navy = flashback
Filia looked around, still not assured that there was no one around. Bending slowly, she set the crystal before here. There had been a time in her childhood where her mind had been blanked out. She knew that there was something really important about that part of here life that she had forgotten. Why won't they just tell me? she wondered anguished. I'm sorry... I have to know what happened... she slowly began to murmur the ancient words. Soon, a large mist floated around her, engulfing her, into her mind.
Filia woke up with a start. "OmyGod." she murmured as she looked around her room. "What was that dream? ...what was it about?"
Her bedroom was the same, a window at the foot of her bed, softly rustling her mother's gift for her 16th birthday. On the amour nearby, her books and personal possessions lay.
"I must have dreamed about Them again." she muttered as she settled back into bed.
The next morning, she put on the flowing white gown that was to initiate her into the priestesshood and walked slowly down the corridor to the Main Room. As she neared the large, golden doors, a large explosion crumbled the walls around her. She screamed and ducked, trying to futilely teloport out. But it was useless. Every new priestess was to lose her powers for 1 year in preparations of a mission.
"It'll be no problem, It'd be a breeze, they said." she muttered as she tried to wiggle out into the light from beneath a pathway of broken walls. Just as she was to get out, something large and VERY heavy slammed on her back, knocking her out.
When she came to, she was on a bed in the middle of a forest. Getting up, she dusted herself of dirt and grass. It was then that she noticed how close the ground was to her.
"Oh MY GOD!!!!!!!" she screamed. She was 12 years old, and wasn't too sure of what had just happened.
"Filia-chan? Are you okay?" a boy of 14 years came into view.
"Who... are you?" she asked, a frown on her face.
"What did He do to you?" the boy muttered as he walked over to feel her forehead.
"Who's He?" she asked, her face beginning to warm.
"Mazoku." Filia looked up at the boy's face, it had changed in a matter of words, his worried face hardened.
"Ummm... ano, who are you?" she murmured, trying to get up.
The boy looked at her in surprise. "Filia, it's me, Vin. Don't you remember me?" he asked, a hurt look on his face.
"I'm sorry.... but I can't seem to remember anything too well lately."
"We met a few days ago, right here. I've been bringing you food. You're my friend. I found you...."
"Found me how?" she said, looking into his eyes.
"You were very injured, but you wouldn't let me take you to my Master to heal you, and since I'm no good at it, I had to heal you the human way, with bandages and a healing cream to cover. Don't you remember anything?"
Sighing deeply, she searched through her mind for a small clue of what and who she was.
"..I'm a...Dragon. A Gold from far east. I'm supposed to go train to be one of the Fire Dragon's priestess...um...I was sent for some reason....what's the reason......" she frowned and tears began to run down her eyes. "But I can't remember why!!"
"Filia-chan, don't cry." he murmured as he took her into his arms. As soon as he did that, she saw a world covered in darkness, two men stood facing each other, each gathering a large ball of power in their hands.
"Filia-chan? Are you there?" she heard him say as she started blinking her eyes.
"Vin...That's you...." She started to shake in his arms. "I...I..I can't stop it, my whole body...my whole mind...my whole life, it's all disappearing before my eyes." she started to cry, burrowing her head into his chest. "I can't remember anything, not my family or what happened to me." She looked up at him, tears flowing down her eyes, "Why is L-sama punishing me?" then cried harder.
"She's not.... You're a Gold, the Mazoku are the ones who are punishing you, for no other reason but the fact that you're a Gold, Filia-chan." he murmured into her ear, then picking up her legs, sat down on the bed and held her as she cried.
"Thank you." Filia said quietly later to a sleeping Vin. "Thank you for being there for me." pulling the blanket up, she tucked it around him and set off.
Vin watched her movements from beneath closed eyes. His master had taught him the trick in case he got caught. After he saw that she was really going away, he got out and flashed in front of her. "Where are you going?" he asked her quietly before her stunned face. He watched her take a deep sigh.
"I'm leaving." she simply said
"May I ask where?"
"..ummm...I don't know right now, but I'll know soon." her eyes drifted away from him to look beyond him. "I know that something's wrong and I need to find out." she still remembered the dream that she had had after her cry.
The whole world was in a dark mist, flashes of light and the sound of
clanging metal was all that could be seen and heard. She wandered around,
not really sure of where she was to go, but was to be led there.
Then she saw them, the two figures gathering power into their hands...then
shooting it off at once. The two beams met with a loud boom; fire, ice and
wind were thrown out. Then there was a clash of metal, the sounds of
ancient words being said and a very loud explosion.
Soon, everything was quiet, and a lone man stood. He looked toward her and
frowned, then flashed out.
A darkly winged creature emerged from the darkness to stand over the dead
body and then gave a heart-wrenching cry. He too looked at her then
advanced, pulling out a very large and red blade. He slowly advanced, and
with each step, she could hear more clearly his muttering. "You were the
source of this....you killed my brother....he did it to save you....what's
so special about you?...You were the source of my brother's
death...you...you...YOU!!!!!!!" he gave another anguished cry and lunged at
her.
She stared up at him, not totally comprehending everything he was saying. It
was just as she saw his eyes that she knew what had just happened. "...I...I
killed your brother?...I killed him...." she said softly and closed her
eyes, waiting for the blow...
"Let me go Vin." she said in a hard voice. "Leave me alone and never, I mean NEVER, bother to mention my name again. Forget about me." she said looking back at him, then she flashed out.
He let her go in a stunned silence. As she walked pass him, he grabbed her arm, "Tell me why." he demanded.
She looked at him with an emotionless face. She looked at him, he was still stunned she saw. She only shook her head and yanked her arm out of his grip and walked away, never once looking back at him. He never saw the tears began to run down her face.
Filia walked a few miles crying softly before she realized that she had walked to a red stone temple.
"What's this place?" she asked herself. "The Ancients' tombstone." she realized.
Why did I walk to here? she wondered as she walked into the temple, looking around. As she walked down the large corridor, she saw the markings of the Ancient Dragons on the left side and the mark of the Gold on the right. She walked to the left to touch each marking, writing the Gold's over it.
They're so alike, yet so different. she thought.
"It's about time you got here, I was tired of waiting for you Filia-chan." a happy voice echoed down the long corridor.
"Who's there?" she demanded, quickly turning to face the way in which the voice had come from.
"You don't remember me? I'm crushed." the voice came again, but from behind her. She didn't turn around but waited for the person to show him or herself. "You've learned from the last time I see." He flashed behind her. She quickly whipped out a very long ribbon from her wrist and snapped it one in the air, instantly it turned into a sword and she slashed the air behind her, all in one smooth movement.
"OW! That hurt Filia-chan." he flashed in front of her and blinked out when he saw her move the sword once more. He flashed behind her and grabbed her arm. "Filia-chan, don't be rude." he said in the same happy voice.
"What do you want." she demanded as she tried to pull her arm away. He only tightened his grip and smiled at her. "You know what I want, and I suggest you give it up."
"I don't know!" she said as she slashed the sword once more at him, cutting him and setting herself free. She ran down the corridor until she touched the large doors and teloported into the room.
It was only then that she realized that she had entered the room of the Ancients.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT CHILD?" a deep voice boomed from a glowing orb.
"Excuse me?" she asked startled
"I HAVE ASKED YOU WHAT ID IT THAT YOU WISH TO KNOW."
"I....I...I want to know what I have forgotten." she said
"COME TOWARD ME AND PLACE YOUR HAND UPON THE ORB." he commanded, "WAIT UNTIL THE DRB HAS STOPPED GLOWING BEFROE REMOVING YOUR HAND."
She slowly came forward and placed her hand upon the orb. Instantly, images filled her mind.
"Why are you sending me away?" a child her had asked her Mother,
"Because it's a great honor." he mother had said as she dressed her in a
flowing gown of white and gold.
"Will you be there?"
"No."
Then it changed to when she had left, she was crying uncontrollably and
trying to get out of the arms of and elder, but his grip was strong and he
pulled her along, not letting her look back.
It then changed to 2 years later, when she was to be initiated into the Priestesshood and the attack had happened
"She deserves to know that she was taken by a Mazoku....by an Ancient..." she heard in her mind, not completely understanding. Then she saw the dream again, but in real life. But it was different. Everything was clear to her, what they were fighting over was -
A loud explosion rocked the room and debris sprinkled around her, but she couldn't move her arms or limbs, she was frozen.
"You, my pretty one, are coming with me." The Mazoku was back. He grabbed her and wrapped his dark cape around her, telporting out of the room. Filia's head was swimming. All her thoughts jumbled, her mind blanked out.
Filia moaned as she began to weave her way out of the haze in her head. "It's about time you awoke, I needed for you to be awake so I can finish this." a dark figure said happily from the foot of the bed that she was lying on.
"Urg....Who are you?" she mumbled as she tried to fully wake up.
"You don't need to know." he said and came to stand beside her. He picked up her hand and she felt a searing pain in her hand and yanked away.
"What are you doing?!" she shouted, trying to get away from him.
"Tsk, tsk, you should already know....Sore wa Himtsu Desu." he said and yanked back he bleeding hand. He held her hand over a small vital and let the blood drip slowly into it. When it was about half full, he dropped her hand and flashed out.
"What happened?" she muttered as she examined her hand. It was then that she realized what he had done, he had taken a part of her Golden Dragon's Blood[1: the blood of a initiating priestess of the Golden Dragon is one of the most innocent, used in many revivals and for numerous Mazoku incantations]. "Oh my God." she muttered as she healed herself. She tried to flash out, but she was too weak. She closed her eyes once more, giving into the darkness that had been engulfing her.
When next she awoke, she was lying on a purple satin covered bed.
"Where am I?" she muttered to herself as she sat up. Her mind had cleared but for the dizziness.
"Don't you recognize this place?" the same happy voice asked her.
"Where am I?" she demanded, looking for the source.
"You're at the reincarnation of the most powerful Mazoku there ever was."
"That can't be...That can't BE!!!!!!" she shouted. "Why should I have to be apart of this?" she demanded
"Tsk, Tsk, I thought you were smarted than that. You, m'dear, are the sacrifice for his awakening. Why else would I take your blood for? I needed you and your blood." the Mazoku flashed in front of her.
"Who are you?" she asked, unwillingly scooting away from the figure.
"Who do you think I am?" he asked taking her face into his hand to force her to look into his eyes. Before her eyes, the figure's body and form completely changed from male to female. "I am Zelas Metilliam , the Beastmaster."
Filia started to shake, her eyes widening. "Ha...How? How can that be? Aren't the Darklords Lords? Male?"
"A mere technicality." the beautiful woman in front of her said blithely as she walked away from Filia. She suddenly turned around and smiled, "Now that you're awake, I can finish it."
Her eyes flashed and Filia felt magical bonds tighten around her frozen body. She tried to yell, but she couldn't control her body or functions. Somebody help me! her mind shouted
The Beastmaster suddenly cried out and Filia looked up in surprise. Her eyes widen as she saw him. The other figure from her dream. He was a slim and well-muscled man, the kind that enticed girls and made mothers faint. The aura of danger around him only made him look hotter. He was about 6 feet tall with a head full of gold. As she looked closer, she became mesmerized by his baby blue eyes.
"I shall name you Xel Metilliam." Zelas decided as she appraised the results of her work. Suddenly she looked over to Filia, "What do you think? Cute? He's partly yours by blood." she said her eyes hardening. "Xel, here is your first meal. That girl has a very unique bond with you, she must die for all Mazoku must have no bond with the human world but as playthings." she commanded
Xel bowed his golden haired head and walked over to her menacingly. She shrinked back from him, her mind shouting out for help of any kind. Suddenly, there was a series of loud explosions.
"Filia-chan! Are you okay?" a voice shouted out.
"...Vin?" she weakly asked and began to cough, tipping over to her side. A few seconds later, he was right next to her, patting her back.
"It's okay. Everything will be alright." he murmured as he wrapped the satin coverlet around her and teloported out of the room. A second later, they were running down a long corridor.
"What are you doing here??" she asked as she struggled to keep up with him.
"I heard your plea for help and I had to come." he said and suddenly picked her up.
Blushing furiously, she asked, "But why? I thought you were to forget me."
"I can't, I already knew that when you left, but I thought you were coming back since you knew nothing of your life." he looked down at her scoldingly.
"I'm a grown person! I can make my own decision. And anyway, I do remember most of my life!" she shouted at him.
"You're only 12 years old - " he was cut off as a blast of dark power slammed into them both from no where. "Damn! I got distracted." he muttered as he set her down and stood up to face his opponent.
"Vin...Don't go...Please...Deaths..." she murmured as she felt her strength slipping away and felt something very weird happen to he body.
When she opened her eyes, she was in the middle of the fight, going against Vin.
"Vin!!" she said shocked as she saw his condition. He was beaten and bleeding slightly at his temple. "Vin...I'm So sorry that this happened..." she said softly as she stood over his bleeding form.
"...uhhh...Filia..?? ....Is that you?" he struggled to ask.
"I'm sorry Vin, this is entirely fault, THIS is why I said for you to forget me...I'm sorry Vin..." she said softly as tears began to fall down her face. She took out an enchanted blade from his boot. "I'm SO sorry, I never in any way meant to hurt you..." She brought the blade up to her her face. "At least now I'm now going to be able to mend it."
Before his eyes, Filia took the blade and stabbed it into the heart of the Mazoku's body she was inhabiting.
"FILIA!!!!!" Vin shouted as he rushed over the body. He could see the two spirits blink in and out. "Filia...how could you..." he couldn't go one but cradle her body in his arms.
"Sayonara Vin... Your brother should be coming soon, so you should be okay..." she said softly to him as she touched his most serious wounds and healed them.
"Stop that! Save your energy!" he scolded
"Don't change...I'm so tired..." she said as she closed her eyes. She could still hear him yell at her not to drift off as she did the opposite.
Just before she totally lost consciousness, she could hear the Beastmaster. "What a waste, I never should've used one so strong willed. Oh wells, I can make another."
"Filia! Wake up Filia! Are you sure she's okay?" "Yeah. I just finished casting Recovery on her" "Yes Lina-san, I checked her over, she should be okay."
Voices...whose voices do I keep hearing? Filia wondered as she struggled to open her eyes.
"..Lina-san..? What are you doing here?" Filia mumbled as she opened her eyes. "What happened to me?"
"Filia? Are you alright?" Lina-san looks worried she thought
"Yes, but I'm so tired." she said softly as she struggled to sit up. Instantly, Lina was calling Gourry over to help her up. "No, no. I'm alright." Filia said
"What happened to you Filia?" Lina asked worriedly
"I'm not too sure." she frowned in concentration
"We heard explosions Filia-san." Amelia said as she went over to Filia's other side to support her. Lina began to walk slowly back toward their camp.
"Let's get you back to camp and you can rest." Lina said quietly. Everyone followed suit silently.
Later that day as she was sitting on a hill watching the sun set, Lina joined her.
"I know what happened." she said quietly
Filia didn't even try to conceal her puzzlement. "You...know? How?" she asked
"No one knows this, but awhile ago, I did the same thing."
"You Lina-san?" Filia asked surprised
"Yeah, I really can't remember my childhood too much either. After the Darkstar mission, I felt that something was wrong and that's why we're here."
"I couldn't really remember the year of my 12th birthday, and the years surrounding it were fuzzy."
"Were? Then I take it you found out everything you wished to know?"
"Yes...No...Everything is so jumbled in my mind. It's even worst than when I had to decide between God or Demon."
"Yeah, that's it. Does your heart feel totally chaotic?"
"Yes!"
"Yeah, I took mine out on bandits the first time after I got back. That's how I got the name 'Bandit Killer' and 'Dra Mata'."
"Really?"
"I guess so, as a child, I was already looting bandits, but not enough so that I would earn that name."
"ohhh.." the two sat in companionable silence as the sun set down over the horizon.