Segment I: "Light"

Chapter 1: A Mazoku in Paradise

It wasn't immediately obvious where or even when the trouble started. The change was subtle, the effect small at first...but even small ruptures in the fabric of reality can have widespread, disastrous side effects, if left unattended. Space-time doesn't adjust too well to being mucked around with in disruptive fashions, after all...a simple timeslide, for instance, if placed where it isn't supposed to, is capable of causing the destruction of an entire star cluster—not to mention the being who created it (along with, likely, their entire planet). Reality does tend to find ways of 'getting even', so to speak, sooner or later; usually, sooner.

This time, however, something was very different. This disruption wasn't the typical, localized sort; those were relatively easy to repair, and rarely had unforeseen, catastrophic consequences...those that didn't result in nasty paradoxes, that is. No, this one kept growing, consuming everything around it, becoming exponentially larger by the minute, inexplicably immune to the natural forces that acted to constrain it. Before long, it began affecting not only space, but time itself; the effect began to spread throughout the temporal plane, existing in the past, present, and future simultaneously.

Somewhere, on some metaphysically distant plane of reality, Someone took notice. After all, reality distortions, if allowed to continue for long enough, eventually start affecting other planes of existence, causing a chain reaction effect that could theoretically obliterate all of creation. Naturally, this would be something that the Powers That Be would try to prevent, being the creators of everything. As had been done many times in the past, They set in motion a chain of events that would restore the Universe to rights...

...but Another, Who had been waiting for such an opportunity for uncounted millenia, was preparing to strike a blow to one of the foundations of reality itself, a blow that would turn the tide of the endless battle in Its favor at last...

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"Well...that certainly was rude."

One moment, Xelloss had been in the midst of a friendly chat with his mistress, Beastmaster Zelas-Metallum, in her haven on Wolf Pack Island; the next, he found himself not only outside, but also falling from several thousand feet in the air. Being a fairly powerful Mazoku, he often travelled by air, so to speak, so that in itself didn't bother him. He took a few seconds to ponder how he had been forceably transported out of his mistress' lair without warning, a highly improbable occurance; Xelloss was, after all, the priest of one of the (formerly) five Mazoku lords created by Lord Ruby-Eye, making him effectively the third most powerful of his kind in existence. Any being powerful (and stealthy) enough to elude Xelloss' highly-tuned senses would likely have to be nearly as powerful as Xelloss himself, possibly more so.

The self-styled trickster priest ruminated for a few moments longer before something at the back of his mind finally grabbed his attention: he was still falling. Ah, yes... Now would be a good time to fix that, he thought, as he tapped his considerable power, willing himself to slow to a hover in midair-- to slow—

To do absolutely nothing, as he continued to plunge at terminal velocity towards the ground below. Perplexed but still not particularly worried, he decided to take a bit of a shortcut, using his power to phase his physical form into the Astral Plane to-- phasing—

Once again the attempt failed, and Xelloss continued to fall, the ground below becoming clearer through the obscuring cloud layer.

"Oh, my. This is not good," he remarked to himself as he frowned. He felt for his personal link to Zelas-Metallum, his creator and the source of his Mazoku power...and found it missing entirely. He was completely powerless, and apparently about to wind up a Xelloss-shaped hole in the ground, a rather embarassing end to the being who had been single-handedly responsible for the destruction of thousands of Dragons during the War of the Monsters' Fall one thousand years ago, and countless beings since. "Lord Beastmaster is probably going to be angry, I suppose..."

With the ground approaching fast, Xelloss tried every method he could think of to prevent an almost certainly painful death, with no apparent success. Now that he was below the cloud layer, he could make out the details of the scenery around him: a beautiful landscape, with vast fields of green grass, forests, and majestic mountain ranges just visible at the edge of the horizon...but what really caught his gaze were the mountains floating in mid-air, underlaid with crystalline formations that sparkled brightly in the sunlight, and similar outcroppings of similar-looking crystals on the ground below.

Not that he would have much time to admire the view. With only seconds before impact, Xelloss stayed true to form and smiled, albeit a bit ruefully, as he gazed upwards, and waited for the end. I suppose something like this was bound to happen eventually...

A deafeningly loud screech from behind startled the Mazoku, who instinctively twisted in the air to face the origin of the noise...and ended up slamming head-on, literally, into the back of a very large blue-skinned creature who had dived through the air behind him, and was now pulling up to glide parallel to the ground, which was perhaps only a few dozen feet below. Prying himself into an upright position, Xelloss slowly shook off the effects of the impact, and looked down to get a better glimpse at his savior. It should be noted here that in his thousands of years of existence, Xelloss had seen quite a few strange creatures in his travels. Many were distant relatives of the Dragon race, typically with only rudimentary intelligence (but enough to avoid the trickster priest like the plague, and for good reason); others were simple beasts, or experiments in chimera and golem creation gone horribly wrong. He could not recall, however, ever before seeing a gigantic, winged, flying fish.

However, as very few of the past several minutes' worth of occurances fit the definition of 'ordinary', he took that particular detail in stride, deciding instead to be thankful for the creature's timely appearance. Now that the threat of his imminent demise had been at least temporarily averted, he opted to take in the sights of the world around him. He paid particular attention to the floating mountains, wondering just what kind of force held them aloft. Magic of a sort, he supposed as he gazed at one of the nearest peaks. Likely powerful magic, at that...which would probably describe my 'companion' as well. Those flimsy wings could not possibly—

He was cut off mid-thought by what he saw next: a pair of massive crystalline towers, just becoming visible over the horizon, stretching what had to be hundreds of feet into the air and glinting with reflected sunlight. Judging by the fish's course, Xelloss surmised that the towers seemed to be their destination. His sharp vision, even without his Mazoku powers to enhance it, was enough to spot a relatively large opening in the leftmost of the towers, even from their extreme distance. As the pair closed in, Xelloss noted that the towers were joined near the base as well as by what looked to be a small walkway nearly two-thirds of the way up, and that the surrounding area contained an abundance of the small clusters of crystal he had seen earlier. Soon, he could just make out a tiny figure within the tower's opening, as if waiting for their arrival. Almost as if it knew we were coming... Xelloss had a bit of an uneasy feeling, which he immediately quashed. Best to play this one by ear, he decided. Get information first, find out where you are, and then use any means possible to get back before Lord Beastmaster decides to start hunting me down. That is, if she hasn't started already...

The flying fish began to slow, angling upward towards the opening in the left tower, as Xelloss had predicted. Moments later, they were inside, the fish hovering just above the crystalline surface. Further inside, Xelloss got a closer look at the figure he had seen from a distance: a short, probably male humanoid, wearing ornamented white robes and holding a staff nearly twice his height in his left hand. A sorcerer, perhaps? Xelloss wondered. Perhaps he is controlling our rather large friend here, which just might explain its timely rescue... Not one to be particularly impolite, he carefully slid down the side of the flying fish, landing nimbly on his feet, and bowed respectfully towards the robed figure. "My sincerest thanks, kind sir, for your assistance."

The figure returned the gesture, then seemed to appraise Xelloss for a moment. "You are quite welcome, my friend. I must apologize, however; I had no warning that there would be a visitor to this world, and so there was little time to prepare. I am Master Mage Clef, and this," he gestured towards the flying fish, "...is Fyula, a spirit-creature and friend." Clef lifted his staff into the air; a jewel embedded into the ornately-carved figure at its head began to glow. "Creature Recall!" he incanted; instantly, the fish's body began to warp, then began to disappear into the shining jewel. A few seconds later, the spirit-creature had vanished, and the jewel returned to its normal gleaming sea-blue.

Intriguing, Xelloss mused. Magic does exist here, just as I suspected. He gazed at the Master Mage, taking in his expression, his body language. He doesn't seem to be particularly suspicious...to him, I must seem like a perfectly normal human. The thought caused the Mazoku to inwardly scowl, though his facial expression didn't change. I suppose it's for the best. Guess I had better introduce myself, before he does start to suspect something. "I am Xelloss, a travelling priest." Which was technically correct, but as usual, he left the most important details out. "I must say I was quite surprised to find myself here. May I trouble you, Master Mage, to ask exactly where 'here' is?"

Clef nodded in assent. "No trouble at all. This," he swept his arm about to indicate the view outside, "is the world of Cephiro...and this is my home, Cephiro Castle."

----

Xelloss followed the diminutive Master Mage as he took his 'guest' on a tour of the castle and told him of the notable events in the world's recent history, before showing him to one of the castle's comfortable-looking guest rooms.

"You are more than welcome to stay, while we work to find a way for you to return to your own world." Clef paused, turning to leave. "I apologize for seeming to be in a hurry; I wish to begin research as soon as possible. I shall be in my study for a time, but should you require anything, you need only ask."

Xelloss gave a small, polite bow. "I humbly thank you for your hospitality, Master Mage. If I can be of any assistance in your research, simply ask, and I shall help out in any way possible."

Clef nodded. "Perhaps later, once you have had an opportunity to rest for awhile. The mind functions best when well-rested." With that, he carefully closed the door and departed.

Alone once again, Xelloss took stock of his surroundings. The guest room was well-furnished, with a very comfortable-looking bed, a nightstand with a rather large mirror, and a connected washroom. Like the rest of the castle, the floor, walls, and ceiling were made of the same durable, semi-translucent crystal; clear enough for sunlight to stream through, but not enough to actually see anything on the other side. A soft glow from a tiny sphere of light near the ceiling lit the entire room. All in all, it should do nicely should I be stuck here for a while. Though he knew it would probably be futile, he tried once again to draw on his Mazoku power, searching for the telltale presence of his mistress. Still nothing. Well, you can't fault me for trying, he thought. Then, another idea struck him. Why not try something else? It's probably a long shot, but...

While Xelloss relied primarily on his link to Lord Beastmaster, which was normally far more than enough to deal with his foes, he did possess an above-average (for a Mazoku) aptitude for magic, which he had learned over thousands of years but normally had very little use for, except for the occasional bit of deception. Well, if there ever was a time when I needed it... He decided to start with something simple, a spell easy enough for even a novice to use:

"Lighting!"

Nothing happened. Slightly disheartened, Xelloss had about decided to give up at that point, but something in his mind nagged at him to give it one more try, as if saying, This is about the only trick you have left, you'd better put a bit more effort into it! Focusing his will, exercising significantly more control than he had in quite a while, he tried once more.

"Lighting!"

To his mild surprise, a tiny point of light appeared in the air in front of him, pulsating weakly for a few seconds before vanishing. Well...! It would seem that I'm not quite as helpless as I thought... At about that point, he began to feel something very unfamiliar to a Mazoku: fatigue. Hmm...I suppose this is what a human would feel like at the end of a long, rough day. He looked at the bed, which was starting to become strangely attracting...

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Author's Notes: Egads...I think this could have been done much better, but I had to come up with something. I had hoped to come up with something longer than this, but I suppose I can compensate for the shortness of this chapter in those yet to come.

Fair warning: Chapter 2 will resemble this one about as much as an apple resembles an aircraft carrier. To answer your questions ahead of time, no, I didn't post it in the wrong story. Yes, both chapters will be part of the same storyline. Eventually. Just bear with me, and we'll all see how this one ends up.

As per routine, comments and constructive criticism are strongly encouraged. Lemme know what you think!

Addendum: Visit the official Guardians of the Balance website (linked from my profile page) for background info, extras, and insight into the creation of this series!