He didn't get to see the child until it was born. It was kept a secret from his peers and from the people, and was presented as the son of himself and a previously unmentioned Seyruun distant family member who had renounced her rights to the throne. It was a convoluted excuse, one that brought much skepticism among the population, but in the end, they accepted it out of convenience.

As soon as he saw him, Zelgadis regretted his decision deeply. The baby was hideously deformed; the various parts of Zelgadis' mixed body were combined in a twisted and ugly form that made it difficult for the child to breathe or move freely. His mind and speech were impeded and stuttering and Zelgadis feared he would stay that way for life.

From the very start, he was frail and weak, requiring almost daily medical care.

The child was never shown to the people for fear of their reaction and only the most trusted council members and court servants were allowed to see him.

Zelgadis was heartbroken and ashamed, but he still tried his best to love Amelia's son. He named him Caliban and cared for him as best as his own health could, until the day he died.


The new king was crowned at the young age of 14. Already worn, he had great difficulty performing any task. It was well known within the palace that the young king suffered from constant excruciating pains and could barely walk, even with a limp. As such, most of his royal decisions were left to his councilors. But what worried the court most, was the king's complete trust in a set of people that had not been part of the royal house until recently.

Indeed, it seemed that the new king made all of his decisions only after receiving advice from mazoku delegates. Little by little, Zelas' influence over the kingdom grew stronger. Within 5 years, the magical barrier protecting the kingdom was shut down, and mazoku and other shady creatures started taking residence in Seyruun.

The kingdom's holy status slowly started wearing down, and so did its purity. Quality of life slowly declined as crime went up, and the king had little control over it. Poverty, hate crimes, general distrust and apathy…all ideas that had once been quite foreign to the average citizen, became commonplace. Seyruun became a rotten kingdom, just like all the others.

Caliban hated his father for the entirety of his 25-year life. He hated him for bringing him into the world like this, he hated the responsibility he placed on him, and he hated the helplessness he felt constantly.

But more than anything, he hated himself for feeling like a monster. Even though he was only 1/4thmazoku, he still felt like one. He could only feel negative emotions, and it mostly boiled down to only two: anger and sadness.

He had an understanding of how the mazoku thought and acted, and he realized their goals. The bitterness they felt for being the way they were, and the reason they wanted to end the world so badly. Jealousy. Jealousy at other creatures that were allowed to be happy, to love and be loved, have families and friends and experience the joys of an average life. They felt like the creator of the world had dealt them a losing hand, and they wanted to reset the game to get a better chance.

He too, wanted to try again. But he was never going to see that chance.

His body finally gave out and he received a private burial. His reign was frowned upon and the people hoped that the next ruler would put the country back on its feet.


Lucy clutched her heart a little.

She really wasn't prepared to hear all this.

"That poor child…what a life he led" she said to herself, bitterly. "Is that what it's like for you too?" she asked him, her eyes teary.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Xellos asked in confusion.

"What you said just now, that it feels bitter and lonely and sad" she continued, looking him straight in his closed, upturned eyes, hoping to see any display of genuine emotion from him.

Xellos scratched his head, pondering, and shrugged his shoulders.

"No, not really. I guess I must've been a little too metaphorical with my description of his feelings, but trust me, that was king Caliban's personal opinion. We mazoku are completely at ease with our existence. After all, if we mazoku came to despise ourselves, we'd fade out of existence."

"I... huh?" Lucy cocked her head to the side quizzically.

"You see, mazoku don't exist in the same plane as you. The body you see is merely an extension of my own that I created through sheer willpower. That willpower alone is what keeps us going". He demonstrated by punching through his own arm with the other, leaving behind a clean hole that closed up almost instantly after he showed it to her.

Lucy stared at his arm and at his completely serene expression in shock as he did his little gruesome show-and-tell demonstration.

"Isn't that…painful?" she asked, cringing.

"Ha ha, no, not on this plane. Now, on the ASTRAL Plane, a wound like that would hurt a lot, indeed. Thankfully, only us mazoku still have access to cross the planes voluntarily anymore. Olden magic was a pain, indeed." he muttered the last part with a low voice, remembering all the problems he encountered tailing Lina on her adventures.

"So, what happened to magic?" she asked, still hearing his statement.

"It got lost to time…and interference" he shrugged, acting innocent.

"Is that why you stole my books?" she asked, peeved.

"To be fair, I didn't know what was inside the box. I just wanted to mess around with you." he smiled deviously.

Lucy felt herself turn red at his statement. The nerve!

"H-how could you?" she stammered.

"Well, I assumed we were playing a game of tag. You know. You catch me with my photos, I catch you with your books. You catch me in a magical prison, I burn your house down…that kind of fun. By the way, can I go now? I feel my legs going numb." he said nonchalantly, shaking his fuzzy pink slippered foot in a little circle.

"No. I still have questions that need answering!" she jumped, puffing her cheeks in annoyance.

Wait…he was joking about burning down her house, right?

"Of course, of course. For now, at least." he laughed, making her shiver again.

"Look, I need you to say the words I want to know!" she continued.

"Might I suggest a dictionary?" he quipped, chuckling.

She gave him a piercing stare and he took the hint.

"I still feel sorry, though…" she lowered her gaze again.

"For?"

"For king Caliban. He led such a miserable life, and he was so wanted by his parents…king Zelgadis only had him to honor his wife, and she never even got to meet her son…"

"Well, it's ok. He wasn't hers to begin with." Xellos stated matter-of-factly.

Lucy felt another wave of anger washing over her. What was he saying?

"What do you mean"

"Well, if you stand to think about it logically, it makes sense. There was no way for a human egg to last for over 100 years, even in the best preservation status. Not to mention, thinking this far ahead of time to extract such an egg from her would require a tremendous amount of forethought and methods that are rather…unorthodox, even for us. The simple matter is, there was never any part of queen Amelia used to make him. I just said what came to mind that would persuade the king to agree to do it" he explained happily.

Lucy stared in shock at the reveal.

"You…you lied to him?"

"Lie is a pretty strong word, miss. I only told him something that sounded reasonable to him. HE was the one who made the assumption we would use queen Amelia's DNA, not me. We didn't even need a human base, really. Mazoku "blood" is an unstable, but universal liaison. Since it crosses 2 planes of existence, it can sustain any life, for a while at least." Xellos hand-waved the situation away, changing the subject "Anyway, is there anything else you wanted to know?"

Lucy felt lost for a moment. She felt like she couldn't take much more, but her curiosity pushed her forward.

"What happened to the kingdom after king Caliban died?"

"Ah, well, that, from what I remember…" Xellos started his story again.