Chapter 7

Remembered Steps

Xellos smiled down at Lina, noting absentmindedly that the swordsman had stayed at the table with the little priestess. Xellos wished, yet again, that he could just kill the swordsman. The moron was a hindrance, and Xellos didn't like hindrances... at least not ones that bothered him. Xellos looked down at Lina, tucked under his arm, holding his hand, and perfectly content to be there. His smile changed once more, she would be his. No one, and nothing had ever affected him like Lina Inverse did. She was utterly alluring, she had been from the moment he had first sensed her, and had only become more captivating the more he saw of her. He could still remember how it all began...

On Wolf Pack Island, a few years ago...

"Xellos."

"Yes Juuou-sama?"

"You were curious..." she murmured. He blinked, it was her way of letting him ask questions, it did not happen often.

"Well..." he said collecting his thoughts carefully. "Why did we not go to Lord Ruby-Eye when we felt him reborn on this plane?"

Beastmaster looked at him, her eyes glittering even in the dim light surrounding her throne. "Why should we have?" she asked, but in a tone that said she wanted him to think it through, she wasn't angry with him... at least not yet.

Xellos frowned as he puzzled it out finally he decided to use an analogy to explain himself, "if you had been sealed away and were suddenly reborn I would have appeared to you instantly."

Beastmaster smiled at this. "I made you differently from others, you know this Xellos."

Xellos nodded, she had done a good deal different in making him. She had made only him, and made him both general and priest, he was the most powerful Mazoku alive next to the Dark Lords. None of the other Lords' priests or generals could compare, though if a priest and general pair had worked together he might have been in trouble. But he was fairly certain that wasn't what she had meant. He had noticed certain discrepancies between his behavior and that of other Mazoku. He frowned every so slightly as he puzzled it over, it was almost indefinable such a subtle thing that it was hard to put into words. Xellos looked back up at her, hoping she could define something that he merely felt as an abstract.

"Most of our kind do not have initative, in fact aside from you only we five have any true degree of freewill."

"Freewill?"

Beastmaster was not often in a mood to talk, and when she was she usually spent time with the Knight of Ceipheed, something that even Xellos found odd. But apparently she was in the mood to talk today. "Oh not like humans do," she said lightly, "if I gave you an order you would follow it."

"Of course," he said with a slight bow.

"But unlike other Mazoku you do things of your own volition. Others may do things without orders from time to time, but usually only for the sake of feeding or causing destruction. Even then they are very direct and utilitarian about it."

Xellos thought, "so you gave me the ability to do and think things for myself?"

Beastmaster smiled, radiating pride to her general priest, Xellos grinned pleased at having figured it out. It really was an unusual trait for a monster, but it was what allowed him to outperform all of his peers. He could analyze the situation and decide what would best serve his master, adapt to changing situations without needing new orders, and he was infinitely more creative than any of his counterparts. A stray thought burst through his bubble of self satisfaction.

"Why?" he asked curiously.

Beastmaster lifted an eyebrow at him as she sipped her wine.

Xellos laughed placing one hand behind his head, "It's been very successful in my own humble opinion, but what gave you the urge to try it?"

"Ah," murmured Beastmaster as she blew smoke from her lips, "the others asked the same question." She rolled the stem of her wine glass between her fingers, while Xellos waited patiently for her to continue.

"You remember the last time a portion of our Lord awoke?"

Xellos nodded, there wasn't a monster who had been alive then who didn't remember, aside from the ones not capable of cognizant thought of course. The Water Dragon King and Ceipheed had sealed Lei Magnus, the human within whom Shabranigdu had been reborn, into living crystal. Lei Magnus was technically still alive, but effectively useless, and that portion of the Dark Lord was trapped in the body of the mortal who had resurrected him. Unless another portion of the Dark Lord was reborn Lei Magnus would remain trapped for eternity in crystal, with the Dark Lord's fragment trapped in him. But another portion of the Dark Lord had been revived, by the mortal named Rezo.

"It may have taken quite a bit from the Water Dragon King, to seal the fragment of our Lord, but the fact remains that a single fragment of our Lord proved vunerable to the forces that exist in this world. Lei Magnus was sealed, and most of the priests and generals were destroyed at this time as well. We five escaped because of our great power, and because the Water Dragon King and Ceipheed were exhausted from sealing away our Lord."

Xellos nodded solemnly, he was one of only a couple of the priests and generals left.

"When part of our Lord revived in Lei Magnus he called out to us, we came to his side, and he was defeated by our enemies," Beastmaster's tone was serious, which was unusual but in light of the subject not unexpected. "While he lives yet he is trapped, and many of our most powerful fell in that conflict. Of the Lords he created what remains? Deap Sea Dolphin will not leave the depths unless our master directly calls again. Gaav is sealed in a human body, a traitor to our race yet still powerful. Phibrizzo is consumed by his hatred, and Dynast is nearly as reluctant as Dolphin to leave his realm. Of we five only Dynast and I remain unchanged from what we were. Dynast because he was always little involved outside of his own interests, and I because I was different from the others of my kind. He did not call for us Xellos. Perhaps he does not believe Gaav would serve him anymore, or even that all of the five are no longer loyal. But he did not call us, and while you come to me when you believe it will please me, or because you wish to discuss something you should realize that no other of our kind does. Without very grave news most others of our kind would kill an underling for being so presumptuous as to appear unbidden." She paused and fixed him with a look that she had not used since the war of their Lord's last rebirth. "I am called Beastmaster, because our Lord drew heavily from the new creatures of this world while creating me. I am a creation of darkness, but in imitating the life that SHE placed on this world, our Lord put in me the hint of chaos. I believe that is the reason SHE has chosen to speak to me."

Xellos was staring in awe, his mistress was his everything yet even so it was amazing to think of HER speaking to his mistress. Xellos let his awe waft towards his mistress, along with his utter devotion, and his even more profound respect. His mistress merely sat and smiled at her servant.

"Have I answered your question Xellos?" she asked softly. He paused, she hadn't told him why their Lord had not called for him, but perhaps even she did not know. At his nod she smiled and continued, "our Lord did not summon us, but SHE has a task. One for you."

He bowed low, for once speechless, and his mistress gave him several small pieces of information. He was puzzled, she usually confided what she knew in him. When she explained that he would be on loan to Phibrizzo that part of his confusion vanished, and his curiosity at what Chaos wanted with him and his mistress burned brighter than before.

Back on the balcony...

He was startled out of his remembrance by Lina's sudden movement. They had been standing contentedly, but she was suddenly shivering and burrowing into him. He realized that the wind had changed direction and the castle was no longer protecting them from the breeze which had also began to pick up sometime while he was thinking. He wrapped his other arm around Lina and concentrated for a moment on radiating warmth, finding the right level to keep her warm, but not so warm as to drive her away, he let his body take over. It was odd, looking at her so much with his physical eyes. His form was created, his representation on this plane not any true thing, yet by being created it was. When he used it, whatever parts of it he made real were real. He didn't feel the cold, he simply noted it, an observation of the state around him, but he radiated warmth by calling it into being. Creating it for her comfort, for she who still bore such a remnant of HER. He had learned so much that day, yet nothing could have prepared him for meeting this embodiment of chaos, this favored one.

The Astral Plane, a few years ago...

After having received his orders from his temporary "master" Xellos had immediately taken refuge in a distant corner of the astral plane, far away from said "master" and proceeded to let his feeling of disgust out. Consumed by his hatred? He's nearly as batty as Dolphin! Xellos was lucky he was such a skilled actor, and that his station in life allowed him to compliment Phibrizzo, without requiring he mean any of it. He recalled a phrase he had heard a human use once, what was it... ah yes the creeps. He was used to causing such a reaction, when he wasn't faking harmlessness, but he had never realized he was prone to it. There was just something deeply unbalanced about Phibrizzo, he longed for the cold analytical mind of his mistress who, though given to occasional rages every century or so, couldn't truly be accused of being completely without reasoning capacity. Monsters weren't supposed to be affected like this by emotion, what on earth was wrong with the Hellmaster, he was supposed to be powerful even among the five. Having these thoughts was disturbing Xellos even more, giving himself a mental shake he resorted to what so many people have done for centuries, he threw himself into his work. He was to find the one responsible for the destruction of a part of Lord Ruby-Eye, and gain their trust. He'd been given no other instructions yet... though he had many suspicions. With a mental surge of exasperation he began searching for powerful astral bodies, within a radius of where the Dark Lord had been revived.

He had come across virtually nothing when he became aware of something and going to examine it was stunned into stillness. The astral form before him was beautiful, he knew no other word to describe it. He'd never thought anything was beautiful before, at least not in this context, previously the only thing he had applied the word for was his elegantly laid plot and subsequent destruction of an entire clan of Golden Dragons during the war. The form before him was like a flame, no a fire, a roaring fire that shown for all the astral plane to see. It glowed red and gold, and there was a touch of something in that flame, something more than human. He found himself unable to grasp what he was seeing, the form was large, and very powerful, but it was clearly not a monster, or a god. It must be human, yet nothing human had ever had such a presence. Carefully he took not of the astral form's physical location and phased in where he could see without being seen.

If the astral form itself had shocked him, more so did the form it belonged to. The raging inferno on the astral plane was nothing but a tiny human on this plane. A young woman with crimson hair, that reminded him of her astral form. He gave a slight start when she turned towards his hiding place, and saw a pair of ruby colored eyes narrow as she attempted to find him. She didn't, and she didn't know he was there, but that she had felt his arrival enough to look for him impressed him further. There was more to this creature than met the eye, either set of them. He was debating how to approach her and win her trust, and decided that presenting himself as a traveling companion was likely the best approach when he finally stopped to consider the blond next to her.

He had been so involved in considering the embodiment of flame that he had ignored the person she was traveling with. While the hair was certainly well enough kept to belong to a second girl, Xellos was fairly certain from the walk, clothes, height and bone structure that it was a man. It would be easier to tell from the front, but it was easier to observe unseen from behind. The sword on the hip indicated the man's profession easily enough, and reaching towards the astral plane once more Xellos didn't detect any signs that the man used magic, there was something odd, but not any of the trademarks of a mage.

He paused when he noticed that the pair seemed to be walking straight into an ambush of a dozen or more humans, likely bandits. It was odd that the woman hadn't noticed them when she had come so near to finding him, and he failed to see how the swordsman had survived so long if he was this oblivious. The men weren't well hidden, and even from his position down the road he could see physical clues to their presence, aside from just their stench. Really the astral plane was just so much cleaner than the physical one. Though the physical plane was certainly interesting. He was considering swooping in for a rescue when the woman broke the silence.

"You can come out now!"

He blinked as he watched the bandits reluctantly appear to the call. The woman was clearly unimpressed and said as much, in great detail. The swordsman threw in his own, slightly cruder insight and the fight began. He gave up on the idea of saving them almost instantly, unless he teleported there was no way for him to get there in time to kill any of the bandits. He supposed he should have expected as much since the woman had managed to slay a fragment of his Lord, but he was surprised by the skill of the swordsman. He felt the ripple in the astral plane and swore. Elven training. There was just no mistaking it. The man might not be a mage, but he had a decent amount of astral power and he had been trained to use it in his fights. The elves were well know, among those that knew of them that is, for their wedding of mind and body. They had a very specialized training, and the man must have had great potential for them to train him. Taking a closer look at the astral and physical form both, Xellos concluded the man had a trace of elven blood, how much he wasn't certain, but it was clear the man was predominantly human. He wasn't using any of the techniques for elven magic, which if he was this adept at their sword forms meant he didn't use magic at all.

Xellos nearly spat at the thought of the elven technique, the man was very advanced in it, though not quite at master level. It made those who used it virtually unbeatable so long as their weapon was sufficient to face their opponent. The principle of the style was to let your reflexes become your mental process, and your mind become your reflexes; your mind calculating all of the opponents movements and signals into their actions, you body planning your movements and attacks, acting before thinking, responding before being attacked, it sounded insane, and perhaps it was metaphorical, but those who were trained in it were superior fighters. The man was clearly more than he appeared as well. Xellos frowned, people with that kind of training had very good instincts, the man was likely to spot him for what he was. He would have to trail them for a while, maybe they'd split up.

Back on the balcony again...

He frowned slightly at these thoughts. They hadn't split up, but he had realized that training or no training the swordsman was dumber than dirt and twice as dense. He still hoped that Lina would get fed up with the moron and that he could present himself as a traveling companion. Well a solo traveling companion, he had so enjoyed the few times he'd gotten to be alone with Lina. His mistress hadn't given him any work since that Valgaav job, and Lina was so interesting. After the second time she had cast the Giga Slave the presence of HER had been even more prominent in Lina's astral form. He still remembered that day, he had come as soon as Hellmaster was dead, as soon as he no longer would have to follow orders. He had knelt in respect to the Mother of All, and felt an odd regret when he realized that she was taking Lina with her. The swordsman had gone after Lina, and that was when he'd felt HER touch. It was the first time he had ever been directly contacted by the Mother of All, and even now the memory of it gave him chills. He had done as he was bidden, going into the Sea of Chaos and fetching Gorun Nova. It had been difficult, and he had been loath to give it back to the swordsman, but he had done as ordered. Then he had gone to report to his mistress, who had sent him on several research missions.

When he had finally been ordered to find Lina again, because she was caught up in some plan of the dragons, he had been delighted. Lina was still just as much fun as she had been before, and though traveling in the company of a dragon had been irritating, it was also very fun. Filia was so easy to provoke into rage, and her rages were nearly as good as Lina's, with the added bonus that Filia always felt horribly guilty after she destroyed something; making Filia doubt herself and her teachings was fun. The trip had been so very amusing, he had especially loved tricking Filia into lending him her power... though Lina had put a stop to that. Lina's friends had been utterly nauseating when Lina had ordered them to contain him, not that he couldn't have killed them all at any moment, but he could hardly trick Filia the same way so easily no matter how naïve and stupid she was at times. Lina was the only other person who could get through the final barrier on her own. Seeing Lina wield Galvayra had been more than worth putting up with the sugar princess, he always enjoyed watching Lina use her power. He'd had to take the bow from her of course, but when he and the gods of Overworld had failed to stop Darkstar he'd gotten to fight with Lina again. His favorite memory of the entire trip was holding Lina in his arms, as she cast Ruby-eye's spell through the bow. The Dragon Slave was a wonderful spell, and Lina's in particular were always superb. Being so close to her as she channeled such power was heady, and watching her when she had controlled the fusion of dark and light power had been exhilarating. He had been disappointed when he had to leave to report.

After making his report this time his mistress had not had many tasks for him, finally telling him that he could take a vacation. He hadn't really had a true vacation before, just slow periods of work. In fact he wasn't sure any monster had ever had a vacation before, there were simply periods when you were doing as you were told, and periods when you were waiting to do as you were told. But when he found out that the very day he started his vacation that Lina would be attending this ball he had immediately stopped contemplating and decided to attend. After all vacations were supposed to be about fun, and Lina was nothing if not fun. He smiled down at the embodiment of flame in his arms, it was all so odd finding contentment holding this human. Sometimes though, it was better simply to enjoy. Lina was the most interesting creature he knew, and it really wasn't his fault that he didn't like to share. He wanted Lina all to himself, and Xellos was very used to getting what he wanted. He'd have to be careful, because humans, even powerful ones like Lina, were sometimes very fragile. Lina had to come with him willingly, she'd loose the fire that made her so interesting if he broke her. He didn't want to break Lina, he wanted to interact with her, desired her company, and didn't want her to change into some quailing human. He didn't understand what it was Lina did to him, but he enjoyed it, and that was good enough for him. You're special Lina Inverse, and I want you all to myself.