Slayers: Alive
Episode 125: Exposed! The Truth Must Be Faced
Grinning teasingly, Xellos focused on the present activity of annoying Filia after finally having been able to go visit her at her new shop in Seyruun. He was feeling better already. "So you don't wish death on anyone? Not even the Stillness?" Xellos threw out the possibility.
"That's different! I want that fiend gone, but that's only because for as long as it exists, it will try to kill us all!" Filia strongly argued. "That thing is not really a person, it can't change its ways," that's what Filia had concluded based on what she was told. "It took so many innocent lives," many more than she could remember.
"Yes, I would say about a third, maybe even half, of the world's total population," Xellos stated in a sugar covered happy tone.
Filia's eyes widened. She didn't intend to bring up the subject of the events of the past few months to keep her amnesia a secret from Xellos, but now that he had brought it up she was thirsty for more information. She wanted to know the kind of truths that Xellos would bluntly state with that inappropriate cheerful tone of his. The kind of harsh truths that her friends knew she wouldn't like to hear, but needed to face. "You're not exaggerating?"
"Not at all, Seyruun is in grand conditions in comparison to most other places," Xellos informed. "I take it you haven't had time to go around? Of course not, it's not like you care. In fact, you probably didn't even notice the supplies Seyruun has been sending around, because the lives of so many are just not important to you."
Filia ignored Xellos' teasing. His extreme critiques didn't bother her anymore, she knew better than to take them to heart. Yet the facts where still harshly present. More than ever, she felt the need to check on the town where she used to live. She had assumed that it was recovering just as Seyruun was, but that might not be the case. Had Jillas and Gravos even had time to visit while taking care of Val and her during her coma of several days at Dragon's Peak? Without another word, Filia walked past Xellos and headed downstairs.
"Walking away in the middle of a conversation and ignoring your guest? How rude!" Xellos exclaimed with exaggerated offence. "I'm not surprised though, you are a dragon and dragons are barbaric brutes with no manners what so ever."
Still ignoring Xellos, much to his annoyance, as he followed her, much to her annoyance, Filia made it to the bakery downstairs. She arrived on time to see Gravos returning from delivering a large heavy base that the buyer couldn't quite carry alone. "Gravos, could you mind the shop for me for a while? I need to go out for... maybe a few days."
Gravos was about to agree, at first assuming that Filia was going out for a few minutes or hours at most, but when she said days it took him by surprise. "Days?"
They wanted to be gentle with her, that much was clear. Maybe a disaster had happened in their old home town which was the real reason that led to their move to Seyruun. Filia didn't want to push her family into reliving the situation and knew they were just trying to protect her by keeping it quiet, which were all the more reasons to go on her own. "It's nothing, I'm just..." She couldn't tell the truth, but she didn't want to lie.
Xellos wrapped his arm around Filia's shoulders, annoyingly pulling her close to him. "We're going out on a romantic get away for a few days." He grinned with his most sarcastic squinty eyes smile.
Before Filia could harshly slap his arm away and yell a few insults at Xellos, Gravos nodded with a smile. Perhaps Filia's memories were coming back if she apparently had remembered that she no longer disliked Xellos. "Alright, have fun and don't worry about the shop and Val. We'll take care of everything." With his well wishes stated, Gravos merrily made his way up the stairs to the vases and maces shop.
Filia stood in frozen shock, her mouth slightly agape. "He believed it..." she concluded in horror. How could Gravos sound so sincere? He didn't sound like he was joking at all and surely he knew better than to make this kind of terrible joke anyway. Then again, it was worse that he would actually think it was true. Didn't he know Filia better than that?
"Your stupidity must be rubbing off on him." Xellos stated as a matter of fact with some surprise of his own. He didn't think Gravos was this gullible.
Pushing herself out of her shock, Filia removed Xellos' arm from around her shoulders and went off to say her remaining farewells before leaving. Xellos stood next to her in every occasion and no one question why Filia was apparently going somewhere with him, though she was hoping he wouldn't follow her. The way they were all so calm around Xellos unnerved Filia, but she figured it was all a result of the stress from the recent dangers.
xoxox xox xoxox
After a long flight, during which Xellos attempted to hop on Filia's back several times, promptly causing her to spin wildly in mid air to throw him off, and a few rest stops along the way, Filia finally arrived at her previous place of residence. The location was terribly run down and the locals were not happy to see her. "Dragon!" They screamed as she landed, though Filia was more focused on finding a suitable pile of debris behind which she could transform into her smaller shape. Her mind was also occupied by the concern of Xellos peeking at her.
In short, by the time Filia was back in her elf form, she noticed too late that she was surrounded by an angry mob. "Everyone?" She stared at them unsure. "What's going on?"
"Why have you come back, dragon?" Someone in the crowd asked in a very accusing tone. "Are you here to try to devour us in revenge for burning the remains of your old shop? You're not welcomed here, not you or your beast friends!"
Filia stepped back in shock. She was unable to find her voice seeing the townspeople like that. "It's true, it is her!" Sasha approached the angry mob, pointing at Filia.
"That horrible dragon is back!" Anna dramatized.
"Go away you wild creature!" Manna shouted angrily. "You're nothing but trouble!"
"No doubt about it, those tree chimera we had attacking the town earlier were looking for her," Sasha accused. "Because of her bringing danger to our peaceful town so many people died, including Hanna who was always so kind to Filia. She's such an ingrate!"
"Yeah and it was her friend that leveled the mountains just outside of town, they're so violent!" Anna added.
"It's no wonder the beasts she kept with her turned out to be horrible murderers, one just had to look at them to know!" Manna yelled.
"Oh yes, she does make weapons for a living," Sasha agreed. "Then when the zombies attacked right before the end of the apocalypse, she was nowhere to be found, the coward."
Filia's eyes were filled with tears; she didn't understand any of this. She had heard about Lina blowing up a mountain when she was attacked by monsters while looking for some spicy herbs, but she didn't think anyone cared all that much. Filia had heard about the tree snake chimeras and Venus, thinking of her as a whole different person from Hanna, whom she thought was still alive. She had not been told about the visit to Beast Master's Spa in the astral side. She didn't know Venus and her forces had apparently been after her, though in truth they were actually hunting for Xellos that time.
Hanna was dead? Many of the townspeople were dead? She had put them in danger? Jillas and Gravos' reputations were ruined because of her? This was her fault? They hated her, the whole town hated her. Filia was paralyzed. She couldn't speak, she couldn't' move, she couldn't even feel the abundant tears flowing from her eyes. The angry mob was going to attack her with murderous intent, blaming her unrightfully for all that had gone wrong and she just stood there like a rag doll.
"Are you going to move, stupid dragon?" As he voice the question with an obvious negative unspoken answer, Xellos teleported Filia away.
The distance of the teleportation was short, so Filia didn't get a harsh wave of sickness because of it, but she was already feeling terribly sick because of what happened in the ruins of town. She could see the town far away as she stood in a valley that was once a mountain. She was still speechless, still motionless, still trapped in deep sorrow.
"Honestly, I prefer wrath, but I suppose this will have to do," Xellos teased, hoping to get some kind of reaction from Filia. He stood directly in her line of vision and leaned close to her face with a big smile. "I thank you for the meal."
Filia felt herself tremble with the pain of the hardships she had forgotten and still could not remember, which only made it worse. "They hate me," she sobbed. "They hate Jillas and Gravos too. They even hate Lina. Why did this turn out so wrong? Why did innocent people have to get involved in my problem, in my fight? Hanna... I cared for her like a mother and she's gone!" Filia's voice increased in volume until she was all out wailing.
"You really are pathetic, stupid dragon," Xellos criticized unhelpfully. "You knew there was a harsh discovery waiting for you here," though she expected something different, "but you still came anyway. If you couldn't face the truth why didn't you just remain in ignorant bliss like the pathetic fool you are?" This was annoying, Filia's sorrow had a particularly bitter quality to it, he wanted wrath, delicious wrath to feast on, not this overrated monster dish.
Filia sniffled; Jillas and Gravos were only trying to spare her from reliving the pain. She was upset at them for hiding this, but she could hardly blame them. They probably thought she would fall apart and they were sadly right. She took in big deep breaths and tried to calm down. She was happy up until the point when she got the urge to return to that town. If that idiot Xellos hadn't shown up and brought up the subject of the world wide losses, she wouldn't have gotten that sudden impulse to take off.
Stupid Xellos, it was all his fault, everything was his fault! Just as for the townspeople everything was her fault. She shook her head. Xellos was a horrible monster, but he had plenty of real facts to get blamed for, thus Filia decided that she did not want to blame him for something that was actually not his fault. He didn't know she had amnesia and as much as she hated to admit it, he was doing her a favor by indirectly making her discover what she had been unknowingly ignoring.
Filia had decided after her discovery of the ancient dragons' fate that she wouldn't hide from the truth, even when it was difficult to face. She dried her tears and let out one last sorrowful breath, before taking in some fresh air with intentions of speaking. Her words were interrupted before they could even form on her lips as the angry mob from town approached in the distance. The group was now larger with more people having joined the dragon hunt. Filia hurried away, desperately looking for a hiding place to transform.
"Isn't it faster to fly?" Xellos sarcastically inquired as he hurried after Filia. She had managed to make herself calm down noticeably and stop crying. He wondered what she was thinking of to have achieved that effect.
"I would fly if you would look away!" The angry mob was still pretty far, and Filia was getting further away from them. From that distance they wouldn't be able to see much if she transformed. Yet Xellos was right there, annoyingly floating next to her as she ran.
"You want me to look away so you can transform with some privacy?" Xellos inquired the obvious with a look of false innocence.
"Yes!" Filia shouted. She knew all too well that he would not grant her request.
"How very considerate of you," Xellos sarcastically replied, grinning in amusement. "It's about time you started minding your manners, but you don't need to worry about me. You've already transformed in my presence before and I've already seen every gruesome detail. If the sight of your horrendous body didn't traumatize me then, it won't traumatize me now." Filia's wrath had returned full force and Xellos was very much enjoying it. This tasted so much better than plain old sorrow.
Filia's face turned scarlet in embarrassment and anger. Her blood felt like it was boiling. "Xellos!" In a fit of rage, she transformed and tried to hit Xellos. She punched, she kicked, she swung her tail around and even bashed her head into the ground in an attempt to crush him. He took off higher into the skies laughing merrily and Filia was quick to give pursuit. She shot one laser beam after another trying to at least partially decimate the horrible annoyance. It was true that she didn't really want him dead, but she wanted to cause him pain, horrible terrible pain.
xoxox xox xoxox
Filia's later return to her shop at Seyruun was filled with exhaustion, both physical and emotional. Unfortunately for her, she was unable to injure Xellos. She greeted everyone, making her return known, then she went straight upstairs to her room in the back of the second floor. She took a bath and lay down on her soft and inviting bed for a nap. She would have a long talk with Jillas and Gravos as soon as she cleared her head a little.
Xellos showed up again at the bakery for a tangible snack and happily sat at one of the outdoor tables recently added to the establishment enjoying the sweet treat. He was not expecting Jillas to approach him with a most peculiar conversation. "Did you tell her everything?" The fox beastman asked with curious concern. He wondered if Filia's memories were really returning or if Xellos somehow convinced her to go out with him even if she didn't sound so fond of him not long ago.
"Everything?" Xellos questioned, preceding the action of taking another bite of his delicious chocolate ice-cream pie.
"You know, about what the boss doesn't remember because of her amnesia." Jillas explain in what was, from his point of view, a very clear way. He assumed that Xellos remembered everything that had transpired leading up to the unusual wedding and beyond.
"Oh, that," Xellos pretended he wasn't partially in the dark too. Beast Master had only given him the basic summary after all. At least Xellos wasn't the only one with amnesia, though Jillas obviously didn't know about that detail and assumed Filia was the only one missing some memories. "I only told her about a few details about the general state of the world, nothing too shocking. Oh yes, and she also knows the people of her old home town hate her. That's where she wanted to go."
The fox paled, though it wasn't really noticeable under his fur. He stared at Xellos' ever present grin as he ate his sweet chocolaty snack. "The town..." Filia had looked terribly tired when she returned, but not as emotionally distraught as he would imagine her to be after such a horrible discovery. He assumed that Xellos must have consoled her. "I suppose she had to know eventually. Thanks for being there for her."
Xellos had to pause, mouth open, a portion of chocolate on the tip of his spoon, waiting to be eaten. He put down the silverware on the plate next to the remaining chocolaty treat, the piece it carried still untouched. Apparently Gravos wasn't he only gullible one. It seemed that Jillas had also gotten it in his head that Xellos was in some kind of romantic relationship with Filia. The thought of relationships made Xellos remember his earlier near mortal shock and it made the thought seem terribly wrong. He was wasting a golden opportunity to tease and embarrass Filia, but given the peculiar circumstances concerning Beast Master, it just didn't seem funny anymore. Thus he clarified, "we're not really dating. I only wanted to see Filia's reaction if I told Gravos we were."
Jillas blinked in realization. Then that could only mean that Filia's amnesia was still going strong. Xellos knew about it, everyone in the group knew about it, so someone must have gotten him up to speed even before Jillas mentioned it. Xellos was probably trying not to shock Filia too much by keeping their status as a legally married couple a secret from her. "I see... Maybe it's better this way." Because in her current mental state, Filia would probably demand a divorce... while throwing a very dangerous hissy fit.
"Agreed," Xellos simply stated, still trying to push the thoughts of the shock out of his head. After feasting on Filia's wrath, feasting on some sweets and staying away from Wolf Pack Island for the duration of Filia's trip to and from her previous home town, Xellos felt a bit better. He was still in shock, but his mind was clear enough to actually do something about it. He couldn't directly take action, Beast Master would be most displeased, but maybe if he could indirectly influence the other side, everything would work out.
Xellos needed a pawn, someone to use in order to influence 'him.' If it happened to be a dragon that would make things easier. Maybe Filia... Nah, she wouldn't be so easily tricked, not to this magnitude at least. Then again, Xellos was certain that Filia would find the terrible discovery just as offensive as he did. He wouldn't need to manipulate her at all, because if she knew, she would willingly help set things right. Rather than a pawn, she would be his teammate. Of course, that would involve actually confessing the terrible thing that had occurred, which he assumed begun at some point while he was unconscious for several days. That would be terribly embarrassing.
Nonetheless, if Xellos didn't do anything to right this terrible wrong, sooner or later, the mortifying fact would be known by many more people than just Filia. It was difficult waking up with missing memories to a world that was insane. Maybe that chaotic energy that was fed to the planet had some kind of side effect or something, because the occurrence was certainly crazy. Thus it was decided. Xellos would confess the catastrophe to Filia and she would volunteer to influence 'him.' Then finally the world would be set right side up again. Xellos liked chaos, but not this kind of beyond nonsensical ridiculous chaos. Albeit he should probably let Filia cool off for a while longer first.
To be Continued
This will be so much fun! :D