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Part Two: Zozobra
Chapter [1] [2]
[3] [4] [5]
Zozobra: Chapter Two
Something was awry with the world. Somehow, during the night, Filia had left the inn and gone off on her own somewhere. The questions were where and why? Though another question rode him more savagely. How could he have missed her leaving? He who did not sleep, who could sense her presence...
This event threw a monkey wrench into his machinations. And that was a very bad thing. How could he have missed such a singularly important event? How! Perhaps it had been when he was - oya, sore wa himitsu desu!
It did not matter now; the only course of action left to take was to go in search of her. In truth, he was the only one who had a real chance of finding her. Besides, the others would not care if he disappeared for a few hours or days. It was his nature to do so after all. However, they would notice Filia's absence. He knew it would not take him days to find her.
With all his power gathering around him, he reached out with his senses. Searching for, at the very least, a tendril of her Astral Signature.
There.
His eyes slid open into familiar slits. He had found a trail of her signature. The corners of his lips turned up. It would lead him to the wayward Golden Ryuzoku. He slowly bared his teeth in the semblance of a smile. He would bring her back from wherever she had gotten herself so that - oya, sore wa...himitsu desu!
* * *
She teleported as far as she could in her condition, then she ran as fast as possible without toppling over into the sand.
The sun was bright and reaching its zenith in the pale blue sky. It was getting hotter and a harsh wind began to sweep across the
sand, it lifted the sand up and swirled it, washing the horizon sepia.
She finally gave up and collapsed in the sand, her clothing spilled from her hands around her and her headdress slipped off of her head. She lay on her back looking off into the distance. Unconsciously, she slid on her garter and replaced her mace as a matter of course.
Maybe if she were lucky she would die out here. She could will herself to die, if she really wanted too. It would only take a few days in this human form. These were the thoughts that
plagued her as she ran her fingers lightly through the sand and watched it dance on the wind. Dust devils leapt and twirled as if for her amusement alone.
It had been a long while since she last blinked and the sand stung her eyes. Blinking, she felt the gritty sand against them. The discomfort was forgotten as a dark dust devil wove its way through the lighter ones.
Her heart and her throat clenched as she felt
His presence. Slowly, he stepped into view as he walked towards her. His eyes were hidden by his bangs, and his cloak was whipping in the wind. He came through the flying beige sand like an apparition.
"Xellos!" She gasped as a look of utter horror overtook her pallid face.
* * *
The pain, the suffering...there were delicious. He did not even need to track her by her Astral Signature now. He was very close now, close enough so that she could feel him.
As he shifted from his Mazoku form to his human one, he unleashed those senses. He could smell the strong scent of blood, bodily liquids, and, the most overpowering of all, hormones. He could see her broken body lying in the dunes. He also heard the faint sound as she said his name.
Looking more closely, Xellos could see her terrified face with her eyes wide and luminous. He cracked a cruel smile as he stood over her, still concealing his eyes from her. She panted as she looked up at him, fear rolling off her in waves.
"Look at you, Filia," he said savagely yet quietly, "all bloody and reeking like a whore." Filia blanched at "bloody" and "whore." Xellos continued,
"Your hair is dirty and tangled. You are practically covered in blood. Whose blood, I wonder? Yours or His? Both I think. So, you like it rough Filia?"
"Stop it," Filia whispered raggedly, but he did not stop. Her suffering was sharper now and even more palatable. Xellos snarled,
"I know what you have been doing and I know who you were doing it with. I am far from stupid Filia. I can smell Him on you." Filia was panting now as she struggled up to her knees and choked out,
"Shut up! Shut up!" He grabbed her fisted hands at her wrists and held her up. Her position uncomfortable because she was no longer able to kneel and he would not let her stand. Finally, she was able to see his eyes as he thrust his face right in front of hers. This caused him only a slight pause in his diatribe.
"Did He tell you the truth, Filia? Did He tell you how your people slaughtered all the Ancient Ryuzoku?"
"Namagomi!" She screeched in his face with tears streaming down her own. He merely tightened his hold on her wrists in a painful manner.
"How does it feel, Filia, to know that you are worse than I am?" He paused and smiled slowly, "Yes, you see Filia; I killed many Golden and Ancient Ryuzoku during the War of the Monster's Fall, but I have never committed genocide."
By now, Filia was shaking her head from side to side, silently denying his words as she sobbed.
"All this time, you have hated me, a Mazoku, because of my past deeds. Hated me for simply being a Mazoku! You never missed a chance to taunt or ridicule me and each time I silently laughed at you because I knew the truth!"
She tore away from Xellos and his malignant face and fell to the ground facing away from him. Filia stumbled upright and tried to take a step, but she tripped over the hem of her cloak and fell forward on her knees. This time she did not have the energy to rise and simply covered her face with her hands. Her sobs racked her hunched shoulders and she choked each time she tried to breathe.
Xellos' eyes gleamed triumphantly and he licked his lips. That was quite enough for one day. He closed the distance between them and knelt down behind her. He turned her around to face him and enclosed her in his embrace. Filia tried to shrink away from him, but Xellos would have none of it. He even placed her face under his chin as his hand roamed her back.
Soon enough, Filia exhausted herself and passed out in his arms. With staff in hand and Filia in his arms, Xellos stood up in the dancing sand and disappeared.
End of Chapter Two
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