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Author’s note: Note? What note?? Ah, and my Xel/Filia bias slowly becomes obvious…(screams and tries to run away from the furious characters!) and about the things in the ()s… well, I’ll leave that to the readers’ imaginations…
He found her in a rather unlikely place. Not that he was really looking forward to finding her, knowing that she’d gloat about finally beating him…The Demon facefaulted when he finally saw the Dragon, quite by accident, inside a restaurant, sleeping. The empty plates piled up next to her clearly showed what she had been up to until now…
Xelloss let himself in the bustling restaurant and walked to Filia’s table. "Hey, Filia?" He poked her with his finger. "Filia? Filia?" He eyed the stack of plates next to her. And she’s always the one complaining about Lina eating too much?
"She’s been sleeping for the past hour." The waitress told him helpfully as she came up, clearing away the plates. "I was hoping someone would come and wake her up…do you know her, sir?"
Xelloss considered answering in the negative, but the image of a Dragon running rampant through the town when she gets a rude awakening gave him second thoughts. Besides, that would be lying. "Yes, I’m traveling with her." He replied. "Do you know if here is an inn around here? I think my…friend is a little tired."
"I’ll say." The waitress nodded. If she noticed his slight hesitation, she didn’t let it show. "You can stay here, if you’d like. We have rooms open."
"Might as well, I’m going to be paying for this…" He muttered. "Um, two rooms please." The waitress nodded and Xelloss sat down beside the still sleeping Filia, pondering on what could have made her fall asleep in such an uncomfortable place. "Hmm…must have burned out too much energy racing me." Well, he lost this one fair and square. He considered trying to wake her up again, and then decided against it. The last thing he needed was a grumpy dragon. "I guess we’re staying here for the night." He said to no one in particular.
Amelia gave a contented little sigh as she sank into the soft bed. "Feels wonderful…" She breathed. Lina nodded in whole-hearted agreement. Xellas was by the door, holding extra blankets.
"I’m really sorry that I don’t have any more rooms open," the Demon Lord apologized demurely. "It’s been a long time since I cleaned, and this place is a mess. I can’t have my guests sleeping on a three feet layer of dust, can I? "
"It’s okay, we’re used to camping out." Gourry laughed. "And after awhile, anything is better than the hard ground."
"And that rock that’s always poking into your back." Lina agreed. Xellas gave Gourry some more blankets, since he was the one that had to sleep on the floor.
"Well, I guess it’s time to say our good-nights." Xellas murmured. "Oh, one more thing. Feel free to wander around in my castle, but don’t go outside. My wolves usually hunt at night and they might not recognize you. I don’t want anyone to get eaten."
Lina snuggled into the bed happily. "Don’t worry, we wouldn’t want to leave for the world."
Xellas smiled, eyes closing in a way that was all too familiar. And unnerving. "Well, good night, everyone."
Amelia watched the petite woman leave. "Ne, Lina-san?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you ready for tomorrow?"
Lina propped herself up on her elbows. "Well, I guess. It’s not like we’ve been planning how to Unseal the Demon Lords the last few times anyway."
"Still, I find it hard to believe that Xellas-san is a Demon Lord. She seems so…nice."
Gourry nodded. "Completely unlike Lina." He made his second brilliant (?) connection of the day. "Lina would make a good Demon Lord!"
Smack!
The sorceress rubbed her knuckles, trying to work out the sting. Gourry groaned from his prone position headfirst into his pile of blankets. "About Xellas, I don’t think we should let our guard down. I mean, she is a Demon, and demons aren’t rumored to be the nicest people."
"But she’s so hospitable and kind."
Lina raised a finger. "Remember Xelloss? He seemed harmless too, at first. And he was nice too, to us at least. But Xelloss is powerful, maybe more powerful than all three of us put together, and Xellas is his master, no less. I think this is all an act. We’re no threat to them now, but by giving us a sense of security and lulling us into trust, it would make it much easier to deal with us later, if we ever become a threat or get in the way."
Amelia looked slightly appalled at Lina’s cold logic. "But…"
"Of course, this is just pure hypothesis. I’ve never dealt with Demons before this, so I wouldn’t really know." Lina sighed and leaned back into the pillows. "Even if what I said is true, there’s no point in worrying about it. The only thing we can do is be careful and never let our guard down."
Gourry rubbed his head, which was still smarting a bit from Lina’s smack. "But aren’t the Demons in the same position?" He asked, slightly confused.
"Huh?"
"They’ve been sleeping for a long time, right?" Gourry smiled. "And they wake up and everyone wants to kill them and the world is ending. In that situation, I would be very careful about who I deal with too."
"Gourry…"
He winced, expecting another smack as was usual whenever he made a stupid comment, but none came. He peered up into Lina’s face.
"I never thought of that…"
Soft, padded feet on the dirt. Toenails digging in as a sudden burst of energy rushed forth, giving incredible speed and deadly accuracy. Iron jaws snapping together, crushing bone and ripping flesh as the prey made a final gurgle of terror. Tearing into the now lifeless body of its victim, the wolf started on its midnight snack.
Xellas shifted back to her human form, covered head to toe with blood. She shivered with delight as the adrenalin rush slowly abated. Ahh, she thought, it’s been such a long time since I hunted. The full moon overhead seemed to shine sinister light onto the Island, leaving the hunted no cover in darkness. The thick foliage of trees might cast shadows that hid creatures from human eyes, but not from Demon ones. Lazily, she stretched and licked some blood off her lips.
Xellas-sama? A familiar presence tugged at the edge of her consciousness.
Yes, Xel? She replied, walking towards the dull roar of water and the sea.
We’re stopping for the night. You’re on Wolf Pack Island already?
Yup. Shortcut. How long do you think it’ll take you to reach Dynast? She thought, wading into the ocean, the salty water slowly drawing away the rivers of red on her skin. We should be done with Dolphin in a few more days, if we don’t run into trouble.
At the rate we were going, maybe two more days. But I don’t think Filia can keep this up. She’s sleeping right now.
Well, then. Xellas mused. You’ll have to wait for her. After all, she’s the only one that can Unseal Dynast.
I plan to do that.
Good.
How’s Xelana?
Xellas began the task of trying to untangle her hair. Xelana’s fine. She just need a little time to recover.
That’s good. Ah, I think Sleeping Beauty here is waking up. I’ll report later, Xellas-sama.
See you, she said. Then there was silence.
Xellas got up, water dripping from her in sparkling droplets. A wolf howled in the distance, signaling another kill. The Beastmaster smiled a little, then shifted to her beast form again.
The night was still young.
Filia opened her eyes groggily. The ceiling slowly came into focus. What…? She thought, wondering what woke her.
As if to remind her, her stomach growled again, demanding to be fed.
How embarrassing. Then another thought rushed to the fore of her mind as she scrambled into a sitting position. XELLOSS!! He must be at least half a day ahead of me by now-
Shut up and feed me! Her stomach protested again. Filia sweatdropped. Just when did her stomach sound like Lina?? And what was she doing in a bed? The last thing she remembered was eating at a restaurant…Filia rubbed her eyes, feeling the soreness in her muscles. Well, it’s been a long time since she had a work out like that. Maybe the innkeepers were kind enough to put her in a room…The Dragon made a mental note to thank them if that was the case.
Now her hunger was really demanding her attention, and Filia resignedly headed out to find some food (Whoever put her to bed didn’t bother taking off her shoes). The wooden door opened to reveal stairs that wound down into the first floor. Filia walked down slowly, not quite trusting her tired leg muscles.
"Well, well. Look, Sleeping Beauty is up." An annoyingly familiar voice said from behind her once she finally made her way to the ground floor. She turned around, half angry and half surprised. He should have been gone by now.
Xelloss sat at a nearby table, eating…ice cream??
"What are you doing here?" That came out more hostile than she had meant it to. Maybe it was the sight of food…food that she wasn’t eating ( Sounding like Lina again...)
Xelloss waved a spoon at her. "What do you think I’m doing here, Filia?"
"Annoying me."
He chuckled. "I’m glad you hold yourself in such high regard. I don’t need to annoy you, Filia. You get angry just by yourself." His grin widened a bit. "Actually, I stayed to get you out of trouble. The owners of the restaurant were considering calling the authorities about the sleeping Dragon that almost ate them out of house and home, especially since she didn’t pay her bill."
"I-oh, drat…"
"It’s okay. I paid it. And the room that you slept in. And from the looks of it, I’m going to end up paying for breakfast too, so you might as well tell the nice waitress what you want." Xelloss turned to the aforementioned nice waitress and asked for another bowl of ice cream. Filia could feel her eyebrows twitching.
"Ice cream in the morning??"
He gave her a hurt look. "Why does everyone ask me that? Is it against God’s or Demon’s rules??"
"No, it’s just…unusual." Eccentric would be a better word, but Filia decided to study the menu instead of debating the point. She regarded the menu with all seriousness for one whole minute. "Well, I guess I’ll have two of everything." She finally said, satisfied with her self-restraint. The waitress paled, but took down her order. Xelloss shot her a glare from across the table.
"Just to let you know, Filia-chan. I’m not planning to lose again. So enjoy this while you can."
Filia gave him a perplexed look. "Lose…? Oh!" A light bulb went on over her head. "That’s why you’re still here!"
It was his turn to give her a weird look. "Are you awake, Filia?"
That irritated her. "Of course I am! What do you think?"
His smile was back (the same annoying smile). "That’s better. You weren’t acting yourself for a second."
"And why do you say that?"
He waved a finger in front of her nose. "That is a secret!"
"ARGH!" The Demon ducked, nimbly avoiding the fork that she threw at him. "Jerk!" She muttered, returning to her food.
"If you say so, Filia. I’ll see you at the next town."
"Hello?? HELLO?! ANYBODY HOME?!" Lina yelled into the deserted throne room. Echoes were the only things that answered her. She was feeling more than a little apprehensive now, despite the cheery sunbeams that filtered through the windows and the birdsong in the air.
Xellas was nowhere to be found.
"Yoo-hoo! Xellas? Anybody?!" And if Xellas wasn’t here, then where could she be? She could be doing anything…planning anything…
"Lina?"
Lina Inverse, Sorceress supreme, jumped ten feet in the air from shock. Upon landing, she spun around and saw-
Nothing?
"Down here, Lina."
Her jaw dropped as she obeyed instinctively. Lina peered down.
Xelana had a slightly exasperated expression on her face, but waves of lavender hair still covered her eyes. The short little girl tilted her head up a fraction so she could look Lina in the face. "Are you looking for mother?"
"Mo-oh, you mean Xellas?"
"Yeah."
"As a matter of fact, I am." Lina chuckled, relieved to finally find someone after wandering in the empty halls for half an hour. "So, where can I find her?"
Xelana shrugged. "Mother usually doesn’t get up until noon because she goes hunting at night. Wolves are nocturnal creatures, you know. I wouldn’t bother her until she gets up."
"Oh."
"Are you looking for breakfast? Mother did mention that you humans have ferocious appetites." Xelana didn’t wait for an answer. "Follow me, I’ll get you all something to eat."
Lina could only blink in surprise as the girl dragged her along.
She recoiled inwardly, not wanting to touch the veil. It showed her too many things, too many things that she didn’t want to see…The calm sea lapped at her face, her hands, and her body. The veil bellowed out around her in the ocean, letting light filter in dimly. Images and illusions swirled along with the light patterns in the ocean. She cried, tears that turned to pearls, streaming, falling, sinking from her cheeks and touching down gently in the white sand of the ocean floor. Too many things, too much pain, so many regrets…
Deep Sea Dolphin wept for the things she could see that were coming. Heartbreak, disillusion…shattering of trust. Growing up, losing innocence. Losing…
She curled up like a child in a mother’s womb. She doesn’t want to see any more…if that’s what it took to be part of the world…then she doesn’t want to wake up. She never wanted to wake up. The water caressed her long, blue hair as she closed her eyes, shutting them from the light of now and the sight of the future. The possible future…
Wake up… someone called as she sank deeper into herself. Wake up, Dolphin.
She ignored the voice.
Wake up…your sisters and brothers are looking for you…we need you, Dolphin.
I don’t want to wake up. Never. Why do I have to be the one that L-sama and Ruby Eye-sama chose? I don’t want to serve either…I just want to be left alone…
Alone…
"Wow…I can’t believe it." She gasped, feeling hot despite of the snow that was coming down in drifts. "We’re almost there." They were in a quiet little town, already half-buried underneath the white, pure snow. Judging from the proximity of the mountains, they’re no farther than half a day’s travel from the North Pole.
Xelloss dusted his head off, trying to rid himself of the snow that had settled there. "Well, we made good time." He said with a smile. Doesn’t anything ruffle him?
"It took us three days to make a ten day journey, I’d say we made good time!" Filia snapped. He raised an eyebrow.
"What are you pissed off at now?"
She crossed her arms. "I’m not pissed off at anything."
"You’re just mad because you lost this one." He grinned, "And now you’ll have to pay for dinner."
As if she needed reminding (he always knew what would piss her off). "Shut up."
He placed his hands behind his back. "I’ll do just that, Filia. After all, you seem quite capable of getting angry all by yourself without my help."
The retort (which would make no sense) caught in her throat. There was…truth in his words. She was always angry around him, sometimes without any reason at all. Why was that, exactly? "Tha-that’s not important!" She huffed. "Where are we headed now?"
The Demon tapped a finger thoughtfully against his chin, looking ridiculous since he’s almost completely covered by snow. "Hmm…I suppose we should get you some extra clothes. Dragons that are frozen solid are a pain to carry around, you know."
"I’m not some fragile female." She said through gritted teeth. "And I’m not cold. I don’t need extra clothes and I don’t need to be pampered. Would you stop avoiding my question and just tell me where we’re going?" He didn’t seem to be too frightened by her outburst. Instead, he calmly pointed to a store. She could see fur lined cloaks on display in the window.
"Shall we go?"
"Argh!"
Xelloss gave her an impudent smile, dusting some snow off his shoulders. "Filia-chan, your tail is showing."
"Hi, everyone!"
Gourry and Lina waved absently as they continued their efforts to devour everything on the heavily laden table, and Amelia smiled brightly.
"Hello, Xellas-san."
Xellas laughed. "Now, is this breakfast or lunch?"
Lina and Gourry answered, in sync, "Breakfast." While Amelia said it was lunch. Xellas shrugged, having expected nothing else, and sat down at the table. She idly took a cup and sipped at it, making a face at what she tasted.
"Eww, water." She said. "Yucky. Where’s some wine when you need it?"
As if on cue, Xelana walked in with a bottle. "You called, Mother?"
"Darling!" Xellas cheered. "Oh, thank you so much!"
Amelia watched, sweatdropping as Lina and Gourry continued to eat while Xellas drank. "Um…Lina-san? What about Deep Sea Dolphin and saving the world?" she asked timidly. Lina swallowed her mouthful.
"Well, after breakfast." She said, then returned to eating. Amelia couldn’t help but feel that they had been eating a lot lately. She voiced that little thought.
"We can’t fight on an empty stomach." Gourry reasoned. Lina nodded.
"But Amelia has a point. The sooner we get done with this, the better. No sense in dragging it out."
"Isn’t that what you’re doing?" Amelia questioned. Lina flushed a little, then bit into the chicken leg she was holding viciously.
"We’ll go after breakfast."
"Xelloss, we need to talk." Well, that was something completely and totally out of the blue, unrelated to the subject at hand (which was lunch) and meant to catch him off guard.
Even that didn’t faze him. "What would you like to talk about, Filia?" He asked pleasantly, stirring his tea. Filia knew she should have given up on trying to surprise him, but no, she just had to try one more time. Stupid.
"Well, information on where we’re headed would be nice, wouldn’t it? And who we might be going up against." And just how in the world we’re supposed to work together on this?
The Demon sipped his tea, eyes opened and searching hers over the rim of the cup. "Dynast Grausheela was Sealed in the mountains to the north. It’ll be easy to get there, since we’re so close. As to who might try to stop us…" He trailed off, shrugging. "Last I checked, Sheela was still here, looking for Dynast. I suppose she could be troublesome." Demon eyes closing in that smile again. That damned annoying smile.
"That doesn’t tell me anything. Why would this Sheela be angry with you? Wouldn’t she understand that, now of all times, demons need to work together?" Filia cupped her hands around the steaming tea. Although the new cloak that she bought was keeping her warm, her fingers were still cold…
Xelloss tilted his head and regarded her thoughtfully. "Filia, you’re not thinking."
That immediately made her temper flare. "What?!"
"You’re not thinking…like us." He set his cup down, smiling, but with his eyes opened. "Mazoku, at least the higher ranking ones, have almost everything they want. Power is the most important part of it, maybe loyalty to a master or servant, maybe even the warm and fuzzy feeling of love. We’re selfish creatures, Filia, and we don’t want to change. Sheela is angry with me because I changed her life. In her mind, I was the one that took her master away from her. She hates me for that."
Filia remembered Melena, and how his entire demeanor changed when she was in front of him. How Xelana went from cute little girl to homicidal psychopath at the mere sight of her.
"And loyalty is very limited in Mazoku society. We’re loyal to our masters, maybe to Ruby-eye and even L-sama, but certainly not to each other. Our history is mainly about the struggle for power. That was why we lost the war, Filia. The Demons have no sense of unity whatsoever. And that is why Sheela will not listen to me until Dynast tells her to listen. He won’t be able to do that until you Unseal him."
She digested this bit of information. She had never thought of it that way, indeed. Dragon society was almost the complete opposite, stressing the many instead of the one. "Why do I have to Unseal him?"
Xelloss weighed his choices. Tell her now? Or tell her later? If only he had some sort of instruction manual when it came to dealing with this Golden Dragon. Yeah, right. "Because you’re the only one that can."
Getting information from him was like pulling teeth, but curiosity was in her sapphire eyes as she leaned forward eagerly. "Why me?"
"I wasn’t there personally when Dynast was Sealed, but-"
A giant explosion drowned out whatever the Demon had planned to say (and he was actually volunteering information too…). Filia yelped as the force of it knocked her back and down. The whole room went boom and debris in the form of ruined ceiling and flooring rained down from the hole in the roof. She peered up.
Snow was drifting in lazily from the demolished ceiling, and floating above, with the darkened sky at her back, was a young woman. She had blue hair, tied back in a braid, and a very strange black sword at her side. Her aura immediately identified her race.
"Mazoku." Filia whispered.
"Sheela." Xelloss added. Drat, he was hoping she wouldn’t come until later. This messes up some things (just when he needed things to work out).
"Xelloss." The name was practically spat out. "How dare you show your damned face here again?!" Sheela’s green eyes were enraged and not too sane. She whipped out her black sword. "HOW DARE YOU!? Give me back my Dynast-sama!"
"Filia, move!"
Sheela screamed, casting another Dynast Blast into the ruined restaurant. Filia felt Xelloss grab her arm, then a sudden, sickening jolt as he teleported them out of the blast zone. When they rematerialized a few yards away, the Dragon fell to her knees, fighting back the bile that rose in her throat. Ugh, too much dark energy…
"Now’s not the time to get weak knees!" He pulled her to her feet. "Run!"
Her stomach protested, but she staggered along, regardless. "Why are we-"
"Duck!"
"-running?" She finished, throwing herself on the snow covered ground. Spears of ice, at least as long as her arm, flew over and past her. Filia scrambled to get up, her boots slipping. Xelloss caught her arm before she could plant herself down on the ground face first again (how the hell was he keeping his balance on this stupid slippery ground?).
"Do I have to explain everything?" He said, barely keeping his voice level and his smile from twitching. "She’s trying to kill us."
Incoming ice spears again. This is getting annoying. "Fireball!" Filia yelled, casting the largest fireball she could muster in such a short time. The ball expanded, becoming a wave of fire that clashed with the spears, melting or shattering them in its wake. Xelloss whispered something, then casted Dark Mist. Black smoke seemed to appear out of nowhere, whipping around the town and most importantly, around the infuriated Sheela.
"It won’t last long." He told Filia, turning. "Let’s get out of here."
"Why are we running away?" She asked. "We can fight her."
His grip on her wrist was tight, and getting painful. "We can’t. At least, I can’t. If we fight, the Dragons will be swarming all over us in a minute."
"They can’t get here that fast." She argued.
"We did, didn’t we?"
"Then let me fight her."
"Why so blood-thirsty all of a sudden?" She couldn’t see his face, but she could hear the exasperation in his voice. "We don’t need a fight at all, Filia. I was hoping we could do this without fighting Sheela. It will just complicate things."
"Never leave an enemy at your back. Isn’t that what they teach you Demons also? We’re not that different."
The ground erupted beneath them and the conversation ended there as Sheela walked out into view and renewed her attacks with a vengeance.
"Are you sure the Raywing will last?" Lina asked worriedly. She had no desire to drown in the Demon Sea, no matter how beautiful it looked on the outside.
"I’m sure." Xellas told her assuredly. "I’ll worry about that, you just worry about how to Unseal Dolphin."
"Can you give me any details on how we might do that?" Amelia asked. "I mean, what kind of Seal is it, and what can we do?"
The clear shield formed around them, and Xellas began their decent. "I’m not sure…the circumstances surrounding Dolphin’s Sealing had always been a mystery." That, and what drove her insane…but she knew the reasons behind the latter, if not the former. "She was the first one Sealed out of all the Demon Lords, but her Seal doesn’t seem to be created by a Dragon or wielder of white magic." Xellas turned her golden eyes to Lina. "That’s why we think you are the only one that can break it, Lina. Because you are the only human in this world who can use Nightmare magic."
"What about Zira?"
Xellas shrugged. "There’s speculation that Zira was the one that Sealed Dolphin, even though there’s no evidence. And there is no reason. Zira never does anything without a reason. Besides, Zira isn’t human, not completely, anyway."
Gourry watched as they sank deeper and deeper into the dark waters. Various sea life swam by, then they were moving, heading farther from the shore. "Well, I guess we can worry about that when we get there."
Xellas peered at the sea. "There’s one more hurdle to overcome. Guardians surround dolphin’s castle, and apparently, they are protecting the castle and her. If I’m going in by myself, I can just teleport, but you three can’t, so…"
"Teleport?" Amelia gave Lina a quizzical look. "Like what you did when we fought Garv, Lina-san?"
The Demon Lord was immediately all ears. "You teleported? When you were fighting Garv?" Lina backed off a little, putting her hands up to calm the excited woman.
"Yes, I did. I don’t know how I did it though, and I doubt that I can do it again." She told Xellas. Perhaps it was against her nature to admit that she wasn’t capable of something, but deep down, Lina knew it was way out of her league. It was comparable to a fish trying to run the mile. Teleporting was a skill used by the more spirit-based races of Demons and Dragons, not for humans.
Xellas looked disappointed. "Ah, well. Can’t hope for everything. So that’s that. We’re going to have to get through her guardians first."
Lina cracked her knuckles. "Hehe, can’t wait." A thought hit her. "Maybe the guardians know how she was Sealed…?"
All three waited expectantly for Xellas’s answer.
"It’s possible," Xellas admitted. "I never got a chance to ask." She forgave me, but her servants certainly didn’t. If there’s one thing to be said about created servants, they’re loyal… "We should ask them, it might even be helpful."
Lina couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that Xellas wasn’t telling them the whole story. Then again, what they were doing certainly seemed like a story. A band of adventurers out to save the world, their current mission is to free a princess (well, she guessed that Deep Sea Dolphin might pass as a princess…) from a horrible imprisonment. Sounds like a fairy tale.
Gourry unsheathed the Sword of Light. "Um, how are we supposed to attack when we’re inside this bubble?" he asked. Xellas grinned.
"I can modify the Raywing so that spells and energy attacks can go through the shield." Xellas answered. "Gourry, you won’t be able to go hand-to-hand with the guardians, but I’m sure you can throw some attacks at them with the Gorn Nova."
"The Gorn Nova?" Lina asked. "You mean the Sword of Light?"
The swordsman was looking confused. "What’s a Gorn Nova? And Lina, is that edible?" The sorceress turned to follow his pointed finger.
"AHHHH!!!!!!!!!" she screamed eloquently when she saw the giant, misshapen fish with sharp teeth that was behind her.
This isn’t working.
Filia cursed as yet another one of her spells canceled out after she released it. "Xelloss! Stop that!"
"I’m not the one doing it!"
She knew that both parties are guilty. Her magic was rendered practically useless when she was forced to defend herself while in close proximity with both Sheela and Xelloss. The white and black magic kept canceling each other out. Okay, so it wasn’t entirely his fault, but couldn’t that Demon try a little harder to help out?
Xelloss ducked Sheela’s swing aimed at his neck, then teleported out of her range. Filia was behind Sheela, casting Chaos Disintegrate. He had no intention of getting caught in that, but at this rate, Sheela would just throw a spell to cancel it out or move out of the way. If she notices the Dragon that’s casting it, that is…
"So, Sheela, how have you been?" he asked pleasantly hoping to distract her. She rose to the barb like a good little Demon.
"SHUT UP!" Sheela screeched, swinging her sword at him wildly. He frowned mentally as he avoided her attacks. This wasn’t the Sheela he knew. General Sheela was a cold-hearted bitch that rarely lost her temper. Focus was one rare skill among the Demon Lords’ servants, and she had it. Not only that, she always had something up her sleeve. This Sheela was too…rash, too stupid. He knew that Dynast taught his General better than that.
"Chaos Disintegrate!" Filia called, the golden waves of energy swirling around her. The destructive spell rushed forward, obliterating everything in its path. Xelloss teleported out of the way, trying to keep track of Sheela as she did the same thing.
Filia, behind you!
The Dragon only had time to turn half way before Sheela struck her hard on the back of her head with the hilt of her sword. Filia’s eyes widened as the blinding pain crashed into her. Her vision blacked out as she collapsed.
"Filia!" Xelloss didn’t know whether to be angry at her stupidity for not predicting Sheela’s move or worried about her safety. That split second of indecision cost him as his eyes caught a glimpse of movement at the edge of his perception. The Demon barely had time to move as a flaming blade came down where his head was. The blade missed taking off his ear by a millimeter and dug into his shoulder instead.
Human, his mind registered. Dragon’s sword, though…Not just any weapon favored by the Dragons. The cold steel dug deeper, crushing through his collarbone. One of the Blessed Blades of Cepheed… He caught the attacker’s wrists, tightening his grip as he tried to wrench the hands apart. Ignore the flames and the white magic, his mind said. Concentrate on getting him away.
Sheela scrambled to her feet, cursing mentally. How could he stand that sword? How can he even fight back!? The Four Blessed Blades are infused with holy magic and should cause any creature of darkness major amounts of pain. No matter, with the Dragon down, he should be easy to subdue. And then she’ll finally get some answers. Beldon will need a hand soon, though.
Xelloss felt satisfaction as the wrists of his attacker snapped in his hands. The fingers loosened a little as the human glared at him madly, summoning more magic into the sword. That hurt, a little, but he was used to pain. The Demon opened his eyes, knowing he didn’t have much time before Sheela decided to butt in…
Right on cue, he thought as Sheela materialized behind him, sword poised to strike into his unprotected back. Xelloss turned, swinging the human into her, using the momentum to knock both of them away. The three fell toward the icy earth, almost in slow motion.
Sheela caught herself first, recovering from her surprise and levitating. Xelloss landed solidly and teleported, reappearing beside Filia and disappearing with her. Her human servant also casted levitation. "Where did he go!?" He cried. The General smiled tightly, her expression more than a little frightening.
"Go back to the fortress. I’ll bring them back." She said shortly, then disappeared also. He can’t hide from me, she thought. You’re as good as dead, Xelloss.
"Xellas?" Lina asked curiously. The Demon Lord blinked.
"Oh?"
"We’re done. So much for questioning them." Lina said, gesturing to the charred remains of various hideous sea monsters. "Shall we go on now?"
Xellas eyed the pile of dead creatures. Dolphin always hated killing… "Yes, let’s go. Dolphin’s throne room should be…that way."
Lina couldn’t help but notice that the Demon lord was a little distracted. "So, tell me a little bit about Deep Sea Dolphin." She said conversationally. Xellas broke out of her reverie and smiled a little.
"Dolphin…well, Dolphin’s a bit unusual."
"Everyone keeps saying she’s insane." Amelia noted. "Is she?"
"Well, yeah…" Xellas yelped as Lina poked her with her elbow. "Hey!"
"You were saying?"
Xellas bared her teeth in an annoyed gesture. She didn’t want to think about Dolphin…and what happened. "Deep Sea Dolphin was the second youngest of all of us, but she was clearly the one everyone loved." Lina raised an eyebrow at the sadness and bitterness in Xellas’s voice. "No one understood why she was chosen by Ruby-Eyed-sama as one of his generals. For as long as I could remember, Dolphin was always the pacifist, the referee, and the one who calmed. She wasn’t cut out for war, it seemed, and no one was surprised when she began acting strangely before the war broke out. Then she was Sealed and we never found out what happened." A little white lie. Surely that couldn’t hurt.
"What makes you think she’ll be any help in the war that’s coming up then?" Lina asked quietly. "If what you say is true, then wouldn’t waking her be forcing her into the same position she was in before?"
Xellas shook her head. "Dolphin is a big girl. In some ways, she’s the most mature out of all of us. And besides that, she is also one that is favored by L-sama. L-sama demanded chaos and balance, and light along with the dark. If we were the darkness, then Dolphin was the light. Dolphin is probably the only one that understands that balance must be kept. I know she’s the only one that will listen, willingly."
Lina sighed. "I hate this job. Why can’t someone else save the world?" They stopped in front of giant bronze doors. Lina tugged on the locks, trying to figure out if they were locked by magic. No such luck. "It would be easier if it was locked with magic." She muttered, knocking on the door experimentally. "So I guess we blast through?"
Amelia gulped. "I don’t think that’s a good idea, Lina-san."
"Why ever not?"
"We’re under a ton of water, Lina." Gourry said. "It wouldn’t be a good idea to blow the ceiling away. The water would end up in here."
Lina swallowed. Not a good idea. "Okay…is there any other way?" She studied the door some more, only to look up as Xellas walked up to the door herself. The Demon Lord’s wolf eyes seemed to pierce through the obstacle.
"Dolphin." She said softly. "It’s me, Xellas. Let us in, please?"
Lina was just about to question Xellas when there was a loud snap. The double doors shuddered, and then Lina heard a roaring sound. The roaring of water.
Lots of water.
"Everyone, get back!"
The warning came too late. The doors collapsed, pushed outward by a giant wave of seawater that crashed into the hall they were in, washing them away as if they were as insignificant as insects. Lina felt panic as the water closed over her head and there was only darkness. She couldn’t breathe or cast a spell, and the pressure in her lungs was building. Desperately, she swam for what she thought was the surface, but it was too far away. Icy cold water began seeping into her mouth and nose as she fought her instinctive urge to breathe.
She couldn’t hold her breath any more and she choked on the water that went into her lungs as she tried to gasp for air, one last time.