just been sitting out here thinking." She took a small sip from her tea, almost trying to hide her face from her friend, hoping he couldn't see her eyes. She was almost on the brink of tears now, and she hardly knew why.
"Thinking about Valgarv-sama?"
"Yes..."
"It hurts now that he's gone... But now he can have a new life, he can start over fresh! Oh, I hate seeing you like this, Oneesan. It wasn't your fault or anyone else's but his own for doing what he did. But in the end he still did the right thing by letting you kill him to destroy Darkstar..." Jiras stopped wearily, not sure if he should say what he was about to. Blurting it out anyway he asked in a serious voice, "Did you love Valgarv-sama, Onesan?"
"'Love'?" She repeated softly, sighing as she laid down her head on the table, hiding her face within her arms. "Jiras-san, it was my own tribe that was responsible for what terror gripped him afterwards. He wouldn't have even known Maryuoh if the Gold Dragons hadn't started that silly war... And I regret that... I suppose that I just saw him as something other than our enemy. I saw him as a child, because he lost his true self when becoming part Mazoku long ago... I was attached to him with guilt, not love. I suppose that I'll love him now that he is re-born as my own, but that's different..." Tears began to roll uncontrollably over her cheeks, and she began to quietly sob, still hiding herself from Jiras, ashamed.
"Oneesan... None of that was your fault..."