A Lone Wolf

Chapter Two

Author's Notes:
General disclaimers apply. The single quotations are still used for telepathic conversation. Comments welcome. Constructive criticism is also welcome. Okay this is one of the aforementioned 'useless' chapters. It is relevant but you have to wait to find out how. Oh yeah and thank you to both Filia Ul Copt and Eeveelover to correcting the Mazuko-Mazoku issue. I'm sorry that I didn't correct it earlier but I needed confirmation. No offense or anything.

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Xelloss smirked, he was feeling more like himself now. No more of that useless brooding for him for a bit. He always felt like a cream puff when he brooded. Another morning for the 'evil' Mazoku to wreck havoc with. It was the perfect day to wreck a forest, or some such 'evil' doing. The last time he had felt like this was when he was much, much younger.

* * *

Xelloss smiled a fruity smile even though he couldn't seem to light a fire using the good old-fashioned method of rubbing two dry sticks together over a pile of dry leaves and twigs. Shrugging, he tossed the two lightly smoking sticks over his shoulder and picked up two more sticks from the large pile to his left.

Zelas-sama had given him permission to have a vacation of sorts. Xelloss had always wanted to go camping in the woods. There were always plenty of bandits that he could torture for food. Xelloss glanced at the piles of gold and other sorts of treasure that he had plundered so far from the bandits on his right. It seemed that the more gold was lying around, the more bandits would flock towards it. All in all it was a pretty relaxing way to spend his vacation.

Xelloss thought rather idly about why the Beastmaster had allowed to have a vacation as he continued trying to start a campfire. Apparently, she was going to promote him to the rank of General/Priest when he returned. Hmmm, it was getting rather warm for some reason.

A voice penetrated his musing thoughts, "Stop that, evil Mazoku! You're burning up my forest! This forest is my only home, I can't allow you to burn it up!"

Xelloss looked up. Hovering above him was a rather pretty little elf. She had short, bright red hair and equally bright green eyes. What she had said registered and he looked around him. The smoking sticks that he had formerly discarded had lit a ring of fire behind him, on the dry forest floor. This section of the forest was quickly going up in flames.

"Oh! Looks like I succeeded in making a camp fire after all, Elfie. ^-^" Xelloss said with obvious glee.

"Don't you care that the forest is going up in flames?! And my name is Pixie, not Elfie!" ranted the distraught elf, obviously displeased with him.

"Nope! Not at all, Elfie!" Xelloss chirped, relishing the feel of her delicious fury and annoyance, as it coursed through his body.

The elf whacked him on the head in her annoyance. Xelloss reveled in his own pain. Pain and hatred really made his day. Realizing that his vacation was interrupted, he teleported out of the forest, only to phase back in to retrieve his pile of treasure.

* * *

Xelloss shuddered slightly at the memory. It was rather unpleasant to know that he was capable of being so fascinated with human/elf women. Come to think of it, it was even more unpleasant to know that he had been thus 'fascinated' not once, not twice but three times ere. Oops! He was brooding again. Mustn't do too much of that and ruin his wonderful, fruity reputation.

Xelloss teleported out to check on his irritating gold dragon. She was a rather important aspect to his ascension to power because of baby Val. Besides what a nice toy she'd make when he added her to his ever-growing collection!

* * *

Xelloss frowned slightly, inwardly. That was strange. Instead of the annoyance and irritation that he usually sensed from Fi-chan, he felt embarrassment, worry, fear and even affection. As quickly as Xelloss had sensed it, the feelings vanished and were replaced by irritation. Xelloss dismissed his earlier sensing as faulty and pasted the all-knowing fruity grin on his face.

"Oh, Fi-chan! Look what I brought you. They're dead flowers. I thought that the dead flowers would be good for you. Maybe they could teach you to be less hypocritical and more morose. That would be a good look for you, really!" Xelloss chirped happily, knowing that the combination of the insult and the all-knowing grin would kick his Fi-chan right of the edge and into utter insanity again.

"NAMAGOMI!" Fi-chan yelled as she whipped out her mace and chased him around her little tea/mace store.

Ah! Sweet agony. It really was the forbidden elixir of his immoral life. Xelloss dodged most of the seriously harmful attacks easily. Unfortunately he wasn't too careful and got smashed and flattened into the wall.

"Whew! That takes care of that namagomi," sounding satisfied, Fi-chan turned as it to leave.

"Did you think you could kill me off that easily Fi-chan?" asked Xelloss as he popped up and continued the merry chase once again.

* * *

Zelas contemplated her cause once more in the safe haven of her private chambers on Wolf Pack Island. Slowly, she raised her glass of ruby red wine and sipped it. The wine was good, but not intoxicating enough. Idly, she wished that she could drink herself into oblivion. Maybe, just maybe, then she could escape the pressures of being a Mazoku Lord. The ambition that she had could very well be her death. Smiling bitterly, she wondered how long it would be until Xelloss betrayed her at long last.

He had been a faithful servant to her for so long that it was only expected that he should turn his back on her. His ambition was stronger than hers in a way. He struggled from the cradle to be stronger, better, more powerful than any of the minions around him. At the very beginning, Zelas had created a cradle full of Mazoku minions. Each had different characteristics and strengths. On the fifth day from his creation Xelloss, better known as the black cone that was his astral form, was the only one left in the cradle. When Zelas had looked carefully at the black cone and asked him whether he had eaten his siblings, Xelloss only bounced up and down happily and belched.

Unlike Xelloss, Zelas had always known that she and her siblings would one day replace the old Mazoku Lords. For her it had only been a matter of time before the fateful day arose. When they were growing up, Zelas had always been the odd one out. She was the youngest sibling and the least powerful of them all. Only her ambition and ruthless cunning had saved her from an early demise from her own kind. Now Zelas still had to struggle. There was nothing that she could do but struggle for enough power so that her position as Beastmaster would be secure.

Lifting up her cup of wine once more, she prepared to drink and smoke until she was drunk and hazy. There was nothing else to do. She had plotted her plot and would wait until her hand was played out. There wasn't much hope for her. She had too much pride to beg Xelloss to spare her and too much ambition to just let it go and hope for the best. What a way to die. Downing the glass of wine, she shrugged and lifted the entire bottle to her ruby red lips. The wine flowed smoothly down her throat and desperately she drank even more deeply.

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Well, here's your much belated "enlightenment"! Raock is 'rock' and Kioull is 'kill'. Neat, huh? Actually I thought it was rather silly but it takes all sorts to make a demented author like myself. Comments very highly welcome! Makes for tons of encouragement to continue this twisted fic! Also the part about Xelloss and eating the other underlings of Zelas belongs to my sister.