Triptych
Part Two: Warrior, Sorcerer, General, Priest
I had dismissed the weakness at first. After all, it started when I was recovering from having my arm ripped off by Gaav. I had thought to pretend to be more injured than I was, in any case, since I had no interest whatsoever in being involved in Hellmaster's plans any further than I already had been.
Would things have been different if I hadn't been so dismissive? I don't know. I suppose I should say that it is a secret, but I have lived too long to keep secrets from myself. It can put you at a severe disadvantage, as several humans I have had to manipulate found out... After I had what I wanted. Still, regret is a useless thing. Everything has worked out to my advantage, so why should I quibble about the timing?
It started with nostalgia. Things I had not thought of in two thousand years came to me and would not leave. While I waited to see how Lina Inverse would defeat Lord Hellmaster, I tried to forget the ancient past and concentrate. Finally I distracted myself by pondering Lina's potential as a Mazoku. While Seigram had been rejected out of hand, I am considerably more persuasive. The emotion she displayed for her swordsman, however, would make it a tricky proposition. I decided I would keep observing her, and perhaps bring up the possibility years later.
Of course, that was before she became the earthly host for the Lord of Nightmares. Never had I felt such power! Raw and refined, unfettered and controlled, good and evil, male and female; It was all that and more. It was everything and it was nothing. It was terrifyingly beautiful and I felt... Sorrow. I did not want Lina to disappear into Chaos. She was amusing and useful and I would miss her.
I could not believe the strength of the emotions coming from her friends. Two especially interested me, the swordsman Gourry and the shrine maiden Sylphiel. For while Gourry was broadcasting rage and fear, he was also feeling love and hope, making a curious taste blend of emotions, almost bitter, almost sweet. It was to that sweetness I attributed most of my weakness. I thought that the shrine maiden's guilt, anger and fear more than made up for the spike of joy she felt, and I made a note to visit her later to savor the bouquet of her negative emotions at my luxury.
In the meantime, I followed the Lord of Nightmares, attracted and repulsed by the overwhelming presence of the Golden Lord. I hovered invisibly nearby, fascinated and yet hoping that terrible gaze would not turn in my direction.
I saw the Sword of Light, dropping away from where the audacious swordsman had disappeared from my sight, along with the Golden Lord in the body of Lina Inverse. I reached out to grab it, and as my hands closed around the hilt I felt my body freeze, paralyzed by feeling the weight of the edges of the mind of the Ultimate Lord touching mine.
My mind heard the Voice, like that of the sorceress I had followed but at the same time so much more, and resistance was not an option. The sword would be returned to Gourry Gabriev. In time I would find the key to curing my weakness by helping the chimera find his. But before I could start such a search, it was L-sama's Will that I save the world. There was not a glimmer of protest in my mind. I had thought my master impossible to refuse, before. The demands of Xellas were mere polite suggestions by comparison. This was to be the first crack in my obedience to Beastmaster, as no order she could give would in any way interfere with my complete and total obedience to the Will of the Lord of Nightmares.
And so it was. I returned the Sword, feeling a spasm of weakness I attributed to the love and relief that was coming from most of the party. I subtly enhanced the negative feelings of the shrine maiden, encouraging the seeds of hatred, obsession and madness I could see buried in her soul. Perhaps these would bear a pleasant fruit for me to savor.
It was in the garden that I realized something was seriously wrong. The madness took hold of Sylphiel's soul beyond my wildest dreams. I should have been reveling in a flood of energy. Instead, for ever bit of nourishment I took from her, I felt a diminishment. As she sobbed out a veritable All-You-Can-Eat Feast for Mazoku, I grew weaker and weaker, needing to clutch my staff to keep from falling. Worse yet, I felt - no, I _remembered_ sadness, joy, love, betrayal... Regrets. She told me to leave and I was too weak to even make a smart-assed comment. Something was definitely very wrong.
I hid. Like any wounded predator, my priority was to avoid becoming prey. Only when I was sure I was safe did I take the time to ponder what was causing this detestable problem. It seemed unlikely that it was caused by the Lord of Nightmares directly, since she could have simply killed me, as casually as a child swats a fly or Lina fireballs a bandit. Perhaps, to overcome this problem, I would have to give in to it. I would have to explore the memories of my distant and long forgotten humanity.
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My earliest memories are not of my mother, but rather of being told of my mother. The price of being a whore's son was repeatedly demanded of me and the priest who was in charge of my care enjoyed extracting it from my back. All the others at the Temple of Ceipheed chose to believe that the beatings I endured were necessary discipline for my smart mouth and love of tricks. It wasn't until years later that I realized that beating me satisfied a perverted lust in the priest. Enjoyable for a mazoku, but not for the small boy on the receiving end.
I was twelve when I killed him. I can still see the shock on his face when the pain and hate grew too great and the I lashed out. No more prayers to a useless god; I would deliver myself. I didn't even intend to kill him, merely to stop the beatings, but my fist crushed his nose and drove fragments of bone into his brain. I felt very vague and disconnected, almost as if another's hand was delivering the blow, another's eyes watching him crumple to the floor.
I don't remember the next few months clearly. Constant starvation will play hell with your memory. I do remember being on the run, trying to outdistance and hide from the pious temple goers who sought to punish the "ungrateful misbegotten whore's brat who had foully murdered the one person to take a kind interest in him". I proved adept at thievery and took whatever food, clothes or coin I could find as I got further and further from the city of my birth.
The next clear memory I have is of being caught. Never had I been so terrified as when the warrior's huge hand clamped around my wrist, imprisoning the hand that held his purse. Still, he saw something worthwhile in the ragged guttersnipe that I was. He took me home and adopted me as his son. Days, months and years blurred as he passed on his knowledge, forging me into a strong warrior. Life was golden and I could have become a great hero, a warrior respected and honored by all, if I hadn't, on my first quest, met a sorceress. Then again, I'd be long dead and wouldn't have had such an interesting time as a mazoku, so maybe Fate knows a thing or two after all.
For the first time since he had taken me under his wing, my master and I exchanged harsh words. So strong was the desperation of first love that I abjured my master and rejected the legacy and traditions that I had been chosen as heir to. This harlot's son and sometime warrior lived with his love and learned her ways.
And, oh! The bliss of those early days, flush with the blooms of love and youth. I discovered a love of learning, of the written word, that I had never had reason to suspect lived within me. I delved eagerly into magical texts, history books, even novels and poetry, absorbing all of the wisdom I could find. We acquired a traveling companion, my best friend from the days I trained as a warrior, and the three of us went around the world, visiting libraries and temples to find more and more knowledge.
I was so caught up in my new found love of knowledge that I never noticed a change in my lover or my friend. It was not until my beloved and her new lover attempted to kill me that I realized I had been betrayed. Unfortunately for them, I had by that time far outstripped either of them in terms of magic and fighting ability. I swore to myself never to trust again as I stepped over the crumbling ashes of the conspirators.
I continued his studies, but without the joy I had once felt. Days passed seamlessly as I pursued
knowledge in all forms, but especially knowledge that would give grant me power. That was what I lived for, and no boundaries were strong enough to keep me from increasing my knowledge. Spells that were deemed forbidden, I learned. Magic that had not been used in centuries I traced to the source, perfecting my grasp on the spell. I even found a spell that had been created by the Dark Lord Shabranigdo to kill dragons.
It was then that I flirted with traditional forms of power. I seized a kingdom, using the magic I had gathered to wipe out any who opposed my claim. I had expected this would make my life easier, as I could order my subjects to bring me spells and magical items. It took less than a year for me to realize just how tedious it is to be a king. Your subjects expect you to solve their problems and judge their disputes, your court expects you to pay attention to their petty squabbles and random grabs for land or riches and all of them expect you to stay in one place. And did they bring me one single solitary spell? No, not my subjects. Whiners, every one. With them it was all "But Your Majesty, no one can survive that quest". I walked away, leaving the kingdom of Zoana to rot for all I cared.
I decided to get serious about research. I climbed into the mountains and spent years studying dragons. I compiled texts on the different types of dragons, their societies, magic and even the anatomy of the different types. I especially admired the golden dragons, considering them beautiful beyond compare despite the first traces of decay and decadence in their society. After I had learned everything there was to learn about the dragons, I traveled again, looking for a new interest to research.
And then one day... One day I met the most beautiful maiden in the world and became consumed with thoughts of her. The heart which I had been sealed away for years began to beat again, only for the sound of her voice, the beauty of her smile. To impress her I did great works, healing the sick and helping the downtrodden, even returning to the worship of Ceipheed which I had abjured decades before. I would do anything for her, my goddess of the laughing eyes. She agreed to marry me and I gave her a betrothal present fit for a queen, a long chain of orihalcon meant to loop three times around the neck to signify past, present and future. From one loop hung an amethyst the size of a hen's egg that she insisted matched my eyes perfectly. She cried and said this was surely much too precious for her and that she would keep my gift close to her heart until she died. Yet for all her honeyed words and sweet touches, I did not trust her. I was consumed with fear that she would leave me, that she would take a lover and betray me. In my jealous obsession I would not allow her to leave the house and allowed no men to enter the property, let alone to see her, on pain of death. I would not even allow her own father and brother to contact her.
As the first ecstasy of love died down, I took up my studies again, researching everything ever written about mazoku - and about immortality. She withdrew from me and I, convinced that she was hiding a lover from me, dismissed all the servants and magically sealed the mansion against anyone entering or leaving except for specific times when I needed something from the outside world. Even then I would not leave my wife alone in the mansion for fear of losing her and I would summon a minor mazoku to retrieve whatever I needed. She sank farther into her depression, refusing to leave her bed and barely eating. I continued my studies, content that she was there and would not be able to leave.
In that she was cleverer than I. One day I came to her room to find she had carefully anchored the long, thin chain of orihalcon to a ceiling beam and then delicately wrapped it around her neck before she stepped off of a chair and finally escaped her gilded cage. The amethyst shimmered and winked as it swung over her left breast. I raged against her stupidity, her ultimate betrayal. I kept the chain and pendant as a reminder never to forget the treachery of women and dumped her body in the midden to sink into the refuse and sewage.
Once I had returned to my library, I was disturbed by a thin wail echoing through the empty hallways. I tried to ignore it, attribute it to overwork or tiredness. Surely she had been too eager to escape to leave a ghost behind. After a half hour had passed I gave up the pretense of working and tracked the sound to its source, a tiny scrap of humanity wrapped in a blanket on the bed my wife had lain in for so long. I had a daughter.
It's funny that I don't remember my daughter's name. Perhaps it's because I knew that she and I would be transitory in each other's lives, with her eventually going off to find the love that had always eluded me. I taught my daughter the skills of a warrior I retained and trained her in the magical arts before I unsealed the mansion and once again interacted with the outside world. My daughter would be able to rely on herself and would never be taken advantage of.
My duty as a parent done, I once again traveled the world, observing what had changed in the years I had stayed sealed away and what continued, seeming eternal. I did no more great deeds for humanity or for Ceipheed but then, I had no one I needed to impress. Occasionally I accepted jobs that seemed amusing or interesting, even finding an outer world artifact created by Dark Star on one of my missions. Still I had not found the answers I sought about immortality and I returned to my home to study. My daughter had fallen in love and was living happily with her husband in the town that would be called Sairaag, so I was able to research uninterrupted. The news that she had died in childbirth five years after her marriage caused only a momentary pang while I continued striving for the answers I sought, and I felt no need to go visit the newborn grandson she had left behind. I could see glimpses of the future and knew that I did not have a lot of time left.
The breakthrough had come when I contacted Xellas, the Beastmaster, Mazoku Lord and devastatingly
beautiful woman. I was spellbound by her as she laughed at my request for immortality and chided me for a lack of imagination. Fingering the amethyst pendant I kept around my neck, she told me to ask her for something truly worthy of her in one year and then disappeared.
Precisely one year later, she reappeared. I had focused all of my energies on planning what to ask for and how to get it. As she sat on my lap and again toyed with the amethyst that I wore, I made my request. Laughing delightedly and clapping her hands, she kissed me and told me that two mazoku would appear in one week and I would have to defeat them to gain my request. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of time she gave me, as I had expected the fight to happen immediately. I felt she had definite plans for me to come out the victor. The least I could do was oblige her.
And so I was prepared, smiling and nodding a greeting to each of the two mazoku on the other side of my desk at the second exactly 10,080 minutes since she had left.
"Welcome, gentlemen, to my home. Would you care for some tea?" The two facing me shook their heads, one looking angry and impatient while the other maintained a stony facade. "As you wish. Lord Beastmaster stated she will not interfere in any way with the events of this night, and no reprisals will be forthcoming for any action taken. I believe she has given you both her word on this as well? Very well then, begin when you are ready."
As I sat back in my chair, the angry looking mazoku lunged towards me, seemingly intent on ending my existence immediately. Little did he know the job would be done if he just sat back and waited for another hour or two. I was risking nothing to gain everything. I calmly sipped tea as the angry mazoku fell, his expression flashing to puzzlement and then incredulity before he blinked out of existence, stabbed in the back by the other mazoku.
"I will take that tea now." He smiled and dropped gracefully into one of the chairs arranged in front of my desk.
"Of course." I poured another cup and offered it to the monster, bowing.
"But first... We will switch cups." The mazoku smiled a distinctly shark like smile as he felt the overpowering waves of despair and terror flowing towards him from where I sat, my right hand clenching the amethyst pendant until my knuckles whitened. Delicately, he sipped his tea. "It seems a shame to kill the one who made the disposal of my ancient enemy possible. If you reconsider your request, perhaps you can live through the night."
I did my best to appear thoughtful, fidgeting with the amethyst pendant as hope overtook the flood of negative emotions the mazoku had been absorbing. "What did you have in mind?"
The mazoku took another deep draught of tea to hide his smile at how easy his night's work seemed. "Content yourself with half a loaf. Join me, take that idiot's place, and taste power beyond your wildest dreams."
I allowed a smile to spread across my face as I smashed to powder the amethyst with which I had broadcast stored emotions. The mazoku abruptly lost the buoying sensation of negative emotions and could not draw any power from the flood of good emotions I was feeling. "I'm afraid I'm a rather jealous person, my dear sir. I do not share, even a loaf."
He had flown backwards ten feet before he fell against the wall with a bone cracking force. He
attempted to gather his power to obliterate me when he found that he could not concentrate enough to cast even the simplest of defense spells.
"I'm afraid your friend was right to refuse the tea." I gave him my best charming smile and laughed merrily. "It's a special blend, developed and brewed by the Golden Dragons. It obliterates negative feelings and enhances good ones. A temporary effect, and one with a risk of addiction, as well."
The mazoku tried to stand, but was pinned by a blue glare he suddenly found at his throat. "And a handy artifact, Gorru Nova, the Sword of Light. One little slip and you join your friend in the darkness beyond deepest pitch."
I gave another merry little chuckle as I drew the sword along his neck, the merest hair's breadth away from slitting his throat. "Perhaps you would like to know the flaw in my plan, the one that would let you live and see me dead and defeated? Now, that is a secret, but I'm sure you can read my mind, so it won't be a secret for long." His eyes met mine and locked.
The screams of the mazoku reverberated through the cavernous hallways of the mansion before they ceased abruptly, a total blank void staring out of dimmed eyes. I had invaded and destroyed his mind. I grinned in satisfaction and couldn't resist the urge to crow as I stood over the mindless husk of my vanquished enemy. "Why, the flaw would have been if you hadn't opened your mind to attack!"
Then pain, excruciating beyond the ability to comprehend or describe. The hand of the Beastmaster reached into my soul and I shivered and collapsed. She pulled out the hate, the ambition, all of the darker aspects of drive and intelligence that would make a prince among mazoku and placed them in the husk sprawled on the floor. Chanting unknowable words, she stripped the human soul of all negative emotions, taking my darker side and leaving behind all of the softer emotions humans were prey to. Thankfully, she decided that her creation needed to retain the sense of humor that made some people call me The Trickster, and she reformed the body and features of the defeated mazoku to resemble me in the prime of my youth. At last, her ideal general and priest was ready and she woke me with a kiss.
"And now, Xellos, you are mine," she purred, stroking a hand over my dark purple hair.
"Yes, Lord Beastmaster. I am yours to command."
But what had happened to the other half of my human soul, the positive emotions? Looking back I pushed through the haze of remembered pain to focus on what she had been doing as I drifted in and out of consciousness. Through memory's eye, I saw that at the exact instant my mazoku form awoke, my human body, still containing the half of my soul with the softer human emotions, died. Xellas had shrugged and dismissed the incident, just as she ignored the fallen Sword of Light as she took me to her home and her bed. My still-human soul half died and was reincarnated.
By pushing the shrine maiden towards madness I had caused this dangerous weakness in myself. Every pure and strong negative emotion she felt took away part of my power, debilitating me to the point of barely functioning. If I killed her, the cycle would start again. I had to think of some way out of this. Seeing no immediate answer, I decided to consult with the one being who might be willing to help without taking undue advantage of my information, especially if I were to make an exchange of it.
I materialized in front of Lina and felt an immediate icy pain in the pit of my stomach. The trauma of Sylphiel's life had laid the groundwork, but I had pushed her over the edge. Her madness was growing, feeding on itself to the point where I could feel it spreading and pulsing around her. I tried to explain my situation to Lina but the pain was so great I couldn't gather my thoughts into coherency. I felt a slight relief in the pain and realized Sylphiel was blocking out her negative emotions in order to cast a Dragon Slave on Lina. No one could prevent it or deflect it. As quickly as I could, I explained to Lina how to absorb the energy into the demon's blood talismans, hoping she would pick it up fast enough to save herself. Exhausted beyond belief, I popped back to my hiding place to try to recoup enough energy to try once more to talk to Lina.
When I was well enough to return, it was the next day and the scene was chaos. Outside of some old ruins, Amelia and Zelgadis were standing over Gourry, their hands glowing as they put everything they had into a healing spell. Sylphiel was crumpled on the ground unconscious and Lina was sprawled with her back against a tree, exhaustion evident on her face. She held a finger up to her lips and gestured behind her with the other. I nodded my understanding and rematerialized behind her tree, out of sight of the others.
I started to explain my situation but she held up her hand. "Right now Xellos, you have something I need and you want something from me. Tell me how to seal someone's power and how I can heal Gourry and I'll do everything I can to help you once we're back at the inn."
I looked her over, assessing. Her gaze was unswerving as she looked stared into my eyes and I realized that if I denied her now, she would do her best to ensure I shared the fate of Shabranigdo, Zanafar and countless lesser monsters who had faced her. I wouldn't want to face her directly at my best; in my current condition it was unthinkable. I nodded and taught her the spells, drawing runes on the ground to help explain the concepts faster. She stood up and left to cast the spells and I rested against the tree, grateful for the moment of peace.
That night, Lina listened to the entire story, from beginning to end. She looked thoughtful for a moment, toying with the one blonde tress in her fiery hair. "Well, Xellos, part of the problem is solved. That spell you gave me for sealing magic? I used it on Sylphiel." Lina explained to me what the shrine maiden had been doing that caused such debility in me. "She genuinely feels sorry for what she did, and I think that almost killing Gourry doused most, if not all, of the hate and obsession."
"Yes, I do feel better, but what can I do to fix it permanently?" I hated the whining tone in my own voice, but I desperately wanted an answer.
"I'm sorry, Xellos. I don't know what the cure for you will be any more than I know how to cure Zelgadis." She stood, being careful not to jar her ribs or brush her legs against anything. The injuries were the swordsman's but at least half the pain was hers, thanks to the spell I had taught her. I paid no attention to her leaving the room, as her words had triggered the memory of the voice of the Lord of Nightmares. I would find my cure when I helped the chimera find his. I just had to save the world first.
End Part Two: Xellos
Part Two: Warrior, Sorcerer, General, Priest
I had dismissed the weakness at first. After all, it started when I was recovering from having my arm ripped off by Gaav. I had thought to pretend to be more injured than I was, in any case, since I had no interest whatsoever in being involved in Hellmaster's plans any further than I already had been.
Would things have been different if I hadn't been so dismissive? I don't know. I suppose I should say that it is a secret, but I have lived too long to keep secrets from myself. It can put you at a severe disadvantage, as several humans I have had to manipulate found out... After I had what I wanted. Still, regret is a useless thing. Everything has worked out to my advantage, so why should I quibble about the timing?
It started with nostalgia. Things I had not thought of in two thousand years came to me and would not leave. While I waited to see how Lina Inverse would defeat Lord Hellmaster, I tried to forget the ancient past and concentrate. Finally I distracted myself by pondering Lina's potential as a Mazoku. While Seigram had been rejected out of hand, I am considerably more persuasive. The emotion she displayed for her swordsman, however, would make it a tricky proposition. I decided I would keep observing her, and perhaps bring up the possibility years later.
Of course, that was before she became the earthly host for the Lord of Nightmares. Never had I felt such power! Raw and refined, unfettered and controlled, good and evil, male and female; It was all that and more. It was everything and it was nothing. It was terrifyingly beautiful and I felt... Sorrow. I did not want Lina to disappear into Chaos. She was amusing and useful and I would miss her.
I could not believe the strength of the emotions coming from her friends. Two especially interested me, the swordsman Gourry and the shrine maiden Sylphiel. For while Gourry was broadcasting rage and fear, he was also feeling love and hope, making a curious taste blend of emotions, almost bitter, almost sweet. It was to that sweetness I attributed most of my weakness. I thought that the shrine maiden's guilt, anger and fear more than made up for the spike of joy she felt, and I made a note to visit her later to savor the bouquet of her negative emotions at my luxury.
In the meantime, I followed the Lord of Nightmares, attracted and repulsed by the overwhelming presence of the Golden Lord. I hovered invisibly nearby, fascinated and yet hoping that terrible gaze would not turn in my direction.
I saw the Sword of Light, dropping away from where the audacious swordsman had disappeared from my sight, along with the Golden Lord in the body of Lina Inverse. I reached out to grab it, and as my hands closed around the hilt I felt my body freeze, paralyzed by feeling the weight of the edges of the mind of the Ultimate Lord touching mine.
My mind heard the Voice, like that of the sorceress I had followed but at the same time so much more, and resistance was not an option. The sword would be returned to Gourry Gabriev. In time I would find the key to curing my weakness by helping the chimera find his. But before I could start such a search, it was L-sama's Will that I save the world. There was not a glimmer of protest in my mind. I had thought my master impossible to refuse, before. The demands of Xellas were mere polite suggestions by comparison. This was to be the first crack in my obedience to Beastmaster, as no order she could give would in any way interfere with my complete and total obedience to the Will of the Lord of Nightmares.
And so it was. I returned the Sword, feeling a spasm of weakness I attributed to the love and relief that was coming from most of the party. I subtly enhanced the negative feelings of the shrine maiden, encouraging the seeds of hatred, obsession and madness I could see buried in her soul. Perhaps these would bear a pleasant fruit for me to savor.
It was in the garden that I realized something was seriously wrong. The madness took hold of Sylphiel's soul beyond my wildest dreams. I should have been reveling in a flood of energy. Instead, for ever bit of nourishment I took from her, I felt a diminishment. As she sobbed out a veritable All-You-Can-Eat Feast for Mazoku, I grew weaker and weaker, needing to clutch my staff to keep from falling. Worse yet, I felt - no, I _remembered_ sadness, joy, love, betrayal... Regrets. She told me to leave and I was too weak to even make a smart-assed comment. Something was definitely very wrong.
I hid. Like any wounded predator, my priority was to avoid becoming prey. Only when I was sure I was safe did I take the time to ponder what was causing this detestable problem. It seemed unlikely that it was caused by the Lord of Nightmares directly, since she could have simply killed me, as casually as a child swats a fly or Lina fireballs a bandit. Perhaps, to overcome this problem, I would have to give in to it. I would have to explore the memories of my distant and long forgotten humanity.
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My earliest memories are not of my mother, but rather of being told of my mother. The price of being a whore's son was repeatedly demanded of me and the priest who was in charge of my care enjoyed extracting it from my back. All the others at the Temple of Ceipheed chose to believe that the beatings I endured were necessary discipline for my smart mouth and love of tricks. It wasn't until years later that I realized that beating me satisfied a perverted lust in the priest. Enjoyable for a mazoku, but not for the small boy on the receiving end.
I was twelve when I killed him. I can still see the shock on his face when the pain and hate grew too great and the I lashed out. No more prayers to a useless god; I would deliver myself. I didn't even intend to kill him, merely to stop the beatings, but my fist crushed his nose and drove fragments of bone into his brain. I felt very vague and disconnected, almost as if another's hand was delivering the blow, another's eyes watching him crumple to the floor.
I don't remember the next few months clearly. Constant starvation will play hell with your memory. I do remember being on the run, trying to outdistance and hide from the pious temple goers who sought to punish the "ungrateful misbegotten whore's brat who had foully murdered the one person to take a kind interest in him". I proved adept at thievery and took whatever food, clothes or coin I could find as I got further and further from the city of my birth.
The next clear memory I have is of being caught. Never had I been so terrified as when the warrior's huge hand clamped around my wrist, imprisoning the hand that held his purse. Still, he saw something worthwhile in the ragged guttersnipe that I was. He took me home and adopted me as his son. Days, months and years blurred as he passed on his knowledge, forging me into a strong warrior. Life was golden and I could have become a great hero, a warrior respected and honored by all, if I hadn't, on my first quest, met a sorceress. Then again, I'd be long dead and wouldn't have had such an interesting time as a mazoku, so maybe Fate knows a thing or two after all.
For the first time since he had taken me under his wing, my master and I exchanged harsh words. So strong was the desperation of first love that I abjured my master and rejected the legacy and traditions that I had been chosen as heir to. This harlot's son and sometime warrior lived with his love and learned her ways.
And, oh! The bliss of those early days, flush with the blooms of love and youth. I discovered a love of learning, of the written word, that I had never had reason to suspect lived within me. I delved eagerly into magical texts, history books, even novels and poetry, absorbing all of the wisdom I could find. We acquired a traveling companion, my best friend from the days I trained as a warrior, and the three of us went around the world, visiting libraries and temples to find more and more knowledge.
I was so caught up in my new found love of knowledge that I never noticed a change in my lover or my friend. It was not until my beloved and her new lover attempted to kill me that I realized I had been betrayed. Unfortunately for them, I had by that time far outstripped either of them in terms of magic and fighting ability. I swore to myself never to trust again as I stepped over the crumbling ashes of the conspirators.
I continued his studies, but without the joy I had once felt. Days passed seamlessly as I pursued
knowledge in all forms, but especially knowledge that would give grant me power. That was what I lived for, and no boundaries were strong enough to keep me from increasing my knowledge. Spells that were deemed forbidden, I learned. Magic that had not been used in centuries I traced to the source, perfecting my grasp on the spell. I even found a spell that had been created by the Dark Lord Shabranigdo to kill dragons.
It was then that I flirted with traditional forms of power. I seized a kingdom, using the magic I had gathered to wipe out any who opposed my claim. I had expected this would make my life easier, as I could order my subjects to bring me spells and magical items. It took less than a year for me to realize just how tedious it is to be a king. Your subjects expect you to solve their problems and judge their disputes, your court expects you to pay attention to their petty squabbles and random grabs for land or riches and all of them expect you to stay in one place. And did they bring me one single solitary spell? No, not my subjects. Whiners, every one. With them it was all "But Your Majesty, no one can survive that quest". I walked away, leaving the kingdom of Zoana to rot for all I cared.
I decided to get serious about research. I climbed into the mountains and spent years studying dragons. I compiled texts on the different types of dragons, their societies, magic and even the anatomy of the different types. I especially admired the golden dragons, considering them beautiful beyond compare despite the first traces of decay and decadence in their society. After I had learned everything there was to learn about the dragons, I traveled again, looking for a new interest to research.
And then one day... One day I met the most beautiful maiden in the world and became consumed with thoughts of her. The heart which I had been sealed away for years began to beat again, only for the sound of her voice, the beauty of her smile. To impress her I did great works, healing the sick and helping the downtrodden, even returning to the worship of Ceipheed which I had abjured decades before. I would do anything for her, my goddess of the laughing eyes. She agreed to marry me and I gave her a betrothal present fit for a queen, a long chain of orihalcon meant to loop three times around the neck to signify past, present and future. From one loop hung an amethyst the size of a hen's egg that she insisted matched my eyes perfectly. She cried and said this was surely much too precious for her and that she would keep my gift close to her heart until she died. Yet for all her honeyed words and sweet touches, I did not trust her. I was consumed with fear that she would leave me, that she would take a lover and betray me. In my jealous obsession I would not allow her to leave the house and allowed no men to enter the property, let alone to see her, on pain of death. I would not even allow her own father and brother to contact her.
As the first ecstasy of love died down, I took up my studies again, researching everything ever written about mazoku - and about immortality. She withdrew from me and I, convinced that she was hiding a lover from me, dismissed all the servants and magically sealed the mansion against anyone entering or leaving except for specific times when I needed something from the outside world. Even then I would not leave my wife alone in the mansion for fear of losing her and I would summon a minor mazoku to retrieve whatever I needed. She sank farther into her depression, refusing to leave her bed and barely eating. I continued my studies, content that she was there and would not be able to leave.
In that she was cleverer than I. One day I came to her room to find she had carefully anchored the long, thin chain of orihalcon to a ceiling beam and then delicately wrapped it around her neck before she stepped off of a chair and finally escaped her gilded cage. The amethyst shimmered and winked as it swung over her left breast. I raged against her stupidity, her ultimate betrayal. I kept the chain and pendant as a reminder never to forget the treachery of women and dumped her body in the midden to sink into the refuse and sewage.
Once I had returned to my library, I was disturbed by a thin wail echoing through the empty hallways. I tried to ignore it, attribute it to overwork or tiredness. Surely she had been too eager to escape to leave a ghost behind. After a half hour had passed I gave up the pretense of working and tracked the sound to its source, a tiny scrap of humanity wrapped in a blanket on the bed my wife had lain in for so long. I had a daughter.
It's funny that I don't remember my daughter's name. Perhaps it's because I knew that she and I would be transitory in each other's lives, with her eventually going off to find the love that had always eluded me. I taught my daughter the skills of a warrior I retained and trained her in the magical arts before I unsealed the mansion and once again interacted with the outside world. My daughter would be able to rely on herself and would never be taken advantage of.
My duty as a parent done, I once again traveled the world, observing what had changed in the years I had stayed sealed away and what continued, seeming eternal. I did no more great deeds for humanity or for Ceipheed but then, I had no one I needed to impress. Occasionally I accepted jobs that seemed amusing or interesting, even finding an outer world artifact created by Dark Star on one of my missions. Still I had not found the answers I sought about immortality and I returned to my home to study. My daughter had fallen in love and was living happily with her husband in the town that would be called Sairaag, so I was able to research uninterrupted. The news that she had died in childbirth five years after her marriage caused only a momentary pang while I continued striving for the answers I sought, and I felt no need to go visit the newborn grandson she had left behind. I could see glimpses of the future and knew that I did not have a lot of time left.
The breakthrough had come when I contacted Xellas, the Beastmaster, Mazoku Lord and devastatingly
beautiful woman. I was spellbound by her as she laughed at my request for immortality and chided me for a lack of imagination. Fingering the amethyst pendant I kept around my neck, she told me to ask her for something truly worthy of her in one year and then disappeared.
Precisely one year later, she reappeared. I had focused all of my energies on planning what to ask for and how to get it. As she sat on my lap and again toyed with the amethyst that I wore, I made my request. Laughing delightedly and clapping her hands, she kissed me and told me that two mazoku would appear in one week and I would have to defeat them to gain my request. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of time she gave me, as I had expected the fight to happen immediately. I felt she had definite plans for me to come out the victor. The least I could do was oblige her.
And so I was prepared, smiling and nodding a greeting to each of the two mazoku on the other side of my desk at the second exactly 10,080 minutes since she had left.
"Welcome, gentlemen, to my home. Would you care for some tea?" The two facing me shook their heads, one looking angry and impatient while the other maintained a stony facade. "As you wish. Lord Beastmaster stated she will not interfere in any way with the events of this night, and no reprisals will be forthcoming for any action taken. I believe she has given you both her word on this as well? Very well then, begin when you are ready."
As I sat back in my chair, the angry looking mazoku lunged towards me, seemingly intent on ending my existence immediately. Little did he know the job would be done if he just sat back and waited for another hour or two. I was risking nothing to gain everything. I calmly sipped tea as the angry mazoku fell, his expression flashing to puzzlement and then incredulity before he blinked out of existence, stabbed in the back by the other mazoku.
"I will take that tea now." He smiled and dropped gracefully into one of the chairs arranged in front of my desk.
"Of course." I poured another cup and offered it to the monster, bowing.
"But first... We will switch cups." The mazoku smiled a distinctly shark like smile as he felt the overpowering waves of despair and terror flowing towards him from where I sat, my right hand clenching the amethyst pendant until my knuckles whitened. Delicately, he sipped his tea. "It seems a shame to kill the one who made the disposal of my ancient enemy possible. If you reconsider your request, perhaps you can live through the night."
I did my best to appear thoughtful, fidgeting with the amethyst pendant as hope overtook the flood of negative emotions the mazoku had been absorbing. "What did you have in mind?"
The mazoku took another deep draught of tea to hide his smile at how easy his night's work seemed. "Content yourself with half a loaf. Join me, take that idiot's place, and taste power beyond your wildest dreams."
I allowed a smile to spread across my face as I smashed to powder the amethyst with which I had broadcast stored emotions. The mazoku abruptly lost the buoying sensation of negative emotions and could not draw any power from the flood of good emotions I was feeling. "I'm afraid I'm a rather jealous person, my dear sir. I do not share, even a loaf."
He had flown backwards ten feet before he fell against the wall with a bone cracking force. He
attempted to gather his power to obliterate me when he found that he could not concentrate enough to cast even the simplest of defense spells.
"I'm afraid your friend was right to refuse the tea." I gave him my best charming smile and laughed merrily. "It's a special blend, developed and brewed by the Golden Dragons. It obliterates negative feelings and enhances good ones. A temporary effect, and one with a risk of addiction, as well."
The mazoku tried to stand, but was pinned by a blue glare he suddenly found at his throat. "And a handy artifact, Gorru Nova, the Sword of Light. One little slip and you join your friend in the darkness beyond deepest pitch."
I gave another merry little chuckle as I drew the sword along his neck, the merest hair's breadth away from slitting his throat. "Perhaps you would like to know the flaw in my plan, the one that would let you live and see me dead and defeated? Now, that is a secret, but I'm sure you can read my mind, so it won't be a secret for long." His eyes met mine and locked.
The screams of the mazoku reverberated through the cavernous hallways of the mansion before they ceased abruptly, a total blank void staring out of dimmed eyes. I had invaded and destroyed his mind. I grinned in satisfaction and couldn't resist the urge to crow as I stood over the mindless husk of my vanquished enemy. "Why, the flaw would have been if you hadn't opened your mind to attack!"
Then pain, excruciating beyond the ability to comprehend or describe. The hand of the Beastmaster reached into my soul and I shivered and collapsed. She pulled out the hate, the ambition, all of the darker aspects of drive and intelligence that would make a prince among mazoku and placed them in the husk sprawled on the floor. Chanting unknowable words, she stripped the human soul of all negative emotions, taking my darker side and leaving behind all of the softer emotions humans were prey to. Thankfully, she decided that her creation needed to retain the sense of humor that made some people call me The Trickster, and she reformed the body and features of the defeated mazoku to resemble me in the prime of my youth. At last, her ideal general and priest was ready and she woke me with a kiss.
"And now, Xellos, you are mine," she purred, stroking a hand over my dark purple hair.
"Yes, Lord Beastmaster. I am yours to command."
But what had happened to the other half of my human soul, the positive emotions? Looking back I pushed through the haze of remembered pain to focus on what she had been doing as I drifted in and out of consciousness. Through memory's eye, I saw that at the exact instant my mazoku form awoke, my human body, still containing the half of my soul with the softer human emotions, died. Xellas had shrugged and dismissed the incident, just as she ignored the fallen Sword of Light as she took me to her home and her bed. My still-human soul half died and was reincarnated.
By pushing the shrine maiden towards madness I had caused this dangerous weakness in myself. Every pure and strong negative emotion she felt took away part of my power, debilitating me to the point of barely functioning. If I killed her, the cycle would start again. I had to think of some way out of this. Seeing no immediate answer, I decided to consult with the one being who might be willing to help without taking undue advantage of my information, especially if I were to make an exchange of it.
I materialized in front of Lina and felt an immediate icy pain in the pit of my stomach. The trauma of Sylphiel's life had laid the groundwork, but I had pushed her over the edge. Her madness was growing, feeding on itself to the point where I could feel it spreading and pulsing around her. I tried to explain my situation to Lina but the pain was so great I couldn't gather my thoughts into coherency. I felt a slight relief in the pain and realized Sylphiel was blocking out her negative emotions in order to cast a Dragon Slave on Lina. No one could prevent it or deflect it. As quickly as I could, I explained to Lina how to absorb the energy into the demon's blood talismans, hoping she would pick it up fast enough to save herself. Exhausted beyond belief, I popped back to my hiding place to try to recoup enough energy to try once more to talk to Lina.
When I was well enough to return, it was the next day and the scene was chaos. Outside of some old ruins, Amelia and Zelgadis were standing over Gourry, their hands glowing as they put everything they had into a healing spell. Sylphiel was crumpled on the ground unconscious and Lina was sprawled with her back against a tree, exhaustion evident on her face. She held a finger up to her lips and gestured behind her with the other. I nodded my understanding and rematerialized behind her tree, out of sight of the others.
I started to explain my situation but she held up her hand. "Right now Xellos, you have something I need and you want something from me. Tell me how to seal someone's power and how I can heal Gourry and I'll do everything I can to help you once we're back at the inn."
I looked her over, assessing. Her gaze was unswerving as she looked stared into my eyes and I realized that if I denied her now, she would do her best to ensure I shared the fate of Shabranigdo, Zanafar and countless lesser monsters who had faced her. I wouldn't want to face her directly at my best; in my current condition it was unthinkable. I nodded and taught her the spells, drawing runes on the ground to help explain the concepts faster. She stood up and left to cast the spells and I rested against the tree, grateful for the moment of peace.
That night, Lina listened to the entire story, from beginning to end. She looked thoughtful for a moment, toying with the one blonde tress in her fiery hair. "Well, Xellos, part of the problem is solved. That spell you gave me for sealing magic? I used it on Sylphiel." Lina explained to me what the shrine maiden had been doing that caused such debility in me. "She genuinely feels sorry for what she did, and I think that almost killing Gourry doused most, if not all, of the hate and obsession."
"Yes, I do feel better, but what can I do to fix it permanently?" I hated the whining tone in my own voice, but I desperately wanted an answer.
"I'm sorry, Xellos. I don't know what the cure for you will be any more than I know how to cure Zelgadis." She stood, being careful not to jar her ribs or brush her legs against anything. The injuries were the swordsman's but at least half the pain was hers, thanks to the spell I had taught her. I paid no attention to her leaving the room, as her words had triggered the memory of the voice of the Lord of Nightmares. I would find my cure when I helped the chimera find his. I just had to save the world first.
End Part Two: Xellos