Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Slayers For the Future: The Prophecy of Inverse ❯ My Friend the Dragon Boy….Welcome Back Val! ( Chapter 6 )

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Chapter 6

My Friend the Dragon Boy….Welcome Back Val!

Hiero was sleeping peacefully in his bed, content with the quiet months that passed by into the summer season after Amelia's sudden appearance and forced departure. He was dreaming about what most ten-year-olds didn't dream about, not normal ones anyway. He was dreaming about blowing up a big crab monster, ugly as hell and all encrusted in darkness. He was just a child in the dream, enjoying the pain he inflicted on the larger creature.

"Ah, little Hiero Inverse, you've come to face me at last." The giant crab yelled, his voice hauntingly low and menacing. Hiero just laughed, his little teeth almost looking like fangs. "Yeah, Crabby, how about a face full of Ra Tilt?! Hmm?" Hiero asked ever so politely.

The thing laughed back.

"I am the Demon King Shabranigdo, lord of darkness and the Mazuko of this world. You do not belong here, child, you will never defeat me….hah, and you'll never find me. My pieces are scattered throughout this world and the talisman that can open them is hidden well. Do you want to die so badly you would condemn the world to eternal torment? Do you, child?" the crab asked.

Hiero seemed to be considering this and nodded, grinning madly. "I want to fight you, crab-cakes, and win. Tell me where the talisman is and I'll come for you. I will release you then I will take you down. Then we'll see who has the last laugh. Ah hahahahaaaa!" Hiero cackled, his child voice really not having the effect he'd hoped for, but he remained firm in his place.

"Spirited child….if you actually succeed in finding all of my ruby pieces, maybe I can make you into a Mazuko, a general and priest of my very own. One so ambitious, so hateful, so attracted to chaos and power. I like you….you little Inverse morsel. Hah, then I take your challenge. Just solve a simple riddle to find the Talisman of the Lei Magnus, and encased in ice under Mt. Kataart near Dragon's Peak. Little Xellas hid it well when she took it, child, but I know where it is. The pieces, you find those on your own….I won't help you there." Shabranigdo curdled out.

"As I have mastered the arts of the Astral Plane, you can see I am a formidable opponent. I can't help but go after trouble…or cause it. Its do or die, Crabby, do or die. Only I won't die, you will. Isn't that nice? Oh, come on, laugh, its very amusing." Hiero taunted, only getting a growl from the demon king.

"You might live to regret those words, child. Now….your clue and only clue. 'Past the sea of chaos, the golden charm awaits. The dark rainbow of pain beyond the blackest sea that sates. What feeds this place beyond the ruins of the double moons, where Mazuko thrive and the she-wolf croons.' Now figure that out, if you're so smart, blind one. Perhaps you can see me here, but when you wake up, its lights out once more. Muhuwahahahahahaaaa!" the demon king raged out with horrible laughter, knocking Hiero from his place in the Astral Plane and back into his body, startled, but safe in his bed.

"She-wolf….painful dark rainbows….and Mazuko? Mom would know, but she'd think I was hiding something if I asked her that. I'll have to ask Priest Devin….he's easy to get information out of with a simple enhance calm spell, well, while he's asleep anyway. He's an accomplished priest, he's been practicing white magic longer than me." He told himself, slipping out of his bed and felt along the wall for the chair that had his clothing on it.

He sorely missed his dog. He never saw the animal again after Amelia had showed up. He blamed her horrible laugh and loud voice for scaring Ripper away. Poor thing was probably scared to death of her and thought she was still around.

He pulled his clothes on after finding them and then reached about for his walking staff. His father had carved it for him when Ripper couldn't be found and it came in handy when he was walked to where he was schooled to be priest. He didn't really like the idea of being near anything religious, especially when something having to do with religion was what got him in so much trouble on Terrian.

He sighed and left his room, using his nose to lead him to the table, a warm, meat filled breakfast loving his senses all at once. He'd learned to stop drooling over food, unlike his mother, but then again he still couldn't eat enough and be satisfied, just like his mother. He liked being able to eat as much as he wanted and never gain any weight. It gave him a lot of extra energy to practice more spells.

"Morning, Hiero. Good night sleep?" His father asked, the voice coming from his left, just like it did every morning. He nodded and tapped his staff a bit, still sniffing the air as he used it to lead him to his chair. He climbed up into it quickly, leaned his staff against the side of the table, and then started to feel the table. His fingers met with warm food, making him smile, his blind eyes sparkling with delight seconds before he attacked his food with a vengeance.

As he wolfed down a tenth helping of bacon, eggs, and toast, he stopped suddenly, looking towards the door as a strange feeling overcame him. "Hiero? Hiero, what is it?" his mother asked from the stove. "I hear footsteps outside…." Hiero said, almost in a trance as he stared with blind eyes," Two people….one is very….heavy. The footfalls that one makes are louder than the one behind it."

"Zel, you hear anything?" Lina asked and her husband shook his head, then grimaced as their son was wiping his face off and got out of his chair with staff in hand. He made his way to the door as he parents watched with puzzled expressions. They both jumped in place when a knock erupted at the door, a very feminine voice sounding behind it. "Lina? Zelgadis? Are you home? Its Filia….you remember me?" said the voice, someone with her giggling and making Filia let out an embarrassed shriek.

~

"Filia? Oh, Xellos better not be out there with her." Lina was saying as she wen for the door, but Hiero had already pulled it open and was walking back to his chair to sit, H made no move to touch his food. The startled Golden Dragon girl was standing there shoving something small and squirming behind her, possibly her tail. Lina could recall plenty of times it had popped out at her irritated moments. Right now she was blushing, in her usual attire and smiling very brightly at Lina and Zel.

"Hello! I came to visit. I met Amelia a month back at a fair, she told me you had a son. Congratulations." She said happily, shaking Lina's hands a bit to hard with her dragon strength. Hiero just sat in his chair and listened, not following the sounds to where they rapidly went. He had his eyes shut and looked very serious to Lina.

"Yes…..F….f.…f….f….f….f… .f…Filia! It's good to see you again, been quite a while. How are Jiras and Gravos?" Lina asked, her hands still going up and down even though now Filia was shaking Zelgadis' hands like crazy, with similar after effects.

"Just fine, they are back at the pottery house we run. They are having such a good time, relaxing with the art of clay. Things have been a bit hectic these past nine years, for all of us." She admitted, looking as sweet as she always had, when Xellos wasn't around. She got even sweeter looking, which made Hiero perk up, when she squealed," Oh, is that your son. He's handsome….and carries himself so well. He looks almost like his father."

"And eats like his mother." Zelgadis mumbled sarcastically, getting a look of death from Lina. Hiero chuckled at the noise his mother made whenever she made a death look, that sharp "harumph" that for some reason made him very amused in imagining her expression. "I'm cute for a blind boy, huh?" he said, very hollowly, but smiled.

"Blind? Oh, I'm so sorry," Filia said, pouting now," What's his name?"

Lina answered, as Zelgadis was talking to Hiero, getting him to get off the chair and go greet Filia. "His name is Hiero. He's going to be part of the local sect….'cept he seems to enjoy being a bit stubborn about it. Just like his father." She giggled. Zelgadis kissed her cheek, then looked at Filia with knowing eyes. "And like his mother. It's a good quality." He commented.

Filia just shrugged, then became aware something was poking her stomach. She looked down to find it was Hiero jabbing his small staff against her flat stomach gently, his other hand raised and searching for her hand. She smiled and took his hand in her and he gave her a gentle shake, but he didn't look up.

"You're the one that hates Mazuko and the like, the golden dragon priestess." He said knowingly. "I was a priestess….I quit. I had better things to do that be manipulated, which is actually part of the reason I came here." Filia was saying, then as she looked back at Hiero, she saw he was looking up with sapphire blue eyes, like Xellos' eyes, and smiled at her.

"Huh? Lina, what's wrong with his eyes?" She said, sounding a bit panicked. "Filia, he's only teasing. He's not a Mazuko. I don't know why his eyes are like that, but he is not part of Xellos' race. Do you even feel the presence of Mazuko in him? You always knew when Xellos was about, do you feel it from him?" Lina exasperated.

Filia shook her head, touching the little boy's face with concern. "I feel no evil presence. Hmm, if he's not Mazuko, I guess he inherited these eyes from his father. They are both such a brilliant blue, not that I mind. He's not Mazuko, so it's not a problem. Makes this all the more appropriate." She said, still bit of nervousness in her voice.

"What are you talking about, Filia?" Zel asked, patting the back of Hiero's head to stop him from looking upwards and to look at the hem of Filia's dress. "I thought you'd never ask. Val, come to Mommy!" Filia chanted cupping her hands over her mouth.

"VAL?!" Lina and Zelgadis balked, then back up in shock as a boy with blue-green hair came through the door, the same height as Hiero was and looking very shy. The last time Lina had heard the name Val was when the Mazuko-Dragon Valgaav died. He'd been reborn inside a dragon egg.

Now here stood a smaller version of Valgaav with a very sheepish and innocent expression, dressed the same way he had been when Lina first met him as an adult, with a blue shirt to replace his cape and all the same scars on his child body. Scars on his hands, his chest and stomach as well as his face.

He looked like he'd been in a knife fight and Lina gathered that's exactly what Filia would tell people about him, to hide his dragon nature. Now he looked to be Hiero's age and no where near as evil as before, since he wasn't spouting how he wanted to kill her. He still had the same eyes and hair as before, only smaller and minus the ashy horn he once had.

"Hi, I'm Val. I'm an ancient dragon, but I can't change yet. Mom says I have to wait until something called puberty for that or it'll hurt." Val told Lina, his voice greatly reduced from its former tone to a very soft yet chirpy one. He was now eyeing Hiero, who seemed to take interest in the new voice, but he was holding onto Filia's dress now. Val made a face. "Why are you pulling on my Mom's dress? Wow, you have neat eyes, just like me. Are you a dragon too?" Val said happily, gripping Hiero shoulder with a smile.

Hiero actually smiled. "Thank you, I wish I could say the same, but I'm blind. No, I'm not a dragon. I'm an Inverse." Hiero said proudly. Val seemed to go on being content with Hiero's reply, Hiero even taking his free hand off of Filia's dress to grab for Val's.

They shook hands, then the two boys made faces as the adults, the female ones, began giggling and commenting on how cute the boys looked. Both boys got cross instantly at being fawned over in their bonding moment.

"Stop, Mom. I'm 10 years old, not two. No cutesy noises. Yuck!" Hiero complained. Val looked up at his mother, pouting a bit. "Mommmmmm! Not now. You're embarrassing me…." He grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"They'll get along great. I can just picture it," Zelgadis chuckled, patting his son's head," You wanted to show us Val, to let us know he had hatched? I guess you were lucky you met up with Amelia or you'd never have found out about all this."

"Yes, and now my little Val can have a playmate. No one comes near the pottery place with myself, Jiras and Gravos around and that namagomi keeps showing up and scaring poor Val with awful nightmares about….the past. I was wondering if I could stay here a while, I won't be of any trouble, I swear. You helped me save the world, I owe you so much, but Val, I don't want that horrible Mazuko to hurt him. Can we stay?" Filia pleaded, pouting all the while with her hands clasped tightly together. She was practically about to knock Lina and Zelgadis over when they hastily agreed.

"You can sleep in the den, Filia. Val too. He'll feel safer with his mother, I think. So, oh Filia, why don't you take the boys to town? It can be part of your payback. We need groceries….pronto. Sorry, but I have to talk with the priest that is training Hiero today, he wants Zel there too. Could you just watch them until we return?" Lina said, not pouting at all. She gave Filia a stern look that showed she meant business. Filia nodded, her mouth trembling.

With that, Zelgadis and Lina ate the last of their breakfast and left the cottage an hour later. Filia looked at the two boys, who were currently having a play fight, Hiero blocking each attack by listening and using his staff.

Val looked to be having a good time already. 'Maybe this will be all right after all. Anything to protect Val, no one is ruining his chances this time. No one!' she thought with great determination, right before the boys plowed into her and landed on her tail, sending her into a fit of screams.

~ Sakura Village ~

"Where's my Mom?" Val asked Hiero, and the blue-haired boy sighed. "She told you and me to go play by the fountain while she shops. Her tail will keep poking out like all the other times we tried to have any fun, remember? I wish I could see when that happens, her tail nearly put a hole in my leg. Heh, heh." Hiero chuckled, as bad as the moment had been, it had been pretty funny.

Val joined in his laughter, patting Hiero on the shoulder before taking his hand. Hiero had explained the channeling technique to the dragon child and he'd understood in record time. 'Now to have some real fun, show Val the greatest gift a world can offer….girls!!' he thought happily, his wicked smile returning on his face, eyes shut gently.

"Hey Val, you ever seen what's inside a bathhouse?" Hiero asked, trying not to snicker. Val looked puzzled at the question. "No, what?"

"Girls….pretty girls….in their purest form. It's like heaven in one of those, but there's a rule. No boys allowed….its only for girls," Hiero explained, wondering if Val was blushing. He could certainly feel from Val's mind that the question had embarrassed him. "I found a way around that rule." Hiero added.

"W…what's that?" Val said, who was most definitely blushing like crazy at Hiero's words. "I'll show you, trust me, we're friends. I won't let anyone hurt my friend," Hiero assured him," But don't tell my parents I can do this. They'd be madder than a pack of rabid hellhounds if they found out I can do magic. Promise me this is our secret."

"Secret….you sound like that bully Xellos. He scares me sometimes." Val said, worry filling his voice. "I'm not Xellos, Val. I'm Hiero. I hate the Mazuko too. They probably did this to my eyes for a joke. I won't let you get hurt, not even by this Xellos guy. We're friends now….and if I betray you, you can tell your mother on me. I swear on my honor as an Inverse and a Greywords." Hiero spouted, squeezing Val's hand for assurance.

Val squeezed back. "Ok….if you say so Hiero. Show me this spell." Val said quietly and Hiero outwardly smiled. "Take us into an alley first, where no one can see us." Hiero asked, and he felt Val comply.

When Val stopped and gave Hiero's arm a tug, he knew it was time to impress his new friend. "Illusion….Invisibility!" Hiero chanted, a gently golden light surrounding them for a moment, then their forms vanished.

"Wow! I can't see myself….or you….this is so neat!" Val said happily. "Now listen to my directions, then we'll be in heaven, Val, true paradise for any guy with brains like ours. Only geniuses can appreciate using magic for small pleasures in life."

"Ok, you got it….just so long as my Mom doesn't find out. I'll keep your secret, Hiero, well, if you can keep one of mine. Please?" Val pleaded suddenly. "Sure, what are friends for, Val, but trust? You can tell me later, now head back out of the alley make a left." Hiero replied, nudging Val forth with his voice.

~ Belle's Honeybee Bathhouse ~

Val felt like a peeping tom, which was what he realized he was when Hiero convinced him to dash in with him when the next female went inside to clean up. He kind of liked it actually, Hiero had been very right. The girls were prettier than any he'd ever seen. He knew he was just a little boy, but still, they were total babes. Some half-naked and some all the way taking bathes or getting hot oil massages.

According to Hiero, he'd been coming here after his tutoring sessions to 'appreciate' true beauty. He had no intentions of becoming priest and giving up on any kind of romantic situations the future held for him. He said one way or another, he'd avoid the clergy getting him to take any vows. Hiero was only there to keep his parents satiated until he was old enough to be allowed to make his own choices.

This was one of Hiero's choices, to use an invisibility spell to see pretty girls bathing. He wasn't doing much of anything but directing Val on where to stop looking. To imagine Hiero using bugs and lizards to see this before disturbed him, but Hiero just let Val stare and the blind boy stared blankly, doing nothing.

'He's not a pervert….well, not a total pervert. It's not like these ladies are snapping each other with towels and this is a brothel. They are just bathing and talking, most of them in towels and Hiero isn't telling me to stare at their chests constantly, rather he's telling me to look at their faces. Weird.' Val thought, looking up at a pretty green-haired girl.

'He's not so bad….I kind'a like him. Someone my age to play and hang around with. From what I saw of those mean kids who jeered at him at the market, I guess I might be his first friend like he's my first. Ironic….hah, Xellos was wrong. I'm not worthless! I won't be alone forever. I have a friend now….hah! Oh, but I didn't tell Hiero how mean Xellos is to me….what he does to me that I can't tell Mom about. Would he understand all those horrible things Xellos said I was….would he?' Val wondered, not noticing that his eyes had lowered until he found himself looking at his boots. "You ok, Val? I can see your eyes watering, you know." Hiero said quietly, the blind boy's hand squeezing Val's a few times before getting a sad answer.

"My secret stuff….its bothering me." Val whispered back, lifting his eyes to where he thought Hiero's face was. He felt another squeeze. "We can leave if you want. It's no fun to be sad….I know. I've been blind all my life….living in darkness. That's pretty depressing." Hiero told him, then started to tug at his hand.

Val felt Hiero stand and followed the action, staring at the exit of the bathhouse so he could lead them out. Or Val would have if the door didn't fly open with an enraged Filia standing in front of it, her mace in view. "VALLLL!! I smell you in here!! Where are you??" she shrieked.

"Good nose….dragon thing?" he heard Hiero ask quietly, careful not to be too loud. Filia was only a few feet away from where their little invisible bodies stood. "Yeah….just stay perfectly still….or she'll trample us." Val whispered back, his golden eyes focused and full of fright on his mother.

She'd spanked him a few times for being greedy over food and beating up some boys for teasing him about his hair. He wasn't able to sit down for a good week. He didn't want to get spanked for peeping at half-naked women. She might whack his butt off this time with her mace.

The boys just stayed still in a silent contest as Filia tried to sniff Val out, not knowing he wasn't far off. The full force of hot oils and soap were ruining her senses now that they were blasting over her to escape outside.

When Filia rammed her mace against the doorframe, a bunch of the bathers panicked and started screaming. The panic soon spread throughout the bathhouse. Girls in towels were running in every direction, forcing a puzzled and alarmed look onto Filia's face.

Val and Hiero started to move slowly towards the exit, steeling themselves to get past Filia without her feeling them. Their silence was in vain as screaming girls tried to get past Filia and trampled them. Hiero's spell was knocked out of his grasp and they were now outside and on the ground, Filia beside them and glaring angrily. "Perverts….Val, how could you look at naked women!?" Filia grated out.

"Xellos did it." Hiero said quickly, his expression of nothingness never changing. "Xellos….what does he have to do with this?" Filia asked, raising a questioning eyebrow. "He found us near the fountain and teleported us into the bathhouse. We were hiding cause there were so many girls in there that would have pelted us. Xellos laughed about it from the window….then you came in." Val lied, taking Hiero's lead.

Filia seemed to consider their excuse. "Mom, I'd never lie to you. That rotten namagomi said I raped girls and he was going to make me remember it. He said awful things. He said I used to slap the girls before I violated them. Tell me it isn't true, Mom, please, tell me he's lying…." Val told her, forcing himself to cry, getting unwanted help from Hiero as he was jamming the end of his staff into Val's foot. "I heard him say it….He held me down when he was bothering Val, Aunt Filia." Hiero said with his best pout.

Filia seemed to crumbled from her angry state to that of concern. She was hugging the boys, patting the back of Val's head. "Shh, he's not here now. Lina, Zelgadis and I will protect you boys from that rotten namagomi fruitcake. He was lying Val, you were never like that. He did it just to make you cry. He eats sorrow like you eat food. It's like an addiction to his miserable race. Shh, boys, it's all right. I'll take you home now. Hush, don't cry." She coaxed, taking both their hands as she stood up.

She took them back to the cart she had put the groceries in, still leaned up against the market and perfectly untouched. She let the boys ride with the food, not seeing they had joined hands again, winking at each other for pulling off a grand fib. "We make a good team." Hiero said quietly.

Val nodded. "Yeah, we're going to get along great."

~

Val and Hiero were sitting out in the backyard while their parents sat inside the house and talked over drinks. The boys had been digging holes and cramming their fingers in the dirt to toss at one another to play fight. They were both very dirty already and had grass sticking out of their hair and on their clothing, each of them smiling like idiots. Hiero had to admit having a friend was nice change. He'd never had any as a child back home and Val was pretty fun to be around.

"Want to hear my secret now?" Val said suddenly. Hiero gave a nod. "I won't tell anyone. Friends practice trust, Val-san, you can trust me. Friends to the end means something to me, you know." Hiero replied evenly, chuckling a bit.

Val didn't seem to be joining in his jovial answer, but he answered all the same. "I know, Hiero, thanks," Val said quietly, touching Hiero's hand for a moment before letting it slip away," I meant that. This means a lot to me. You're my first real friend."

"Same here. Tell me already. I'm blind, not deaf, use your mouth, Val-san." Hiero said, smiling slightly with no humor in his voice.

Val took a deep breath, then started talking. "I was an ancient dragon a long time ago, a lot bigger and different looking than I am now. The golden dragons wiped my race out when I was little and I was the only survivor, but I was dying in the desert years after the first attack. The Chaos Dragon Gaav found me there, but I was too weak to transform and defend myself. Then he said I could die or become a Mazuko in my next life. What a choice, huh?" Val was saying, his voice sounding sad as he moved over to sit right next to Hiero," I chose Mazuko and he killed me. I was reborn as Valgaav after that. This is what Xellos told me and told Mom about. She made such sad and nervous expressions when I told her about that. She told me to ignore him. I stopped telling her things about him after that, then he got scarier, he showed me what I did as a Mazuko Dragon. I did terrible things. I…I'm ashamed to say I was trying to kill your mother for thinking she'd murdered Gaav. Surely she told you about her adventures."

"No, Mom never talks about the old days. She's hell bent on me becoming a holy man when I grow up, she'll only say L-sama when she's annoyed. Listening to your mother babble to us on the way to town was the most I got about Mom's days as the Drammata. Heh, she might ground me for life if I said that word. I only know what she can do by listening to my parents talking at night and even then it's just bits and pieces. Your secret is interesting. Please continue." Hiero shrugged.

"Too bad, she was really something in those days, according to Mom. Just like your father. I can't remember all that past life stuff, but Xellos thinks I needed the flashbacks. Mother always said how brave your parents were and how powerful their magic and skills were too. I think the world believes the great Lina Inverse was defeated and died. She hasn't used her Dragon Slave in a long time," Val said, but his heart wasn't in the words," Xellos showed me all the bad things that I did, people I killed. I even tried to destroy the world in my second life as Valgaav. That namagomi Mazuko got mad when I ignored him and started jabbing me in the back with his staff. Mom heard me screaming and saved me, but I still saw him lurking about our house. That's why we are here, to hide me from Xellos. He said he was going to kill me if I didn't join the Mazuko again. I hate him. I was so scared I didn't tell my mom why he was after me. I don't want her to worry anymore than she already does protecting me from bullies and Xellos. If she knew that I had nearly agreed to join….before she came in, she'd be furious. You promise you won't tell, Hiero, really promise?" Val sniffed.

Hiero smiled again and made a reach for Val, his blind search meeting with Val's wet cheek. "I won't tell. I'll even help protect you and your mother. I can do a lot more than simple illusions, you know. I'll protect you, Val, friends help each other. To the very ends of the earth, Val-san, I will risk my life for your family as I would my own. I swear on my honor as an Inverse….and a Greywords." He told the dragon boy.

The reaction he got was a bit of a shock, not one he was familiar with from his first life. Men normally shook hands or patted his shoulder in thanks back home, though not many people liked Hiero at all for what he was. Val was hugging him, making Hiero uneasy for a moment.

'Damn, forgot again, we're kids….not adults. Though, as long as he feels better. If we're friends, this is ok….he just better not get in the habit of hugging me when we get older.' Hiero thought, hugging the boy back.

"Awwwww!!!!" came a triple chorus from the house, making both boys look up from their dirt stained hug, blushing. Hiero was sure he heard Val choke on something.

"Aren't they so cute? Just like brothers….isn't it so adorable?" Filia was chortling. "Yuck, Hiero! Val! You're both a mess. Gods, Zelgadis, you better get them to the grove before dark and get them washed up for supper. No dirt in the house. You know the rules, Hiero." Lina chided, and Hiero could hear her foot tapping on the porch impatiently.

"Mom….sorry. Heh, we were just playing. Let us be, hmmm? Van-san and Aunt Filia will be here for a while, yes?" Hiero said evenly, feeling his father's stone hands lift him up, Val's hand fastened to his own. He could see through Val at how angry his mother looked, but a tolerant sort of anger.

She was grinning sternly, and that was a good thing, which meant something about the situation amused her. Filia had stars in her eyes, weeping a bit out of joy. "Oh, he called me Aunt Filia, what a little gentleman. Even with Mazuko eyes, he's so precious, just like my precious Val." She giggled, putting her hands to her face and looking terribly dreamy.

'Hmmm, not all there….but at least she has good taste. Heh, now I know how to keep her from bothering me, be terribly cute.' Hiero thought with a smile as his father carted him and Val off to the grove that had their favorite bathing river beside it.

~

Xellos was ecstatic, though his face didn't show it. Xellas had put him on two missions for two small boys of great potential. He had lost tract of Filia and Val for awhile, so he devoted his time to watching young Hiero Inverse growing up, the little sneak that he was. He'd mastered all of the white magic he'd let his "teachers" think they'd taught him, but his skill with spirit shamanism at such a young age was alarming.

His recovery from using such draining spells was interesting as well, he only seemed to get winded for a few minutes before his strength returned. He hadn't used much along the lines of the other elements or the dark arts of the Lord of Nightmares. Xellos knew the boy was capable of the spells, but he wasn't using them.

He wondered why really. Being trapped in the body of child had worked for a long time for the Hellmaster and he'd gotten away with plenty of lewd and violent acts before Lina and L-sama had destroyed him. 'Zel-kun is the brat's father, probably got the same damn morals. Wimps.' He thought cheerfully.

Today had been the best day the Mazuko could hope for, both of his targets were in the same place, and very good friends. Poor, pathetic little Val had confided in secretive little Hiero and got a good reaction. 'He said he'd protect him with his life….well that's good to hear. It might help me in the future, I can kill two birds with one stone, a very large one. Mistress Xellas will definitely love me for this.' Xellos thought, watching the boys sitting on Hiero's bed, having a stick fight, or more of a playful stick vs. staff fight. Hiero was actually parrying pretty well for being blind.

Little Xellos….time is running out….you make your move soon. Get Hiero first. Val can wait. If Hiero is seduced to our side, Val won't be far behind to try and rescue him.

He heard his mistress' voice plain as midnight, making him open his slit pupils gently. 'Yes, Mistress….brilliant plan. I'll make my move soon. The boy will be all yours.' He thought back, vanishing from his place outside the boy's window just as Hiero and Val clocked each other on the head.

To Be Continued….