Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Slayers: Chaos ❯ Episode 12 ( Chapter 9 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: MikariStar 
Anime/Manga: Slayers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Comedy / Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 08.01.2012 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.6K | Visits: 323 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Slayers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Comedy / Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 08.01.2012 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.6K | Visits: 323 | Status: Completed
Slayers: Chaos
Episode 012: Chase! Still Not Getting Anywhere
A young golden dragon by the name of Phythan sat on the ground at the Kataart Mountains, specifically in the outskirts of Dragon's Peak. His tail was out and he was sticking out his tongue on the side of his mouth in concentration as he drew on a sketchpad. Two elf females called Memphis and Onyx were sitting near by, swapping notes and quietly discussing the plot of a story, while their artist friend tried to translate their earlier character descriptions into images.
Lina rushed by and stepped on Phythan's tail, causing him to yell in pain. Gourry quickly followed the distressed Lina and accidentally stepped on Phythan's tail again. Whining pathetically, Phythan hugged his pained tail as he lay on his side on the ground.
Filia saw Lina and dashed after her. Seeing the obstacle in her path at the last minute, Filia jumped over Phythan then stumbled a few feet away from him, tugging on her skirt self consciously. "I hate dragons!" Reasoning that she didn't have time to waste killing that, according to her, perverted dragon, Filia continued chasing Lina.
"Ha!" Xellos mocked smugly, "I feel sorry for the poor guy, he'll have nightmares!" However, Xellos was actually observant enough to notice that Phythan's eyes had been shut tight in pain and he didn't even notice that someone had jumped over him.
As Filia and Xellos disappeared from sight, just as Lina and Gourry had seconds ago, Onyx picked up a blank sheet of paper and began to quickly scribble somewhat messily. "Their random antics always give you plot bunny attacks," Memphis observed, looking at the notes over the other elf girl's shoulder.
xoxox xox xoxox
Lina Inverse, the sorceress extraordinaire and recently heartbroken maiden came to a sudden stop at the edge of a cliff at the Kataart Mountains. She considered casting Ray Wing, though she was in such a state of upset that the possibility flew by in the back of her mind and disappeared before she could even grasp it.
"Lina," Gourry, stopped a few feet away from Lina. He wanted to talk to her, to try to fix things, but she didn't look like she wanted to talk to him. He didn't understand, she had left him, or so he thought, but did she really have to cut him out of her life completely?
Filia and Xellos caught up to the pair and watched with curiosity. Lina's face could only be compared to the expression of a trapped mouse cornered by a hungry cat. The redhead tried to device an escape, she was so out of focus she doubted she could Ray Wing her way out of this and Filia refused to teleport her away. The only option left was Xellos. "As the leader of the group I order you to change into a dragon and fly me out of here!" She called out to him.
"But that's-" Filia began to protest.
"Do it!" Lina interrupted.
"Alright, alright," Xellos agreed.
Lina looked away, but Filia continued to complain, she didn't want her assigned leader to rely on a dragon for anything. "Wait, you shouldn't-" There was a flash of golden light as Xellos changed into his dragon form and Filia gasped when she realized that he didn't take cover before the transformation and she had been glaring at him at the time. "You piece of raw garbage!" She blushed involuntarily, mentally scolding herself for it, because a monster should have more control over her physical form. "Nobody wants to see that!"
"Then you should have had the decency to look away like Lina," Xellos retorted. "Although, judging by the blush on your face, I'd say you enjoyed it, you're such an improper monster!"
"Monsters are supposed to be improper!" Filia blurted out the first counterargument that came into her mind, which was not really a very good one. She tried to amend it. "Not that I would ever be attracted to a golden dragon no matter how improper it may be!"
"Hurry up or you'll be left behind!" Lina called out, she was already climbing on Xellos' back.
"Wait, don't leave me behind, I want to go too!" Gourry insisted.
The blond swordsman tried to climb on the golden dragon's back, but Xellos picked him up off himself and placed him on the ground. "I don't mind if you come along, but if Lina blows her temper again, I really don't want her to cast a Dragon Slave while riding on me. Take off!" Xellos flapped his wings, creating a great wind and flew away from the Kataart Mountains.
"Don't leave without me!" Filia disappeared into the astral side and reappeared floating next to Lina as she rode on Xellos. There was no way she was going to lower herself to riding on a golden dragon.
Left behind at the edge of the cliff, Gourry watched as the golden dragon and the purple haired girl disappeared along with Lina. "I wonder who Lina's new friends are." Gourry, being Gourry, didn't recognized Xellos and Filia, though he did think Lina's new friends reminded him of them. Even so, Xellos wasn't a dragon and Filia didn't have purple hair, so he assumed they were different people. He frowned, was there something going on between the golden dragon and Lina?
xoxox xox xoxox
Feeling the wind on her face in blissful silence for a while was just what Lina needed to recover her senses. She let out a breath and lay down on Xellos' back as he continued to fly. "Where are we heading to?" Filia's voice woke her.
"No where really, I'm just flying," Xellos replied.
Filia pouted and glared, "I was not talking to you, raw garbage. Where are we heading to, Lina?"
Lina thought about it for a moment and came to a decision. Perhaps this journey would be a little easier to overtake with Amelia and Zelgadis in the group. "Seyruun," she replied. "We're going to Seyruun."
"Roger that," Xellos altered his flight course to head in the direction of Seyruun.
Filia was not pleased. It was not the destination that bothered her, but the method of transportation. "I do hope you're not planning to fly on this filthy thing all the way. If that is your intention, I must object!"
"It's the easiest way," Lina grumbled. "We'll start walking again after we leave Seyruun," and by then she would have someone to back her up in keeping those two in check.
"Absolutely not, we must take this journey properly starting right now!" Filia insisted, a sadistic look flashed in her eyes as her mace materialized in her hands. Lina had a very bad feeling about this. Xellos twisted his long dragon neck back to look at them and saw the mace; he had a very bad feeling about it too, but showed no outer signs of it. "Land right now dragon, or I'll force you to land by breaking your wings!" Beast Master had ordered Filia not to kill Xellos, but she didn't say anything about hurting him.
Xellos' amethyst eyes glared with a challenge, "don't fall off, Lina."
The redhead didn't have to be warned twice. "Wait! What are you going to do?" Lina knew that the ride was about to get wild, she climbed on to Xellos' head, wrapping one arm around one of his dragon horns and grasping the hair of his yellow main with her other hand.
Xellos didn't reply with words, but with actions. He shot a laser breath at Filia. She disappeared out of the way and reappeared again, raging mad. "You dare to so openly challenge me?!" Then she noticed that Xellos was flying away full speed. 'The nerve of him, picking a fight then flying off!' "Come back here!" Filia teleported in front of Xellos, causing him to make a sudden turn to dodge the monster in front of him. "I'll get you for this!"
"Don't forget what Beast Master said!" Lina called out, still holding on to Xellos and pulling his hair a lot in the process.
"Don't pull my hair so much!" Xellos complained as he dodged Filia's attacks of dark energy and purple lightning.
"You'd be surprised at what a dragon can live through!" Filia called out in reply to Lina as she gathered more dark energy around her mace. The mace grew to gigantic proportions, glowing with dark light and sizzling with purple lightning.
Lina gasped, this was serious. "But I'm human!" She reminded, yet it didn't look like Filia was going to listen to reason. The monster swung the giant mace of dark energy at Xellos and by consequence at Lina, who was on his head. "Elmekia Lance! Elmekia Lance! Elmekia Lance!" Lina aimed the consecutive attacks at the giant mace, trying to dissipate the monster energy that it was made of. At the same time Xellos shot lasers at it for the same purpose.
The mace was weakened, but Filia fed it more energy so it didn't disappear. "Windy Shield!" Xellos and Lina called out at the same time, shielding themselves from the attack that was too large and fast to dodge. The mace of energy collided with them, but rather than a blunt hit, the giant mace had been weakened enough to feel more like a shock of negative electrical currents.
"This has to stop!" Lina yelled with great alarm.
"Miss Lina, please dismount off that horrid thing," Filia scolded. "I assure you I have not forgotten Lord Beast Master's orders and I have no intentions of defying her, but there are certain liberties that it is possible to take without breaking her commands!"
This wasn't good, Filia was too stubborn and she was too much into a stereotypical monster mind frame. Yet within the situation, Lina also felt sorry for her, Filia would feel terrible about all this when she recovered herself. "Alright, I give up. Xellos, land."
"No way," Xellos stubbornly declared. "I shouldn't have to listen to some monster brat!"
"Then listen to me before I Dragon Slave you!" Lina stomped her feet on Xellos' head. "Land this instant!" to make sure she was taken seriously, she began the familiar chant. "Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows..."
"Fine!" Xellos growled and began to lower his altitude straight down, hovering near a mountain path. Lina jumped off and stood on the narrow ledge that was just barely big enough for a human and certainly not spacious enough for a dragon. "I'm changing back now." Lina nodded and looked away. With another flash of golden light, Xellos changed back to his human form. Filia floated near by, her arms crossed and her face scrunched up in angry indignation. She pretended to look away while keeping one eye open behind her long purple bangs.
After the transformation was done, Filia landed near the others. Lina didn't even bother looking back at them. Instead she started down the path grumbling enraged incoherencies. As Xellos tried to dodge Filia's attacks, the chase had led them back to the Kataart Mountains, making them lose what little progress they had made on their way to Seyruun. Now they would have to finish making their way down from the mountains on foot.
"You!" Filia gasped all of a sudden, pointing her right index finger at Xellos, or more specifically at his behind.
"Oops..." When he changed back into his human form, Xellos had done so completely. He had forgotten that his pants had already been ruined with a tail hole before. He allowed his tail to grow out again, figuring it was the best solution to the problem at the time.
Filia knew that Xellos was about to say something teasing. How dare he tease her! She didn't want to hear it, so she threw her head back with an angry "hmp!" and hurried to walk past him to catch up with Lina. That dragon was so infuriating, if only Beast Master had not forbidden her from killing him. If only he would just go away, if only he would be involved in an unfortunate accident. 'That's it!' Filia thought triumphantly. If Xellos died in an accident or was killed by someone else, then it wouldn't be her fault. Beast Master told her not to kill him; she didn't say she had to protect him. Yet waiting for an accident to happen might take too long, so maybe she should give him a little push, literally.
Xellos didn't like the victorious look that Filia had on her face. She must be plotting something, so he should be on his guard. Filia was slowing her pace to allow him to catch up to her and make it look like it happened naturally. They were walking next to each other now with Xellos on the side of the mountain path cliff's ledge. Suddenly, she shoved him pretending it was an accident. He feigned distress as he fell and caught a glimpse of Filia's smug look.
Lina heard something suspicious, like someone yelping as they fell off a cliff. She looked back at where Xellos and Filia were supposed to be following her, but only saw Filia looking smug. Then Xellos reappeared in a half transformed state. At some point he found the time to remove his cloak and shirt to allow his golden scaled wings to grow on his back. Lina shrugged and kept going.
Filia glared as Xellos landed next to her. She glared for what she dimmed was a moment longer than she should then looked away in indignation. How dare he survive? "You look like a gargoyle," she growled.
"You look like a gorgon," Xellos retorted.
"You're a disgusting reptile!" Filia shouted.
"You're a hideous gathering of electro-magnetic energy!" Xellos yelled back mockingly.
"You're a disgrace to the dragon race!" Filia screamed louder.
"You're a bigger disgrace to the monster race!" Xellos countered stubbornly.
Several steps ahead of them, Lina quickened her pace. She had a headache and she didn't care if those two killed each other. She just wanted some peace and quiet.
"Me? A disgrace to my race?" Filia looked very offended. "How dare you even suggest such a thing? I am a perfect example of what a monster should be!"
"Oh really?" Xellos continued to rile her up. She was an infuriating creature, but annoying her was very amusing. "And how is a proper monster defined?"
"Cruel and sinister," Filia proudly answered.
"Since when does a cruel and sinister monster run around being all cute in a pink dress?" Xellos teased.
Filia pouted, "there's nothing wrong with my dress. Pink can be a very sinister color, I'll have you know." She was too busy being angry to realize he had basically complimented her. "Pink is like light red," she tried to reason. "Blood is crimson, red, so pink is like a lighter version of Lord Ruby Eyes' color. Pink is like blood that has faded after being spilled in a massacre of a battle field!" It was morbid and unpleasant, but monsters were supposed to be that way, right?
"I can't think of blood when I see pink," Xellos disagreed. "It reminds me more so of sweet cotton candy."
Filia frowned, why couldn't that stubborn golden dragon just follow her logic? "I'm not sweet, I'm sinister!"
"Hardly," Xellos grinned. "You're a sweet monster, what a disgrace!" He teased. "Not that an obviously sinister monster is very effective anyway," he admitted.
"I'm not sweet and what's that supposed to mean?" Filia argued angrily. "What do you know about effective monsters anyway? You're a golden dragon!"
Xellos shrugged, "I just know," he honestly couldn't explain, or perhaps it was more accurate to say that he couldn't remember how to explain it, he simply knew. "A tricky monster is best. The kind of monster who makes people lower their guard and forget they're with a monster."
"Such a roundabout approach," Filia huffed. "You know nothing. You don't even know anything about being a proper dragon, let along a proper monster."
"I suppose you know all about how to be a proper dragon, don't you?" Xellos challenged.
"Of course I do," Filia replied with pride. "I am Beast Master's general priestess and the dragon slayer from the War of the Monster's Fall. I should have this information. Dragons are supposed to be kind and polite. They are not to associate with monsters under any circumstances. If you were a proper dragon you would be doing anything within your puny power to get away from me."
"I'm not a coward," Xellos pointed out.
"You also have no shame, transforming like that in front of Lina!" Filia scolded.
"She wasn't looking, I gave a fair warning and she looked away like a lady," Xellos countered with a mischievous look in his now open eyes. "You didn't," he reminded.
Filia felt her face go red without her permission. How did he notice she was watching? He was more observant and perceptive than she had given him credit for. What ever happened to the perfect control that a monster was supposed to have? Maybe she had been taking a human form for too long. "I only looked on accident! It shouldn't matter anyway, I'm a monster, I don't care about such stupid matters."
"But you're such a sweet monster it almost looks like you have a crush on me," Xellos teased. Infuriating this monster was too much fun to resist; she was so volatile it amused him to no end. He didn't think a dragon should be amused by such things, but he didn't care. He wasn't one to stick too closely to the rules anyway, though he did have an intense loyalty for his leader... his leader... His past clan elder? His new clan elder, Milgazia? Who inspired that sense of loyalty? There was a blurry image in the back of his mind of someone who was not a dragon elder, who could it be?
"Are you even listening to me?" Filia's yelling in his ear woke Xellos from his thoughts. "I said that monsters don't feel affection, they don't love."
"Oh right, I forgot," there was a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I guess you're not a rebellious monster, are you? Nor are you a special one, just a bit odd."
"I'm not odd, you are!" Filia accused. "Just what is it that makes you the way you are? Why are you so different from other golden dragons? Why are you so carefree, so annoying, so infuriating?" 'So fascinating?' she mentally added, albeit she quickly banished the thought.
"I wonder if you could answer that question if asked about yourself," Xellos mused aloud. "As for me..." He winked and shook his finger and his tail at her. "That is a secret."
He was mocking her, Filia's face turned redder in anger. How dare he mock her so directly and constantly? She reacted somehow savagely and bit his tail. She was the daughter of Zelas, the greatest dragon cuisine chef in the world and she felt like ripping Xellos' tail off and eating it. He could live without it after all.
To be Continued
Things are getting intense!
Episode 012: Chase! Still Not Getting Anywhere
A young golden dragon by the name of Phythan sat on the ground at the Kataart Mountains, specifically in the outskirts of Dragon's Peak. His tail was out and he was sticking out his tongue on the side of his mouth in concentration as he drew on a sketchpad. Two elf females called Memphis and Onyx were sitting near by, swapping notes and quietly discussing the plot of a story, while their artist friend tried to translate their earlier character descriptions into images.
Lina rushed by and stepped on Phythan's tail, causing him to yell in pain. Gourry quickly followed the distressed Lina and accidentally stepped on Phythan's tail again. Whining pathetically, Phythan hugged his pained tail as he lay on his side on the ground.
Filia saw Lina and dashed after her. Seeing the obstacle in her path at the last minute, Filia jumped over Phythan then stumbled a few feet away from him, tugging on her skirt self consciously. "I hate dragons!" Reasoning that she didn't have time to waste killing that, according to her, perverted dragon, Filia continued chasing Lina.
"Ha!" Xellos mocked smugly, "I feel sorry for the poor guy, he'll have nightmares!" However, Xellos was actually observant enough to notice that Phythan's eyes had been shut tight in pain and he didn't even notice that someone had jumped over him.
As Filia and Xellos disappeared from sight, just as Lina and Gourry had seconds ago, Onyx picked up a blank sheet of paper and began to quickly scribble somewhat messily. "Their random antics always give you plot bunny attacks," Memphis observed, looking at the notes over the other elf girl's shoulder.
xoxox xox xoxox
Lina Inverse, the sorceress extraordinaire and recently heartbroken maiden came to a sudden stop at the edge of a cliff at the Kataart Mountains. She considered casting Ray Wing, though she was in such a state of upset that the possibility flew by in the back of her mind and disappeared before she could even grasp it.
"Lina," Gourry, stopped a few feet away from Lina. He wanted to talk to her, to try to fix things, but she didn't look like she wanted to talk to him. He didn't understand, she had left him, or so he thought, but did she really have to cut him out of her life completely?
Filia and Xellos caught up to the pair and watched with curiosity. Lina's face could only be compared to the expression of a trapped mouse cornered by a hungry cat. The redhead tried to device an escape, she was so out of focus she doubted she could Ray Wing her way out of this and Filia refused to teleport her away. The only option left was Xellos. "As the leader of the group I order you to change into a dragon and fly me out of here!" She called out to him.
"But that's-" Filia began to protest.
"Do it!" Lina interrupted.
"Alright, alright," Xellos agreed.
Lina looked away, but Filia continued to complain, she didn't want her assigned leader to rely on a dragon for anything. "Wait, you shouldn't-" There was a flash of golden light as Xellos changed into his dragon form and Filia gasped when she realized that he didn't take cover before the transformation and she had been glaring at him at the time. "You piece of raw garbage!" She blushed involuntarily, mentally scolding herself for it, because a monster should have more control over her physical form. "Nobody wants to see that!"
"Then you should have had the decency to look away like Lina," Xellos retorted. "Although, judging by the blush on your face, I'd say you enjoyed it, you're such an improper monster!"
"Monsters are supposed to be improper!" Filia blurted out the first counterargument that came into her mind, which was not really a very good one. She tried to amend it. "Not that I would ever be attracted to a golden dragon no matter how improper it may be!"
"Hurry up or you'll be left behind!" Lina called out, she was already climbing on Xellos' back.
"Wait, don't leave me behind, I want to go too!" Gourry insisted.
The blond swordsman tried to climb on the golden dragon's back, but Xellos picked him up off himself and placed him on the ground. "I don't mind if you come along, but if Lina blows her temper again, I really don't want her to cast a Dragon Slave while riding on me. Take off!" Xellos flapped his wings, creating a great wind and flew away from the Kataart Mountains.
"Don't leave without me!" Filia disappeared into the astral side and reappeared floating next to Lina as she rode on Xellos. There was no way she was going to lower herself to riding on a golden dragon.
Left behind at the edge of the cliff, Gourry watched as the golden dragon and the purple haired girl disappeared along with Lina. "I wonder who Lina's new friends are." Gourry, being Gourry, didn't recognized Xellos and Filia, though he did think Lina's new friends reminded him of them. Even so, Xellos wasn't a dragon and Filia didn't have purple hair, so he assumed they were different people. He frowned, was there something going on between the golden dragon and Lina?
xoxox xox xoxox
Feeling the wind on her face in blissful silence for a while was just what Lina needed to recover her senses. She let out a breath and lay down on Xellos' back as he continued to fly. "Where are we heading to?" Filia's voice woke her.
"No where really, I'm just flying," Xellos replied.
Filia pouted and glared, "I was not talking to you, raw garbage. Where are we heading to, Lina?"
Lina thought about it for a moment and came to a decision. Perhaps this journey would be a little easier to overtake with Amelia and Zelgadis in the group. "Seyruun," she replied. "We're going to Seyruun."
"Roger that," Xellos altered his flight course to head in the direction of Seyruun.
Filia was not pleased. It was not the destination that bothered her, but the method of transportation. "I do hope you're not planning to fly on this filthy thing all the way. If that is your intention, I must object!"
"It's the easiest way," Lina grumbled. "We'll start walking again after we leave Seyruun," and by then she would have someone to back her up in keeping those two in check.
"Absolutely not, we must take this journey properly starting right now!" Filia insisted, a sadistic look flashed in her eyes as her mace materialized in her hands. Lina had a very bad feeling about this. Xellos twisted his long dragon neck back to look at them and saw the mace; he had a very bad feeling about it too, but showed no outer signs of it. "Land right now dragon, or I'll force you to land by breaking your wings!" Beast Master had ordered Filia not to kill Xellos, but she didn't say anything about hurting him.
Xellos' amethyst eyes glared with a challenge, "don't fall off, Lina."
The redhead didn't have to be warned twice. "Wait! What are you going to do?" Lina knew that the ride was about to get wild, she climbed on to Xellos' head, wrapping one arm around one of his dragon horns and grasping the hair of his yellow main with her other hand.
Xellos didn't reply with words, but with actions. He shot a laser breath at Filia. She disappeared out of the way and reappeared again, raging mad. "You dare to so openly challenge me?!" Then she noticed that Xellos was flying away full speed. 'The nerve of him, picking a fight then flying off!' "Come back here!" Filia teleported in front of Xellos, causing him to make a sudden turn to dodge the monster in front of him. "I'll get you for this!"
"Don't forget what Beast Master said!" Lina called out, still holding on to Xellos and pulling his hair a lot in the process.
"Don't pull my hair so much!" Xellos complained as he dodged Filia's attacks of dark energy and purple lightning.
"You'd be surprised at what a dragon can live through!" Filia called out in reply to Lina as she gathered more dark energy around her mace. The mace grew to gigantic proportions, glowing with dark light and sizzling with purple lightning.
Lina gasped, this was serious. "But I'm human!" She reminded, yet it didn't look like Filia was going to listen to reason. The monster swung the giant mace of dark energy at Xellos and by consequence at Lina, who was on his head. "Elmekia Lance! Elmekia Lance! Elmekia Lance!" Lina aimed the consecutive attacks at the giant mace, trying to dissipate the monster energy that it was made of. At the same time Xellos shot lasers at it for the same purpose.
The mace was weakened, but Filia fed it more energy so it didn't disappear. "Windy Shield!" Xellos and Lina called out at the same time, shielding themselves from the attack that was too large and fast to dodge. The mace of energy collided with them, but rather than a blunt hit, the giant mace had been weakened enough to feel more like a shock of negative electrical currents.
"This has to stop!" Lina yelled with great alarm.
"Miss Lina, please dismount off that horrid thing," Filia scolded. "I assure you I have not forgotten Lord Beast Master's orders and I have no intentions of defying her, but there are certain liberties that it is possible to take without breaking her commands!"
This wasn't good, Filia was too stubborn and she was too much into a stereotypical monster mind frame. Yet within the situation, Lina also felt sorry for her, Filia would feel terrible about all this when she recovered herself. "Alright, I give up. Xellos, land."
"No way," Xellos stubbornly declared. "I shouldn't have to listen to some monster brat!"
"Then listen to me before I Dragon Slave you!" Lina stomped her feet on Xellos' head. "Land this instant!" to make sure she was taken seriously, she began the familiar chant. "Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows..."
"Fine!" Xellos growled and began to lower his altitude straight down, hovering near a mountain path. Lina jumped off and stood on the narrow ledge that was just barely big enough for a human and certainly not spacious enough for a dragon. "I'm changing back now." Lina nodded and looked away. With another flash of golden light, Xellos changed back to his human form. Filia floated near by, her arms crossed and her face scrunched up in angry indignation. She pretended to look away while keeping one eye open behind her long purple bangs.
After the transformation was done, Filia landed near the others. Lina didn't even bother looking back at them. Instead she started down the path grumbling enraged incoherencies. As Xellos tried to dodge Filia's attacks, the chase had led them back to the Kataart Mountains, making them lose what little progress they had made on their way to Seyruun. Now they would have to finish making their way down from the mountains on foot.
"You!" Filia gasped all of a sudden, pointing her right index finger at Xellos, or more specifically at his behind.
"Oops..." When he changed back into his human form, Xellos had done so completely. He had forgotten that his pants had already been ruined with a tail hole before. He allowed his tail to grow out again, figuring it was the best solution to the problem at the time.
Filia knew that Xellos was about to say something teasing. How dare he tease her! She didn't want to hear it, so she threw her head back with an angry "hmp!" and hurried to walk past him to catch up with Lina. That dragon was so infuriating, if only Beast Master had not forbidden her from killing him. If only he would just go away, if only he would be involved in an unfortunate accident. 'That's it!' Filia thought triumphantly. If Xellos died in an accident or was killed by someone else, then it wouldn't be her fault. Beast Master told her not to kill him; she didn't say she had to protect him. Yet waiting for an accident to happen might take too long, so maybe she should give him a little push, literally.
Xellos didn't like the victorious look that Filia had on her face. She must be plotting something, so he should be on his guard. Filia was slowing her pace to allow him to catch up to her and make it look like it happened naturally. They were walking next to each other now with Xellos on the side of the mountain path cliff's ledge. Suddenly, she shoved him pretending it was an accident. He feigned distress as he fell and caught a glimpse of Filia's smug look.
Lina heard something suspicious, like someone yelping as they fell off a cliff. She looked back at where Xellos and Filia were supposed to be following her, but only saw Filia looking smug. Then Xellos reappeared in a half transformed state. At some point he found the time to remove his cloak and shirt to allow his golden scaled wings to grow on his back. Lina shrugged and kept going.
Filia glared as Xellos landed next to her. She glared for what she dimmed was a moment longer than she should then looked away in indignation. How dare he survive? "You look like a gargoyle," she growled.
"You look like a gorgon," Xellos retorted.
"You're a disgusting reptile!" Filia shouted.
"You're a hideous gathering of electro-magnetic energy!" Xellos yelled back mockingly.
"You're a disgrace to the dragon race!" Filia screamed louder.
"You're a bigger disgrace to the monster race!" Xellos countered stubbornly.
Several steps ahead of them, Lina quickened her pace. She had a headache and she didn't care if those two killed each other. She just wanted some peace and quiet.
"Me? A disgrace to my race?" Filia looked very offended. "How dare you even suggest such a thing? I am a perfect example of what a monster should be!"
"Oh really?" Xellos continued to rile her up. She was an infuriating creature, but annoying her was very amusing. "And how is a proper monster defined?"
"Cruel and sinister," Filia proudly answered.
"Since when does a cruel and sinister monster run around being all cute in a pink dress?" Xellos teased.
Filia pouted, "there's nothing wrong with my dress. Pink can be a very sinister color, I'll have you know." She was too busy being angry to realize he had basically complimented her. "Pink is like light red," she tried to reason. "Blood is crimson, red, so pink is like a lighter version of Lord Ruby Eyes' color. Pink is like blood that has faded after being spilled in a massacre of a battle field!" It was morbid and unpleasant, but monsters were supposed to be that way, right?
"I can't think of blood when I see pink," Xellos disagreed. "It reminds me more so of sweet cotton candy."
Filia frowned, why couldn't that stubborn golden dragon just follow her logic? "I'm not sweet, I'm sinister!"
"Hardly," Xellos grinned. "You're a sweet monster, what a disgrace!" He teased. "Not that an obviously sinister monster is very effective anyway," he admitted.
"I'm not sweet and what's that supposed to mean?" Filia argued angrily. "What do you know about effective monsters anyway? You're a golden dragon!"
Xellos shrugged, "I just know," he honestly couldn't explain, or perhaps it was more accurate to say that he couldn't remember how to explain it, he simply knew. "A tricky monster is best. The kind of monster who makes people lower their guard and forget they're with a monster."
"Such a roundabout approach," Filia huffed. "You know nothing. You don't even know anything about being a proper dragon, let along a proper monster."
"I suppose you know all about how to be a proper dragon, don't you?" Xellos challenged.
"Of course I do," Filia replied with pride. "I am Beast Master's general priestess and the dragon slayer from the War of the Monster's Fall. I should have this information. Dragons are supposed to be kind and polite. They are not to associate with monsters under any circumstances. If you were a proper dragon you would be doing anything within your puny power to get away from me."
"I'm not a coward," Xellos pointed out.
"You also have no shame, transforming like that in front of Lina!" Filia scolded.
"She wasn't looking, I gave a fair warning and she looked away like a lady," Xellos countered with a mischievous look in his now open eyes. "You didn't," he reminded.
Filia felt her face go red without her permission. How did he notice she was watching? He was more observant and perceptive than she had given him credit for. What ever happened to the perfect control that a monster was supposed to have? Maybe she had been taking a human form for too long. "I only looked on accident! It shouldn't matter anyway, I'm a monster, I don't care about such stupid matters."
"But you're such a sweet monster it almost looks like you have a crush on me," Xellos teased. Infuriating this monster was too much fun to resist; she was so volatile it amused him to no end. He didn't think a dragon should be amused by such things, but he didn't care. He wasn't one to stick too closely to the rules anyway, though he did have an intense loyalty for his leader... his leader... His past clan elder? His new clan elder, Milgazia? Who inspired that sense of loyalty? There was a blurry image in the back of his mind of someone who was not a dragon elder, who could it be?
"Are you even listening to me?" Filia's yelling in his ear woke Xellos from his thoughts. "I said that monsters don't feel affection, they don't love."
"Oh right, I forgot," there was a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I guess you're not a rebellious monster, are you? Nor are you a special one, just a bit odd."
"I'm not odd, you are!" Filia accused. "Just what is it that makes you the way you are? Why are you so different from other golden dragons? Why are you so carefree, so annoying, so infuriating?" 'So fascinating?' she mentally added, albeit she quickly banished the thought.
"I wonder if you could answer that question if asked about yourself," Xellos mused aloud. "As for me..." He winked and shook his finger and his tail at her. "That is a secret."
He was mocking her, Filia's face turned redder in anger. How dare he mock her so directly and constantly? She reacted somehow savagely and bit his tail. She was the daughter of Zelas, the greatest dragon cuisine chef in the world and she felt like ripping Xellos' tail off and eating it. He could live without it after all.
To be Continued
Things are getting intense!