To Live Another Day 141

Slayers: Alive

Episode 141: Glow! The Pain Of The Unknown

At the beach, after the massive tidal way panic had passed, Amelia and Zelgadis contemplated the day's events. "It looks like we weren't able to prevent the date's interruption after all," Amelia observed with a little disappointment.

"This was too big to be prevented," Zelgadis commented, not realizing that he wasn't exactly helping console her.

"Maybe so," Amelia admitted sadly, then her cheerful determination rose once again. "But love is greater than anything else. Even with this trial, love will still triumph!" She cheered energetically. After a moment's pause, she glanced at the beach one last time before remembering her planned schedule. "We should probably get going now; we have many places to visit on our journey." Thus the princess and the chimera continued with their trip.

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Gourry had rejoined Lina. The redhead was, along with Yako, lamenting the cancellation of the scavenger hunt and they were so close to finishing first too. Sylphiel approached the group with a mysterious box in her hands and an interesting announcement. "Since the scavenger hunt was cancelled, our secret sponsor said I was free to keep the prize myself. Your team really worked hard on that scavenger hunt and I'm sure you would have won, so I'll give this to the two of you."

Immediately, Lina and Yako began pulling the box in opposite directions, fighting for what they thought was at least a small portion of dragon cuisine. The cardboard box broke apart and the item it contained fell to the sandy ground. It was a framed autograph of Miku Hatsune. Lina and Yako stared at the item and agonizingly declared in perfect unison, "this isn't edible!"

Neuro, who had been watching quietly from a short distance away, approached. "Such delicious frustration!" He mocked. "In truth, the one that spread the dragon cuisine rumor was me. It was all a joke and you fell for it! Though it was originally only meant as a trap for Yako, I ended up with a double snack."

"Neuro, you're so cruel!" Yako complained.

Lina glared and pretty soon she seemed to be emanating Neuro's favorite food, murderous intent. She didn't care if black magic wasn't ideal to use against a monster, she didn't care if her violent nature empowered him; she needed to let out her tensions in the one way she knew how. "Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows."

"Since the Stillness retreated, Shabranigdu's power should be usable for now." Sylphiel reasoned, realizing in just how much danger they were. "Maybe we should give her some space."

"I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand, before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hands," Lina continued.

"That is a secret," Gourry agreed.

"It's no secret that we really need to retreat," Yako urged.

"Ray Wing!" Sylphiel quickly transported herself, Gourry and Yako to a safe distance.

"Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed, by the power you and I possess." As Lina came close to finishing her spell, meal of aggression aside, Neuro decided that it was time to retreat. "Dragon Slave!" A large explosion overtook the beach, yet it wasn't as large as it should be. Lina could feel it, the remaining pieces of Shabranigdu were holding back, retreating away from something, but why? The Stillness had hidden itself completely, had it not? Unless a part of the Stillness remained outside of the enclosed astral space that surrounded Lamentation. Had the Void separated from it? If that was the case, then a fragment of the Stillness was hidden somewhere in the world, waiting to strike.

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After the tidal wave had come and Filia realized she was being blamed for it, though she was fairly certain that it wasn't her fault, the upset golden dragon had hastily flown away from the beach. Eventually, she had stopped rushing endlessly away and allowed Xellos to teleport her. He had thought it was kind of funny how she went from chasing him with violent intentions to flying away in an emotional outburst of offense at the crowds' unfair accusations.

Once in Seyruun, Filia insisted on waiting for Xellos to go away before hiding herself and changing back into her elf form. Xellos perceived that there was an additional layer of worry beyond her usual modesty. It made him wonder what that was about. He waited for a while, floating above the shop, then let himself into her room via the window. Filia was laying on her bed, resting but awake with a swirl of emotions going through her.

Filia felt many things very intensely at the same time. Uncertainty, worry, confusion, frustration, heartbreak and even hope, yet it was all somehow so unknown, so fluctuating. What in the world could be going through her head? Very quiet and sneaky, Xellos made his way closer to Filia, standing behind her as she lay on her side, her eyes closed. She could sense him behind her, but she didn't show any signs of it right away. The seconds ticked away and finally, Filia rolled over so that she lay on her back, looking up at Xellos who was leaning over her with perplexed curiosity. "What do you want, raw garbage?" She fought to keep her voice steady. She needed to talk to someone who knew how to inform her, yet she was so tired, she didn't have the will to do it right away.

"Just curious, stupid dragon," Xellos admitted. "To what do I owe this feast of mostly negative emotions?" He waited for an answer that never came. Instead she sat up and with the motion she removed the hand that had been lightly resting on her stomach subconsciously. She didn't notice it right away, but he did. "That..." he pointed, unsure of if his eyes were playing a trick on him. The sun had set, shrouding the room in darkness, making even the faintest light more noticeable.

Filia looked down at her stomach. The fabric of the robe-like nightgown she had changed into was pretty thin. She had been careless. She immediately turned away and got up, her back to Xellos. "What?" Her voice cracked.

"Is that? Are you?" He walked around her, but she kept turning, refusing to face him. "Stay still!" Xellos grabbed the waist band that held the pale pink nightgown closed and pulled it off.

"Xellos!" Filia screeched, holding the thin pink garment closed with her hands. "Give that back, you piece of raw garbage!" She snatched the waist band back with one hand, still holding her clothing closed with the other.

"Answer me!" Xellos demanded with his eyes open, piercing... Angry?

Filia shuddered at the mix of disapproval and anger in his voice. Then she resolved to be firm. "This is none of your business! So what if I am?" Admitting it aloud for the first time shook Filia to her very core. Her arms fell motionless on her sides, as if her strength left her with the direct acknowledgement of the truth. The pink waistband slipped out of her fingers and fell to the floor. "So what if I am?" Her voice had lost the forced fire it held seconds prior. "So what?" She sobbed quietly, almost imperceptibly. "It's none of your business."

Xellos looked at Filia's exposed abdomen, placing his hand on the faint glow of light. "Your belly is still flat, your dragon hide won't permit the light to be visible and in this form if you wear thick fabric, no one will notice, he observed." He remembered her little outburst at the beach and her necessity to cover her midsection. Yet there it was, the unmistakable glow of a growing egg inside her body. He removed his hand as if it had been burned, not even bothering to take note of the fact that she had not immediately slapped it away. "You're right, this is none of my business." There was a bitterness that seemed very unfitting for a creature so cheerful as Xellos as he faded away to the astral side.

"Xellos, wait!" Filia called to him in agony. What was she supposed to say, what was she supposed to do? She couldn't explain this even to herself. She held no memories of how this situation came to be. The father of her child, where was he? Who was he? Why wasn't he there with her? She fingered the amethyst ring she always wore. If she had loved him so much, enough to let things go that far, then why couldn't she remember him?

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Later, Milgazia landed at Dragon's Peak and went straight home. He changed into his human shape, gave Justice some food and changed his water, then proceeded to rummage through his tea leaf supplies. He found an opened package with a note in Memphis' handwriting. "A package with tea leaves arrived while you were away. They smelled good, so I took the liberty to have some and shared them with Phythan and Kirei, since Onyx doesn't really like tea. I hope you don't mind."

Phythan's internship had ended and he and Onyx had recently come to Dragon's Peak where Milgazia let them stay. The white dragon, Kirei, had come seeking his help for revenge, though Milgazia had mostly persuaded her to stop her plans, albeit he suspected she wasn't quite convinced. Milgazia examined the remaining tea leaves in the mysterious package that a certain someone had decided to send after all and his eyes grew wide with recognition. He hurried to find Memphis and most of all Phythan and Kirei.

Rushing out to the mountains, he spotted a campfire with three people sitting around it. "Don't drink that!" He called out as Kirei was about to lift a cup to her mouth.

The white dragon froze and Memphis blinked, "I didn't think you'd mind," the elf apologized. "Sorry to have taken the tea leaves without asking."

"Has anyone drank any of this tea?" Milgazia urgently asked.

"I have not drank any yet," Kirei responded. "But Phythan has. Does it perhaps, produce sleep? He's been out cold for a while now."

"He drank quite a bit of tea too," Memphis voiced. "He liked it so much that I told him to go ahead and finish the first batch. Kirei was out training, so I decided to wait for her before having some tea myself. So far the only one who has tried it is Phythan."

Milgazia shook his head, already feeling sorry for Phythan. "He's going to be sick when he wakes up."

"You mean, the tea is harmful?" Memphis asked in shock.

"You can't trust mysterious packages," Milgazia lectured sternly. "If I were to take a guess, I would say this is from Zelas. These tea leaves, I thought they were extinct. It seems that they flourished again when the Earth was restored with chaotic energy." Of course, none of the younger people present would know of such tea leaves that had not been seen for over a thousand years. "This tea is actually pretty nutritious for a dragon woman who is with child, but no one else should take it."

Memphis' face contorted with worry and guilt. "Is it poisonous to dragon males?"

"Yes, but it's not fatal," Milgazia explained. "He'll just be sick and in pain for a few days, depending on how much tea he drank. This tea can produce strange dreams in anyone who drinks it. That is as far as its effects go in most living creatures, except dragons. With dragons it is poisonous to males, healthy for pregnant females and has a very peculiar effect on females who are not expecting."

"Really?" Kirei asked in curiosity, glad that she had not tried any of the tea yet. "What does it do?"

"An empty egg," Milgazia revealed. "A collection of nutrients and such that looks like an egg but has nothing inside."

"That would be pretty odd," Kirei observed. Laying an empty egg with tea leaves as the father? That would be very odd indeed.

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Meanwhile, at Wolf Pack Island... "You seem upset, Xellos." Zelas commented as she watched her favorite minion pace about the hallways of her secret palace.

Xellos put on a mask of a sugary smile for his master and tried to act natural. "I am perfectly fine, Lord Beast Master. I'm ready to serve you in any way you require."

"I'm sure," Zelas acknowledged with little pause. "But I must insist that you tell me what is bothering you," she pried with mild curiosity. "What has my favorite general priest so upset?"

"I'm your only general priest," Xellos pointed out with a forced overly cheerful smile.

"Don't change the subject," Zelas smiled very much like Xellos. Her usually open stunning eyes were now closed in the same fashion as his usually were.

Xellos' eyes opened. Zelas only closed her eyes like that when she was indulging in a moment of extreme silliness or when she was holding back a considerable deal of impatience. He knew he better get out with it. "It's nothing really, a detail of no importance. That ancient dragon is going to have a little sibling, that is all."

"Oh?" Zelas let out a light melodious laugh quite different from the full power of her roaring and howling laughter. "So your pet is expecting?" She feigned surprise so well that Xellos believed she was only now finding out about this. "You'll have another little pet then, how nice. What are you going to name it?"

Xellos closed his eyes again and grinned like he always did. "Kooky if it's a boy and Kootie Pie if it's a girl."

"Such fitting names," Zelas chuckled. "Do let me know when the little one arrives; I'm curious to see it."

"Why waste your precious time with such a hideous sight?" Xellos was still smiling in the same superficial way. "A baby dragon of all things is not worthy of being in your magnificent presence."

"I'm sure it's not," Zelas agreed with an amused nod. "However, I'm still curious and I want to see it. In fact, you are to bring the egg to me as soon as it comes."

"Oh..." Xellos' expression slightly fell, but he quickly recovered again. This wasn't a joke from Beast Master, nor was it a request. It was an order and Xellos knew that he had to follow it. "As you wish," he finally voiced.

"Naturally," Zelas agreed with a wide grin.

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After her conversation with Xellos, Zelas teleported to the rebuilt rickety wooden clock tower at the Amor Resort Island. The tower was surrounded by a thick forest that was not plastic this time around, as it had grown back following the apparent recovery of the world. Tiffany and Celo were there, him busily tinkering with machines and her making tea. She was under the effects of a visual illusion spell to look like her normal self. "Lord Beast Master, welcome to our humble home. Would you like some tea?" Tiffany offered.

"Why yes, thank you very much," Zelas replied with a mocking tone of superior politeness.

"To what do we owe the honor of your visit, Lord Beast Master?" Celo curiously inquired, while he, Zelas and Tiffany sat down around a table, where the golden dragon was serving tea.

"Just a casual visit," Zelas picked up her tea cup and took a sip. She set the tea cup down gently while Tiffany went to fetch some cookies. "How is the little resident of the jar doing?"

"He is alright, or as well as one confined to a jar could be." Celo smiled respectfully. He was talking about Solex, who had been preserved in a jar using knowledge originally discovered by Rezo.

"I see," Zelas noted, her eyes traveling to the plate full of brown chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips that Tiffany had brought over. The monster lord took a cookie and ate it. After a pause following the action she informed. "The vessel is being prepared, or a portion of it, I should say."

"That is good to hear," Celo quietly rejoiced with well practiced respect. "After that part of the vessel is ready, it should only be a matter of inserting a sample of General Xellos' energy into it and having the soul of Solex possess it, integrating itself into the new vessel."

"Realistically speaking, what is the probability of a successful salvage of Xellos' minion?" Zelas inquired, taking another sip of her tea following the question.

"It is difficult to say," Celo respectfully ascertained. "The chaotic energy in the atmosphere could be very good or very bad for our purpose. It is true that it pushed Solex to come undone faster before, but it may have a stabilizing effect this time. It is wonderfully unpredictable," Celo smiled with true bliss.

"Yes," Zelas nodded and took another cookie. "Chaos is wonderful indeed."

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It was morning bright and early in Seyruun when Filia considered requesting to speak with Jillas and Gravos, but decided against it. She felt odd and somewhat ashamed not to remember her lover and didn't actually address the situation directly. It was as if she was trying to convince herself, for the purpose of reassuring herself that she had not made a grave mistake, that she did in fact love that mystery man. She wanted to remember him of her own accord. The egg would not be due to be laid for a while and it would be an additional stretch of time before it hatched. Thus she could give herself until then to get her hidden memories to emerge completely before she asked directly.

Deciding that she needed to clear her head and a change of scene would be right for that, Filia decided to fly to Dragon's Peak. After taking care to make sure that everything was running smoothly at home, she took off on her own. She wasn't even sure herself why she was going to such a place, possibly simply because it was different. Though Milgazia and Memphis were kind to her, the Water Clan was still a little nervous around her, though less so than in the past. Even so, she needed to be in an environment that was essentially different from her usual life as of late. Maybe she could have some tea in the mountains and relax.

Secretly, deep down Filia wondered if perhaps Milgazia knew the father of her child. Albeit she did not remember being so close in such a way to another dragon, logic and reason dictated that the father had to be a dragon, or else it would be a biological impossibility. The world might be somewhat chaotic, but not that chaotic. Just as Xellos had pointed out, though the thought of the purple haired monster sent waves of pain through her body at the moment, Filia knew that as long as her clothing was thick enough to hide the faint glow in her belly, no one would notice it.

Filia was well received in Dragon's Peak, having landed near Milgazia's house. She learned from Memphis that Phythan was ill to the point of being bedridden and that a white dragon by the name of Kirei was taking care of him. The name did not settle well with Filia, but she forced herself not to show any outward reactions, instead making a quiet mental note to check on them.

Milgazia wasn't in the best state of health either, albeit it was for entirely different reasons as Phythan. He had hastily flown back to Dragon's Peak after the beach incident while he was still sopping wet with sea water. The flight had certainly dried him off by the time he got home, but the cool evening air made him catch a cold. The golden dragons, known by many as the dragon lords because of their exceptional abilities, were certainly a powerful race, but not even they were safe from the perils of the common cold. Even so, Milgazia wasn't one to let a cold knock him out of commission, thus he received his visitor and did his part to entertain her as well as he could.

To be Continued

Miku Hatsune is from Vocaloids. Kooky and Kootie Pie are Ludwig and Wendy's names from the Super Mario animated series. I've been making more Slayers mouse cursors and desktop icons lately. You can download them at Deviant Art (there's a link in my profile).