After a bit of walking De Tanga and Filia got back to Filia's home. Filia was very angry at this point with a certain trickster priest. Here she was outside walking at night in a very wet dress with a slight chill the air. She was freezing!
Great I'm going to get a cold for sure now! Filia thought while her teeth chattered as they walked up to her front steps.
Well once you get inside go take a nice hot bath and drink some tea. De Tanga half ordered. He didn't like the thought of her getting sick. "I'm really sorry our date had to end like this Filia."
"Oh no, it wasn't your fault some stupid beast decided to attack us! You saved us, and it doesn't matter that I got a little wet. Things like this happen, and you've got no control over it. But besides the little incident at the lake, I had a very wonderful evening." Filia said as she unlocked her door.
"I had a wonderful time too. But take care of yourself."
"You too."
Filia and De Tanga just stood there for a few moments staring into each other's eyes. They weren't very far apart from each other but neither moved an inch. One thought, one urge ran through De Tanga's mind as he stared into the depths of Filia's sparkling blue eyes. And it took all of his self-control to prevent himself from acting upon it. He instead broke eye contact from her and turned around to leave. "Goodnight Filia." He said with a heavy heart.
"Goodnight Jarred." She said softly back before retiring to her home. Once she was inside and had the door closed Filia let out a disappointed sigh. What were you expecting? This was only a pretend date to piss Xellos off. It wasn't supposed to be anything more then that. The thought of Xellos made Filia's blood boil. I had better not get a cold or my mother's dress ruined or so help me gods I'll go and hunt you down myself Xellos you piece of trash! Filia mentally declared before going upstairs to take a bath.
Xellos smiled a smug smile as he watched De Tanga leave and Filia go into her home. He felt great satisfaction that the two of them hadn't kissed. Xellos knew that Filia had wanted to and from the disappoint and anger that radiated from Filia once she got inside of her home just made Xellos grin broadened. Oh well Xellos would have prevented the kiss anyway if De Tanga had tried.
Val sighed as he sat awake while all his friends were sleeping. From the day he had left he knew that he and the others were being followed. Val didn't know what was following them but he had a rough idea what it was.
It had been three days since he and his friends had left for their little camping/fishing trip. So far nothing bad had happened even with someone tailing them. But Val didn't say anything to his friends about them being followed. Though he was sure something was following them, there was still the chance he could be wrong. And besides his friends didn't seem to have any idea of something following them. Val was the only uneasy one out of the group.
His eyes wandered to his friends who were sleeping around the campfire. There were five of them all together, Dayen, Par, Wendle, Kip and Val. Kip was the oldest at 19, Dayen and Par were both 18 and Wendle was the youngest at 15. Or would have been the youngest if Val really were the age he looked.
All his friends had been aware that Val wasn't human and that he was only really seven months old. But none of them had cared one bit. They didn't care that he was an ancient dragon or if he wasn't even a year old. To them he was Val, just one of the guys. They treated him like they would any other 17-year-old guy.
Even though their little camping/fishing trip wasn't in an area that was populated with savage and dangerous creatures they were still being cautious. Every night they took turns taking watch to ensure that nothing happened while they were sleeping. And on this night at this time it was Val's watch.
Times like this made Val reflect back on his life and the things he was told. Though Filia could have kept everything secret about the bad things Val had done in his past before he was reborn, but she didn't. She didn't like telling him, but she kept no secrets. Even though she was afraid that he would remember his old life and turn back to what he once was, Filia still didn't hide the truth from him. Sometimes Val didn't know whether or not to believe some of the things that his mother had told him. But then there were times where he would get glimpses of far away memories of his past life. They were never anything too clear for him to make out, sometimes it was a blurry image or other times it was a muffled voice. But it was never something really recognizable so Val never thought anything much of it. It doesn't matter who I was before. I am who I am now and that's all that matters. Which was a belief that he stuck firmly to.
Val idly poked at the fire as he listened for what was watching them. He didn't know why they were being followed. He had his guesses but he knew nothing for sure. Whoever or whatever was following them hadn't done anything yet so it was safe to assume for the moment that the watcher was only acting as a spy.
Oh well it's Par's turn for watch now. Val thought as he went to wake the 18 year old brown haired youth who was snoring very loudly.
Filia woke up the next morning feeling dreadful. Her throat hurt, her nose was runny, her head hurt, she was exhausted, her muscles were sore and worst of all she couldn't stop coughing and sneezing.
"GRRRR! Damn you Xellos!" Filia cursed under her breath. Even though the night before she declared that she was going to hunt Xellos down if she got sick and her mother's dress got ruined but she realized she couldn't exactly do that. If she started going on a rampage he was going to wonder why she was so angry with him. And he wasn't supposed to know that she had been aware the whole time that Xellos had been following her and De Tanga on their date. So that left Filia not able to do anything. But it's not like she could do much as it was, she barely had any energy to get up at all.
I shouldn't feel this bad for just a simple cold... Filia mused as she tried to get herself out of bed. But that was a futile effort, and Filia admitted defeat and flopped back down her bed. She inwardly groaned. Why did I have to get sick now? I'm all alone in this house. I wish I could just muster up the energy to go tell one of my neighbors that I'm sick so maybe they could help me out. But of course my house has to be so damn far away from the other houses. Filia scolded herself. She had purchased this house because it was still close enough to the town that she could do her everyday sorts of things but far enough away that she wouldn't be bothered by town life. She hadn't wanted Val's sleep to be disturbed, but if she had known that he was going to grow so fast she wouldn't have bothered.
Val woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. He worked the kinks out of his neck as he got up to greet the others.
"Good morning guys!" Val sat down next to his friends.
Par, Dayen and Kip greeted him as they prepared breakfast for the five of them.
Val's eyes traveled over to Wendle whom was still sleeping. "What's up with Wen? He's not one to sleep in late."
"No that's what you do." Dayen pointed out and got a laugh out the of the rest.
Val smiled sheepishly. Yes Val did have a tendency to sleep in late. And it was hell for the rest of them to wake him up in the morning. So hard that they eventually just gave up and let Val sleep in till he woke himself up. But Wendle was a very light sleeper and never slept in late. "Did you guys try to wake him?"
"We called to him but he didn't budge. Maybe you're just rubbing off on him." Par quipped.
"Ha, ha." Val retorted sarcastically as he went over to his younger friend. Wendle was pretty small, not as tall as most people his age but then he was fifteen so he'd probably grow taller after a few years. His blond hair normally neat and combed was wildly spread out over his pillow and face. But the strangest thing Val saw was that Wendle's face was very, very pale and it was contorted as if he was in pain or having a bad dream. "Hey Wen? You awake?" Val went to shake Wendle's shoulders.
Wendle woke with a start. And as soon as he had he regretted it. "Oww..." His dizziness caused him to fall back down.
"Wen?!" Kip called as everyone gathered around.
"I don't feel so good..." Wendle mumbled.
Par felt Wendle's forehead. "He's got a fever. And from the looks of things he's probably has the flu or something."
"Looks like our trip is going to be cut short." Dayen halfheartedly joked.
Wendle frowned. "Sorry guys..."
"Ah well we weren't catching any fish anyways. Come on we'd best head back now so we can get back before nightfall." Kip decided and everyone nodded in agreement.
Filia spent most of her day laying around. Sometimes she slept, other times she just stared at the ceiling bored. Her whole day had been boring. At one point she had managed to get out of bed to go downstairs to eat something.
When she had finally made it downstairs she hadn't been able to eat much. And she didn't have enough energy to back upstairs so she ended up crashing on the couch.
For once she had hoped for one of De Tanga or Xellos' unexpected visits but their monster showed their face. No one showed up at all.
Val and his friends tried to travel back as quickly as possible. But with Wendle sick as he was it hampered their travel time. They were only less then half a day away from home to start off with but they took almost a day to get home. The sun had already set and the first stars had start to come out as they reached the town limits.
"Oh dear my, boys! I thought you five were going to be gone for two weeks! Why it hasn't been more then four days!" Exclaimed one of the townsfolk that greeted them as they entered the town. It was an elderly old lady named Mrs. Pames.
"Well Wendle got sick and we had to cut the trip short."
"Oh that's a shame! I hope you feel better soon dear." Mrs. Pames gave Wendle a reassuring pat.
"I hope so too." Wendle mumbled miserably.
His four friends laughed and carried him off home. Each friend said their goodbyes after they got Wendle home and left for their own homes.
Val softly hummed to himself as he made his way home. He was looking forward to having a snack and seeing his mom.
Though he'll never admit it, Val had missed Filia terribly during his trip. It had been the first time Val had been away from her for more then a day.
Well Mom's going to be surprised to see me back so early! He thought with a wide grin. I wonder if she has any leftovers from dinner...
On his trek home Val was stopped at the town square by a group of ladies that were known as the town's gossiping gang. There were four of them and they all loved to gossip!
"Val Ul Copt! I thought you and your friends were going to be gone for two weeks!" One of the ladies, Mona, asked Val.
"Well Wen got sick so we decided to call it quits and get him home. We weren't having much luck fishing anyways."
"Wendle is sick?! Oh my! Is he going to be okay?" Ingrid asked with mock overdramatic concern.
"It's not too serious. Probably a flu or something. He just needs some rest, he'll be fine."
"That's a relief! Say Val, how come your mother never said anything about her being engaged?"
Val blinked in surprise. "WHAT?!"
"Oh dear it looks like she kept it a secret from you too." Faye said shaking her head.
"No she did not keep any secrets from me! She isn't engaged to anyone, so you much be mistaken. I don't even think she's gone a single date since I was born." Val responded defensively.
"Oh no it was definitely her. Your mother was on a date with the most charming man a few days ago. And he announced that they were engaged and she was having his baby!"
"WHAT?!?!?!?!?! There's no way! I would have known!" Val exclaimed.
"Well it looks like she hasn't been completely honest with you, Val-honey."
"I'm going home right this instant and find out the truth from her!" Val declared before storming off.
"Wait Val there's more!" Mona called out for him to come back.
"What else?"
"Well apparently your mother was spotted going out on another date with another charming man yesterday." Mona went into description of Filia's most recent date.
The more detail Mona went into, the more tighter Val clenched his teeth. It's not that he didn't trust his mother's judgment in men. It's just that Val didn't like the idea of her going out with someone he hadn't met. And from the description Mona gave Val of this mystery man didn't sound like the type of guy a girl could confidently bring home to meet her parents.
"I see, well thank you for letting in on what you know. I'm going to go home right now to find out her story." Val started to walk off when he realized he didn't know what his mother's fiancé looked like. "The guy my Mom went out with first, what did he look like?"
"Rather hansom. He was wearing a purple suit and his shoulder length purple hair was neatly combed and he had the biggest brightest smile on his face! Though the only thing odd about him was that he kept his eyes closed."
Val stopped dead in his tracks. No....... there's no way she would... not him... Val's eyes went really wide and he ran home instead of walking leaving the four gossiping women in his wake.
"Now why do you suppose got into him?"
Val ran all the way home and fumbled with his keys as he reached the door. Because he was trying to rush it took him longer then it should have to open the door.
Once inside he looked around, there wasn't a lamp lit anywhere. Would she have gone to bed already? Val raced up the stairs and knocked on his mother's door. When she didn't answer Val slowly opened the door. He saw a messed up bed but no golden dragon sleeping in it. Where is she?
Val started to frantically search the home making himself more worried with each passing moment. Many times did he walk past the couch without even realizing that Filia was sleeping on it. It wasn't till the fifth time did Val decide to backtrack to look at the couch.
Filia lay in a tangle of sheets with her hair wildly spread out in a mess. Val brought the lamp that he had lit closer to her face. She mumbled as the light got closer to her face but didn't wake up.
She looks so pale and she's sweating. Val put a hand to her forehead. She's got a slight fever. Val frowned and went to the kitchen to get a washbasin with some cold water in it and a cloth. He came back and soaked the cloth in the water, rung it out slightly and then placed it on her forehead. Looks like I'll be questioning her about Xellos in the morning. Val sighed and then went back to the kitchen to find something to eat.