Filia stared out the window watching her children at play as she kneaded clay for her newest piece. She had added large windows to her workshop so she could keep an eye on the children as she worked. They seemed to be behaving themselves, at least for the moment. The three heads, one green-haired, one violet and one blonde seemed to be playing in the creek and there was no mass destruction anywhere near them for once. Adrianna and Xavier Metallium were only eight years old, but they could cause an incredible amount of trouble! Valteria, at 9 years old, all too often would play along with the mischief and with his growing Ancient Dragon powers there was a lot of mischief he could cause. The twins were even worse, with both Ryuzoku and Mazoku powers at their disposal, if not always under control. They also had inherited their tendency for mischief from their father, but fortunately it came along with at least a little bit of Filia's concern for what was right. Filia idly wondered what Xelloss had been like as a child, but decided that mazoku must not have such a stage of development, because the world would never have survived!
Filia sighed and began sculpting an intricate vase. Maybe this time she would be able to finish it. More often than not she was interrupted by the twin's latest pranks, which were ever finding more creative ways of destroying her efforts. Maybe watching the children while running a pottery shop wasn't the best of ideas. But she could never send her children off to some daycare after school (there were none that would take those troublemakers anyway, but Filia tries to ignore that fact.) She was no longer entirely dependent on the proceeds from the shop. Xelloss had made it very clear that he could provide for all her monetary needs, but she refused to give up her independence. She truly enjoyed her work. Sculpting vases was a great stress relief after some of the trouble her children caused! Besides, she didn't really want to think about where Xelloss came by his money…
Through the widow she saw the twins jump up, leaving the dam they had been building in the small creek that ran through the yard. Val watched as he continued to work on a miniature village beside the dam trying to figure out just what they were doing, but knowing better than to ask. The the twins shared one of those glances which twins always understand and stalked toward a bush, circling each side as if cornering prey. Filia scanned the foliage to see what it could be and was startled by a flurry of motion when a giant wolf leaped out and pounced on first Adrianna and then Xavier, tossing the children into the air. Filia dropped yet another vase and dashed forward to rescue her children when the wolf transformed into Lord Zelas Beastmaster. Filia stopped short and then cracked a slight smile at the started expression on the Beastmaster's face as her enthusiastic grandchildren latched onto her yelling "Granny!!!"
"What fine hunters you've become!" Zelas laughed, recovering quickly. She seemed a little uncomfortable with all that open affection, but she quickly put that aside, once more hiding that strange collection of reactions she always had to her grandchildren behind her mask of cheerfulness. "I couldn't get within 50 feet without you spotting me. It seems your father's been teaching you well!" She winked at each of them, and then listened intently as they told her, along with many demonstrations, all about their most recent exploits.
Filia watched intently. She knew she wasn't the only person in the world with some reservations about her Mother-in-Law but Filia truly believed she had a better than average reason for her nervousness. She was pretty confident that Zelas posed no immediate threat to her children, but she did NOT trust her. Zelas was a mazoku after all, and Filia was sure the Beastmaster must have some ulterior motive behind her frequent visits with the twins. However, Filia had caught Xelloss, on few occasions, doing things of absolutely no benefit to himself. Though he denied it, she was certain that mazoku could do things with no hidden evil motivation. Also, comparing Xelloss' obvious affection for the twins with Zelas' behavior, Filia was pretty sure that plain old fondness for the children was at least one of the reasons behind her visits. But judging from Xelloss' natural tendency to deny any positive emotion, Filia didn't think Zelas herself was aware of her growing attachment to the children. So there had to be another reason for the visits, to at least give the Beastmaster some official excuse she could use to fool herself. Filia was pretty sure she knew what that other reason was and she did not like it one bit. The longer she watched, the angrier she got. Zelas looked up from where she was showing the children various ways to destroy miniature dragon shrines, to see an overprotective mother-dragon purposefully approaching.
"Hello, Filia darling." Zelas greeted her daughter-in-law with amusement written all over her face.
"Hello Lord Beastmaster." Filia gritted out.
Zelas acted as if she didn't notice Filia's strained response and continued cheerfully. "You have been doing an excellent job of raising my grandchildren! They are very advanced for their age aren't they?" Zelas watched with admiration as the twins went on to destroy the dam and the small village they had built earlier. Adrianna was practicing her aim at destroying from a distance, carefully missing Xavier who merrily stomped about in dragon form. Val didn't seem too happy about this, but was torn between defending his city and warily watching the mazoku lord who had appeared in his backyard.
"I an not just doing you some favor by raising MY children." Filia retorted. "What are you doing here anyway?"
"I'm just visiting my grandchildren. I heard it was customary for a grandmother to spoil her grandchildren rotten, so I was just enjoying my responsibilities." She pulled a crystal bowl full of mouth-watering, tooth-rotting candy out of mid air. She gave Filia a mischievous look to see her jaw dropped in terror at the thought of what that would do to the twins, both in terms of cavities and hyperactivity.
"Xavie, Adrie! Look what Grandmother Zelas has!" The twins looked up from where they'd been tying Val to a tree with a garden hose[1] after he protested their destroying his half of the village. Val did not look too happy about this present situation but had kept quiet, hoping to avoid the Demon Lord's notice.
"Awww, Granny! Stop calling me Xavie! They always tease me about it."
"Who teases you? If you want we can show them a lesson. How about we lock them in a dungeon where my wolves can gnaw on them, then hang them upside down by their toenails in a room completely full of poisonous snakes, before we roast them just a bit and then eat them alive."
"Ha! See that Val! You'd better not tease me anymore!"
"LET ME GO!!!! I only asked if I could call you Xavie! It's shorter. Lighten up! I wasn't trying to tease you! Just cause that Mazoku is here you think you can do whatever you want. Well I've had enough now." Val began to strain against the hose starting to transform in the process.
"Xavier Bronwen! Adrianna Violet!!" Filia said sharply. "You untie your brother this minute! Xavier, it looks to me like you are the one teasing Val. Now I want you all to apologize to each other this minute!"
"Why me?" Val groaned.
"Hey! Are those chocolate covered cherries?" Adrianna's eyes lit up and she gave her grandmother a huge hug before taking the bowl. "Thank you, Granny! You're the best."
Zelas winced again at the word 'Granny' but the praise seemed enough to make up for it. Xavier dropped the garden hose from where he'd half untied Val, and joined his sister sorting through the candy bowl. Zelas smiled and said farewell to the twins, promising to visit again soon. She then disappeared leaving Filia to finish untying Val and to try and get the candy bowl away from the twins before too much damage was done.
"Xelloss?" Filia glanced at her husband, as she got ready for bed.
"Yes?" he replied lazily, watching the most interesting view she was giving him as she brushed her hair. She was wearing the lacy nightgown he'd given her with the trick holes in inappropriate places. Holes that were well enough hidden most of the time that Filia had yet to notice their presence aside from her occasional comments about all the drafts lately. [2]
"Well.. It's just that… I'm a little worried about Zelas."
"What?" Xelloss sat up and looked at his wife questioningly. "Why? She's been far more understanding than I ever expected. She's even allowed me some flexibility in my work so I could spend time with the children."
"That's sort of what the problem is. Had it occurred to you that she's a little too understanding? Her number one servant has gone and married a dragon. And now he's not even doing his full workload because he needs time for raising children. Not only does she accept all this but she seems to be making every effort to be supportive. Why?"
Xelloss made a hurt face, "So suspicious, Filia! Someone does you a favor and you take it all the wrong way. Why shouldn't Lord Beastmaster be supportive? She is my mother after all."
"Don't give me that! I know mazoku better than that! There has to be another reason." Filia put down her brush and sat down on the bed to look at him. "She visited the children again today."
"She told me. Said they were causing a delightful bit of trouble!" Xelloss winked.
"Xelloss! Stop encouraging them!"
"They're just being kids. Having a little fun. You should try it sometime." He poked her.
"Hmph. Just a little fun? Poor Val's face is still orange from that candy they gave him out of her bowl! My point is…well I'm afraid of the influence she has over them."
"Are you calling my mother a bad influence??" Xelloss pouted.
"No. I think she's trying to win them to her side. To win their loyalty. She wants to use them!!"
"And?"
"You mean you knew this?? She's probably been planning this all along. I thought she seemed awfully happy at our wedding! You know that our children are incredibly powerful. Too powerful for their own good. Now a mazoku lord comes along trying to warp their minds by playing dear old Granny in the hopes of brainwashing them and making them her slaves, like yourself!!" Filia exclaimed.
Xelloss' face didn't show any of the quick thinking that was going on in his head... he had to think of a way to calm Filia down! He could tell the truth, but that wouldn't help any... What to do? When all else fails: Bold faced lies! "Think rationally. No matter how often she visits, she spends less time with them than you do. And they are way too smart to be brainwashed. You're going to have to accept that there are a lot of people who would love to have control over Adrianna and Xavier. And there is nothing you can do to get rid of most of them, like Lord Beastmaster. Filia, you're going to have to trust our children. I know they take after me at times, but you've really done a good job of teaching them. They DO understand what's going on, and they know what's right. Now you'll just have to trust them. They are going to have to make their own decisions, and all we can do as parents is teach them as best we can and then trust them to make their own decisions."
Filia stared at her husband in shock. He usually seemed like such a goofball, or was so busy being the evil mazoku that she often wondered if she wasn't crazy for helping make him a parent. Then there were times like this. When she'd first fallen in love with him it had been a thing entirely beyond her control or understanding, but right now she knew exactly why she loved him. And she knew just how to show it. "Thank you Xelloss. That makes sense. I guess I should stop worrying about it. So why don't we do something a little more fun to get it off my mind?" With that she threw herself on Xelloss with an enthusiasm that caught him completely off guard. The trickster priest soon recovered from his shock and started giving back with equal enthusiasm, not about to be outdone by some Dragon!
Notes:
1. This is a reference to the time my parents tied one of my more annoying aunts to a tree with a garden hose, way back when they were dating. I always wanted to do that to my siblings but they never let me!
2. Ok, ok.. this was an ides from a Robert Aspirin book in which there was a magical transparent patch that migrated at random on a dress. Assume the holes are magical so they are only present when she's wearing the nightgown, and they move around so she can't track them down.
I admit, I made a huge time jump between this and the last chapter. So if you have any questions please Ask! Some I've had were about how all the characters have changed. Well the parents finally had to GROW UP (a bit) when the kids came along. At least enough so they wouldn't fight all the time in front of their kids. So explosive arguments are now
restricted to approximately once a week, and now only knock an average of one or two buildings down.
Filia had wholeheartedly adopted Val and Xelloss accepts him as well, but the children were smart enough to figure out relatively early that he was adopted. They still get along together quite well, in spite of the
fighting they did this chapter, which was mostly provoked by Zelas. What do you expect of a mazoku?