Slayers: Chaos

Chaos 20

Slayers: Chaos

Episode 020: Startling! Another Dragon In Distress

On their way to Taforashia, Lina, Gourry, Xellos and Filia stopped at a town. It was the same as always, Lina and Gourry cleaned up all the supplies of the local restaurant and after spending the night at the town's inn, the group would once again be on their way. The suspicious occurrences that had taken place lately had Filia wondering what would happen next. She strayed from the group and wandered around town for a while, blending in surprisingly well.

The street merchants called out various phrases to advertise their products, but one specific merchant stood out to Filia above all the others. He wasn't any louder than the rest of them, but her pointy ears picked out his words above the shouts and murmurs of the busy streets. "Berries, get your berries. Just make sure you don't give them to dragons or they'll go crazy!"

Driven by curiosity and mischievous intentions, Filia approached the man behind the booth. His hair was black, about mid-back length tied in a low ponytail. She looked at his peculiar violet eyes that reminded her of Xellos eyes, except this man seemed to b a human. There was something in the back of her mind that told her she had seen him before, but she couldn't remember. She looked at the berries he sold; they were red and somewhat heart-shaped. "Will these berries really drive a dragon crazy?"

"Oh yes, very crazy!" The mysterious man smiled, showing that his fangs were slightly longer than those of an average human, but his energy was still like that of a human. There might have been a hint of something else in his aura, but it was very well hidden.

"I'll buy a box!" Filia's interpretation of the merchant's warning was that a dragon who consumed the berries would act stupidly insane. She didn't ask any further questions so he didn't give her any further specifications.

As Filia ran off with her purchase in her hands, the mysterious merchant grinned, his expression similar to that of Xellos. "Increment the chaos around Xellos, that was the order I received from Lord Beast Master," he mused aloud. "The methodology was of my own device, you can thank me later, dear brother." The man, or rather the human and monster chimera, faded into the astral side, returning to his duties at Amor Resort, a very peculiar secret monster training facility.

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Later at the inn, Lina, Gourry and Xellos were hanging around idly, since there was no way they could make it to the next town before sundown and Lina wasn't in the mood to camp out tonight. Filia wasn't sure which room Xellos was staying at, but she had a very simple plan to figure it out. She walked right up to him and asked. "What room are you in, raw garbage? I want to know so I can stay in the room furthest away from you."

"I'm in room number five in the second floor," Xellos replied rather nonchalantly.

"Then I'll be in the opposite end of the inn." With that announcement made, Filia teleported away.

Meanwhile, Lina had been sitting at the opposite end of the inn's common room and was unable to hear the exchange between the monster and the dragon. She was trying to make some kind of friendly conversation with Gourry, but wasn't sure what to say. She was supposed to be charming him, but she didn't know how. All she ever did around him was be herself, but she was convinced that alone wouldn't work. Deciding that perhaps she should wait until she ran into Amelia and ask for a little help with her situation, Lina delayed her plans for the time being and decided to head upstairs to her room.

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Meanwhile, Filia had teleported to the hallway of the inn's second floor. She looked at the numbers carved on the brown wooden doors. The inn had nothing peculiar about it, with an ordinary appearance and ordinary rooms filled with common wooden furniture and plain white sheets and pillows. One of the doors, the first one in the hallway was labeled 2-1, she continued walking down the hall past doors 2-2, 2-3 and 2-4. Finally she found herself in front of door 2-5. Without a second thought, she phased through the door and entered the room.