Lina's gaze however shot back to the Beastmaster, realizing that their enemy was still present, but her eyes watched the woman carefully, not making a move. The Beastmaster stood there with her arms crossed, watching the slightly smoking form in the center. Lina frowned as the Beastmaster turned to go. "Why?" The mazoku stopped to glance back at her. "Why did you help us?"
She didn't answer for a long time, watching silently as all the others stood up slowly, their eyes locked on her warily. Then, a quiet smile flicked across her face. "Because...." She turned to go, only taking time to glance back at them. "It's wrong." And with that, she and her army vanished instantly......leaving no trace behind.
They stood there rather stunned still, then turned their attention back to Xelloss, who was beginning to move slightly......What they saw however, shocked them to no means.
Xelloss lay on the ground, still smoking slightly from the power that had been channeled into one spot...... but they could clearly see that he had undergone severe changes..... His skin had darkened to a deep copper bronze color, smooth and golden like dark liquid sunshine.... Claw-like hands lay limply on the ground as the rain began to pour down relentlessly. His height and build had dramatically changed, he was much taller, but slenderly built with tight packed muscles that they could tell would do a lot of damage, though appear harmless. His hair hung limply wet across his face and remained the same, but they could see small sharply pointed ears poking out from beneath it. However, the largest thing that drew their attention, was the huge midnight black pair of feathered wings that hung limply from his back..... they were darker than blackest pitch, and seemed to suck all the light into them.......
The group stood in the pouring rain, taking in the information before them silently, still in some shock before they seemed to snap out of it. Lina gestured to Gourry. "Hey, let's get back inside..." He nodded, and picked Xelloss up carefully, straining slightly under his increased weight, and they retreated back inside the cave. Gourry lay him back down, and Amelia crouched by his shoulder, and began to heal the large wound there.
They sat around a new fire, wringing their cloaks out, and then glanced over at Xelloss, still unconscious, wondering what exactly to do, and what to think of the situation.
"Damn.... So, is that what the Fey looked like?" Lina said glancing at his still form. "Seems.... Like some sort of crossbreed."
"They were." Said Filia simply. "The way I understood it, the Fey were just a unity of those crossbreeds in the world. You didn't have to be born of the Fey, you just had to be a crossbreed, and you were welcomed to join the Fey." Her gaze fell to Zelgadis. "You would be welcome for example, being part human and part demon."
He blinked. "But..."
"It doesn't matter if you weren't born that way, it's the present that matters to them." She said nodding at him. "As I remember, there were three categories of Fey." She glanced at Val with a slight frown. "What were they?"
He nodded. "Yeah, there were three. There were the Free breed, which were basically anyone containing multi parts of other races." He nodded at Zel. "You would be considered that part." Zel nodded in response. "Then there were the Pure breeds. Those who were second generation Fey, born from Fey parents. Then there were the rarest, the Golden breed. They were complete blends of all three races in the world, mazoku, human, and Ryuzoku."
They blinked. "Whoa..... and they were rare huh?" Gourry asked, glancing over at Xelloss. "He's one of them, right? I mean, he looks like he could be."
They glanced over at him. It was true.... While he had black dragon wings and a human body, he also had demon characteristics like the pointed ears, claws, and the dark coloring. "Yeah...." Val said grudgingly. "Looks like he's a Golden breed."
Lina scratched her head slightly. "Why then is he the only survivor of his kind?" As she said that though, the answer semi came to her. Memories of the incident she'd dreamt of..... She glanced at him. "They must have tortured him to no ends....."
As if to respond to her words, he stirred slightly, and all eyes went to him. His eyes slowly opened as he lay down, bright slitted golden irises that looked slightly disoriented, but then focused on the others as he slowly sat up. He still looked a bit shaken up, but much better than he had before. "How you feeling?" Amelia asked first, looking at him with concern. "Are you better?"
His eyes slid across all of them, seeing no hostility besides the usual from Zelgadis, and he slowly sat up and rubbed his arm, seeing it was healed. "Yes.... Thank you."
They eyed him strangely. He was very different in personality than they were used to, though Lina supposed that he didn't have to act like a mazoku anymore. "So.... This is your final secret then?" She threw a joking grin at him. "No more 'sore wa himitsu's' any more?"
That brought a smile from him, revealing small perfect white fangs. "Well.....for now anyway." He smiled at her, looking more like his usual self with his eyes closed. "You found out my biggest one Lina-san."
The others smiled in response, some of the tension broken. Amelia crawled next to him and stared at his wings with wide eyes. "Wow...." She looked rather uncertainly at him. "Do... do you..."
He smiled slightly and shook his head. "Go ahead."
She reached out and touched the feathers and looked at them, with wide eyes of wonder. "Sugoi...." She whispered, which only made everyone laugh, and her blush and pull back again quickly.
"I'll bet you get that a lot, eh Xelloss?" Lina joked.
Xelloss smirked slightly and nodded. "Well, I used to..." His smile faded and his eyes grew distant.
There was slight silence, then suddenly Filia put a hand on his shoulder and looked sad. "I know how you feel..." She lowered her head. "We were part of the resistance."
His head turned to them looking slightly surprised. "You were?" A smile lit his face. "I see...." He leaned forward and kissed her gently on the cheek. "Thank you."
She turned bright red, and blinked rapidly, not sure how to react, and Val looked about ready to explode. However, Xelloss held out a hand with a gaze that showed Val that he meant no ill, and the black dragon slowly took it and shook.
"Xelloss.... One thing." Lina asked quietly. "Why did they not kill you when they...."
His head lowered. "They almost did.... But at the last minute they decided they needed something to play with...""His voice sounded bitter. "And what better to have fun with than the crown prince himself..." He sighed and closed his eyes. "It almost would have been better if they had killed me."
Lina stood up angrily. "DON'T SAY THAT!!" Which made everyone leap back in surprise, especially Xelloss who stared with a dumbfounded expression . "Wishing you were dead when your race is nearly extinct!! You have to survive to maintain it again, how can it continue without a leader!?"
He stared at her with wide eyes of surprise, slightly taken aback. "Uh..."
She narrowed her gaze. "You may have lived through hell, but I assure you, being alive and back to normal is worth all that, right?"
He seemed to have recovered, and pondered that for some time, then a small nod. "Yes.... You're right of course Lina-san." He smiled slightly. "It will take a lot of work, but I will rebuild our peoples...."
She nodded in approval and leaned back again. "So... what now?"
He cocked his head to the side. "Well......" He looked thoughtful. "First I think I'll start by returning home and rebuilding some of our structures, and finding what I can that's left over......"
The others nodded. "Do you need help?" Filia's hand was on his shoulder.
He looked up at Val, who shrugged in response. "Well, sure if you would like to.."
She smiled. "We would love to help rebuild the Fey empire." She nodded at him. "We were friends with several before the wars."
He smiled in gratitude. "Yosh!" A satisfied look crossed his face at the thought of rebuilding his people's lives. "I appreciate your help..."
Lina came up behind him and slapped him hard on the back, making him nearly choke. "Yeah, count me in. After all, there might be hidden treasure right?"
He sweatdropped but nodded. "Hai...."
Of course at that declaration, Amelia stood up. "I can get Daddy to send some help too!" She posed in her justice pose. "It's the right thing to do! Pursuing the restoration of a nearly lost race! It's the most just thing that can be accomplished."
More sweatdrops among everyone, but no complaints as the help was greatly appreciated. Lina turned her head to look at Zelgadis who was standing silently against the wall. "What about you Zel?"
He didn't respond, but looked away. "I'm still looking for something."
No one spoke for a long time, but then Xelloss broke the silence with his soft words. "I still intend to keep that promise Zelgadis-san."
His gaze went back to meet the Fey's, and he frowned slightly. "Oh? When is that then? When I'm old and gray?"
Xelloss looked hurt. "No.... when I have recovered some more."
Zelgadis scrutinized him more, then glanced away. "Fine, I'll come."
"Right!" Lina said with a bright smile. "We'll leave tomorrow then!"