Filia gasped suddenly as she found herself locked in another dream..... But this time, it was harsh and violent, and very familiar....... She spun around and looked for a sight of familiarity, and saw two figures a long way off. She started running towards them........
Burning.... It was all burning... dead... they were dead... Nothing left... nothing at all.... Only death.... He was alone....
He struggled to drag himself away from the vile stench of death and hatred, but had been too wounded to manage it, and so lay on the ground, feeling his life blood well out of him. Memories...... unbearable memories.... Locked inside, screaming to get out, pounding his skull and haunting him like ghosts! How could he escape? He couldn't..... he merely cried as he let his life seep out. He would die..... finally..... but then it was his due... he was a murderer... a murderer of murderers.... Forever killing, and enjoying it..... now his pain, his guilt, his conscience.... It was coming back all at once and eating him alive. Forever..... death..... yes....
Filia woke with a gasp, and sat up panting in her chair, soaked in sweat. What had she just seen? It had been brutal! Someone was hurt.... And dying.... She jumped up and looked out of the window. It was still dark out, but the moon was bright..... yet, she felt a disquieting inside of her, as if to say, hurry.... She opened the door and stepped outside, looking around, then made her decision, and transformed into her true form, and alight into the air, winging her way over the city, following the strong aura. She looked around, and finally found herself in a barren field of rocks and boulders west of town nearer the mountains. Her sharp gaze looked around, then caught sight of one small thing that was not a rock.....She gasped and dove down, changing back to human form upon setting down, and rushed over to the individual, seeing blood strewn everywhere about him like a huge puddle.
She gasped in shock, and bent down over the man's still form, and began a healing spell, feeling his life force weak and fading. If she wasn't quick enough.... But as she healed, she could feel him slowly coming back from the edge, and sighed in relief, though she couldn't see who it was, nor did she want to know just yet, a strange gut clenching feeling in her stomach. As she let her healing aura flow into him, she glanced to the side, and saw that there was something lying not far away..... and her heart then froze. A book...... god, it was a book.....
Her head jerked back to the injured man, and bent down to lift his head slightly so she could see his face.... And her stomach did that clenching thing again.... No doubt..... But.... Her mind froze over. No, not now, ask later. She finished the healing, then gently picked him up in her arms, grabbed the book, and teleported herself and him back to the house. She then made a comfortable place on her bed for him, and lay him down, then sighed and stared at him in bewilderment for a long time, before going back to the window and sitting in a chair to spend the remainder of the night there.
She must have nodded off, because the next thing she knew the sun was shining in her face, and some birds were making their presence known to the world by singing some bright tune. She sighed quietly and rubbed her eyes, and looked around, rather disoriented for a little while, before realizing fully where she was. She glanced quickly over to her bed then, to see the man she'd rescued still lying there asleep, in the same position she'd laid him in last night. Val was up however, banging impatiently on his crib for attention, and she rose and picked him up, then walked over to the bedside to stare down at him for a little while. She was still trying to process the information of who he really was in her mind.... And it was taking her a long time..... lying on the bed, pale and rather bony, but familiar nonetheless, was none other than the mazoku priest Xelloss..... only, he didn't look all to well.... And then she remembered the blood... he'd been bleeding.... Her mind spun over the ideas in her head wildly, not really understanding it, or wanting to comprehend it...... but the facts didn't lie..... he lay before her, and had been close to death the night before.
She bit her lip, and then turned to go downstairs, made breakfast for Val and fed him, then put him in his playroom, then walked back upstairs after eating something herself. She took a seat next to his bed, and stared at him openly for some time, a blank unbelieving expression written on her face. How could this be him, or rather, how could he have been lying there almost dead? Especially a mazoku like him, and a high level one at that..... She watched the slow falls of his breath as he breathed in and out rhythmically, and she sighed to herself, watching his face. It was somehow different..... peaceful, calm, and almost serene..... not evil and malicious as it usually was, nor was it smiling in a fake happiness..... She sighed and leaned back pondering the issue. OK, so he was here now.... What should she do? Why had she even helped him in the first place? Well, that was easy, you had a bad vision, and responded to it... naturally. And if you see one lying nearly dead in the road, you help them.... That was it, right?
She was brought to her senses when she saw a slight movement out of the corner of her eye, and she glanced over to see his eyelids flickering slightly. At first she thought it a trick of the mind, but then she noted the movement again, followed by a soft intake of breath. He was definitely coming around. She leaned forward as his lids slowly slipped halfway open, and she set her face in a firm neutral mask as she watched him slowly come aware of his surroundings. When she thought she'd waited enough, she spoke. "Bout time you came around."
His eyes focused on her then, and her heart nearly stopped in shock. His eyes were still the same lavender color... but they were different..... there was light reflecting out of them.... Light! And the pupil wasn't slit..... her shock at seeing this almost missed his quiet words, which in itself was odd since it was totally unlike any she'd heard before. ".....Filia...." came the soft whisper, almost pleading.
She jerked back in surprise, then realized that here was someone confused and perhaps hurting, and no matter who it was, she had an obligation to help. "It's OK, you're safe now..." She replied leaning back over him.
His eyes seemed to watch her for a moment, then slid closed, and she saw a visible shiver run through him. A visible shiver...... Like a tremor that started at the heart and moved outwards, though he tried to keep it in check so she wouldn't see it. But she did.
"Are you all right Xelloss?" She said quietly. "I found you nearly dead outside of town..."
He didn't respond for a very long time, and she was afraid he'd gone back to sleep again, but then his eyes slid back open, locking on her, and again she got the strange feeling that he wasn't the same.... Not at all..... there was something..... very different.....
She managed to smile and pat his hand gently. "It's OK, you just rest up and when you feel better, you can come on down and talk, OK?" She managed to smile, though her mind was whirling in confusion. She could sense that he was in more confusion than she, so she simply put hers aside, and comforted him.
He managed to smile slightly, but didn't move or close his eyes from her, and she felt strange as she met his alluring gaze. It was... magnetic.... Yes that's what it was, not piercing and strange like usual, but magnetic and gravitating, as if something was pulling at her..... pulling hard too. She couldn't break out of his gaze either. It was odd.... As if he wanted to say something, but didn't know what to say..... She laughed nervously then, and stood up and waved at him. "I've got to open up shop, so you go ahead and rest as long as you need." And she began to head down stairs.
She polished the vases, and swept the floor clean, then opened shop and let the waiting customers in. Her shop was very popular, and she usually had a small crowd waiting for her to open each day. Not only for the tea and pastries, but for her pottery as well. She was fairly well known, considering that they'd lived there only for a short time.
Sure enough, the crowd was the usual amount, and about an hour after opening the shop, she heard muttering from the customers to see two cloaked figures making their way through the small patio to the main shop. Once they were inside, she immediately recognized them. "Grabos! Jurais!" She smiled gently at the pair. "What are you two doing here?!"
Jurais grinned lopsidedly, looking the same old fox as ever. "Well, we decided to see how Valgarv-sama... um I mean Valteria-sama is doing, Filia-dono." He bowed and kissed her hand in respect. "We were in the area."
She smiled brightly at the two. They might have been.... Uh.... Less than desirable before, but they weren't bad folk. "Certainly, he's quite well and making a racket upstairs.. oh..." She trailed off remembering Xelloss.
"Filia-dono?"
She glanced at the two, then ushered them into the back room to avoid the odd looks customers gave them. "Well it's just..." She hesitated, then decided having a few in on the knowledge might be better. "I found Xelloss outside last night, nearly dead.... Bleeding... not like a mazoku either."
They gave her startled looks, then exchanged their own uncertain ones. "Xelloss? But I thought that mazoku didn't get hurt like that...." Grabos mused to himself, scratching his thick head with a slight frown.
She shook her head. "I'm not sure I get it either, but there's also something different about him...." She frowned, then explained what had happened the previous time she'd seen him, about the book and the words exchanged. "I have no idea what connection he has with it, but whatever it is, it didn't look good."
Jurais rubbed his furry chin in thought and frowned slightly. "Hmm.... This might be farfetched... but maybe he found something out he wasn't supposed to, and his master punished him and abandoned him? Maybe he isn't mazoku anymore."
Filia nodded slowly, a hint of doubt in her eyes. "I was thinking something along the same lines, but the question is... what was it?"
The three stood silently for some time, then looked at each other wordlessly in puzzlement. "Maybe we should talk to him?" Jurais suggested. "Have you done that?"
She shook her head. "He was.... so strange... It frightened me.... And I had to open the shop...."
The two nodded. "Can we talk to him then?" Grabos asked. "Maybe we can figure something out."
She nodded. "Go ahead, I'll be with you shortly after I help some more customers." They nodded, and she lead them upstairs while she returned to the main shop.
The two walked upstairs quietly, and opened the bedroom door, hearing loud banging and baby gurgles, and saw Val in his crib still, banging away, and Xelloss curled up on the bed on his side, hugging his knees to him in a fetal position. They exchanged surprised glances, not used to seeing the usually cheerful, if not violent, mazoku in anything but what they saw him now. The door didn't seem to catch his attention, he was probably tuning it out due to the excessive pounding of Val. Grabos walked over to the kid, and picked him up, much to his delight as he began tugging on his cloak happy to get attention. Jurais walked over to the bedside and eyed the trickster. "Xelloss-sama?" He asked politely, not really knowing how to deal with him. Xelloss didn't move however, so he walked around to the other side of the bed to face him, and saw his eyes were open and staring sort of blankly forward at nothing. "Xelloss-sama?" He asked again kneeling down to become eye level with him, and finally getting eye contact. "Filia-dono's worried about you." That seemed to snatch his attention, and his eyes focused on his rather uncertainly. Jurais could see what Filia had meant by how he'd changed... he defiantly wasn't mazoku anymore.... There was a feeling of loss there, and confusion, paranoia, and loneliness. And hidden deep down, Jurais could also see a bordering madness there..... as if he was trying to push it back, but it was still there haunting him. The fox-man leaned forward and held a hand out to him. "Come on..... Why don't you get up huh? You can't sulk all day now."
Xelloss still made no move however, and Jurais glanced over to Grabos who simply shrugged, trying to hold Val from scrambling down out of his arms onto the bed. The kid seemed infatuated with getting to Xelloss, and finally Grabos just gave up and put Val down on the bed. The toddler then crawled over to Xelloss, climbed onto his back and sat right on his side about where his waist was and began tugging on his hair impatiently. Jurais and Grabos both sweatdropped, but then stopped, as Xelloss turned his head to look at Val with a slightly baffled look on his face. Then, he turned over and sat up slowly, as Val clambered over his legs and began tugging impatiently on his short hair with a small pudgy, and rather wet, hand. Then, the most amazing thing occurred...... he smiled. Not the usual crafty smile that was well known from him, but a genuine amused smile. Jurais and Grabos both stared open mouthed in astonishment at him for that. Before them was a scene unlike any other..... the trickster was sitting cross-legged with baby Val in his lap, who was still tugging at his hair with a gurgling smile, and Xelloss was smiling kindly down at him in a strange way...... They were speechless to say the least.
Of course, Filia chose that exact moment to make an appearance, coming through the open door to see how they were doing. "How's it ....." She paused seeing the exact same scene, and freezing in her place looking astonished as well. Xelloss and Val seemed oblivious to the attention they were receiving, a calm look on Xelloss' face still, and Val giggling happily. She finally blinked at the sight, feeling a strange sense of... companionship between the two.... How strange..... "Xelloss?" She said quietly stepping forward. "Are you OK?"
At that, he lifted his head, the look on it entirely different from before. It was more open and relaxed. She was nearly taken aback at the strange sight that lay before her. And yet, it seemed somehow... almost as if this is the way it should have been.... Something was right, as odd as it sounded. He then surprised her again, by smiling at her. "Yes.... I will be."
That produced more stares from them, and Filia felt her head whirling around oddly. "Xelloss, do you mind explaining what's going on here? Why were you lying in the middle of the field nearly dead, and what's wrong with you?"
His face seemed to darken, and she could suddenly feel great power focused around him..... but it wasn't mazoku, that was the thing that was strange. "Could... we address that later?" His voice was soft and quiet, almost reclusive. "I don't feel up to talking about it now...."
She blinked slightly, glanced at the other two men with some confusion, then shrugged. "Sure." She walked forward and reached for Val, trying to separate the kids' hands from Xelloss' hair. "Come on Val, let go of him."
But as she tried to pick him up, Val started whimpering and only clung tighter, tears welling up in his eyes. She blinked in astonishment before Xelloss' soft voice spoke up. "I think he wants to stay with me...."
She glared at him in bewilderment, but shrugged. "Fine, you can feed him then." And she turned and walked back downstairs.
Jurais and Grabos looked at each other confused. "Well..." Jurais finally said waving a paw. "We'd best be on our way.... See ya Val, Xelloss." And Grabos nodded to the two in farewell also, and they departed the room, and the teashop after saying goodbye to Filia.
Xelloss was left with Val upstairs, and so he slowly stood, and walked down then with the child in his arms, and stood to the side watching Filia deal with the customers in a quiet silence. After several minutes, Filia saw them, and grabbed some baby food and gestured for him to sit at a table in the corner, and deposited the food there with a spoon and bib. "Have fun."
Xelloss watched silently as she walked off to handle the shop again, then began to feed the eager Val slowly, as he bounced up and down on his lap clapping his hands eagerly. After he finished feeding him, the crowd was dying down, and Val was hugging him and dozing off with a full tummy. Filia then wandered over with some tea and lunch, and took a seat across from him, setting some food and tea before him. She then took a look at Val, then back to him and sighed. "So... ?"
Xelloss didn't look up immediately, but sipped the tea silently with his eyes closed. After he'd taken a few calm sips, he opened his eyes and folded his arms looking across at her calmly. "Well...." He said quietly. "You must have some conclusions you've drawn."
She sighed, and sipped her own tea, the gentle breeze blowing her hair softly across her face as she watched him carefully. "Yes.... I figured out that you obviously aren't mazoku any more for one... and you're very different because of that."
He seemed to nod at that, still not meeting her eyes. "Yes.... That's true."
She frowned, thinking of all the things that she would be able to do to him now that he was mortal...... "So....?" He glanced up curiously, as if asking what she wanted to know. "WHY are you human?"
He still avoided her gaze, but sighed quietly. "Well..... you remember that book you lent me?"
She snorted. "Yes of course, how could I forget. It's upstairs."
He nodded. "I took it to my mistress..... and..." He trailed off.
"I assume she wasn't happy with the information?" Filia asked wryly.
He winced, and she felt a twinge of guilt in her stomach. "Yes, to say the least.... I....was a fool as well.... I pushed her too far...." He seemed to pale a bit at that.
"Meaning?" She pressed, wanting to get to the bottom of the issue.
"Meaning, she didn't want me knowing the truth, and for the first time in my existence, I continued pursuing it after she told me to stop." He sighed and put a hand to his head. "Don't know why I was such a fool."
She watched him carefully, a strange look on her face. "So.... What was it that she didn't want you to know? Did you find out?"
He hesitated, then nodded slightly. "She never told me, but she.... Showed me.... By releasing me of her charge...."
Filia saw his unease, and sighed putting her teacup down and absentmindedly covering one of his hands with her own in comfort. "So.... What does that mean?"
"As you suspected, I'm no longer mazoku.... She returned me to what I was before she... took me into her... protection." He said quietly. "And of course, she let me have all those memories back that she'd wiped..."
Filia suddenly felt an overwhelming amount of emotions flood out from him at that, though he was trying tightly to keep it inside himself, she could feel it through the touch on his hand. Grief, loneliness, pain, sadness, anger, hatred, bitterness, shock, fear, and many more....none of which were happy emotions. Her breath sucked in softly, not enough so he could hear it, but enough for her to break contact to ponder what she'd just felt from him. Emotions..... and quite a bit of them..... "That... must be difficult." She said, beginning to understand why he was so quiet suddenly. That would mean he'd gotten a conscience back, and was most likely feeling guilt for what he'd done as a mazoku.... And then he would have his old memories to deal with. He nodded at that statement, still not meeting her eyes, and she wondered why..... "So.... What does this mean?"
He looked up at her, but still not meeting her eyes. "Well.... I have no idea really.... I suppose I'm free to do as I wish now...." That thought seemed unique to him, and he really looked a bit uncertain as to what to do. "She probably expected me to die..... but I doubt she'd come after me now....."
Filia thought that through. So he was human now.... But he still remembered his mazoku life, so his knowledge would be invaluable...... though he may not have the power he did, he had knowledge, which was just as powerful. But he wasn't used to being so vulnerable. But there was something besides that....... He was very different now. It wasn't just that he was quiet and soft-spoken, but he was withdrawn, and he also had an air of someone who knew too much, and knew he knew too much. He would be dangerous to be around, if only because those seeking revenge would find out, and come after him. And what was worse, from the looks of it, he knew this. She suddenly felt bad for him...... maybe he wasn't a bad person after all, if you got rid of the mazoku part of him...... She sighed to herself, and noted Val clutching him tightly, with a smile on his face as he breathed bubbles out of his nose in his sleep. "Well.... It seems Val is taken with you, which I find ironically odd."
He smiled slightly then, and glanced down, brushing some hair off of the kid's forehead. "Yes... it is rather ironic...." He sighed quietly, then looked up at her with a strange look, before glancing back down.
She frowned, then sighed. "Look, why don't you stay here for the time being, as long as you help out and don't just mooch off of us. Until you figure out what to do at least."
He looked up, genuinely surprised. "Here? You... would let me stay here?" He looked almost as if he didn't believe her.
She smiled slightly, not because she found him funny at his expression, but that the idea that she would be offering him to stay there freely. "Yeah, I'm sure. No sense in you wandering around there vulnerable."
He looked almost relieved, grateful, and happy at once. "Thank you Filia-san..." He said quietly. "Thank you for your kindness.... I know you don't have to do this..."
She snorted and stood back up, to take care of the growing amount of customers. "Just don't tick me off, got it Namagomi?"