A/N: Heh heh. So here is the revised version of this chapter. Actually, it's not very different, but I added a few things I couldn't add before. I previously updated from the school lab computer where I couldn't access the original file to change stuff. I know, I know, you should never just update out of impatience; I should have just waited, but whatever. I was waiting for my stupid final project to render and it seemed like a good time to do it. Anyway, thanks for the reviews everyone. And thanks as usual shikome kido mi for the input!! I think we are on the same page concerning mazoku "love". And I realize that people are just rounding when they say 1000, but I still don't think 1000 or anywhere near it is old enough. And as for the increase in power, that's a good point about him not showing it off, but from the way people treat him and talk about him, I still get that impression. Well, it's just my opinion, anyway. And about the wolves. Yes, sorry. I thought that might be confusing. I only did it that way because, of course, Zelas would be the alpha male of the pack. And I thought Xelloss would probably be her mate. I did it partially also to show how asexually I see mazoku, how coincidental their sex is. I'll try to make it more clear.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun had only set a few hours ago on the majestic Wolfpack Island and sounds of life could still be heard from the sturdy little mud hut on the edge of the village. Most prominent was the sound of a child wailing. His cradle was situated at the back of the hut, underneath a large window and the sound and scent carried easily to the wolf pack that lay quietly in wait at the edge of the clearing.

The alpha wolf, a large, black male, licked his lips expectantly. He was, of course, none other than the physical embodiment of Juu-ou Zelas. When hunting with the pack, Zelas always shed her female human form and took one which was more akin to her canine companions. The wolf that was Zelas reached out with his mind and dulled the human occupants instincts, suppressing their natural ability to react to outside stimuli and effectively placing them in a zombie state. He left their minds clear, that they might take in the scene with perfect understanding and produce the horror, fear, and desperation he longed for. Then he turned to his mate, Xellos in the form of a she-wolf, and commanded her to retrieve the human child.

The sleek, gray she-wolf launched herself into the air and easily cleared the low window sill. There was a loud thumping noise followed by a cascade of delicious terror from the human family who watched, helpless, as Xelloss lifted the child gently with her teeth. The jolt as Xelloss landed again on the soft ground outside the hut shook the child from its stupor and it began to sob ceaselessly. Xelloss set the child down on a patch of grass and Zelas silenced the whelp with a swift snap of her powerful jaws on it's flabby neck. Its head hung limply and blood gushed from the wound, spilling onto the ground. Zelas could see the saliva dripping off of Xelloss' lolling tongue at the sight of the blood, and giving a curt nod, he stepped aside to allow his servant her choice of the best parts. Zelas, himself, had eaten his fill that night and had decided to leave the rest of the catch to the pack. Mentally he told his companions to do as they wished with the remaining members of the human family and watched as they eagerly raided the hut.

At the last moment, Zelas allowed the humans full use of their limbs. It pleased him to feel the slight spark of hope this fueled in them, and it pleased him even more when that hope was crushed only seconds later by the sensation of large fangs sinking into their soft guts. When Xelloss had finished with the babe, she joined the pack in cleaning out the hut. As Zelas watched the pup disappear over the window, he let his mind wander away form the physical constraints of his wolfish body, returning to his typical female consciousness, and sighed.

Really Xelloss was a pup no longer. Five hundred long years had passed since the imp's creation and in that time it had learned much and performed well. Indeed, Zelas had begun using the general/priest as her representative for nearly every occasion. The last few generations of Islanders did not even know what their queen looked like. Rather, they brought all of their requests, complaints, and offerings to Xelloss, and he brought all of Zelas' responses and commands back to them. Indeed, many of them had come to believe that Xelloss, himself, was the Beastmaster and had begun to call him by that name. This didn't really bother Zelas. In most things she had simply given him free reign, telling him to respond to them as he desired. The result was a noticeable decrease in the number of complaints and a corresponding increase in the number of sacrificial offerings. The imp sometimes brought prisoners back to the palace in order to test out various methods of torture on them, sometimes killed petitioners before they could even finish presenting their pleas, and quite frequently set locals free in Zelas' expansive gardens and played cat and mouse with them for hours, or days, before finally finishing them off.

He was now capable of creating the most perfect human appearance Zelas had ever seen, outside of those taken by her siblings, and his extensive studies of human lifestyles and tendencies never ceased. He had become an invaluable spy and was frequently sent to infiltrate human organizations in search of some service or piece of information. This was exactly what Zelas had in mind for him now. That water-logged bitch, Deep Sea Dolphin, had been causing trouble as usual. This time she claimed to have discovered some very crucial information on the whereabouts of the bone staff the first piece of Shabranigdo was supposed to have. Xelloss had confided in his mistress that his vision in the Seeing Orb had been completely authentic, even if the rest of his behavior that day had not been. Zelas had meant to keep this information to herself, but somehow Dolphin had managed to suck that tidbit from her sister's mind and had made no small ruckus about it.

Dolphin claimed that she had seen a vision of the future concerning the staff, but she would say no more about it and insisted that a formal meeting be called at which time, and no other, she would unveil her prophesy. The whole thing seemed suspect to Zelas, and she felt there was a good chance that Dolphin had merely obtained the information from some drunken sailor and was just putting on airs. If that were the case, her Xelloss would have no trouble seeking out the source of the rumor and bringing it back to the Island. Then she would be able to publicly humiliate her sister, and that would surely be the sweetest thing in the world.

She would have to be cautious about it, of course. Zelas had decided to let her siblings and their infernal servants continue to believe that Xelloss was a fool. She kept him mostly out of sight and allowed him to attend the occasional family function where he duly made an idiot of himself. He seemed to lack any semblance of pride or self-consciousness, and this pleased his master. He would undertake the most demeaning and trivial of tasks without complaint. Zelas nodded smugly to herself. Yes, he was certainly turning out well.

A sudden movement caused Zelas' attention to return to the present moment. Through her wolf's eyes she saw Xelloss the she-wolf returning, the fur around her snout stained with blood and a satisfied look on her canine face. After pausing a moment to modify the alpha wolf's vocal chords, Zelas spoke in the human tongue, "Come here, servant. I have a new job for you."

***

The young man's head jerked up as the door to the tavern swung open and a cloaked figure entered. The stranger wore the typical priests' garb of the time and carried a large, plain walking stick whose only adornment was an enormous ruby. The young man nodded. The priest's outfit had changed in accordance with the ever-fluctuating fashions of the world, but his appearance remained largely the same. Same goofy purple hair, same idiotic smile, same aura of pure evil.

Oh yes, most people couldn't feel it. Hell, most mazoku couldn't either, but *he* could. To him, it was all too obvious. Slowly the young man stood from his bar stool, abandoning his untouched liquor, and approached the table where the priest had taken a seat. Slyly he slid onto the chair opposite the priest and leaned forward across the table. "Good day, traveler," he greeted amiably.

The priest did a good job of covering his shock. A good job, but not a perfect one. "Mei-ou-sama, to what do I owe this honor?" he said coolly.

"Oh, I just figured I'd drop in and see how you were doing." Phibrizzo shrugged. An awkward silence followed in which neither mazoku batted an eye, nor did their forced smiles falter for even a second. At last Xelloss spoke.

"I didn't recognize you in that form."

A sour expression crossed Phibrizzo's face and he twirled his jet-black ponytail absently. "The damn bartender kept telling me I was too young to be in here, so finally I just changed forms. I didn't want to disrupt your little mission here so, I spared him for the time being. I'll likely fry him later." There was a moment of silence again. "I came here to tell you something."

"Oh goody!" Xelloss' smile brightened. "I love gossip. And don't worry," he winked. "I can keep a secret."

Phibrizzo ignored him. "I notice your master sent you to check up on Dolphin's story. You must be aware of the rivalry between those two." Xelloss shrugged by way of response. "Do you know why your master hates the kai-ou?"

"It is not my place to question Juu-ou-sama's actions," Xellos replied casually.

"It's because Dolphin has Zelas under her control. Zelas is a pawn in Dolphin's game, and there's nothing she can do about it. She isn't even aware of how much she's being enslaved." Phibrizzo paused to let this sink in. He could sense the hatred and rage that emanated from Xelloss like steam from a hotspring. He had to admit he was impressed by the young priest's control. The smile never wavered. Abruptly, Phibrizzo changed the subject. "I noticed the work you did for her in Kebluun last century. Pretty impressive, though I must say, not very spectacular. Are your results always so low-key?"

"Well, you know how I am. Bright lights hurt my eyes, and loud noises give me a headache..."

"You can cut the act," Phibrizzo smiled smugly. "We both know that you, of all people, are not easily spooked. You may have the others eating out of your hand, but I can see past your little charade, servant of Metallium."

The Hellmaster was momentarily cut off when a waitress appeared to serve them. He ordered the most expensive meal on the menu and sent the girl bustling off. When she was out of hearing range, Xelloss leaned back in his seat and said calmly, "Flashy displays of power are for the insecure. The man who is sure of himself does not need to appease his pride by showing off. You had something to tell me?"

Phibrizzo's eyes lit with delight; Zelas' general/priest was everything he had expected him to be. With a wave of his hand, he continued his speech. "It's true. Since we mazoku have existed, Dolphin has seen Zelas as a rival because Zelas represents everything that Dolphin is not. They detest each other because they are natural enemies, being exact opposites. However, Dolphin has had the upper hand all these years more thanks to her back-handed dealings than her actual power. She had been manipulating Zelas for millenia--subtly molding the way Zelas views herself and everyone else, slowly eroding her self-confidence, forcing her to be right where Dolphin wants her. She creates crippling fear and doubt in Zelas' mind and twists her emotions so that they consume her. That's Dolphin's specialty, of course, psychological manipulation..."

"Why are you telling me this?" Xelloss asked quietly, his face was expressionless and his eyes had opened into narrow slits.

"Because I don't think Dolphin should get away with this..."

Xelloss suddenly smiled again and gave Phibrizzo a sly wink. "She won't tell you her 'secret information' on Lord Ruby Eyes' resurrection, eh?"

"What?"

"Oh, come on." The purple-haired priest narrowed his eyes further. "She won't tell you the content of her visions, and you want her to get what's coming to her. Only you don't want to do it yourself. How much more convenient if the blame can't be traced back to you, or any of your servants, eh? Get someone else to do the dirty work?"

"Why, you!" Phibrizzo leapt from his seat, knocking the wooden chair over with a loud clatter. He nearly set the idiot priest's head on fire, but he remembered just in time that this was neither the time nor the place for theatrics. Instead he righted his chair and, taking his place on it again, he leaned forward and growled into Xelloss' ear. "Watch your smart ass tongue, Juu-jinkan. Remember with whom you speak." Xelloss appeared unfazed, but Phibrizzo could taste his cold fear.

"I meant no disrespect," the priest said hastily, although the cocky tone had not entirely left his voice. "In fact, I like the way you think."

"Hmmm," Phibrizzo straightened slowly. "I'll forgive you because I like the way you think too. Listen to me. I want information. I know my siblings are a treacherous bunch, but I don't have time to watch them myself at the moment, and my own servants are not suited for espionage. If you could hunt down the information I seek and bring it to me, I would be very pleased. Of course, you would have to use some discretion. I don't want my siblings to know what you discover....*Any* of my siblings..."

"You are asking me to go behind my master?" Xelloss' voice was stony.

"It's for her own good. And the information is useless to her anyway. As it is, she is too far under Dolphin's power to use what advantages she has. Until she is free from Dolphin's influence, Zelas is worthless to me. But if you want to save her, you'll do this for me. And don't fear; I know your type. If you do this for me, you'll not go unrewarded. I could make it well worth the effort. Things Zelas could never give you will be yours--powers far beyond your current comprehension." Phibrizzo shrugged and stood. He walked around the table until he stood directly behind Xelloss. Xelloss sat as if frozen, staring straight ahead at the spot Phibrizzo had vacated. "Think about it, my friend."

With that, Phibrizzo walked cheerfully towards the tavern's door. "Sir!" the waitress from earlier called out to him. She was balancing the enormous culinary creation that he had ordered on one hand. "What shall I do with this?"

Phibrizzo laughed and waved a hand absently at Xelloss, who still hadn't moved. "Put it on his bill!" And then he disappeared.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Here I will comment on Xelloss' age. I've frequently seen his age stated as 1000 years. I assume that this has something to do with Xelloss' comment about the Kouma Sensou being 1012(?) years ago. Now, seeing as my Xelloss is 500 years old in this chapter, based on that idea, the Kouma Sensou should already have happened roughly half a millennium ago, but my story is obviously set before it... Well, let me just say that I find that idea that Xelloss is 1000 years old absolutely absurd. Firstly, if the rumor is not canon and is based on Xelloss' comment, well, there's nothing about the fact that he was *alive* 1000 years ago that implies that he was *born* 1000 years ago. Secondly, the Kouma Sensou was 1012 years ago, which means Xelloss is at least 1012 years old, so 1000 is already an invalid age. And in any case, do they really mean to suggest that Xelloss went to fight in the war immediately after being born? I agree that Xelloss is strong. I disagree with the idea that he is so strong he could kill off an entire clan of dragons a few decades after coming into existence. For immortal races, 10, 50, 100 years is not really very much. There's no way Xelloss could have matured in that time period unless you assume mazoku who were created from a piece of a higher mazoku are born totally matured and in full command of all their powers. And maybe that's the canon truth. I confess I don't know. But frankly, that idea just doesn't appeal to me as much. Personalities develop over time, and it seems to me that if mazoku all just jumped out of other mazoku fully grown and rearing to go, they would have to be little more than lesser clones of the parent mazoku because they would have nothing but the parent's knowledge and experiences to base their own opinions on. And while I believe mazoku have very close connections to their parents, for my story, I'd prefer to think that they grow and develop as individuals over time.

So I figure he was already an adult during the war. You don't get the sense that he has dramatically increased in power or experience since the war, the way I assume he would if he was an infant at that time and was now 1000 years old, so I assume more time passed before the war than after (growth development usually starts out fast and slows down). Therefore, I have decided to make him approximately 1376 at the time of the war and correspondingly, 2388 at the time of Slayers NEXT. Besides, like I said, for immortal races, centuries are not very long periods of time relatively. I think 1000 is a pretty pathetic age for Xelloss. I always imagined him as something a bit more impressive, especially if the Mazoku Lords are so old. For them I have found the most common rumor is 5000 years old. I agree with this. So, at the time of the war Zelas is about 3988. Wow. What a rant!