Prologue..

Filia smiled contentedly as she stirred her tea. It was late, and Val-chan had already been put to bed, so this was her quiet time. Seating herself at the kitchen table, she noted how lucky she was to be able to have quiet time, what with all that had happened. It was only by chance that it had all ended up this way.

She smiled as she thought back to the days when she was traveling with the infamous sorceress, Lina Inverse, and her friends. She remembered each of them perfectly clearly, despite the fact that it had been nearly six years since she had seen them last.

There was Gourry Gabriev, the blonde swordsman with the brains of a jelly-fish (or so Lina had always said, anyway), Zelgadis Greywords, the ever-angsty Chimera, and Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune, the Justice-loving princess of Saillune, the White Magic capital of the world.

Lina, herself, was quite a character, always appearing younger then her age and fireballing anyone who commented on it. Filia smiled, remembering the battles they used to have over who got the last meatball. Lina and co. were just a little crazy about food. And then there was Xellos.

Filia preferred not to think about Xellos too much, lest she transform to dragon form in rage and destroy the house by accident. She frowned a bit at that thought. And, of course, Valgaav.

Valgaav hadn't been a friend of Lina's, nor traveled with them for any length of time, but he was the one she remembered the clearest. Half Ryuzoku, half Mazoku, and always so full of hatred. She frowned again. He'd had a right to his hatred toward the Golden Ryuzoku, she'd learned back then.

She was still horrified over what her race had done to his, before she was even born. Valgaav had worked for the Demon Dragon King, Gaav. A Mazoku Dark Lord. He'd later been killed by another Dark Lord, Hellmaster Phibrizo, and Valgaav had wanted revenge for his death. Unfortunately, the Mazoku/Ryuzoku cross had thought Lina to be Gaav's killer, not Phibrizo (who had been killed by L-sama herself shortly after he'd killed Gaav). Filia herself had never met Gaav in person, though when she had spoken to Valgaav, she had heard about him.

Taking a sip of her tea, she wondered if her beloved Val-chan would remember his previous master when he was older. He hadn't shown any signs of remembering being half Mazoku, but she couldn't be sure until he was older, really. She could only hope that he wouldn't remember his previous life too much, or she might have trouble keeping him from going out and killing somebody.

As Valgaav, he had hated both Mazoku and Ryuzoku with a vengeance, and she thought that it would be rather ironic if he hated her when he was older, her being a Golden Ryuzoku herself. It sure was a good thing that everything was finally over, and she didn't have to worry about all of that anymore.

Val was a sweet little boy now, and she wasn't about to restore his hatred of the world in general anytime soon. Hopefully he would grow up differently from last time..

***

Floating. No, flying. Black, feathery wings, drifting aloft. And down below, it was as if he could see the entire world from up here. Warm. The air was warm up here, but at the same time he was so cold.. Looking down, he saw a lone figure standing below him.

Swooping down, landing with a practiced grace that he didn't know he possessed, he came to face the person standing there. Tall. Long, blood red hair swept away from the man's face and swirled about past his knees. Gaav-sama, something told him, This is Gaav-sama. But who was Gaav-sama?, he asked silently, and this time there was no answer.

Who was Gaav-sama? He looked again at the man standing there, and saw that he had drawn a long-sword. For some reason, he didn't know why, he bowed before this man, this 'Gaav-sama', and smiled slightly. The only thing was, he couldn't remember what was so funny. "Valgaav," the man-Gaav-sama-said, "Where are you going?"

Valgaav. Why had he called him that? He tried to remember, but suddenly Gaav-sama faded away, and was gone, leaving him standing there. He glanced about, but there was no one there. 'There', in fact, had become an endless, barren plane, sandy ground for as far as he could see..

"Hello?" he called, looking around for any sign of people, but only the bleak landscape stared back at him, rugged hills seen far in the distance and nothing but flat, sandy ground for miles and miles. "Hello? Is anybody here?" For some reason, he felt panicked by the quiet, desert setting, as if something or someone was bearing down on him, and he had to escape somehow.

Who had he seen before? That man.. What was his name? He tried his hardest to remember, but realized after a moment that he couldn't recall the name of the man he had been talking to. And where was he? He looked up as he saw a bright bluish glow coming from above, and saw five assorted weapons, all each having at least one part of them consisting of a blade or something of the sort that was made of light.

The five light weapons. He remembered the sword, Gullinova. Also called the Hikari no Ken, the Sword of Light. And the Lance of Light, Lagudo Mezeghis. It had belonged to Alymace.. Wait, who was Alymace? The name sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn't connect a face with the word, no matter how hard he tried to remember.

Just as he was looking back to the weapons, the sky suddenly darkened, turning a pure, deep and inky black through which he couldn't see any stars. What..? He glanced down as he felt the earth shifting beneath him, and his eyes widened as he realized that the ground was crumbling away!

He tried to fly, take off from the ground and soar high above, as he'd done before, but found that the black wings were gone. There wasn't anything anywhere nearby to grab onto, and he didn't even get a chance to scream before the earth swallowed him up. There was a loud rumble in his ears, and then all was still...

***

Waking with a start, Val scanned his room with wide amber eyes, too afraid to call for Filia. He tugged the blankets tighter around himself, putting them over his head and curling into as small a ball as possible. He lay there for several long moments, nothing making a sound.

When there was no noise at all, he finally managed to build up the courage to peer over the edge of the covers at his darkened room. He saw no one, but as with most small children, that didn't stop his wild imagination from conjuring up all sorts of people and things creeping around in the dark.

Therefore, he had scared himself quite stiff, and jumped when he heard a small swishing noise, like something making a ripple through water. Like Fil-mama's spoon sounds when she stirs tea, he thought, recognizing the sound, as Filia drank tea quite often. Maybe it was her?

Crawling out of the covers, he climbed down off of the bed to go and greet her at the door, imaginary monsters forgotten now that there was something to distract his active imagination. But the sound wasn't coming from the door. He stopped walking, turning and looking toward the window.

The sound came again, and he padded softly across the carpet, watching the window intently. What was out there? Suddenly the wall rippled, as if it were made of liquid, and Val's eyes widened as something came through the wall. Up, above Val's head. A hand! Flinching slightly as he realized what it was, the child backed up in fear, as a tall, redheaded man came walking through the wall as if it were water.

It frightened Val that someone-or something- could walk through walls, and it didn't help that his room was on the second floor, so there was nothing but thin air to walk on, on the other side of the wall that the man had just come through. The boy looked up, eyes wide with fear and wonder, and his gaze met with an answering one of deep blue.

He backed up some more, but stumbled over his own feet and fell on his bottom. Looking up, he still stared. Long, flowing red hair swished back and forth as the man moved, reaching down past the backs of his knees. Val thought he'd seen someone like this tall man somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where.

The man smiled, an expression that looked scary to Val, and the child scrambled to get back to his feet. "Hi, there, Val-chan," he said softly, looking down at the small, green-haired child with a softer expression then before. Val, frightened and confused that the man knew his name without asking, turned and tried to run for the other side of the room, to escape out the door, but the man stooped down and scooped him up in his arms easily.

"Scared of me, are you? There's no reason to be," he said, smiling at Val-chan with a rather odd expression on his face.

"Put me down!" little Val protested, tugging on his fingers in a vain attempt to pry himself out of the man's arms. Nodding, his captor knelt and placed him carefully on the carpet again.

"There, how's that? I'm not going to hurt you," he said, patting the child on the shoulder gently.

"Who are you?" the boy asked, to which the man smiled.

"You would call me Gaav-sama, Val."

"Gaav-sama?"

"Mm-hmm."

"You're the man in my dream!" The child's face lit up in recognition, and the man-Gaav-sama-looked considerably surprised. Apparently he hadn't been expecting Val to know him already.

"You have a dream with me in it?" he asked. Nodding, the little boy smiled.

"Yep, and in it you've got this big, big sword.. But then you go away all of a sudden," he frowned. "Why don't you stay longer?"

Sweatdropping, the man said quietly, lest Filia hear, "I..um, later, okay? I came to visit you." Val scratched his head.

"Why?"

"Because I haven't talked to you in awhile?"

"You haven't?" Shaking his head, Gaav-sama smiled.

"But then, you wouldn't remember that, would you? You're definitely different as a kid, I'll tell you that!"

"But I've always been a kid, Mister Gaav-sama. Why am I different?" Gaav shook his head.

"Nevermind.. Maybe I'll tell you about it when you're older. Are you still afraid of me?" When the child nodded hastily, he sighed, looking unhappy. "Hm, I never did anything to scare you, did I? I think you owe me a hug." Val blinked. Mister Gaav-sama wanted a hug?

"Why do I owe you a hug?" he asked, looking up at the redheaded man, who smiled.

"Because, sometimes people need second chances, don't you think?"

"....Uh-huh," Val agreed after a moment, smiling and giving Gaav a hug around the neck.

Both looked up, as the door creaked open, and Filia stepped into the room, still holding her teacup, to see if Val-chan was really asleep. She stared in shock at them, and Val thought that maybe Mister Gaav-sama wasn't supposed to be there.

"Hi, Fil-mama!" he chirped, smiling brightly. The Golden Dragon maiden was non-too happy about Gaav being there, it seemed..

"You! What are you doing here-alive?!" she stammered, still shocked, "Get away from my child!" Val didn't know why he listened, but Gaav sighed and gently detached Val's arms from his neck, standing and smiling sadly at Filia.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't ever hurt Val," he said, and Val thought that his voice seemed to echo slightly, "But you shouldn't train him to be afraid of everyone. He'll only grow up mislead," he finished, his voice sounding as light as the air, before turning and walking cleanly through the wall he had come in through, with a swishing sound like someone stirring water in a glass.

Looking shaken, Filia ran to Val and picked him up, hugging him close. "If you ever see that man again, you run and get me right away, okay?" she asked, her face very pale.

Val nodded obediently, but then he said, "But Fil-mama, what if he wasn't mean?"

"Val, he's very dangerous," Filia said firmly, "I hope we never see him again!" Val stared at the wall where Gaav had exited, and then looked back up at Filia.

"But Fil-mama, some people need second chances."

"Hush, Val, no more talk about this," she shushed him, looking unhappy.

"But he was nice to me, Fil-mama-"

"Hush, I said!" Filia interrupted him, not wanting to hear anything about Gaav, "Just forget this ever happened. Alright?"

"Alright Fil-mama.." Val said, wanting to make his 'mother' happy.

***

Val lay in bed, wide awake even though it was late at night. Fil-mama had moved his bed into a corner of her room after he had talked to the tall, redheaded man who called himself 'Gaav-sama'. Val didn't know why Filia was so afraid of him, but had done as she had said to, and tried to forget about it. Turning over, he sighed and tried not to think about it.

If he'd looked up, he might have seen Gaav sitting just outside the window, watching him.

Gaav peered cautiously into the window, and smiled slightly when he saw that Filia had finally gone back to sleep. Floating soundlessly over, he drifted through the window with a soft rippling sound, coming over to Val's bedside. Looking down at the child, he called softly, "Val?", but soon realized that the boy was asleep. Sighing, he whispered, "Goodnight, Val-chan," before disappearing completely.

***

Filia was reading Val a book in their room when she heard an all-too-familiar rippling sound, and looked up just in time to see Gaav come through the wall. She was about to speak, when he smiled rather wistfully and said, "Goodbye, Val." With that, he turned, red hair swirling behind him, and disappeared through the wall again without another word.

***

Twenty years later..

"Oh, come on, mom, I'm bored!" Val sighed, seating himself at the table, where Filia was having her morning tea. She sighed.

"Val, we've been through this. It's dangerous out there!" Filia was always like this. Every time he wanted to do anything fun, she would intervene, telling him how dangerous it was, and that she cared too much about him to let him do it. He sighed to himself. Couldn't she tell that he just wanted some adventure?

"I know that, but mom, I'm twenty-six years old! I'm an adult. I can take care of myself, really, I can!" he told her, flipping long, green hair over his shoulder and leaning on the table with one hand.

"Oh, Val, I know that," she sighed, "I..I just don't want to see you get hurt. Besides, that's your age in human years."

"I can be careful," he countered, ignoring her last sentence, and looked across the table at her.

"Yes, but.." she trailed off, looking down at her teacup.

"But what? I just want to go out and do something! I don't even have any friends, mom. When do you expect me to go out on my own? Never?" Pleading amber eyes bore into hers, and she finally sighed in defeat.

"Okay, Val. You're right, I'm isolating you. I..I guess you can go out-by yourself-, but I don't think I'd be able to stand the worrying if you stayed out long, so you have to promise me to come back after five days or less. Alright?" she asked, looking at him. Five days?! What kind of adventure can you have in just five days? he thought, but nodded anyway. It was the best he was going to get, he knew.

"I promise, mom," he said, hugging her. "Thanks." She shook her head.

"Just do me the favor and take good care of yourself, alright?" He nodded, heading up to his room to pack.

"Right."

***

Val turned once more to wave to Filia, as he stood at the end of the path to their house, pack slung over his shoulder. "Take care of yourself, and come back in one piece!" she called, waving too.

"Don't worry so much!" he yelled back, smiling. "I'll be fine! See you in a few days." He gave the house he'd grown up in one last look, before turning and starting off along the trail, heading toward what he hoped would be an adventure.

Several hours later, having gone into a forest awhile back, he'd began to think that adventure just might be on a vacation, but kept going anyway, determined not to give up on his adventure so easily when he had finally convinced Filia to let him go out on his own for a while. He eventually set up camp under a large oak tree, and slept lightly, listening to the woods noises all around.

***

Val started out early the next morning, pack slung over his shoulder. The trail seemed to go on forever, and he more then once looked back and wondered what Filia was doing at home without him, but he kept walking. Maybe there was a town just over that hill..

Two days later, he finally sighted a small town in the distance, and gladly headed in that direction. After getting himself something better to eat then what he had in his pack, he decided that the town wasn't very exciting, and so planned on setting out again the next morning.

Not being fond of sleeping indoors, being a Ryuzoku, he found himself a nice, open haywagon and slept contentedly in it all night, despite the odd looks he received before it got too dark to see him. The next morning, he woke bright and early and set off again as he had planned..

Val yawned, rubbing his eyes. Even though he'd gotten a good night's sleep in the hay-wagon, he was still rather tired from traveling non-stop for the last three days. Heh, I wanted adventure, and look what I'm doing. Slogging through the wilderness, not even sure on a destination.

"Maybe mom was right," he muttered to himself, picking his way down a hill. "But I haven't even encountered any of the dangers she seems so afraid of me bumping into. I wish I would.." He paused then, listening to a rumbling sort of noise in the distance. "..? Hm, whatever that is, it sounds big!" he said to himself, smiling a bit, "And big things usually have some sort of adventure along with them, right?" Grinning slightly to himself, he hurried a little faster along the trail.

About fifteen minutes later, Val came out of the trees, and saw the source of the rumble. The sound had been getting steadily louder, and now he knew why. Before him was a huge river, at least fifty feet from bank to bank. He frowned a bit. "How am I gonna cross that thing?" he wondered aloud, then noticed a young man with straight, brown hair, down near the riverbank.

Actually, he was out a little from the bank, because he was walking along a log that was sticking out in the water. Val wanted to tell him to get back to shore, that it was dangerous to be doing something so silly, out above rushing waters, but was afraid that he would startle the guy, and he would slip.

Dammit, doesn't anybody have any sense these days?! he asked himself, frowning down at the guy. The brunette looked up, and, seeing Val, smiled and waved.

"Hey! Green-hair! Watcha' starin' at?" he called, grinning. Val blinked before he realized that the 'green-hair' he was speaking to was him.

"It's not really safe to be doing that, you know!" he called down, looking a bit anxious, "Shouldn't you go back to shore before distracting yourself by talking?" Shouldn't he go back to shore anyway?

"Aw, nah!" the guy waved his warning off, "I'm good at doing two things at onc-yaaaaah!" and promptly toppled over, falling into the water with a huge splash. Cursing to himself-he couldn't just let the guy drown-, Val dropped his pack and dove in after him.

The water was cold. Very cold. Val struggled to keep his head above the surface, paddling his way over to where the brown-haired guy was trying not to get swept away by the current. He'd somehow managed to get ahold of a branch that was hanging out into the water, and was clinging to it for dear life.

Fighting his way to where the guy was, he grabbed ahold of his shirt and tugged him along behind him. "Swim!" he yelled, paddling hard toward shore.

"I'm..tryin'!" the other guy yelled back, trying to keep his head out of the water. By the time they finally made it back to shore, both Val and the brown-haired man were soaked and freezing cold.

"That was really stupid!" Val scolded, digging through his pack for blankets to wrap up in.

"I k-k-k-know..." the guy chittered, nodding, "But I'm n-n-n-not real-l-l-ly wor-r-ried about getting wet-t-t." Tossing him a blanket, Val frowned.

"I'm not talking about getting wet, dummy, I'm talking about getting hypothermia!" he sighed, wrapping a blanket around his own shoulders as well and sitting down on a log nearby.

"Oh," the brunette said simply, blinking as if he'd only just realized that what he had been doing was dangerous. "Uh, s-so, what's your-r name? We kin-n-nda..got off to a rocky start," he said, smiling sheepishly.

"Val," Val replied, smiling slightly as well, "And yours?"

"Oh, I'm Jathon!" the young man replied, smiling with his wet brown hair hanging in front of dark, green eyes.

"Jathon. Nice to, uh, meet you." Jathon nodded.

"You too. Glad I did," he added, grinning slightly and hugging his blanket around his shoulders. "What's a guy like you doin' just wondering around in the woods?"

"What do you mean, 'a guy like me'?" Val asked, squeezing water out of his hair.

"Well, with the way ya swim, I thought you were some sorta' athlete or somethin'!" Jathon said, surprised. Val looked up.

"No, not really," he said, smiling, "Actually, I really like climbing, so maybe I'm just built up from that."

"Yeah, really!" Jathon chuckled. "Hey, where were ya headin', anyway?"

"Oh, uh.." Val trailed off, then grinned, "Just the next town I happen to come across. Anything exciting been happening around one near here lately?"

"Heh, that's funny, Ryeden a day west of here is having thier annual Ryuzoku festival!" Jathon smiled, "Wanna go there with me?" Val shrugged. Hey, it was better then anything else he'd seen the last few days!

"That'd be great, if you'll have me," he nodded, and Jathon grinned.

"Cool! I've got a few friends there waiting for me, you'll like 'em. They're Rin and Chase," he explained. "Oh, uh, by the way..thanks for gettin' me outta the river, you know?" He smiled sheepishly again, and Val shrugged.

"No problem. But don't let me catch you doing that again, or I'll just let you drown," he smirked, and Jathon laughed.

"Yeah, that was kinda stupid of me," he muttered, scratching the back of his neck. "Uh, anyway! Like I said, Ryeden's a day west of here, so we'd better get moving!" Nodding, Val picked up his pack and stood, blanket still wrapped around his shoulders.

I wonder how Filia is, he thought as they started down the trail, missing home, despite being on the way to an exciting place-or, at least, Jathon made it out as sounding pretty exciting.

I've been gone, what-five days?! Uh-oh, mom isn't going to be happy with me, he thought, sighing, I just can't do much in so little time! I hope she understands.. I can't turn back now, not when I've just found something that sounds more interesting then just hiking around!

And somebody who doesn't seem to mind my company, he added, glancing at Jathon, who was walking calmly along, blanket still around his shoulders as well, and a blue pack slung over his shoulder.

I'll have to explain things to mom when I get back, he decided, I've never had any friends, really, and this guy seems okay, for somebody I just..uh, bumped into, he finished the thought with a slight smile. Why had Jathon been doing something that was so dangerous?

True, he could have been doing it to show off, but in the forest, with no-one there to watch? Val frowned. Nobody to pull you out, either.. He'd been lucky that Val had come by, and that he was as good a swimmer as he was. And it was still a stupid stunt to pull, he thought, but hopefully he won't try it again after this incident, no? I can hope, anyway, 'cause if he does, I'm going to have to dive in and get him again-can't let him just drown himself like that.

They continued on in silence, the forest noises keeping it from sounding too quiet. It's going to take me just as long to get back home as it's taken to get this far. Mom's not going to be happy.. But I may as well head to this Ryeden place before I start back-wouldn't do to tell mom that I spent the whole time just slogging around in the woods, would it? I don't think a day or two is going to make that much of a difference in the long run..

The next morning, Val and Jathon arrived in Ryeden, a large, sprawling settlement that was colorfully decorated and festively adorned in banners and all manner of dragon decorations, as there was a Ryuzoku festival going on. Val had never seen such a large town before, and couldn't stop staring at everything, while Jathon, who had obviously been here many times before, headed straight down the street and toward one building in particular.

When they reached the door, he reached up and opened it without knocking, and Val asked, "Shouldn't you knock?"

Jathon smiled and replied, "This is my house, silly. Nobody's home besides us." Nodding, Val paused on the doorstep, glancing around through the door and seeing all signs of a well-maintained, neat house. "Come on in, Val!" Jathon laughed, when he saw what his new friend was doing. "I don't mind, really. We're just here to drop off our packs and blankets and stuff, then we'll go and find Rin and Chase, okay?"

"Sure," Val nodded, stepping inside the door when beckoned, and closing it behind him.

"You can put your stuff over there," Jathon told him, pointing, and Val nodded, depositing his pack in a nearby corner.

After they had dropped off their things, they headed out again to search for Jathon's friends, which, Val pointed out, might be a little difficult in such a large place. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, in fact. Grinning, Jathon replied, "Yeah, but I know where these particular needles like to hang out, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find them."

Val was led down several wide, festively decorated streets before Jathon finally stopped at a small store on the corner, heading through the double doors without a second thought.

"Jath!" the salesclerk, a tall young man with strawberry blonde curls and sky-blue eyes, cried, smiling widely.

"Hey, Rin," Jathon greeted his friend, grinning too, "Here, I want you to meet somebody," and he beckoned Val over, "He's name's Val."

"Hi," Val nodded, holding up a hand in greeting as well.

"Nice to meet you," Rin smiled, shaking his hand warmly, "I'm Rin Sadalph."

"It's a pleasure," Val smiled, not really knowing if he should've reacted to the surname or not, as he wasn't familiar with this town, or it's inhabitants.

"Hey, where's Chase?" Jathon asked, seeing that they had run out of things to say, "I thought the four of us could hang out at the festival today. Think your dad'll let ya, Rin?"

Shrugging, the taller youth replied, "I can ask, I suppose. Chase should be back here any minute-dad had him run something over to a client's place."

"Oh. Well, guess we'll just wait here for him, huh? Why don't you go talk to your dad? I'll watch the place," Jathon smiled.

"You just love being in charge of the place occasionally, don't you?"

"You bet! Go on, get outta here!" the brunette grinned, "I wanna know if you're comin' with us!"

"I'm sure dad'll let me go," Rin muttered, but came out from behind the counter anyway, handing Jathon his apron. "I'll be back," he told his friend, grinning at him and heading into the back part of the store.

"Well, now we just wait," Jathon smiled, tieing the apron on and leaning on the counter casually. Val nodded, glancing around at the shelves lined with goods. "Hey, what do you bet that Chase comes back before Rin gets back out here?" Jath called after a moment, grinning.

"I don't really know either of them," Val pointed out, "Shouldn't you know your query?" Nodding, the brunette smiled.

"Yeah, you're right. You'd be a good gambler, man."

"Never tried it," Val shrugged, "But from what I heard from mom, you lose a lot more then you win." Jathon nodded.

"Yep, you got that one right! Heh, I've always been bad at betting and so on," he grinned, brown bangs falling in his eyes again. Blowing them back, he smiled. "Hey, I was right!"

"What do you-?"

"There, Chase's back," Jath explained, grinning and pointing over Val's shoulder, "Told ya he'd get here before Rin got outta the back." Sure enough, a young man with platinum-blonde hair and bright blue eyes came barreling through the doors, grinning.

"Jath! Where've you been, me and Rin've been makin' all the money!" he called, coming strolling up to the counter and leaning on it to chat with his friend.

"Heh, I've just been, uhh, hiking," Jathon grinned, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Ah, I bet that's what you were doing!" the blonde man-Chase-grinned, glancing behind him and noticing Val for the first time. "Oho, and who's your buddy here?" he asked, gesturing to the green-haired Ryuzoku, who had walked back over to the counter when the newest arrival had done the same.

"I'm Val," he said, smiling a bit. He had never been sure whether to use Filia's last name or not, and so had always just introduced himself with his first name when he could get away with it.

"Val, hi! I'm Chase," the blonde grinned, pumping his hand enthusiastically.

Retrieving his hand, Val muttered, "Nice to meet you too.. Ow.."

"Hi, Chase," Rin called, returning from the back, "Dad said I could go," he told Jathon, smiling.

"Cool," Jath nodded back, "Hey, Chase, ya think you could take a break from 'makin' money', and hang out with us while we show Val the town? He's never been here before."

"Really?" Chase asked, surprised. When Val nodded the affirmative, he grinned, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly, and said, "Jeez, you act like you've lived here all your life! Heh heh, my bad!"

"Hey, if you're okayed, Chase, we'd better get movin'," Jathon said, smiling widely, "'Cause we've gotta show Val the sights before going to the festival!"

"Aw, can't we wait to show Val around?" Chase asked, "He'll be too tired to do anything at the festival if we drag him all over town first!"

"Yeah, can't we show him around tomorrow?" Rin nodded, strawberry-blonde curls bobbing with the movement.

"Well, okay, you're right," Jath amended, "We'll show him tomorrow. So, I guess we should head to the festival now, right?" At the answering nods, he grinned. "Let's go!"

***

"Aw, come on, Val! You'd be great!" Chase pleaded, tugging on his new friend's arm.

"Oh, no. I am not doing any acting," Val declared firmly. The four had been roaming at the festival for the last three hours, and Val had tried more crafts, rides and festivities then he could count. And now his new friends had gotten it into their heads that he would be great in the play that was going to be shown in about fifteen minutes.

The main character was a knight, and he needed a sidekick, since his acting partner had walked out on him suddenly. Rin, Chase and Jathon were convinced that Val would be perfect for the part.

"Hey, you're a great swimmer, you're good at bets, and you really beat the competition in that ring toss game awhile back, whatsay you wouldn't be good at acting, too?" Jath asked, nudging him with an elbow.

"C'mon, please?"

"You'd be great, Val," Rin added, "You've got a good poker-face, I'm sure you could act pretty well!" Still, Val didn't really want to do it.

"Please?"

"C'mon, I'm sure you'd make a great actor!"

"Val, you're gonna just go and let the play be messed up, 'cause the last sidekick guy didn't get along with his partner?"

"Come on, Val, you're great at everything else, why not this?" Finally, he sighed and nodded.

"Fine, fine, you guys, just don't be too mad at me when I mess everything up," he warned, to which they all chuckled.

"Aw, come on, Val, after watching you best everybody at almost everything, I'm not sure you can mess up!" Jath grinned, but Val wasn't so sure..

***

Why in the world did I ever let myself be drawn into this? Val wondered ten minutes later, standing backstage and listening to the main actor go over each person's part one more time.

"Alright, and then you enter stage right and 'kill' the bandits," the tall man dressed as a knight explained. Val thought that his voice sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn't imagine where he could've heard it before. "Excuse me? I'm talking to you," the man pointed out, and Val realized that he meant him.

"Oh! Sorry, I guess I wasn't listening very well," Val said, little embarrassed. The tall 'knight' nodded.

"No problem, just try and pay attention. Now, I was saying, the bandits are out on stage, and you're going to enter stage right and 'slay' them, then, he-" and he pointed to a tall, handsome man dressed all in black, "-is going to enter from stage left and 'stab' you with his sword. From there, all you've got to do is lay there and look dead until the curtain comes down, which should be about three minutes after you get 'stabbed', because we change the scenery for the final act, where I 'kill' the guy who 'killed' you. You got me?" Slowly, Val nodded.

"Uh, yeah. What're my lines?" he asked, tugging at the kerchief that covered most of his face. It was a good thing he only had a bit part. The outfit was a bother.

"Here," the man said, handing him a battered script. "Sorry it's so beat up, but the guy who walked out on me-the guy whose place you're taking-, he ripped up his copy of the script, so you've got mine," he explained, sighing. "Take care of it, okay?"

"Sure," Val nodded, taking it and flipping to the first scene. Whoa, it is a bit part, he thought, noting that he only had about three lines before he 'died'. At least I get a sword, hm? It'd be pretty crappy if I was one of those useless characters that just got killed and didn't even try to defend himself, he thought, smirking a bit.

Heading off to a corner to memorize his lines, he seated himself on a piece of scenery and flipped through the script, noting the large amount of lines and action scenes that the main actor, the tall 'knight', was in. "Heh, the last guy who was supposed to be in my place probably got jealous," Val murmured, smirking. "Good thing I don't care, anyway."

"Places, everybody!" the director called, making sure that everyone would get their cues right. Val stood, coming over to where the short man stood.

"Where do I go?" he asked, then added, "I'm the sidekick."

"Oh, just wait next to stage right," the man told him, pointing. Thanking him, Val headed over and stood with the other actors who were waiting for their cues. Finally, it was time for him to come on stage.

Coming running out from stage right, as the 'knight' had instructed, he immediately struck a pose, as the script called for, and called out, "Bandit filth, prepare to die by my sword!" The battle scene started up, and he put on a good show of swinging his sword and slaying bandits left and right.

Finally, when all the bandits had been dispatched, he turned and called, "Is that all of you?! My, what a pathetic fight you've put up!" Even though he had his back to that side of the stage, he knew that the 'bad-guy' was entering on stage left, and when the actor pretended to stab him, he gasped, "Aack..", falling to the ground dramatically and laying very still.

The 'bad-guy' stood over him and cackled quite insanely, and Val wished that he'd thought to put in some earplugs before coming out on stage. Suddenly, the cackling was cut off by a cry.

"Vile fiend, thou shalt pay for slaying my good friend and comrade in such a backstabbing manner!" the 'knight' shouted, coming barreling onto the stage from stage right, as Val had done. No pun intended, Val added silently, thinking that 'backstabbing' was a very appropriate word to describe both his demise, and the 'bad-guy''s fighting style, no less.

The two began to duel, the 'bad-guy' being sure to try and cheat and use underhanded techniques to win, the 'knight' fighting fairly, and being quite a swordsman, Val noted with respect. Dramatic music played as they fought their way offstage, and the curtain slowly fell on the act.

Prompted by the cue, Val leapt up and headed backstage once again. Sitting on a storage crate and waiting for the play to end so that he could do the bows with everyone else in the cast, he sat and listened as lines were exchanged and swords clashed onstage.

***

After the cast came out onstage to take a bow, they went backstage to have a sort of cast party. Not really into celebrating-he didn't like being in one room with too many people-Val hadn't even taken his kerchief off yet when the 'knight' walked up, greeting him, "Hi again."

"Hello," Val nodded, looking up. The man made a perfect knight because he was so tall, Val thought.

"Listen, I-" and he tugged on his helmet, pulling it off, -I want to thank you for standing in for my partner today. You put on quite a show out there!" Val barely heard his words, though. Soft, blood-red hair hung in the man's deep blue eyes, and Val suddenly knew where he had heard that voice before.

"Gaav-sama?!" he gasped, and Gaav smiled.

"Mm-hmm, what, you didn't know it was me? he asked, chuckling, "Yes, I know, it's probably rather odd to see me performing at such a small festival, but I like to get around!"

"No, you don't understand, it's me! I-" Val began, wanting to talk to Gaav-sama, whom he only just remembered meeting when he was a small child, maybe five or six, but another cast member came up and grabbed onto his arm. It was the 'bad-guy'. Gaav chuckled warmly, knowing why he wanted Val to go with him.

"C'mon, let's all introduce ourselves! I wanna remember everybody who was in the play I did with Gaav-sama, even the sidekick!" the 'bad-guy' grinned, tugging Val along.

"No, wait!" Val argued, trying to yank his arm away, and the guy shrugged.

"If you don't want to come over with the rest of the gang, that's okay, but I just wanted your name! Jeez.." the guy who had played the villain muttered, no doubt wondering why Val was so anxious to get away.

Finally getting away from the crowd, Val then couldn't find Gaav. Sighing, he headed back to the cast party, hoping that he would get a chance to talk to him afterwards.

***

After the party, when the actors had finally tired of reminiscing about costumes and makeup and mistakes they'd made while on stage, Val set out to look for Gaav. His friends caught up with him first, though.

"Wow, Val, you're awesome with a sword!" Chase smiled, "My dad's a swordsman, too."

"Good job, we didn't even need to tell ya to break a leg!" Jathon said, clapping Val good-naturedly on the shoulder and grinning widely.

"I knew you'd do a good job," Rin said, "You have a knack for learning fast, I've noticed." Val just nodded, trying to get a word in edgewise.

"I suppose. Listen, do you guys know where the lead of the play went off to? Gaav-sama?" he asked quickly, before they could start talking again.

"Gaav-sama? Oh, you mean the lead actor, Gaav-sama!" Jath laughed, "Heh, he's probably arranging the next show with the director. Why, you want his autograph?" Val, however, didn't respond, as he was already running off to talk to Gaav.

***

"Well, I suppose we could set the next play in June, but that's an awfully long time," Val heard Gaav say as he ran up to where the director and him were talking.

"Gaav-sama!" he cried, stopping just short of bowling right into him, he was running so fast.

"Hm? What's that?" Gaav asked, looking down at the person who had played his sidekick-and was still dressed up in the costume. "Oh, my sidekick! What is it?" he asked, smiling.

"Gaav, I've got to talk to you!" Val said urgently, tugging off the kerchief, "Look, it's me! Val! Don't you even remember?"

"Val.." Gaav said softly, nodding, "Of course I remember. Can we discuss this later?" he asked the director, who shrugged and headed off to help pack up the set. "What are you doing all the way out here, Val?" he asked, turning back to the Ryuzoku.

"I..it doesn't really matter anymore," Val sighed, "I remember you from when I was little. Don't you remember, how you came into my room, told me some people need second chances? Don't you remember any of that?" Gaav nodded.

"Perfectly, though I tried to forget."

"Why?" Val asked, confused.

"Well, because, Filia seems to hate me so much and I didn't want to interfere with your childhood like last time, so I kept my distance and tried to forget about everything," Gaav explained, sighing.

"Like last time?" Val asked, "What do you mean?" Gaav shook his head.

"It's probably best if you didn't remember, considering how things turned out," he said, smiling wryly.

"Why does Filia hate you?" Gaav shrugged.

"I suppose she blames me for how you turned out last time, and wants to protect you from that happening again. With good reason, too," he sighed, "I messed everything up by doing something I couldn't even avoid-dying." Val blinked.

"Um, you don't look dead to me," he said pointedly, and Gaav laughed.

"Same old Val, you always liked to be blunt," he chuckled, "And yes, I did die, but because of the curse I have on me that seals me in human form, I was reborn again-not that you'd know what I'm talking about, anyway." Val frowned.

"It doesn't matter, anyway. If Filia hates you, then we can't be friends," he said quietly, "We're enemies, in fact. Which means that we have to fight, and only one of us is walking home to tell about it."

"I don't have a home, really," Gaav smiled, "But if that's what you want, then go ahead and try to beat me! I'm sure that both of us will walk away from this one, though."

"Not if I have anything to do with it!" Val cried, drawing his sword and getting into a fighting stance.

"In here?" Gaav asked dryly.

"Do you want to take it outside?" The taller man shrugged, smiling a bit.

"Nah, may as well destroy the place while we're at it. Wouldn't want to risk getting in a fight and not destroying the scenery, would we?" he asked sarcastically, gesturing to the surrounding theatre setting, which was still set up, ironically, as the last scene in the play they'd done, where the final showdown had taken place.

"Shut-up!" Val yelled, charging at him with the sword, but Gaav managed to sidestep him, though he looked surprised at his speed, and Val found himself going past the taller man. Skidding to a stop, he whirled around to face his opponent.

"You didn't think it'd be that easy to get me, did you?" Gaav asked, looking amused. Growling a curse under his breath, Val glared at the redheaded man, who smiled. "You could always try and talk things through, you know." Val answered him with a sudden upsweep of his sword, catching the other man off-guard, and a leaving a long, red cut across his shoulder.

Muttering something under his breath-Val at first thought it was a curse, but then saw the other man's face, and realized that it was a prayer-, Gaav drew his own long-sword and got into a defense position, grinning. "You're not bad, Val. Who taught you swordplay? You always seemed more of the lance type, if I remember right. It's been a couple decades, so I could be wrong," he said, smiling and blowing long, red bangs out of his eyes.

"You don't know me, Gaav-sama," Val said, sword held steadily out in front of him, "I've never fought with a lance, and two decades ago I was only six."

"Oh, I know that!" Gaav laughed, "I visited you, or are you the one forgetting now? You mentioned the same visit yourself, not fifteen minutes ago."

"I just imagined that!" Val protested, "Filia told me that I had imagined you coming into my room! It wasn't real at all." Gaav shook his head, sighing.

"Ah, that's why I tried to stay away," he pointed out, "Filia hates me, so she told you a white lie, to 'protect' you, or so she thought. I knew you'd end up mislead like this, I even told her so."

"You've got no right to tell Filia anything! She would never lie to me!" Val cried, obviously disbelieving of Gaav's words. Filia would never lie to him, she'd even taught him that lying was the worst way out of a situation, and that he should be honost as much as possible. It had been years ago, when he was a little boy, but he still remembered her telling him. He shook his head, as if to clear it. Who did Gaav think he was, to try and tell him that Filia had been lying to him almost his whole life?! He's obviously trying to mess with my head! Val thought, frowning in determination, Well, I won't let him!

Again, Gaav shook his head. "And she still didn't listen to me.." he sighed, "I knew she wouldn't do that, either. She doesn't trust me any more then you do now."

"You can bet that I don't trust you!" Val cried, "Filia wouldn't tell me anything about you, but I searched and asked around, and finally figured out what you are. A Mazoku, right? A demon? And I'm Ryuzoku, a dragon. Which makes us mortal enemies!" With that, he leapt forward, slashing with lightning precision, and buried his blade deep in Gaav's shoulder-the same one he'd injured before.

The redheaded man gave a cry of pain, and his sword clattered to the ground as he clutched his wounded shoulder.

"What..do you think...you'll gain from this.?" he asked through gritted teeth, "What good....does it do..to fight me..?" Val shook his head.

"You think you can mess with my head. Well, you haven't got me fooled," he said darkly, "I won't believe anything you're telling me-it's all a lie. A sick, twisted lie that you've come up with to get me off-guard! You're after Filia, aren't you? No wonder she doesn't trust you! No wonder she told me to forget about meeting you, to go to her immediately if I ever saw you again! She's got good reason to be afraid of a Mazoku Dark Lord!"

Gaav shook his head, gasping, "That's not...it at all... I...just thought.....you should..know the truth...!" Painfully, he reached down and retrieved his sword, though his sword-arm was useless. Balancing the blade in his left hand instead, he again got into a defensive stance. "Val... Stop this..!"

"The truth?!" Val asked, ignoring his last sentence, "I know the truth! And I've known it before I ever met you!"

Standing as straight as his injury would allow, Gaav held his good arm out and let the sword fall to the ground, making a chiming, like bells, as it hit the floor.

"I won't fight, because....I don't want to hurt you, even if...you may want to kill me," he began, fighting to keep from gasping, "But I'm not going to die...without at least defending myself!" Val wasn't sure what he meant-he'd just dropped his sword, his only real defense-, but remained cautious.

He stared, slightly startled, as Gaav began to glow a bright, steady red. The aura brightened, deepened, until after a moment it had enveloped the red-headed man completely, and then the glow started spreading, wider and taller then before. It kept growing, whatever it touched being knocked aside as if it weighed nothing, the roof of the theatre bursting out with a scream of splintering wood as it's boards flew in all directions.

Realizing with a start that Gaav was transforming to dragon form-he hadn't been called the Demon Dragon King for nothing!-too late, Val abandoned his sword and immediately began pulsing red himself. Black, feathery wings shot from his back and increased in size until they were far too big for his human form, but his body wasn't far behind.

Black, feather-like scales flowed down his body, covering him from head to toe, and glossy, black claws sprouted from his fingertips as he went to his true form, an Ancient Ryuzoku. The last of his kind, he knew. By the fault of Filia's race, the Golden Ryuzoku, too, but Val didn't hold her responsible, as she hadn't even been born yet when the crime had been committed.

How he'd survived the slaughter, he didn't know, but he wasn't about to believe what Gaav was telling him. Speaking of Gaav.. Finishing his transformation, Val swiveled his large dragon head, acutely gleaming amber eyes taking in the form of Chaos Dragon Gaav, who had also finished transforming, he found.

Three pairs of glittering, deep blue eyes returned his stare, as the massive red beast's three serpentine heads turned to look at Val, large, feather-like scales flowing from nose to tail down the creature's body. Unlike Val, Gaav's dragon body possessed no wings, but was heavily armored and had three heads in place of Val's one.

"You're a Mazoku, how can you be Ryuzoku as well?!" Val asked in a dragon's voice, a serpentine hiss accenting his words.

"You haven't studied my history enough, I see," Gaav laughed, his own voice a booming sound, like a clap of thunder, "Ryuzoku can become half Mazoku! Just take a look at your own history, Val."

"I won't listen to your lies, Gaav! You can't get me off-track! I said I was going to fight you, and fight you I will!" Val called loudly, bellowing a challenge in a full-throated dragon's voice. With that, he lunged at one of the Chaos dragon's three heads, clamping his large jaws around it's neck with a screeching noise as his teeth connected with scales.

The other two heads shoved at him, though, and he was forced away, leaving the middle head's neck-scales crunched and useless for defense.

"Why do you keep doing this?" one of Gaav's uninjured dragon heads demanded, the middle head that Val had attacked hanging a little slumped over.

"Because! I won't stop until you admit that you're lying about all this, about Filia lying to me and-and me being half Mazoku! I was never half-Mazoku! I don't remember it, and Filia never said anything of the sort!" The smaller dragon hissed, weaving around the larger, red one and glaring at him with flashing amber eyes.

"But don't you ever wonder about those dreams you have?!" Gaav asked, and Val paused.

"Dreams?"

"Yes, dreams! With me in them! The ones you've had ever since you were a child!" the red dragon spat out, ocean-blue eyes flashing with an emotion close to anger, but more like anguish. "I've tried hard to forget about you, but it seems that I didn't have to! You've forgotten me entirely, and I didn't even have to detour you from remembering-Filia did that for me."

"Shut-up!" Val cried, "Shut-up, shut-up, SHUT-UP! Stop trying to feed me lies! The dreams are just that, dreams, and I don't know how you found out about them, but what you say isn't true! Filia never lied to me, you never visited me when I was little, and I was never half-Mazoku!"

Shaking with rage, the Ancient Ryuzoku lunged in close while Gaav was off-guard and snapped down onto the neck of the larger dragon's middle head once again. He dug his fangs deep into the flesh, teeth again producing a metallic screech as they connected with what was left of the middles head's neck scales.

"Val, stop..!" one of the other two heads cried, but it was too late. Ripping and pulling, taking out his anger on the middle head he'd managed to clamp down on, Val gave the neck several hard yanks before he felt something give. Blood spurted up from the stump of the middle neck, as the Ancient Ryuzoku ripped the head clean away, flinging it behind him and turning to start on another.

But the Chaos dragon was glowing, and Val realized that he was transforming back to human. The aura shrunk much faster then it had expanded, the glowing form shrinking rapidly until it once again became Gaav.

The battered redhead looked up with dull, ocean-blue eyes from where he knelt on the ground at the now-grossly-larger Ancient Ryuzoku's feet and smiled weakly.

"Go..ahead," he murmured, "Kill..me.. It's...what you..want,....isn't..it? Me....dead..? So..do it.. You've...forgotten....every..thing,..so now I...mean nothing...to you.."

The comment made Val pause an instant, but when he thought back on what Gaav had told him during the battle, he didn't believe a word of it. Wouldn't believe it. But what if.. No! he thought fiercely, shaking his head as if to clear it of any hesitations. Baring large fangs, Val was about to snap the man up in his mouth and end his life in one swift movement, but stopped when he heard someone cry, "Val, no!"

Swiveling his huge head, the Ancient Ryuzoku stare in shocked surprised as Filia ran out in front of him, separating him from Gaav.

"He's a Mazoku, mom. He's a monster! All he does is feed you lies and try to get into your head! Get away from him, let me slay him and be done with it!" Val said, his dragon voice booming and blowing Filia's long, golden hair back away from her face.

"No! Val, do you remember what you said to me when you were six years old, when you tried to tell me that Gaav wasn't dangerous, do you remember that?" she asked, steadily meeting the huge dragon's amber gaze and holding it.

"No, mom, I never said that!" Val cried, shaking his dragon head in objection, "It was just my imagination! You told me so yourself!"

"No, I told you that to protect you, until you were older and could handle the truth!" Filia spoke firmly, but her soft blue eyes were filled with tears. "And I should have listened to you then, Val, I really should have! Don't you remember what you said? Second chances, Val! You said that some people needed second chances, and you were right! L-sama, you were right, and I just couldn't put aside the fact that Gaav is half-Mazoku and see that!"

Blinking slowly, the Ancient Ryuzoku said quietly, a soft hiss of a whisper, "It's the truth, then? I was half-Mazoku?" Tearfully, she nodded.

"Yes, Val, yes you were. But you were given a second chance, and were reborn into a pure, Ancient Ryuzoku body again. You got a second chance, when you tried to destroy the entire planet, all gods and Mazoku, all life in the world! Now, don't you think that Gaav, even having been a Dark Lord, deserves a second chance as well?"

Not replying, the dragon suddenly began glowing, and shrank rapidly to human form once again. Standing, he looked at Filia and appeared shaken.

"I..I tried to destroy the world?" he asked softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

"You wanted to purify it, truly, but that, to you, seemed to mean turning everything to dust and starting over. Oh, Val, I should have told you about all this so long ago," Filia sighed, shaking her head, "Then maybe this wouldn't have happened." Turning, she knelt in front of Gaav and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Maryuu-ou-sama," she murmured, meeting dull, deep blue eyes, "I hope that Val will forgive you of informing him of the truth in this manner. I certainly do-thank you for not harming him, as you promised so long ago. It seems to have cost you, though. Not to worry," and she closed her eyes, murmuring a spell as her hands glowed a pure white. All of Chaos Dragon Gaav's wounds were almost instantly healed, and then Filia smiled and stood.

Slowly climbing to his feet, Gaav said solemnly, "Thank you, Filia-san," much to her surprise, then turned and met Val's eyes.

"I'm glad you can finally see things the way I do," he said, smiling a bit.

"Yes, I am too.. But, aren't you even mad at me for just attacking you like that?" the green-haired youth asked, amber eyes searching Gaav's own deep blue ones, "Don't you hold it against me at all?" Shaking his head, blood-red hair drifting about his face, the taller man smiled.

"Not at all," he replied seriously, "I probably would've done the same thing, actually!" He chuckled, "And you always were the kind to need some reason for revenge.."

"Well, I..I'm sorry, all the same," Val sighed, "I guess I should have really asked mom-" and he turned to Filia, "-before jumping to conclusions...Gaav-sama." When Gaav nodded, but remained silent, he asked, "By the way..What were you talking about when you said, 'you've forgotten everything'? What did I forget?"

"Val, why don't we go home and explain everything to you there?" Filia asked, smiling.

"'We'?" Gaav asked, surprised. Filia nodded.

"You're welcome to come, if you like. Other Ryuzoku might be afraid of having the Demon Dragon King in their home, but for me it would be an honor. Besides," she added, "You're the only one who knows what happened in those thousand years when you and Val were Mazoku. I only know what I learned in the incident involving the Weapons of Light-"

"Weapons of Light?" Val cut in, amber eyes lighting up, "I've had dreams with swords and lances of light in them ever since I was little!" Gaav smirked a bit.

"I told you, you were more of a lance person," he chuckled.

"What else, mom?"

"Come on, Val, Gaav and I can explain on the way," Filia smiled, glad to for once have no reason to hide the truth.

***

"..And so Xellos and I were forced to combine our powers into the Bow of Light, which Lina shot at you when you were Valgaav, destroying you," Filia explained, tears in her eyes, "But after we'd thought that everything was over, L-sama herself came down and gave you back to me-and I can't thank her enough!" Val nodded, looking thoughtful.

Filia and Gaav, between them, had managed to describe Val's entire life history to him over the course of several months. Most of which was taken up by Gaav, explaining what had gone on in the thousand years he had traveled with him, and they had excluded that small part which Val did remember, the past twenty-six years that he had lived with Filia. He'd actually remembered part of his Mazoku past, but not consciously. That's what those dreams were, that felt so real. He didn't know whether to be sad that he'd had so little happiness in his past lives, or to be happy that the dark times seemed to be a part of the past for now.

Looking at Filia and Gaav, who were both seated at the table, Filia with her morning tea, Gaav his coffee, he decided on the latter, knowing that L-sama had given him a second chance at life for a reason.

Watching Gaav and his 'mother' interact, chatting like old friends over their cups, he could see how second chances were needed in this world. If there weren't any, both he and Gaav wouldn't be there. And Filia had told him that she had some old friends that she'd like them both to meet-for the second time. And this time they wouldn't meet as enemies, but as friends of Filia, almost considered family, really.

When Filia had explained Val's incident as Valgaav with the Light Weapons, she had described each and every one of them, a group that was commonly called the Slayers, and he was looking foreward to meeting each of them in person. It was bound to be an adventure in itself, and Val was ready for another one, now that this one was over.

"Gaav, mom," Val said aloud, catching both of the table's other inhabitants' attentions, "Thanks..For not giving up on me." Jumping up, he hugged both of them and smiled. Then he turned to Filia, asking, "Mom, can some friends of mine come over, too?"

"Ah, so you didn't ignore me all the way!" Gaav teased Filia, who blushed.

"No, he pestered me until I let him go out on his own for a few days-and look where it got me!" They all laughed at that.

"Yeah, but I'm glad it led to this, really. After all, he never would've known otherwise," Gaav pointed out, deep blue eyes daring her to object.

"You're right," she nodded, surprising both Val and Gaav in turn, "I probably would've kept it a secret unless he'd learned about it from someone else first and asked about it afterwards-oh, my goodness!" she gasped, giggling. Gaav and Val both blinked, unsure what was so funny, then Gaav slowly smirked, too.

"What's so funny?" Val asked the two, who were both chuckling by now.

"My goodness, I just realized! I'm keeping secrets from you two, and that means that I'm acting like Namagomi!" Filia giggled, Gaav smirking a bit.

"'Raw garbage'?" Val asked, really confused.

"It's her nickname for Xellos," Gaav explained, snickering, "And it applies well!" Val blinked, never having met Xellos (that he remembered), and so not knowing if this was true or not.

"Right.."

"Well, you seemed to think so well enough when you met him," Filia grinned, "I remember you two were always fighting!"

"Uh, right.. You remember that. So, can they come over, mom? Don't worry, they're polite and they won't mess up the house."

"Sure, Val, but I want to meet them. Where did you bump into them? You were traveling for at least six days! I knew you wouldn't turn back.."

"Well, I saved Jathon after he fell in a river so we traveled to the next town over, and he introduced me to two friends of his, Rin and Chase," Val shrugged, smiling. "They seem convinced that I'm good at everything. Boy do they have it wrong..."

"Nobody's good at everything, but everybody's good at something," Gaav quoted, grinning, "Val's pretty good with swords, I think." Val shook his head.

"Ugh, between you and the three of them, I'll never get any peace and quiet about being bad at something, will I?" he asked, looking a bit exasperated at the prospect.

"That's right!" Gaav answered, nodding, and Val sighed.

"Knew it.." He looked up suddenly. "Mom? I was meaning to ask, how were you right there when I was going to, uh, kill Gaav?" he asked, slipping up a bit on the last part.

Gaav grinned, and Filia replied firmly, "I knew you wouldn't turn back after five days, so I followed you!"

"Aw, mom, you don't trust my word when I promise?"

"Gee, it didn't seem to do much good, did it?"

"...." Gaav chuckled to himself at Val's expression, and Filia grinned.

"Haha-eh?!" Gaav broke off mid-laugh, as Flia turned and gave him a big hug, smiling. "Uhh.. What's this for?" he asked the Golden Dragon maiden, who smiled up at him.

"What, I'm not allowed to hug somebody that nearly died just so that my son could know the truth about his past?" she asked, adding, "And didn't even hold a grudge?" Reddening a bit, Gaav shrugged and looked a bit sheepish.

"Well, what was I supposed to do, tell him I'd never forgive him and go off and mope?" he asked sarcastically.

"No," she said, settling back down with her tea again, "You were supposed to be brave and let him beat you up until I got there-not that blocking would've hurt, really."

"I wasn't expecting you to come at all," Gaav said slowly, "I was expecting him to kill me, and realize after I was gone that maybe, just maybe, I might've been telling the truth. And he was too fast to block!"

"Hey mom, I'm going to go and get Jathon, Rin and Chase, okay?" Val asked, trying to get away before they included him in the conversation. After all, Filia might start asking where he'd learned to use a sword, and he wasn't supposed to tell her the his 'uncle' Zangulus had shown him on the sly. Then I'd really get a chance to try out my sword skills-but blocking, this time. Against Uncle Zang, no doubt.

"You're going to go and walk six days to their hometown?" Filia asked wryly, shaking him out of his thoughts, and he laughed.

"No, mom! Geez, I'll go in Ryuzoku form! It's only an hour or two's flight, since I walk slow-and hah, that's something I'm bad at! Making good travel time!" Sweatdropping, both Gaav and Filia were silent.

***

Epilogue..

Filia stood in the early morning light, the sun just beginning to come over the horizon. Gaav, standing a bit away, watched the sun rising and smiled.

"Well, I'm glad that everything's settled here. But now I've got another place to be," he said, long red bangs drifting in the light breeze. Filia looked up.

"I still don't see why you have to go," she said softly, "You've finally found a place where you're welcome. Val needs somebody to take care of him, a father figure. I'm obviously not going to fit the part.." Gaav turned to her.

"What are you saying?" he asked, "Val's a fine young man. I don't think he needs anybody to 'take care' of him anymore, much as I'm sure you'd like to. Back when I first met him, he reminded me of myself. We were both outcasts from our races, and wanted to stay alive, didn't want to give up," he smiled slightly.

"So I made him half-Mazoku and we traveled together, fleeing both his original race and mine. He depended on me back then, for a thousand years in which we traveled the world, but I don't think he really needs me now."

"But is there really anywhere for you to go?"

"I'll find somewhere I belong, eventually. Until then, I guess I'll just travel around and see what places I can," he shrugged, "Who knows, maybe I'll even come back someday and realize that this is where I've belonged all along." Smiled a bit, he added, "But I'll never know until I try it, so that's why I've got to leave. I-peaceful life is-I don't know," he sighed, "I guess I'm just too on edge to relax and stay in any one place for any large amount of time."

"...." Filia was silent, looking down and avoiding his eyes.

"What?" he asked, looking at her.

"I...I'm going to miss you, Gaav. I know it sounds silly, but with Val visiting his friends all the time and you leaving, I'm going to get lonely here by myself," she admitted, looking up, "And I've gotten so used to you living here now that it seems impossible to imagine life without you. It's like you're part of this little family we've patched together. How can you just up and leave like this?"

"Filia.."

"No, it's the truth!" she insisted, frowning a bit, "It's not fair for you to just go and leave Val and I like this! He's going to miss you, too, you know he will! Gaav, he's just managed to come to terms with his past. He needs you around." Gaav shook his head, fiery hair swirling behind him from the movement.

"Filia, I think it's best for both of us that I leave. Val's got his friends, he's got you. He...doesn't need me anymore."

"No, you're wrong! He needs you the most!" Filia objected, throwing her hands up in frustration, "You're the one he's known the longest!"

"Not really, Filia," Gaav smiled wistfully, "He doesn't remember any of it. He only knows what we told him, and I'm sure he doesn't even like to think about that. I am really nothing more to him then the one who told him the truth."

"Maybe-maybe if you two talk about it enough, he'll start remembering!" the Golden Ryuzoku suggested, "Maybe if you talk about it enough, he'll have more of those dreams, and then start really remembering something. You can't just go like this-don't you even want to tell him goodbye?" Gaav smiled sadly.

"I know you'll tell him for me," he said quietly, "And I wouldn't have the heart to leave, with both of you begging me to stay."

"Then why do you have the heart when I'm begging you to stay?" she asked, trying not to get upset, "How can you just walk out and leave us here, waiting for you to come back?" Much to her surprise, he silently drew her into a soft hug.

"I'm sorry, but I can't stay here, Filia," he whispered, truly sounding sincere, "There's just something about staying here that doesn't feel right. I don't know what it is, but it's there, and I can't stay here as long as it stays there." He smiled down at her, brushing a strand of golden hair from her eyes, and said, "I'll come back someday.... I promise."

Nodding silently, Filia stepped back and stood next to the house, watching the Demon Dragon King walk away down the trail, orange trench coat wafting like a cape behind him and blood-red hair drifting back toward her as he walked.

The End

(For now, anyway. ^_~)