“Oh, my, well, I would have thought that a priestess of the fire dragon king would be more… refined.” I say. She reddens, swiftly pointing her giant mace at my face. I laugh, hoping to raise her hackles even more. She quickly puts it away.

“Well, I’m glad I don’t have to deal with you more than this, Mazoku, because I doubt you would live very long.” She says softly. I smile a grin I know is insufferable.

“I doubt I would as well, at least, the way you’re acting.” I say, looking uninterested. Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and the chimera stare at both of us with a look that says, ‘This is getting out of hand’ I’m glad. I want it to get out of hand. I want this golden dragoness to be mad at me. It’s more fun than I have had in a thousand years, since the war of the monsters fall, since I killed large numbers of her race. Of course, I was under orders, you can’t really blame me. She glares at me, her face red, a minute flame licking from the corner of her mouth. She regains composure, though I can tell she’s still seething with anger. Good. I smile, gesturing to the others.

“Come now, it’s time for us to go!” I say, cheerily, my smile twitching as I feel the flare of anger at my back. Lina tosses her hair.

“Ok, glad to hear it!” she shouts, in her normal flippant way. She’s getting tired of this one, I know. Gourry follows her meekly. Amelia is her normal cheery self. It kind of gets to me, I know it sounds funny. Her being so cheery all the time. Weird, ne? Me, Xelloss, Beastmaster and Mysterious Priest, irritated by someone who’s cheery? But I digress. The chimera follows at the back, in another of his irritated funks. He’s really the best for that kind of thing. She leads, burning with hatred inside. I laugh.

“What was that for, Mazoku?” she quickly whirls and says. I glance at her with one eye.

“Oh, nothing, I just wanted to see what you’d do.” I say, grinning. She whirls huffily and I lick my lips. This is more fun than it looks.

He just doesn’t know when to quit does he? That mazoku, that…. Xelloss! Ohh, how I would like to take my mace and ram it up his smiling… but no. That’s just what he wants. Really, the best way to fight back is to get to him the way he gets to me…. It’s just so hard to do! I stomp my foot. I know he can tell that I’m angry. Mazokus feed off that kind of thing… That makes me even more angry. Stop that… control yourself, you know he’s enjoying this, don’t give him the pleasure! That’s better, calm. Just think about the prophecy.

“So, um, Filia… Where are we going?” Gourry-san asks. I sweatdrop.

“I told you, we are going to the Temple. Of. The. Fire. Dragon. King. Got it?” I whirl, just to see if he’s listening. But, instead of Gourry behind me, it’s Xelloss. He obviously warped there, just to get in my face. Grrr… OH! THAT STUPID MAZOKU!! But, I take my anger and douse it.

“Please get out of my way…” I say through gritted teeth. He smiles.

“OH! Was I in your way? I’m terribly sorry about that…” he says, moving.

“Well, at least he’s being polite now…” Amelia mumbles.

“Believe me, that’s not politeness.” Lina says. Zelgadis says nothing, he just watches, expression unreadable. I hate that. Gourry’s eyes are blank. Nevermind. I turn to walk ahead of the group again.

Hopefully, this doesn’t last much longer. It’s really working on my nerves. One comment, a snappy rebuttal, and they’re both at each other’s throats again. I don’t know about the others, but Amelia and I are really getting sick of it. I know Gourry could really go through life not noticing, for the fact that he IS Gourry, but I really have to ask Zel. He seems to be ignoring it. Hmm.

“So, anyway, Filia, how long until we get to this, ahem, Temple…” I ask self-consciously. She is stomping along the trail a few footfalls ahead of Xelloss. The ground is sort of vibrating with each of her footsteps. She replies in a tone best left not described,

“We are almost there.” I sigh. I really can’t take a whole lot more of this.

Why is Filia so mad? It’s just Xelloss. Of course, His remarks are kind of out of line, but she’s taking them so personally. Wait, one minute… WHY DOES SHE HAVE A TAIL?? I stop, and point.

“Zelgadis, she’s got a tail!” I shout. Zelgadis just rolls his eyes.

“Gourry, she’s a golden dragoness, she’s allowed to have a tail… You can’t have forgotten that already!” He says, sweatdropping. I scratch my head. Oh, yeah… I do remember, vaguely, seeing it before in that clock tower, and then… Oh yeah.

“I guess I kinda did…” I say. Lina smacks me upside the head.

“You moron..” she mumbles in an affectionate tone. At least, I think it’s affectionate.

“Mr. Gourry, how could you forget that?” I ask. Then I sweatdrop.. It is, after all, Mr. Gourry. Miss Filia has stopped. She gestures.

“Look, there it is, you see it?” she says, a bit haggardly, pointing to the horizon. A tower rises from it, a very small tower. Miss Lina gasps.

“You mean to say that we walked all this way and it’s still that far away?” she shouts. That’s nothing to say at a time like this. I jump onto a cliff.

“Miss Lina! Don’t lose courage! We will get to the temple of the fire dragon king and find a way to save the world for the sake of JUSTICE!” I smile. That has a way of invigorating a girl. Of course my companions don’t feel as well about it.

“Come down, Amelia..” Miss Lina says. I jump down. Miss Filia bites her lip.

“Is it really that far?” she asks uncertainly. She sighs, “I could turn into a dragon, and get there quickly, but I can’t carry all of you..” Mr. Xelloss grins.

“Of course, you could leave your companions behind…” he says. LEAVE US BEHIND!!?? I won’t stand for that. I leap back up to the precipice.

“Mr. Xelloss! Don’t try to turn Miss Filia to your monstrous ways, lest I have to brand you with the name of ‘evil’ and turn on you my fists of justice!” I ball up my fists, grinning. The entire group below me sweatdrops. Mr. Zelgadis rubs his forehead.

“Amelia…” he says. I jump down, blushing.

“Sorry, I suppose I got caught up in the moment.” I say. Miss Filia is less tolerant, not of me, but of Mr. Xelloss.

“Look, here, you… I’m not going to take advice from a hated monster. It’s not my fault that you were made into a stupid monster, rather than being born a dragon like me.. I can’t really help but feel pity for someone so low.” She smiles, sending a glance in his direction. Mr. Xelloss is facefaulting, something he normally doesn’t do. Mr. Zelgadis is, unusually, smiling.

Heh.. I love to see that mazoku bastard screwed with this way. It’s good for the mind and soul. There’s nothing like that to cheer a guy up. Even a guy like me. I permit the barest shadow of a smile to cross my lips. Xelloss composes himself, no doubt to let a witty one-liner sling her way.

“I wouldn’t say something like that, Ryozoku.” He warns, adopting the familiar stance, “You’re the one traveling with the friends of this low-born mazoku.” I raise my eyelid involuntarily. I can’t let an opportunity like this pass me by.

“Who are you talking about, Xelloss? I wouldn’t go so far as to call us your friends..” I say, hand cupped under my chin. Strangely, both Xelloss and Filia turn to me, and say simultaneously,

“STAY OUT OF OUR BUSINESS!” I raise my eyelids in shock. I think there may be something to this that we mere mortals don’t see. I turn to Lina, and say as much. She nods.

“Yeah, I think perhaps there’s something beneath this constant bickering which has nothing to do with their natural leanings.” She whispers back. Satisfied that at least someone can see it too, I go back to the conversation at hand, which is sort of interesting, despite the fact that it wastes our time.

“At least someone knows that these people are no friends of yours.. MAZOKU!” she says triumphantly, “No one who is friends with a mazoku could save the world.. I know that much for sure! Besides… if they were really your friends, you wouldn’t even think of ditching them. Of course, you are a mazoku, real friends are impossible to those backstabbing creatures.” No! That’s really true, he won’t be offended by that! Xelloss turned, with an unreadable look in his eye.

“At least I’m not a pompous golden ryozoku who just kills off any creature that bothers me.” He says in a composed tone of voice. Filia just looks at him, wide eyed. Then she growls.

“What exactly is that supposed to mean?” she asked. Xelloss turned, waving his staff.

“Nothing, nothing at all, my ryozoku friend..” he says. He leaves off after that line, knowing that that small term would anger her far more than a thousand one-liners. He’s very good at what he does, and a… basically kind creature like Filia just can’t compete with that kind of raw experience at getting under people’s skin. I know. I have stone skin and he still manages to get to me.

XELLOSS! XELLOSS! XELLOSS! HOW COULD HE DARE TO CALL ME…. Ohhh! The word burns.. FRIEND? He knows, I know he knows that that simple term is worse than anything he could ever have done to me. But… Kills off any creature that bothers me? What does that mean? Maybe the answer will turn up, or he could just be a lying mazoku.. Yeah, that’s it, he, just lied to me… I turn to the others, whose expressions are mixed. Lina is looking shocked at the look on my face, Amelia is perplexed at my attitude, Zelgadis is amused, but slightly perturbed, and Gourry’s, well, asleep. I growl.

“WERE GOING TO THE TEMPLE OF THE FIRE DRAGON KING, GOT IT?” I say, the words coming out in a harsher tone than I mean them to. Lina nods.

“Yeah, uh, let’s get a move on guys,” she says shakily. She whispers to Zelgadis, but I can hear, “Quick, get between those two, do anything!” he nods, standing and moving between us. Good, I’d much rather be near the chimera than that, lying, murdering… so-and-so. I really have to get these emotions under control. I am a priestess of the fire dragon king.

Heh. I can feel her anger at that one. This is all too easy. Perhaps, maybe too easy? She’s glaring at me with those eyes. All golden and burning with ire. I can see them, even though the chimera is between us, and my eyes are closed. Good. Her anger is radiating from her like a, like a pyre. And she’s the phoenix. Burning in golden glory. I shake my head. Get those thoughts out… I thought the human was dead in here long ago. You don’t become the mysterious priest and the Beastmaster by making friends, and having mercy. And yet, she’s very pretty when she’s angry. I’ll have to tell her that, she’d get so very mad.. Or stop being mad at all, at least outwardly. I laugh inwardly at that one, and file it away for future use. Yes, so much ammo. I wonder when I’ll stop having the heart to use it. I open one eye to glance at her. She is still staring at me in anger. Good. I whisper it, just so loud as she, and perhaps the chimera can hear it.

“You’re very pretty when you’re angry.” I say, an uncharacteristically sincere smile on my face. She hears it, and her eyes widen. Her anger is completely replaced by dumbfounded shock. The chimera is surprised, too, but he only shows it with an eyebrow raise. Her anger blooms anew, twice as furious. She smiles mercilessly at me, baring sharp fangs.

“Well, mazoku, you’re handsome when you’re sincere.” She whispers back, in tones only I and the chimera can hear. He looks at her in open shock. I’m surprised myself. If I hadn’t been sincere, it would have made me incredibly angry. So, I fake it.

I grin to myself after that rebuttal. And… if I hadn’t been telling the truth, I would probably revel in it more. He looks mad, though, and that’s enough. That just has to be enough. For a moment, I thought he was really being sincere. Just a split-second though. Stupid Xelloss. But, Zelgadis heard, and that means that Lina and the others will be hearing as well. Luckily, for all he knows, I wasn’t telling the truth. No, it was a lie. All a lie. Stupid Xelloss, stupid mazoku.

Yeah, for all that chimera knows, it was a lie. And it’ll stay that way. Stupid Filia, stupid ryozoku.