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Slayers: Alive - Episode 100: Acceptance! Reconciling With The Past

Filia probably shouldn't be doing this and she knew it, but she had to. They could wait a little longer to start with the wedding. She was probably being rude to the guests that were gathered at the temple, but she had to get this off her chest. Thus she stayed still while a whirlwind encased her and played along having her hair all done up. Two strands fell on the sides of her face, the left one purple. If Filia had been paying attention, she would have taken a moment to hope the dye was temporary, but she wasn't paying attention.

Filia looked at the reflection in the diamond decorated hand mirror Zelas had held up out of nowhere, not even glancing at the mocking look in the monster's eyes. "You're still as hideous as ever, but there's nothing more that can be done about that. Go on now; take your place next to the altar for the ceremony of golden dragon corruption and humiliation... I mean, for this lovely wedding." Without any further teasing, as if it wasn't enough already, Zelas disappeared into the astral side, leaving Filia alone with her plotting and planning.

xoxox xox xoxox

At the entrance to the temple, Xellos was waiting for Zelas as instructed. She peeked over to the side of the temple and called Xellos over. "Look at that, your bride is running away with another man." Zelas sounded amused and not really serious.

"My loyal little pet wouldn't do that," Xellos joked back.

"Oh, but she is doing it, come see." Zelas hid herself at the edge of the temple's front, looking past the corner to the area at its side as she whispered.

"I'm sure that's not what it is," Xellos peeked around the corner and found nothing. "Especially because Filia isn't even there," he finished.

Zelas stood upright with a victoriously playful expression. "I made you look."

"I fell for it, my bad," Xellos admitted in the same playful joking tone.

xoxox xox xoxox

Filia nervously fingered her jewelry of gold with amethysts. The expensive looking bracelets and arm bands were extravagant, like something Zelas would wear. Actually, the dress was Zelas style too, elegant yet showy, prone to making heads turn. Filia looked around the back room one last time, almost fearing that Zelas would pop out of nowhere with another cruelly sarcastic comment to deliver. When that didn't happen, the golden dragon climbed out the window and went around the temple.

Filia made her way around the side of the temple, keeping her head low, away from the view of the golden lined glass windows. She occasionally peeked in cautiously through the windows, searching for a specific guest. Sylphiel was dressed in the formal robes of a priestess, the white and gold outfit accentuated by two brooches side by side on her chest. One was the royal crest of Seyruun and the other was the crest of the Metallium family. Sylphiel looked like she was trying to pretend not to notice that second crest, but was admirably putting up with having to wear it.

Lina, Amelia, Elena and Tiffany were standing to the side of the altar in their bridesmaids dresses. Amelia was holding Val, making sure he didn't chew up the repaired wedding bands. One side of the temple was filled with people that Filia mostly did not recognize. Celo and Galathia were there along with many other monsters and monster chimeras. Some were disguising themselves as humans and others appearing in a variety of grotesque monstrous forms. That had to be the side designated for the friends of the groom. The side for the friends of the bride held her new family and mostly humans with a few beastmen here and there.

Martina, Zangulus, Philionel and Naga were all present, father and daughter sitting next to each other. That placed Naga in the middle between Phil and Gravos, who sat by her side at the front of the temple. It looked like he was having a conversation with an amused yet analytical Phil and looking more nervous than Filia ever remembered seeing Gravos get. As for Naga, she was laughing obnoxiously, leaving her boyfriend and father to converse while she was slightly turned around, chattering with Martina, who sat at the row behind her. Martina was also laughing obnoxiously, which was probably why the area was not occupied by anyone else aside from those who had their reasons to have to stick around near Naga and Martina.

Jillas and Palou had moved back to try to put some distance between their ears and the sources of the painful sound waves. Fili, Xellos' pet wolf cub sat next to Palou, who was entertained in quietly playing with her. Near by were Phythan, Onyx and Fang, the monster fox retaining his almost human form sitting on Filia's side of the temple, possibly to balance it out, since there were so many monsters on the other side. Zelas probably advertised this event to them as some sort of comedy show. Naturally, Zelgadis and Gourry were there as well. Other people present in the bride's side of the temple were Kally, Kalio, Medusa and Pokota, along with several others that Filia didn't recognize. Those others included friends and relatives of Amelia and Pokota, plus a few people Lina and her traveling companions had encountered in their travels. Lina's family was absent, since Luna was a knight of Ceifeed and Zelas probably wouldn't want her there. Thus Lina conveniently forgot to suggest their names for the guest list when Tiffany had inquired about it.

Some of the guests that Filia didn't recognize included Wizer Freion, Ruuma, Marlene, Jeffrey Mailstar, siblings Laia and Huey Einburg. The formal clothing designer Tatjana Dayward was looking quite uncomfortable as she exchanged dagger filled glares with the risque outfit designer Marty Lenford. Marty was feeling particularly confident while she alternated between glaring back at Tatjana and conversing with her stylish new friends; Sirene Fitzmeier and her husband Alphonse. Both of them claimed to be personal acquaintances of Naga the White Serpent, whom Marty positively had to have a word with at the reception in hopes of inviting her to join her team of models at the upcoming fashion show. Sirene and Alphonse also received invitations to the fashion show.

There was also a man with dark purple and blond hair, whose glowing green eyes gave away his status as a monster. He was sitting alongside a human woman with short blond hair and brown eyes. Another odd pair of tall monster and petite human sat in the same row as them. The monster had red hair that had a darker, near-black color at the roots and eyes in a similar color to Lina's. Next to him there was a woman with black hair in pigtails, who held a smaller monster in her arms with the appearance of a pink bunny-like creature.

Filia didn't know them, but she assumed that Xellos must know the monsters at least, they appeared to be of a high rank, lieutenants perhaps. They were actually pretty well known in distant regions of the world outside of the peninsula. Neuro, the monster who liked to feed on evil intentions and became involved in clarifying murder cases for that purpose, along with his human companion, Yako, who had a personal case she was trying to solve. Zenki, the monster who had been captured by a human sorcerer and trapped during the time of the War of the Monster's Fall. Years later, he was released by the sorcerer's descendant, Chiaki, to use his power to defend her village.

Filia peeked into one of the windows near the front entrance of the temple, which was further away from the altar at the other end. There she spotted the person she was looking for. Milgazia was sitting there alongside an elf woman. Just like the other guests, both were dressed up in attire fit to attend a formal event. Filia lightly opened the window, thankful that Milgazia was conveniently sitting near it. "Mr. Milgazia..." She whispered.

Filia didn't have to call too much, since Milgazia was already alert to his surroundings. He approached the window. "You're..." He had to pause in surprise when he realized who was at the window. "Filia Ul Copt," Milgazia whispered, trying not to gain the attention of the other guests.

"Can I talk to you? Somewhere else I mean," Filia requested.

"Yes, I wanted to speak with you too," Milgazia admitted. He glanced back at Memphis and nodded in assurance. "I'll be back in a little while."

"Okay," Memphis agreed unsure, but made no motion to follow Milgazia as he jumped out the window.

Unnoticed by Filia, Tiffany moved from her position alongside Amelia, Lina and Elena. She approached Sylphiel and whispered something to her ear, causing her to nod in understanding. Sylphiel left her position in front of the altar and retreated to the back room of the temple without a word. The strange occurrence left the other bridesmaids wondering what that was about, while Tiffany made her way towards the rows of guests. She approached Zangulus and whispered something to him, then left towards the back room where Sylphiel had gone earlier.

Zangulus tapped Martina on the shoulder for several minutes until she finally paid attention to him. He knew it would have been useless to try to strain his voice to be heard over the combined chatter of Martina and Naga. He whispered something to Martina, who nodded and bid Naga farewell for the time being, as something had come up that she needed to take care of. A few seconds passed and Naga's curiosity got the best of her, thus she ran off to see what kind of business Martina and Zangulus could have in the back room.

xoxox xox xoxox

"Xellos, come see," Zelas once again was leaning over the corner, though this time it was the other side of the temple. "Your bride is running away with another man, for real this time!"

Xellos wasn't sure why Zelas was in such a playful mood, but it was certainly better than an angry mood. Nonetheless, he wouldn't be tricked again. "I'm not falling for the same trick twice."

"It's true this time, come see," Zelas voiced quietly with amuse urgency. "Milgazia just jumped out the window. He's talking to Filia. I think they're running off somewhere. Maybe she's looking to have one last fling with a member of her own species before she ties herself down to a monster. Or maybe she intends to marry him instead of you."

Xellos' amused grin became more genuine at being called a monster. It filled him with a strange sense of pride that Zelas still acknowledged him as such, despite his current human condition. "Really now, you tricked me once but you can't expect the exact same trick to work twice in a row." Maybe Zelas was just stalling so that the guests would get all impatient and annoyed. Judging by the murmurs of the many different voices coming from inside the large temple, the atmosphere was already tense with all the monsters there.

"I order you to come look immediately," Zelas commanded, her amusement never leaving her voice and face.

"Alright," Xellos agreed, approaching the corner of the temple. "But I'm only looking because it's a direct order, not because I'm falling for the same trick again." As soon as he looked past the corner to the temple's side, he saw Filia running off with Milgazia. They turned the corner at the other end of the white building and disappeared behind the temple. "I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation for this." He insisted with an annoyed pout.

"Such as your Filia being a dirty little cheat?" Zelas cheerfully suggested as if it was the most amusing thing she had heard all day.

"Such as my Filia being kidnapped, she's such a damsel sometimes." That was an obvious lie and Xellos knew it. Even if Milgazia did decide to kidnap Filia, which Xellos seriously doubted was the case, she wouldn't be stolen away without a fight. As for the fight, if she had been defending herself, the temple would have been demolished in a barrage of lasers by now. The fact that no destruction had taken place could only mean that Filia was not being taken against her will. But the question still stood about what business she could possibly have with Milgazia.

"So she's being kidnapped," Zelas chuckled. "How troublesome, are you going to save her?"

"I suppose so," Xellos put as much laziness and complaint into his tone as he could, as if this was all a big drag. He took a few steps in Filia's general direction before turning back for a moment with a thumbs up. "I like the dress you made for Filia." He could imagine the dress was driving Filia crazy with how it hugged her torso so tightly. The slit on the side of the skirt was a nice touch that annoyed Filia even more; she had been trying to hold it closed as she walked.

"I thought you would," Zelas grinned, knowing full well how annoyed Filia was with the dress. Golden dragon vexation was delicious. "Xellos," Zelas detained him for a moment longer. "If you're going to follow them, it must be done properly."

"Properly?" Xellos questioned with a hint of impatience.

"Yes," Zelas went down the white marble steps of the fancy temple and picked up a potted bush that was on the side of the street in front of it. It had mint green leaves and hot pink roses, all of which were made of plastic. The pot was white with red heart decorations on it. "Let's go."

"Okay..." Xellos hid behind the fake heart shaped bush and turned the corner to the back of the temple along with Zelas. They spotted Milgazia and Filia sitting on a bench in a cute little patio behind the temple. The bench was of course decorated with hearts to fit the excessively romantic theme of the resort. "Why are we spying like this?" Xellos silently inquired.

"This is how I spied on Milgazia with Filia earlier and it was fun." Zelas replied in a whisper.

Xellos feigned hurt, with a hint of real surprise surfacing over his features. "You went spying with Filia and didn't bring me along?" He pouted in an exaggerated way.

"Don't be a baby; just think of it as a girls day out, except it was a whole lot less than a day." Zelas quietly explained. "Next time you want to tag along with the girls when we're spying, I'll invite you. Just make sure you wear a pretty dress."

"I'll remember that," Xellos joked. Though he rather not wear any dresses if it could be helped, he unlike Gourry and Zelgadis, wouldn't present any complaints if it was for whatever reason necessary. Then they quieted down and listened to the conversation between the two golden dragons.

xoxox xox xoxox

Catching a hint of movement from the corner of his eyes, Milgazia looked back. Filia gazed at the spot he was looking at in puzzlement. "What is it?" She inquired.

"Was that bush there a second ago?" Milgazia pointed it out.

Filia blinked, tilting her head to the side slightly. "Of course it was there, those bushes are all over the place."

"Right," Milgazia nodded. Maybe he was being a little too paranoid. He might have looked into it, but because the feeling of being watched had been with him for so long, he was learning to disregard it. He didn't sense any violent intentions from the bush anyway. "What were you trying to tell me?"

"About that..." Filia tried to organize her thoughts into words, which turned out to be a very challenging task. "I just wanted to say that I'm aware of the past. I mean, I know what happened. Obviously I know, what golden dragon doesn't know, right? What I mean is that I disapprove; I strongly disapprove, a lot. It was terrible, and I know that, and I agree that it was awful. You believe me, don't you?"

"Filia," Milgazia's interruption brought Filia's rambles to a pause. "This wedding, be honest, are you going through with this of your free will? If you're being pressured in any way, you can tell me. I'll help, but don't worry, I won't act rashly."

"I'm doing this willingly," Filia assured. "I know that I am in many ways surrounded by danger and I'm sure you already know about the delicate situation concerning Val." Filia paused to gather her thoughts as Milgazia quietly nodded in understanding. "Even with all of that I assure you, no one is forcing me into this. I love Xellos and I... even if I shouldn't I do. Even if I should feel terribly guilty somehow I don't. The past makes me sad, but the present makes me happy. Does that even make any sense? Am I a shameless terrible dragon who has been corrupted?"

"What would you do if I disapproved of this union?" Milgazia curiously inquired.

"I'll go through with it anyway," Filia answered without a second thought, her face full of determination. "I'm not looking for approval; I just needed to tell a golden dragon about my feelings on all of this, a real golden dragon who is still an active part of dragon society. I'm not hoping for any encouragement or kind words that I do not deserve. I just wanted to say this, to get it off my chest. I know it may seem like I shunned the golden dragons when I found out about the ancient dragons and after my clan was wiped out, but in the end I'm still a golden dragon and I should be, I am, proud of that. In short, I just wanted to tell you that the golden dragons do matter to me, even if we may have our disagreements. The golden dragon race is important to me, it'll always be important to me and I'll always be a part of it. I might have denied that in the past, but I take it back. I'm a golden dragon even if other golden dragons may not consider me as such."

"That is enough," Milgazia gently assured, recalling something that happened relatively not too long ago. "When I met Xellos again after over a thousand years, I was angry at him. He came looking for the Claire Bible along with Lina Inverse and her friends. He even threatened to harm the golden dragons again. I was frustrated and worried, but after seeing how they interacted with Xellos in such a carefree way, I realized that we weren't in any danger. There was something about Lina and her friends that made me think they would not be so easily disregarded. It wasn't a matter of sheer power and though they might have been being used, it wasn't only usefulness either."

Milgazia continued, "I suppose there are some people in the world that are so peculiar not even monsters wish to destroy them, people that they would much rather observe. In the grander scheme of things it only makes the truth easier to believe, despite it being so..." Milgazia left the sentence hanging and moved on to something else. "Nonetheless, no one should lower their guard around a monster." He finished in a more neutral manner. "All else aside, its only natural to chase after what your heart tells you, regardless of if it might not make perfect sense right away. Your influence may be for the best."

Filia was feeling both relieved and puzzled. She was glad that Milgazia didn't reprimand her. She would love Xellos all the same, but it was still a big weight off her shoulders. She was also curious about this truth that Milgazia hinted at. Zelas was aware of it as well, but what was it? "Honestly, I don't really have any influence. There's nothing I can do to change Zelas' mind if she decides to go on the attack."

"The best kind of influence is the kind that requires no trying, the things that just happen on their own. Every creature in the world is influencing every other creature without even knowing it," Milgazia assured.

Filia closed her eyes, drying the emotion filled tears she didn't realize she had shed. "Thank you, I'm glad I could speak to you like this."

Milgazia handed Filia a white golden lined handkerchief. "I am too. I should return to the temple now and I believe you have a wedding to get ready for."

"Right, I'll be ready in a moment!" Filia smiled.

As Milgazia left, he gave one of the heart shaped plastic potted bushes a suspicious look, then continued on his way. As soon as Milgazia was gone, Xellos jumped out from behind the bush, startling Filia. As a result, she was caught off guard and had no time to present any resistance when Xellos snatched away the handkerchief and burned it.

"I was using that!" Filia indignantly protested.

"No amount of wiping your face will make you any less ugly," Zelas mocked. "The mirror doesn't lie." The amused monster lord pulled out an elegant diamond decorated hand mirror out of astral space and handed it to Filia.

Filia's eyes had been lined with black and decorated with dark purple eye shadow, which accentuated her clear blue orbs and long eyelashes. Her eyes looked stunningly beautiful before. Now her crimson lips were still glossy, but her eye makeup, which was not water resistant at all, had been completely ruined. She had black and purple lines running down her face in a big mess that Milgazia was too much of a gentleman to directly point out. This certainly explained why he thought she needed a handkerchief, which she would have certainly ruined with black and purple stains if Xellos hadn't ruined it by turning it into ashes first.

To be Continued

Slayers: Alive - Episode 101: Rush! Chaotic Rampage

The temple where Filia and Xellos unusual wedding was set to take place was full of conversation and tension. The monsters sitting at the groom's side of the structure were talking about how they would love to rip the bride's friends apart, purposely keeping their voices loud to feast on the discomfort the mental images produced. As for the bride's friends, they kept shifting around nervously with Philionel trying to keep the peace by loudly telling lame justice jokes that no one really thought were funny.

"Isn't this taking too long?" Lina whispered to Amelia. Tiffany's odd behavior a few minutes ago got her thinking that there might be a situation that she was thus far unaware of. "Do you think there's something wrong and they're trying to solve it as quietly as possible?"

"I hope not," Amelia replied, trying to keep her worried expression in check, so as to not clue in the guests too much. It was best for them to keep thinking that both the bride and the groom happened to be fashionably late to their own wedding and that there was nothing actually wrong. The Seyruun princess felt a light tap on her shoulder and turned around to see the figure of a person wearing black.

The mysterious person was a female, judging by the shape of her body. The woman had quietly snuck behind her out of seemingly no where, her face was completely covered in black, save for her emerald eyes. Without a warning, the woman snatched away the wedding bands and jumped back.

Already anxious from the long wait, Amelia couldn't help her outburst as she hugged Val protectively and demanded. "Give those rings back in the name of justice!" Her voice rung out crystal clear, echoing loudly across the temple as if she had a megaphone integrated into her throat.

The sheer potency of Amelia's sudden voice made Lina jump back. The redhead knew that her dark haired friend's voice could reach considerably high volumes, but it wasn't until Amelia actually tried to be heard over a noisy crowd that Lina realized just how loud those volumes could be. Needless to say, Lina was thankful that Amelia did not have her older sister's habit of laughing obnoxiously.

The ninja woman did not say anything in reply to Amelia's demands. Instead she backed away and made a swift escape through one of the temple's windows. "Come back here!" Amelia called after her, with little Val screeching loudly in an attempt to imitate his justice loving aunt. The princess and the young ancient dragon both chased after the ring thief, jumping out the window, leaving behind a stunned Lina and Elena.

"Amelia!" Zelgadis got up from his seat and hurried after Amelia, exiting the temple via the same window.

Filia emerged in the main part of the temple from a door to the back room hidden from view behind the altar. Her face was cleaned and her make-up redone. Beast Master insisted that she should at least try to look half decent, even if the attempt would inevitably fail. The golden dragon was holding a beautiful bouquet of purple flowers that looked like they were poisonous, but no one was going to consume them anyway, so it didn't really matter. With tiny steps so as to not show too much leg from the slit of her dark purple dress' skirt, Filia stood beside the altar, in the position normally designated for the groom to wait for his bride to enter the temple. She looked at Lina and Elena, wondering where Amelia, Tiffany and Sylphiel were. Filia noticed that Lina appeared to be rather uncomfortable, as if she was unwillingly stuck with the task of delivering bad news. She listened to the active murmurs of the crowd that not even the arrival of the bride could cease. They were saying something about stolen rings. "Lina? What are the guests talking about? Where are the wedding rings?" Filia questioned with growing worry.

"Um..." Lina shifted uncomfortably. She should have rushed out along with Amelia, then she wouldn't be stuck delivering the bad news. She looked at Elena, throwing the task at her.

"The wedding rings were taken away," Elena confessed, "but I'm sure they'll be recovered soon."

An orchestra composed of both humans and monsters, some in disguise and others shamelessly showing their frightening forms, began to play a wedding march that sounded more like a funeral song than anything else. Lord Beast Master entered the temple and the crowd finally fell into silence. All eyes were on the monster lord as she walked in her beautiful ivory dress decorated with diamonds, the flowing skirt leaving a long trail of fabric behind her that was much longer than Filia remembered it being when she saw that dress before. Her perfect figure was well accentuated, her smooth tan skin glowing, decorated with extravagant jewelry of white gold and diamonds. Her hair was silver to match her stunning eyes, as she marched down the long red golden lined red carpet set along the center corridor of the temple between the rows of seats. The monster lord grinned like a movie star who knows she's about to win an Oscar. Like a beauty queen, she waived regally to the guests with the hand that wasn't linked with Xellos' arm.

Filia didn't know what to do. Two of her bridesmaids were gone, the priestess was gone, the wedding bands were gone. How could the wedding progress with so many missing pieces? While Filia drowned in her nerves, Zelas and Xellos finished making their way to the front of the temple where Zelas released Xellos' arm and gave Filia a critical look. The monster lord glanced at the altar, noticing that several people were missing from their positions. "Did the wedding staff run away? How rude, don't they know they're supposed to wait for the 'speak now or forever hold your peace' line before they express their disagreement?"

"The rings were stolen," Lina informed the groom and his 'mother' in a grim quiet whisper so that only Filia, Xellos and Zelas could hear. "Amelia ran off with Val to try to recover them."

"What was that?" Zelas pretended she didn't hear. "Speak up, Lina, I don't think they heard you way in the back."

"They weren't supposed to," Lina clarified, though it was obvious.

"Oh but they should," Zelas insisted with a grin. "Tell the guests the reason for this delay, it would be rude not to."

Filia had enough; she stepped forward and addressed the gathered crowd. "We apologize for this delay, please give us a few more minutes and the ceremony will resume." She then turned to face Lina, Xellos and Zelas. "I'm going to help Amelia get the rings back. What did the thief look like?"

Lina pointed to the entrance of the temple, "like that." Standing at the open doorway was the same ninja woman from before. She was casually throwing and catching one of the wedding bands tauntingly, the fate of the other unknown.

"That's one of the rings!" Filia spotted the stolen ring and took off in a mad dash towards the entrance to the temple. The slit of her skirt made the material flow behind her like a cape around her waist, giving the flowing gown the appearance of a mid-thigh mini-skirt.

Flirty whistling was heard from the bride's side of the temple as Filia dashed by, her haste to recover the ring preventing her from realizing how much she was showing off her legs. Xellos identified the source of the whistling as originating from a brown haired man, it was the golem maker, Huey. He soon found himself frozen solid in a block of ice thanks to a well aimed Freeze Arrow from Xellos. His sister, Laia, crossed her arms indignantly, making no effort to assist her brother in escaping his icy prison; she believed he got what he deserved.

Lina tried to join the chase to recover the ring, from the ninja woman, who ran away as soon as she saw Filia advancing towards her. The red haired sorceress took a few steps and soon fell flat on her face, tripping because of her high heels. Sirene took a moment to stand up, point at Lina and laugh in her imitation of Naga's insufferable laughter. She was soon joined by Alphonse and even Marty. Growling indignantly, Lina shot a barrage of fire balls in their direction, accidentally hitting the thin and bony knight wanna-be, Jeffrey, with one of them. "Oops..." 'At least his mother isn't here,' Lina thought.

Though she had been no where to be seen before, Jeffrey's overprotective short and chubby mother, Josephine, jumped out of seemingly nowhere. The mallet wielding, executioner mask wearing, super fast terror, set her angry glare on Lina. "You dare to attack my Jeffrey?"

"It was an accident!" Taken off guard, Lina pleaded for mercy. Her dress and heels limited the agility of her movements and she could do nothing more than stumble to her feet and back to the floor in a failed attempt to dodge.

"Lina!" Gourry jumped out from the crowd heroically, using his new sword to block the incoming impact of Josephine's mallet.

The mallet was cut in two upon colliding with the powered up dragon horn sword. One half of it remained attached to the long handle and the other half was sent flying over Lina's head by the force of the momentum with which Josephine had swung her weapon. The detached half of the mallet collided with Celo's head painfully. "Ow, that was uncalled for!" He protested. It was a good thing he was part monster, because he was sure his skull would have been shattered into tiny pieces if he had been fully human.

"I will avenge my Jeffrey!" Josephine shouted at the top of her lungs. She swung her weapon again, each time the mallet losing a piece that was chopped off when it collided with Gourry's super sharp sword.

"I told you it was an accident!" Lina tried to argue. She took off her high heels and threw them away in frustration. "I'm sorry!"

Celo had moved to a different seat, further away from the front in hopes of avoiding any additional pain. Unfortunately, that happened to be where Lina's pink heels landed one after the other colliding with his head. "Ow, not again! How terribly disrespectful."

"Calm down, lady!" Gourry shouted at the stubborn woman in the executioner mask. "Lina's sorry and it takes a lot to get her to apologize, so it really means something!"

With nothing but a tiny piece of the handle left of her mallet, Josephine finally relented. "Oh, alright, if you're really sorry, I'll forgive you; just make sure it doesn't happen again."

Josephine tossed the useless piece of metal handle over her shoulder and it promptly landed on Celo's head. "Is this uncalled for violence day?" He complained.

With her task fulfilled, Josephine left as swiftly and mysteriously as she arrived. Lina let out a breath of relief and went back to the task at hand. "Let's go, we have some rings to recover!"

"We'll get them back in no time!" Philionel joined Lina and Gourry, cheering loudly, deciding that it was time to join the fun. "Zelgadis already ran off after Amelia a while ago. We should go help them search for the missing rings, so that this wedding can finally take place. Did you hear that everyone?" Philionel addressed all the guests. "It's a scavenger hunt for the wedding rings, let's get them back as soon as possible, go!"

The temple was soon emptied, as a stampede of formally dressed guests avalanched out to play along with Philionel's plan as if participating in a sort of party game. Among the stampede, Celo discretely approached Kally, Kalio and Medusa, delivering a secret message to them. In the middle of the distraction, Zelas faded to the astral side with a very amused expression adorning her mischievous features.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, at the main street of Amor Resort, Filia dashed after the emerald eyed ninja woman. Another female ninja, this one with blue eyes, was perched on top of the cupid decorated fountain. The ninja with green eyes threw the golden wedding band to her blue eyed ally, who dashed away in a hurry. Filia stopped to catch her breath, this wasn't fair. She had been chasing the first woman for quite a long distance and they were both tired, but the second ninja had been standing there resting, waiting for her companion to hand over the ring. Plus the whereabouts of the other wedding band were still unknown. As soon as she caught her breath, Filia let out her frustration in the shape of a laser breath aimed at the blue eyed ninja woman.

"Watch out!" The ninja with green eyes called out to her comrade, her voice sounding oddly familiar to Filia's ears.

The ninja with blue eyes pulled out a strange yet familiar talisman from her black identity concealing outfit and used it to create a shield which protected her from the laser breath, allowing her to make a safe get away.

Frustrated beyond words, Filia felt her temper flare. "Give me back the wedding rings!" She was surrounded by a golden glow as she threw a hissy fit and the next thing anyone knew, there was a large golden dragon standing where the elf woman in the purple dress had once been. Unfortunately, at the moment Filia wasn't wearing any sort of enchanted item that would store her clothes and accessories when she transformed. As a result, the purple fabric of her form fitting dress was torn to pieces unable to contain her new size, the ruined shreds of dark purple fabric falling to the floor around her. Her jewelry was ruined as well, all but her engagement ring, which was safely stuck to the very tip of her left ring finger claw.

With a mighty roar, Filia took off after the blue eyed ninja woman. Seeing her large pursuer rapidly approaching, the ninja quickly turned the corner, ducking into a narrow alley between two tall buildings. Enraged beyond reason, Filia came to a screeching halt in front of the alley and pushed the two buildings aside to make room for her large golden dragon body to pass between them. The pair of buildings collapsed left and right, crashing into the structure next to them and spreading the damage like dominos.

This was certainly more than the ninja woman expected. The blue eyed woman tossed the ring she had in her possession to a male ninja, who dashed away with it. Forgetting about the woman, Filia hastily followed the man, shooting lasers at him and spreading destruction in her path.

Milgazia witnessed the scene from several feet away in awe. "I didn't think Filia's temper was like this," he observed. Then again, it took a strong woman to marry a monster general priest.

"Wow," Memphis accurately commented.

"I better go try to talk some sense into her before innocent civilians get hurt," Milgazia decided.

"You mean before innocent civilians get killed," Memphis corrected. "I'm pretty sure the toll of injuries is already quite high."

Ignoring his apprentice's remark, Milgazia transformed in a bright golden light. "Ah, my eyes!" Galathia, who was watching Milgazia hiding behind a heart shaped plastic bush, jumped out holding her hands over her eyes under the thick veil that covered her face. "Don't you know this fabric is enchanted to only block the view one way? I can see just fine with this veil over my head, or at least I could before you shone that ridiculously bright golden light in my eyes!" The Gorgon monster complained, as she rubbed her eyes some more under her veil.

"Calm down," Milgazia, now much larger in full dragon form, spoke. "Just blink a few times and your eye sight will return to normal, that light doesn't cause any permanent damage, not even to monsters."

"She's got a point though," Memphis acknowledged. "It is kind of blinding. I already know to look away when you're transforming, but I'm sure you annoy a lot of people with that overly bright light."

"It's not like they would all be willing to politely look away if I asked them too," Milgazia defended. "Besides, it's faster than having to find a private place to transform every time."

Galathia's eyes were fully recovered now as she glared under her veil with her hands on her hips. "That's the whole point! I didn't want to miss the show!"

Memphis gave Galathia an odd look while Milgazia frowned in embarrassed disapproval. "Aren't monsters supposed to hate golden dragons?" The elf inquired with almost academic curiosity. "Shouldn't you be more disgusted than attracted?"

Galathia shrugged, "lust is a sin too, you know," she pointed out in her defense.

"I've heard enough, more than enough, actually." Preferring to end the exchange before it became even more disturbing than it already was, Milgazia hurried after Filia.

xoxox xox xoxox

Earlier, the green eyed ninja woman had tossed one of the wedding bands at another similarly dressed female, whom Amelia was still chasing after. The busty ninja seemed to be having fun as she dashed away with one of the wedding bands in hand. "Stop in the name of justice!" Amelia kept calling out continuously, albeit it was evident that she was only wasting her breath. Val was flying close to Amelia, screeching loudly and throwing little laser beams at the agile ninja woman. Not too far behind, Zelgadis was following after them in the crazy chase to recover the stolen wedding rings.

The busty ninja woman saw her allies ahead. She tossed the ring to another woman, who tossed it to a man, who tossed it to a ninja clad creature with tentacles, who tossed it to another man. Each time the wedding band switched hands, or tentacles, it got further away from Amelia, Val and Zelgadis. Even so, the allies of justice would not give up the chase and hurried after them as fast as they could.

Not too far from there, Milgazia approached Filia cautiously, an enraged golden dragon female was very dangerous, though one didn't usually become this angry unless her children were threatened, this one was obviously exceptionally temperamental. "Miss Filia," Milgazia tried to address her in the calmest tone he could muster despite the situation.

A loud roar echoed as another female golden dragon arrived on the scene, her head covered with a black mask as she tackled Milgazia behind a row of buildings. It all happened in a split second as Filia turned to look at the one calling her. Instead she saw a rising cloud of dust among the continued panicked screams of the crowds of resort tourists and employees.

Turning her attention back to the ninja she was chasing, Filia realized that the man had regrouped with the two ninja women with green and blue eyes. There were also more ninja joining them, two men, two women and something that wasn't quite human in shape. They were being chased by Amelia, Zelgadis and Val.

Emerging from the debris all around them, Wizer pointed at the gathered ninja. "There they are!" Lina, Gourry, Pokota, Jillas, Elena, Palou, Gravos, Philionel, Phythan, Onyx, Fang, Xellos and Zelas arrived at the scene along with him.

Milgazia stood up from behind the row of almost collapsing buildings with the masked golden dragon holding him back. "What's the meaning of this?" He roared.

"This is Filia's fight, I won't let you interfere!" The masked golden dragon insisted in a familiar voice.

"All the other golden dragons transformed," Phythan observed. "I guess I might as well do it too!" Said and done, Phythan changed to his dragon form. At least he didn't take up as much space as Filia, the masked golden dragon or Milgazia, who was the biggest out of all the golden dragons present.

To be Continued

Slayers: Alive - Episode 102: Together! Ode To Chaos

Just when it looked like things were finally proceeding smoothly for the wedding of Xellos and Filia, at the last moment the wedding rings were stolen by a mysterious person in ninja attire. The unforeseen event caused a rampage of chaos to spill over Amor Resort, as all those present ran off to recover the rings. Filia, transformed into her true dragon shape in a fit of rage, was facing off after the reunited group of thieving ninja. Milgazia had transformed to try to talk some sense into Filia without risking being stepped on, but he had been held back by a ninja masked female golden dragon.

Seeing as there were other golden dragons in their true form there, Phythan decided to transform as well, in the usual sudden way that lacked in modesty. "I never get tired of seeing that!" Galathia squealed in delight. She made her way to the area past the debris just on time to witness the transformation.

"Not again," Zelas groaned exasperated. Phythan was not supposed to so carelessly transform in her presence, but it stood to reason that he had not seen her coming, thus Zelas decided to spare his life, annoyance aside. "For the record if anyone cares to know," even though honestly, no one probably wanted to know. "Milgazia's little light show has no effect on particularly powerful beings, which obviously includes me."

Galathia pouted in frustration, "you're so lucky," she grumbled under her breath.

"What's that? I'm terribly unfortunate? Indeed I am," Zelas dramatically placed her hand on her forehead with an exaggerated expression of misery. Her face soon evolved into warning anger. "The next dragon that doesn't cover up when transforming is going to die, no arguments! All this bare dragon skin is making me terribly hungry."

Phythan backed away in fear, "I'm sorry, Lord Beast Master!"

Unwisely, Galathia half asked and half stated. "Hungry for passion?"

Zelas glared murderously, "hungry for flesh."

The gorgon decided it was time to partially change the subject. "About Milgazia," Galathia began to inquire in a mischievous 'spare no details' tone of voice.

"The next person to ask me to describe things I wasn't supposed to see in the first place will die too!" Zelas warned in a threatening beastly growl.

Galathia slapped both hands over her mouth under her veil and nodded quietly.

The male ninja who had received the ring from the blue eyed female ninja, who was being chased by Filia, tossed it to the busty ninja woman. The man who had caught the other ring after it was passed from one ninja to another tossed it to her as well. The busty ninja woman backed away, giving the other ninja some room. Amelia took the opportunity to take her by surprise and tackle her, but at the last moment, she threw the rings to the ninja woman with the green eyes. However, the tall busty ninja was still caught and Amelia wasted no time in removing the black mask that covered her head to reveal her hidden identity. "Naga?!"

Zelgadis stopped cold in the middle of his pursuit of the green eyed ninja. He couldn't help it but to look back at Amelia's captive, who had been revealed to be her sister. "What in the world is going on here?"

The green eyed ninja backed away and threw the wedding rings at one of the male ninja, who caught them and jumped on top of a pile of debris a short distance away from the area where the other ninja had gathered. He removed his mask to reveal that he was Celo. The green eyed ninja then removed her mask too and revealed she was Sylphiel. "It was only a matter of time before our identities were discovered. Either way it doesn't matter because our mission is complete. Miss Filia has transformed and is ready to face her opponent!"

"This will be a grand show! Ah ha ha ho ha ha!" Naga's laughter echoed.

The masked golden dragon removed her mask as well, to reveal she was Tiffany, though given the limited number of golden dragons that were on the island, that was pretty easy to guess anyway. "I wish you luck, sweet Filia!"

"Luck for what? What is this?" Filia demanded to know as she stomped her large clawed feet angrily.

Xellos levitated over to Filia and perched himself on her shoulder. "I'm not sure what this is about, but it looks like a summoning." He pointed at the ninja below.

"A summoning?" Filia looked at the remaining five ninja all of which had uncovered their faces.

Martina stood in the middle of their gathering, holding up the talisman of Zoamelgustar. Surrounding her were Zangulus, Kally, Kalio and Medusa, who were also holding up Zoamelgustar talismans. "Prepare to feel the wrath of the mighty monster Zoamelgustar!" The five talismans glowed unexpectedly as a shadowy figure began to emerge from them, the mist of each talisman uniting in the center.

The mist became more solid, taking the shape of a large mask that looked exactly like the Zoamelgustar talismans. The mask shot out lasers from its eyes, which Filia narrowly ducked out of the way of. She jumped back, slightly flapping her wings and retaliated with her laser breath. The laser went right through the mask, having no effect what so ever. The mask shot more eye lasers at Filia, which she struggled to dodge as they were coming in extremely fast.

"Is it just me or is Filia's stomping around making a much bigger mess than the lasers," Lina wondered.

"It's not just you, the lasers are illusions and so is the mask." Milgazia, who had since been released by Tiffany and gone back to his elf form, joined the others, followed by Tiffany, Phythan and Memphis. The dragons had all transformed back into their elf forms away from Zelas' view, thus her hunger was not further provoked. Unlike Filia, Milgazia had actually planned ahead considering the possibility of needing to transform and his tuxedo was intact when he changed back. Interestingly, he now held a bucket of popcorn which Lina and Gourry were eyeing hungrily.

Zelas looked amused, "I'm sure that Xellos already knows, but I don't think he'll tell her. Let's all watch Filia make a fool of herself in a fine representation of the golden dragon race."

Seeing that the situation was mostly under control, the resort tourists gathered around to watch. The rest of the wedding guests also joined in as spectators. While all of that took place, Memphis looked like she had something to say, constantly opening and closing her mouth. Yet no sounds came out, because she just didn't know how to express what was on her mind. Finally, she poured all her indignation, which wasn't supposed to be her own, into one word, "uncle!"

"Let it go Memphis, just let it go. We're not in danger here," and Milgazia wanted to keep it that way. Most of all he didn't want to anger Zelas and have her take the fight to his clan.

"That's right, there's no need to throw a hissy fit over the fact that dragons are stupid." Zelas cheerfully stated her own form of agreement. She snatched away Milgazia's popcorn and stuffed a handful of the buttery treats in her mouth. Then she made a disgusted sound, "ew, dragon germs!" She threw away the bucket of popcorn.

The bucket of popcorn landed on the head of an approaching Celo. It wasn't as hard as the other items that had hit him on the head that day, but it was certainly stickier. "Is this throw things at Celo's head day?" He complained as he threw the bucket off his head and brushed off the popcorn that was sticking to his hair with the hand that wasn't holding the wedding rings.

"The popcorn!" Lina agonized at the waste of good food. Zangulus and Martina had disappeared towards an unknown destination when everyone's attention was focused elsewhere. They approached the group pushing little popcorn selling carts, revealing where Milgazia had gotten his popcorn. Needless to say, their mobile businesses were immediately targeted by Lina and Gourry.

While all the commotion went on for the crowd to enjoy, Filia was becoming frustrated. Xellos was still sitting on her shoulder grinning in amusement. The monsters that had been invited to the wedding were practically rolling with laughter in the crowd below, making a mockery out of the golden dragons.

A lady with long hair wearing a blue dress and a man in a tuxedo, much like the many that were in use in the area, approached Zelas. "Great party, your staff certainly has a talent for comedy shows." The woman in blue commended.

"Admittedly the entertainment is better than I expected," the man agreed.

Milgazia instinctively inched away from them. He knew he was walking into monster territory, but he didn't expect to find Zelas, Dolphin and Dynast all in the same place. Yet there they were, making a mockery out of his race, but strangely, he wasn't worried. He didn't feel the rush of battle adrenaline that came with the presence of impending doom. This wasn't a battle field, this wasn't a time for war, it was a time for recreation. Zelas would not permit any real battles to take place, not with her general priest in such an exposed state. This was a temporary truce that Milgazia knew was in everyone's best interest not to break.

Filia's frustration grew alongside her exhaustion. When she finally had enough, she rushed towards Martina. "That thing is Zoamelgustar; it answers to you, doesn't it."

Martina was in the process of selling Lina some popcorn, as it was demanded by her current employment, even if she wasn't too happy about having to serve Lina food, or serve her anything at all. Lina had her greedy expectant hands outstretched to receive the large bucket of caramel covered popcorn, her expression denoting her hunger. That's when Martina threw the popcorn in indignation. "Do not call the great Zoamelgustar a thing!"

"No!" Lina agonized over the waste of food.

Predictably, the popcorn landed on Celo's head. He removed the sticky mess, doing his best to clean his hair. "I'm really not liking this running gag," he frowned.

The mask of Zoamelgustar was about to shoot another laser at Filia, who jumped out of the way immediately. The beams of light headed towards her previous location of a split second ago, threatening to collide with the area where the popcorn vendors and their customers were located. "Look out!" Filia warned, but no one seemed inclined to move. The light of the lasers collided with the area but produced no damage what so ever. "What?" Filia stood still as the next blast of lasers from Zoamelgustar came and passed harmlessly through her. "This is only an illusion!" The laughter of the crowd echoed, along with Xellos. Filia grabbed hold of him in her large clawed golden scaly hand and glared, looking very much like a fairytale dragon with a hostage on hand. Except Xellos wasn't a princess in a flowing dress, hoping to be rescued by a brave knight before she was devoured by a fierce dragon. "You knew!" Filia accused while she shook Xellos.

All that shaking was making Xellos kind of dizzy, but not dizzy enough to withhold his classic comeback. Though his arms were being held down by Filia's massive golden fingers and thus he couldn't make his trademark pose, he still spoke the words he was so well known for. "That is a secret."

Filia let out a deafening roar and threw another hissy fit, before running off in the direction of the lopsided wooden clock tower with Xellos, literally, on hand. She ducked into the plastic forest and seemingly disappeared in a golden flash.

"Encore, encore!" The monsters loudly chanted, soon to be joined by the rest of the crowd.

"Hear that, Zelas? They want more, can you provide it?" Dynast challenged.

"Of course I can, I'll prove that I am the best party host," Zelas proudly declared. "Now let's see, who shall be the star of the next part of the show." Her eyes landed on Milgazia, who wanted to fade out of existence.

Galathia immediately jumped forward. "Why don't Milgy and I dance a passionate romantic tango to entertain the guests?" She offered.

Milgazia shook his head, "I don't know how to dance, I'll step on your feet," he lied.

"I don't have any feet for you to step on, hottie," Galatia wiggled her snake tail reminding him that she was a serpent from the waist down.

"Galathia, your one sided flirting isn't funny, it's pitiful," Zelas shook her head in disapproval. "Besides, I have a better idea, Phythan, go behind that pile of debris over there and transform back into a golden dragon."

"Right away!" Phythan cheerfully agreed and obeyed Zelas' request. He emerged from the debris in his dragon form, stepping over it and approaching the group.

"Why did you have to make him hide, just because you don't like golden dragon fan service doesn't mean the rest of us wouldn't enjoy it," Galathia pouted in disappointment.

Dolphin twisted her nose in disgust, "you're weird. Liking a dragon is okay for an odd ball like Xellos, but for us sane, non-chimera, monsters it's weird." Dolphin then added in a whisper under her breath. "Honestly, I think Zelas was drunk on radioactive wine when she made Xellos." Monsters didn't normally get drunk or obtained any sort of effect from beverages beyond taste, although obscure legends told of a special spell that could enchant drinks to induce a drunken state even in purely astral beings.

"I heard that," Zelas growled. "Back to the topic of amusement, gather around for the golden dragon roller coaster, it's a classic ride that no one ever gets tired of!"

"Using golden dragons to carry us around for fun?" Dynast mused aloud. "It seems appropriately mocking," he nodded in approval. "I want to ride that one!" He pointed at Tiffany.

Celo stepped forward with a protective pout upon his face. "That's my wife."

"So? Doesn't she come with roller coaster functions like all golden dragons do?" Dynast inquired.

Dolphin giggled in a way that was too cute for a monster lord. "That went right over your head, didn't it Dynast?"

"What did?" Dynast inquired in confusion.

"Never mind, let me find a private spot to transform and I'll come give the innocent one a nice little ride." Tiffany chirped as she headed over to find a hiding place behind the debris.

"What did I miss?" Dynast insisted on knowing, but no one wanted to tell him. All the while the illusion of Zoamelgustar kept putting up quite the laser light show, which would go on for some time, until the magic faded away.

xoxox xox xoxox

After hiding herself from view among the plastic trees behind the lopsided wooden clock tower and confirming that there was no one in the area, Filia put Xellos down, looking embarrassed. "I had a little accident with my dress," she confessed in a mix of shame and warning.

Interested in hearing more, Xellos curiously inquired. "What kind of accident?"

Filia knew she had to confess because it was about to become obvious anyway. "It was torn to shreds because I had no way to magically store it when I transformed," she confessed. After taking another look around to make sure they were indeed alone, she warned. "Don't say anything!" Then she changed into her elf form and hurriedly made her way into the empty clock tower, thankful that she knew there was no one there. All those who could possibly enter the structure were gathered below the area where the Zoamelgustar light show was.

"It's such a pity that you destroyed that dress, it actually made you look less ugly." Xellos teased as he followed Filia inside the clock tower and up the stairs to rummage around for something to wear.

Surely Tiffany had plenty of clothes in her rebuilt home by now and wouldn't mind if she borrowed some. "I told you not to say anything," Filia growled, not turning around to even glance at Xellos.

"What? It was a compliment," Xellos defended with feigned innocence. "Either way, I like what you're wearing now better."

Filia finally found Tiffany's room, let herself in and began to browse through her closet. "What's that supposed to mean? I'm not wearing anything!" She snapped, while picking up a simple navy blue dress and examining it.

"That's my point," Xellos grinned mischievously, wrapping his arms around Filia from behind. "If you want, we could skip the wedding and move along to the honey moon," he whispered in her ear, nibbling on her neck.

For a moment Filia almost gave into temptation... almost. Then she loudly exclaimed, "absolutely not!" Adamantly declaring her refusal so as to convince not only Xellos, but also herself.

"Why are you being so stubborn? Technically, we already skipped ahead to the honey moon before," Xellos reminded.

"That's not the point!" Filia argued. "I can't get distracted now. I have to show Zelas that I'm strong enough to put up with anything she can dish out, or she'll just pick on me even more. I'm not running away and giving up. This is only a temporary retreat for clothes. I intend to march right back into that temple and get married as soon as possible."

"Someone's really determined, as I suspected, you're completely obsessed with me," Xellos smugly teased.

Filia pouted and finished getting dressed. "That's how you wish it were."

"And how it is," Xellos grinned.

"Let's finish this discussion later," Filia proposed. "We have a wedding to get back to and it's already been postponed long enough."

xoxox xox xoxox

When Xellos and Filia finally reunited with the others, the illusionary image of Zoamelgustar was close to fading away completely. As for the guests, they were being amused by golden dragon roller coasters. It was an activity in which Milgazia was forced to participate under a death threat. After a while of roller coaster fun, the guests returned to the temple and once again took their seats, with the dragons back in elf form, taking their places as well.

Filia was pacing around the back room in the company of Sylphiel, Lina, Amelia, Val, Xellos and Zelas. She was taking a moment to fuss about her lost purple dress and also to apologize to Tiffany for borrowing her clothes without asking, though Tiffany insisted it was nothing to worry about.

"You really are clumsy," Zelas pulled out something out of the astral side and tossed it to Filia.

The soft black fabric hit Filia on the face, though obviously not too hard. "Another dress?"

"You owe me," Zelas declared, then speedily fixed Filia's makeup in a dark style she normally did not wear.

Nonetheless, Xellos decided it was a fine time to give his bride to be a flirty look complimented with a wink, expressing his approval. Before he could make any flirty teasing remarks, Zelas faded to the astral side, taking Xellos with her.

Filia certainly didn't feel like she owed Zelas for the dress. When it came to all the trouble the monster lord caused, the dragon still felt like she got the short end of the deal. Even so, she was very grateful that the wedding was apparently finally progressing and overall concluded that it was worth it. "I'm going to get dressed." Filia took a step towards the smaller changing room attached to the backroom of the temple.

"Sweet Filia," Tiffany stopped her for a moment, "no hard feelings?"

"I would like to apologize too. I stole the rings as part of my job." Sylphiel added.

"It's okay, if anything I'm thankful that the chaos has seemingly appeased the monsters in a way." Filia smiled with more energy than she thought she had left and went to change. The new dress was black, with amethysts lining the top and bottom. Among the fabric Filia found matching jewelry to wear.

The black dress felt even tighter than the first, if that was even possible. The style was similar to the purple one, with the most noticeable difference being that the slit of the long skirt was much wider, cut diagonally on one side. It provided a constant view of one of her legs up to mid thigh and part of the other up to the knee. This wasn't what Filia dreamed of as her ideal wedding dress, but she knew that at least Xellos would like it. More importantly, regardless of what she wore, what really mattered was that the wedding would finally happen.

To be Continued