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Author’s note: Okay, this title’s original too…I’m such a liar…sorry! Well, it that time of the story again, where transitions abound. I suck at transitions…ack! Sorry again…(Moan) I have too many things to do, too many ideas for this fic and too little time…okay, Zel’s still not here, but I do know what I’m going to be doing with him, so Zel fans, do not fear! Okay, enough babble, onward!
Zira crossed her legs as she watched Lina gulp down food as if there’s no tomorrow. Xelloss finished explaining what had happened in Sairaag while she was gone. The woman nodded as she took a bite of the breakfast pastry.
"I see."
Filia stabbed her sausage. "I don’t see. It was a nice thing that Xelloss did, but I don’t see why he did it. Didn’t you need Phibrizo for this whole balance thing?" Maybe Zira would tell her the answer. Right.
Lina chewed her current mouthful, and then swallowed. "Yeah, explain."
Xelloss sweatdropped. "Ur…that is a secret?"
Zira snorted. "There’s no secret. Phibrizo was going to kill Filia. That would have broken the balance, not to mention that the whole quest would have been screwed. He had plenty reason to do what he did."
Filia bit her sausage. "Okay, how? How did he do it? I thought only Hellmaster himself had power over life and death." Xelloss tried his best to look innocent.
"That really is a secret." He told her. She glared at him.
"Xelloss, spill it."
Xelloss shook his head. "Really. My lips are sealed."
Filia glared at him harder. He whistled.
"This is getting us nowhere." Lina decided. Gourry took this opportunity to swipe some of her bacon. She retaliated with the theft of his eggs. And so the customary breakfast battles began anew.
Amelia raised an eyebrow. "Anyway," She started, changing the subject. "Where are we headed now? There’s only three more Demon Lords left to resurrect, right?"
Xelloss nodded, smiling. "Actually, two. Xellas-sama told me that she was going to take care of Unsealing Deep Sea Dolphin."
Zira shook her head. "She doesn’t even know what kind of Seal it is, how could she possibly break it?"
Xelloss shrugged. "Well, the Demon Sea is a very dangerous place. Maybe she thought she could check it out for us."
"The Seals could only be broken by you three. I thought she knew that."
Xelloss shook his fork at her. "No. The Seals are all different. In Phibrizo’s case, Phillip was the only one who could have broken the Seal. So it’s not always true that Filia, Lina and I can undo the Sealing."
"Great." Lina muttered. "That makes our job so much easier." She took a deep breath. "But that’s besides the point. Back to Amelia’s question, where are we headed now?" She gave him a serious look. "Don’t forget what I said back at Flagoon."
Xelloss nodded. "A deal is a deal, Lina. We’re going to Atlas City next, to resurrect the Demon Dragon King, Garv."
Filia gave him an incredulous look. "Garv!? In Atlas City?"
"Why are you so surprised?" Lina asked Filia curiously. Filia blinked, then poked at her food nervously.
"The Demon Dragon King, every dragon knows about him." She began. "He was with the Demon Race at the beginning of the war, but in the last battle, he turned against Ruby-Eyed. No one knows why or how, but we know that he was considered a traitor to his race. What I don’t understand is why we would be reviving him if he really betrayed the Demon Race." She looked at Xelloss. "If he’s against you, why would you bother awakening him?"
Xelloss grinned. "That is a secret!"
Zira hit him lightly upside the head. "Stop that, it’s annoying."
Lina tapped her fingers impatiently. "Well?"
Xelloss tilted his head. "We can try to talk him into coming back. And he has no love for Dragons. Even if Garv doesn’t side with the Demons, he would not help the Dragons. And don’t forget we have to awaken Ruby Eyed. Garv might end up being a wild card, but if Ruby-Eyed was around, Garv can be controlled." He shrugged. "That explanation good enough?"
"Good enough." Lina responded. "So we’re headed toward Atlas City now, eh? That’s another week’s travel, at least."
"Do we have enough money?" Amelia, ever the practical one, asked.
"No need to worry about that." Filia said. "If we run out, we can always turn Xelloss in to the Dragons for a reward."
Xelloss’s smile was strained. "And I’m sure we can sell you to somebody, Filia-chan. Then again, maybe not. They wouldn’t want such a violent dragon."
"What did you say?" Filia growled, bristling with anger. Zira sighed.
"I’ll be back. You’d better get started." She said shortly, disappearing. Lina moved as if to stop her, but pulled back.
"Drat, I wanted to ask her something." She muttered. Something that Phibrizo had said nagged at her mind. When she had attacked him with the Laguna Blade…
"If the Knight of Chaos had came at me with that, I might have been afraid."
What did he mean by that? Who is the Knight of Chaos?
"Lina! Yo, Lina!"
She returned to reality. "Huh? What, Gourry?"
"You want this chicken?"
"OF COURSE!"
There’s nothing like being beaten to the ground that helps you think.
Lina gasped for breath as Zira stood back to let her take a break. Once again, the woman had proved just how inhuman she was. Lina was sure by now that she could beat anyone in a fight with a sword. After all, she lived through these ‘training’ sessions of Zira’s. But that just goes to establish how powerful this servant of Chaos was.
"Are you ready yet?" Zira sighed. "Time to get up, Lina."
Lina struggled to her feet, wincing at a pain in her side. That’s going to bruise, she thought. As if she didn’t get enough beating from Phibrizo. "I’m…up." She managed to keep her knees from shaking this time. "I’m…ready…now…"
Zira lowered her weapon, which happened to be another stick that was lying around. "I guess we’d better stop for today. You look about ready to collapse."
"No." Lina said, gritting her teeth. "Don’t stop until your opponent is down. That’s what you taught me."
"That’s right." Zira agreed. "I’m glad you remembered." She said, showing absolutely no interest in starting the mock fight again.
"Zira, what’s the Knight of Chaos?"
Zira raised an eyebrow. "The Knight of the Lord of Nightmares. I thought that was obvious." Lina shook her head.
"Okay, wrong question. Who is the Knight of Chaos?"
Tell her now? Zira mused. Or tell her later? Is she ready for it?
Later. She still had a lot to learn.
"The Knight can be anyone, as long as he or she is L-sama’s chosen one." Zira explained. "There really isn’t just one specific person who can be the Knight." She tapped her foot. "And now I’m sending you back, Lina. Get some rest, you look horrible."
Lina’s protest didn’t make it past her throat as Zira teleported her back with a snap of her fingers. "Zira! Dammit…"
Zira and Xelloss. Why are they both so damn secretive?
The sky was already a velvet black dotted with stars when Gourry looked up from his contemplation of the fire. "Hey, Lina, you’re back."
Lina wrinkled her nose. "Why are you still up?" she asked curiously.
"I got this watch. Filia’s really cautious."
"Oh."
There was an awkward silence. Or at least, it was awkward for Lina. Gourry just seemed to take everything in stride, she thought as she sat down beside him.
"Is it interesting?" She finally asked.
"Hm?"
"The fire. You keep staring at it."
Gourry smiled his sweet, innocent smile. A smile that was completely different from Xelloss’s fake one. "Oh, no. I just like feeling the warmth from it. It’s really nice."
"Oh."
This conversation was going nowhere.
"I’m going to bed. Wake me when it’s my turn, okay?"
Gourry watched her get up. "It’s okay. I’ll do your watch. You go get some sleep, you look worn out."
She shook her head. "No, I’m doing my share."
He looked at her with a dubious expression. "Sure." He finally replied.
"Good night."
"Stop! Give us all your money!"
Filia looked at the rough bandits with an interested expression. She had never seen one before, nor had any stupid enough to challenge her. They were only a few days into their journey to Atlas City, and she had thought that they were close enough to civilization to not run into this. "Why might I do that?"
Gourry positioned himself between Lina and the danger. He wasn’t sure why, he knew she could take care of herself, but something told him he should do it. Amelia watched the proceedings silently.
The leader waved his sword at her. "Because we’re going to kill you all if you don’t!" He exclaimed, slightly unsettled by this calm woman. She looked bored.
"Get out of our way," Filia advised. "If you don’t want to be hurt, that is."
He eyed her giant axe apprehensively, but worked up enough courage to defy her. "This is my last warning! Give us all your money or else!"
Lina, by this time, had pushed her way up to the front. "Hey, buddy. I wouldn’t do that if I were you." She drawled. "See that axe she’s carrying? She can swing that thing like it weighs nothing. And it gets rather messy afterwards, if you know what I mean. So I’m giving you three options: " She began listing them on her fingers, "One, I let Filia disembowel all of you, and we move on. Two, I blow you to Hell and beyond, and we move on. Three, you give me all your treasure, and we move on, letting you keep your lives. What do you say?"
Xelloss sweatdropped. "Women are scary." He commented to no one in particular. The wolf beside him wagged her tail in agreement.
"No deal! Attack, men!"
"Not a good idea." Amelia swallowed uneasily.
Almost gleefully, Lina gathered a red ball of fire in her hands. "I’ve always wanted to do this…FIREBALL!!!"
Xelloss levitated himself onto a branch to watch the chaos that ensued. "Oh, dear…" He murmured, watching Filia and Lina take out their frustrations on the hapless bandits. "Women really are scary."
"Just don’t say it to their face." A female voice said beside his ear. A small girl was perched on the tree with him, her light lavender tresses cascading over her shoulders, her bangs hiding her eyes.
"Xelana, when did you switch over?"
"Wolves aren’t good at climbing trees, brother. I just wanted to see."
"Right. Just don’t get in trouble or fall off." Xelloss advised. "Oh, dear. Is she honestly going to use a Dragon Slave on bandits?" he murmured as the red head began chanting an all too familiar spell.
Xelana shook her head. "Ruby-Eye’s spell, used as a terror tactic. Geez."
"That’s why humans are so interesting," Xelloss explained. "No one else would do anything like that."
Amelia grabbed Lina before she could detonate the destructive spell. "No! Lina-san! Not here!" Lina waved her arms, yelling in rage.
Filia grabbed one bandit as he rushed at her, neatly tossing him into a nearby tree. "Lina, no Dragon Slave."
"Aww…" Lina pouted. "That’s not nice."
"We don’t want to destroy the forest," Filia rationalized. "And I don’t want to kill all those people. Let’s not make our reputation worse than it already is."
Lina sighed and Amelia and Gourry breathed sighs of relief. "All right, all right. You never let me have any fun…"
Xelana sweatdropped from her perch on the tree. "She wasn’t having fun? It looked like she was having the time of her life…"
Xelloss nodded wisely. "Like I said, humans are strange."
The rest of the trip to Atlas City was uneventful. Xelloss remained quiet most of the time, except when he made fun of Filia. Zira showed up at random times, never staying more than a few hours at the most. Lina grew increasingly frustrated as the older woman seemed to avoid her.
"Lina? Aren’t you going to order?"
Lina snapped out of her silent cursing. Plenty of time to talk to Zira the next time she shows up, right now she’d better enjoy the Atlasian cuisine while she’s here. "Oh. Um…I’ll just have five of everything, please."
Gourry looked at her, wide eyed. "Only five?!"
Xelloss felt her forehead with his gloved hand. "Do you have a fever, Lina?"
Lina growled and glared at the two offending males. "Can it, guys."
Gourry looked confused while Xelloss whistled innocently.
Amelia and Filia placed their orders. Gourry ordered the same thing as Lina, except he wanted eight of everything. Xelloss declined to eat, as usual. The waitress left the table with a rather stricken expression.
Lina squealed with delight when some of their orders arrived, and immediately dug in with her normal, healthy appetite. "So, Xelloss. We’re in Atlas City. Where to now?" She asked around a mouthful of food. Filia cut her meat primly, waiting for the Demon to answer.
He rubbed his head in embarrassment. "Actually, I’m not really sure."
Lina choked on the waffle. "What?!" Xelloss put up his hands to defend himself from the irate sorceress in training. "Garv was Sealed into an artifact and I lost track of it a hundred years ago. The last I heard, it was bought by a collector in Atlas City, so that’s why we’re here."
Lina groaned. "Now you tell us! It can be anywhere by now!"
Filia took a bite of her breakfast. "Any idea who bought it? What it looks like?"
Xelloss thought a bit. "I know what it looks like, but I’m not sure who bought it. All I know is that it was a Dragon." Filia nodded.
"There’s no problem then."
Lina stopped trying to reach over the table to choke the Demon. "Eh?"
"There’s no problem." Filia repeated. "I’m sure you all know how notorious Dragons are when it comes to keeping treasure."
"You mean all those legends about stingy dragons guarding their hoards are true?" Amelia asked.
Filia smiled a little. "Very true."
"It’s still a problem. If Garv is in the possession of a Dragon, we can’t just go up to him and say ‘Excuse me, but I need that artifact because I need to Unseal the Demon Lord inside of it. Can you please let me borrow it awhile?’ We’d be knee deep in the Dragon Army before Xelloss can say it’s a secret!" Lina exclaimed in a rush.
"I don’t think we have to tell them what we’re doing, exactly." Amelia said.
"Lie?" Lina shot back.
"Well…" Amelia looked uncomfortable. "I guess…"
Xelloss crossed his arms and thought some more. "We will have to find the Dragon first. The artifact itself shouldn’t be hard to find once we locate the owner."
"I disagree." Filia answered. "You don’t know us very well, do you? I know all the Dragons in Atlas City, it’ll only be a matter of time before we find the right one. But you’ve never seen a Dragon’s treasure trove. It’ll take us forever to dig through everything." She popped a strawberry in her mouth. "And that’s if we’re lucky and the artifact isn’t buried at the bottom."
Reluctantly, he agreed. "Filia is probably right. In that case, we’d all better start."
Lina continued eating. "After breakfast."
They sighed as she and Gourry continued to pig out. "All right."
Filia hurried as she approached the fountain in the Atlas City town square. Lina was lounging around, eating a hot dog. Amelia shook her head when Filia gave her a questioning look. Xelloss was nowhere to be seen. Gourry was staring at the fountain, also chomping down on a hot dog.
"Nothing at all." Amelia reported. "We couldn’t find anything."
"Xelloss?"
"He’s not back yet." Lina replied, standing up and dusting off her pants. "Probably got lost or something."
"Lost?" Filia snorted. "Demons don’t get lost. They only get into trouble."
"Are you saying we’re intelligent and powerful?"
She jumped as he phased in, words whispered right in her ear. "Xelloss! Dammit, don’t scare me like that!" Again, she didn’t feel a thing. Not a ripple, not even a slight disturbance in the auras around her. How is he doing that?!
"Why ever not?" He asked, hovering in mid-air. "Anyway, that was just payback for your insult." He touched down lightly. "Well, esteemed companions, I believe I have a lead."
"Lead? Where?"
Xelloss shrugged. "I’m not really sure, but I know where the artifact is, approximately. Shall we go?"
Lina nodded. "Let’s." Amelia hopped to her feet.
Filia fell in step beside the Demon. "So, does a Dragon own it?"
Xelloss didn’t turn his head to look at her. Not that she could have seen his eyes, hidden under his long bangs. That reminded her of Luna, the Knight of Cepheed for a split second, and she shivered. "I believe so."
"Oh?"
"We’ll see when we get there, Filia."
"After we get there, then what?" Lina asked. "I don’t think making up a plan at the door is a good idea."
"True."
She grumbled in frustration as he fell silent again. "Fine, then. I’ll come up with a plan. We go, find it, grab it, and run for it. Sounds good?"
"No." Filia sighed. "Dragons can track their treasure anywhere. We’d be in deep trouble. It might be better to try to buy it from the owner…"
"Buy it with what?" Amelia asked. "I thought Dragons don’t need money."
"We don’t."
Xelloss shrugged again. "Maybe a trade of some kind?"
"What do we have to trade?" Lina studied her companions. None of them were carrying anything of value. "Maybe we should sell Xelloss…" Amelia giggled beside her.
The Demon made a face. "Hey, that’s mean."
"So you were awake after all. Why so quiet all of a sudden?"
He winked. "That is a secret."
Lina growled and pushed up her sleeves. "Why you-"
Filia rolled her eyes as the fight started from behind her. "Lina, we need him to tell us where this place is and how to Unseal Garv." She turned, then threw up her hands. "I give up."
"You do the same thing," Lina protested as she released Xelloss from the headlock. "How do we Unseal Garv? Is his seal anything like Xellas or Phibrizo’s?"
Xelloss didn’t answer and she tried to kick him. He sidestepped and continued on. "Hey! Listen to me!" She fumed, then blinked as she realized that he had stopped.
"Is this it?" Gourry asked, gesturing to the large, almost castle-like mansion to their left. Xelloss nodded. "Wow, it’s big."
"Dragons like big things. Right, Filia-chan?"
Filia frowned at his tone. "What do you mean by that?"
"Garv isn’t really Sealed." Xelloss said, touching the wrought iron gate lightly. "Rather, he escaped from this world. We hunted him because he was a traitor to the Demons and the Dragons hounded him because he was their natural enemy. Garv had no other choice, no place to run." His smile was dark. "But we underestimated him, just as the Dragons did. A trapped animal is a very dangerous animal, and he showed us just how dangerous he really was." Lina shivered as she caught a glint of amethyst in the shadowed area of his eyes. "Garv isn’t Sealed. He had somehow managed to break the barrier between worlds. The only way to bring him back is to go to him and convince him that it’s worth it to return." Turning, he chuckled lightly. "And I warn you, Garv is quite easily the most stubborn creature on earth."
"How in the world did he do that?" Filia gaped. "There’s no way to get to another world!"
"Oh, there is, Filia-chan. There are more ways than anyone had realized. But Garv found one and opened it, despite the fact that he shouldn’t have been able to. He won’t do anything he doesn’t want to, so we have to make him want to come back."
"Oh, great." Lina muttered. "It’s bad enough to have to save the world, now we have to persuade a Demon Lord to return to a place he hates? Geez…"
"Strange things happen." Xelloss shrugged. Filia was looking around with a curious expression on her face. This place seemed familiar to her. Lina huffed and shot Xelloss a glare.
"You and your secrets." She growled. He smiled sweetly at her, completely unrepentant. "I oughta-"
Suddenly he looked up, past her, his eyes open. Lina saw the blood drain from his face as emotions flicked rapidly across his usually masked face. Anger, surprise, confusion. Hate. She instinctively took a step back as a primal growl started rising from his throat. Then he seemed to regain some control, and disappeared.
"What?" She breathed. Lina turned around, wondering what the heck just happened. Filia’s back was to her, and she could see a tall, slender woman approaching them from the mansion.
Filia frowned more. That woman looked really familiar, but the Dragon General couldn’t place her in her memory. She felt a light tap on her shoulder and turned to see Lina standing beside her with a perplexed expression. "Lina?"
"Xelloss just disappeared." She told Filia. "And he had this really weird expression on his face-"
"Filia!? Filia Ul Copt?" The woman touched Filia’s arm lightly, smiling. She had golden hair like Filia’s, but her eyes were emerald instead of Filia’s dark sapphire. "Why, it is you! What a pleasant surprise!"
"Eh? You know her, Filia?"
Filia tried to remember. The woman laughed. "Of course she doesn’t remember me. She was just a little girl when we first met, and not much older when we parted ways. I’m Melena, your father’s partner."
"Melena-san!" Filia gasped. "I-I didn’t recognize you! It’s been so long!"
"A thousand years, at the very least." The woman’s eyes were a little sad. "I fought along with your father during the Kouma War."
Lina was getting muddled. "Filia?"
Filia grinned. "My father was the General of Cepheed, Lina. After he...died in the war, I was selected as the heir to the position. I remember Melena-san taking care of me for a year before I was sent away to be trained."
Gourry scratched his head. "So you’re friends?"
"More or less." Melena replied pleasantly. "We haven’t seen each other in long time. Please, what brings you here?"
"Is this your house?" Filia asked excitedly. If Melena owned the artifact… "I mean, we were just stopping by."
"You must stay a few days." Melena decided. "I missed you a lot, Filia. Please, promise me you’ll stay a few days."
This could work, she mused. Melena might be reasonable enough to help them… "Well, I guess we can." She answered. Lina grinned and elbowed her. Melena clapped her hands together in joy and ushered them in.
"You’re a sneaky one," Lina snickered to Filia. Filia blushed a little and ignored the comment.
"Where did Xelloss go again?" She whispered. Lina shrugged. "Well, it’s probably better this way. Melena is really powerful and she’d be able to tell that he’s a Demon in a second."
"Yeah, better…"