This isn't supposed to make a lot of sense. You have to think about it.
"Tell me a story."
Xellos turned onto his side and regarded his companion quizzically. "A what?"
"A story," she repeated. "One about you. You're so secretive, after all, I want to know more about you. And anyway, all the most interesting stories in the world are about you." She smiled winsomely at him.
Xellos chuckled and flipped onto his back. Blinking, he stared up at the sky for a long moment, then said slowly, "Once upon a time there was a boy."
"A boy?"
"Yes, a boy. And the boy was a caterpillar."
"What color was he?"
"What?" The male Mazoku was momentarily taken aback. "He was caterpillar-colored."
His companion giggled. "Caterpillar colored?"
"Yes, caterpillar-colored," Xellos replied irritably. "Do you want me to tell the story or not?"
The woman sobered instantly, but he could see her eyes twinkling in the darkness. "Sorry."
"In time the boy grew older, and became a man. And all the thoughts and dreams and hopes and unfulfilled wishes inside the man grew stronger and stronger. They wound silken threads about his soul, and he became wrapped in a chrysalis from which he could not escape. He was wrapped in a dark, dark prison, while outside, predators hummed all about him. The chrysalis gave him camouflage, so he was safe, but he was also trapped.
"Then, one day, a starling came along and saw the cocoon. The bird pecked furiously at the man, and he was knocked from his perch. He bounced on the ground, and the man was injured, but he couldn't escape, because his silk-shroud was too tight."
"How did he escape?" the woman asked.
"Hush, and I'll tell you." Xellos cleared his throat, and continued. "The man could do nothing but lie on the ground, staring up at the sky. He was lying, and staring, despairing in his heart, when along came a shadow that blocked out the sun. The man looked, and a wolf was there. The wolf lowered her head and sniffed the man. 'Little one,' she asked. 'You are no caterpillar at all! You are a butterfly indeed, but I can make you more than that. I can make you a wolf with butterfly wings.'
'But then I'll never be a real butterfly, will I?' asked the man.
The wolf lowered her head, amused. 'You weren't a butterfly anyway, or hadn't you noticed? The gift I can give you is that of the wolf, not the butterfly, but a butterfly you should be and so you will keep your wings, provided that you keep them hidden.'
The man thought about this for a moment, then asked, 'Then I will be able to get out of this chrysalis?'
And the wolf laughed, after the manner of wolves, and replied, 'Little one, you will never be trapped again. You will be as free as anyone can be. Now come, I haven't much time. What do you choose?'
'I choose freedom!' the man cried. 'I choose the way of the wolf!'
'Done, then!' the wolf-bitch cried, and, reaching out one massive paw, tore the chrysalis to shreds.
The man leapt free, and transformed. Where a caterpillar had been, a wolf's paws touched the loam of the forest. The wolf-bitch growled her satisfaction, and the wolf with butterfly wings lowered his head and touched the bitch's paws…."
Xellos trailed off. A long moment passed, then the woman turned to look at him. "Is that all?" she asked, a note of disappointment in her voice.
"All?" Xellos queried, his gaze distant. "No, far from all, but all for now."
They returned to their contemplation of the stars that wheeled overhead, glowing like a river of light in the darkness.
Owari, for what it's worth.