Today was a bad day, Zelgadis decided as he sailed through the air, his clothing singed and ears ringing.

He couldn't have thought of a way it would have been even a halfway decent day. Waking up, his stomach growled at him. But after talking with Xellos… it wasn't really his stomach, was it? No, it was a demonic hunger that he always had. The disgust at that thought had stayed with him all day, distracting him as he walked. Had he not been distracted, well…

He wouldn't have been surprised and now blasted backwards.

It wasn't a spell. He could smell the gunpowder. But it didn't make it less annoying to have the explosion deafen him momentarily and ruin his clothing. Zelgadis bounced slightly as he landed on his back, the air forced out of his lungs. Slowly, he sat up, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Was it bandits? This close to town?

"Rissa!" A scolding male voice rang out to his left, a bit away but coming closer. "What did I say 'bout you leavin' your little traps around?"

"Papa!" Zelgadis sat up slowly at the female voice. "We have to be careful. What if they come back?"

Did they have a bandit problem? Zelgadis made sure his face was covered and the only damage to his clothing was scorch marks. He could offer his skills for a price. The money he got would help pay for the upcoming inns. And- he felt ill at the thought, but the bandits he would encounter would feed him with the pain and fear they would feel as they fought him.

Xellos had said he wasn't a Mazoku, but that hunger certainly sounded like one.

He stood just as a woman slid down the snowy bank. And wow, that certainly was a woman. The height of femininity. And yet… Zelgadis felt nothing as she smoothed her coat over her generous breasts and dusted snow off her breeches. Was that more hints he was less human than he realized? Than he wanted to be? He knew before his transformation, his pants would have been a little tight at the sight of her. And yet…

The woman looked over at him, and smiled sheepishly. "You okay?" she asked, coming over to him. "You look a little crispy there, mister…?"

"Zelgadis."

She tilted her head. "That's a nice name. You come from further in?" Her eyes widened. "You a traveller? You heard of magicians? Do they really breathe fire? Do-"

"Rissa!" An older man slid down the bank as well, a disapproving look on his face as he hefted his axe. "You're gonna nearly blow a poor man up then bury him with questions?"

"Sorry," she muttered. "Jus'- A magician would fix our problems."

"What sort of problems are you having?" Zelgadis asked.

Both Rissa and her father looked at him, taking in his clothing and sword. "You a merc?" the father finally asked.

"I've been known to help people for money."

Rissa raised a gloved hand to her mouth, thoughtful. Then, she nodded. "Then you can help me."

Her father turned to her. "You will not do anything other than take down these traps, Rissa!"

"But Papa!"

Another explosion sounded near them, and Zelgadis pulled his sword as Rissa reached into her sleeves. Interesting.

"Rissa!"

"That's not from the road," Rissa murmured. "That one-" Her eyes widened, and silver flashed as she pulled daggers free from her sleeves. "That one's the cave!"

Her father swore loudly. "Get behind me, Rissa. Boyo, you better be as good with that sword as you look!"

That was all the warning they got as a swarm of four legged beasts - seven in total - rushed over the hill, kicking up a cloud of snow. White and red fur swirled along their bodies, with demonic red eyes burning in their sockets. Zelgadis wanted to snort at the red eyes, knowing he had a pair suddenly in his own head. Instead, he cast an Astral Vine on his sword before sweeping it up to meet the lunging beast. The enhanced metal sliced easily through it, killing it instantly. Rissa's father swung his axe next to him, beheading another. Rissa herself engaged a beast, kiting it around until she could duck under a swipe and slit its throat. Zelgadis turned back to the other four, raising a hand to cast Fireball. The explosion caught two of them, making one of the remaining raise its head and howl.

The two killed by Rissa and her father stood again. It was quite disturbing to see the beast walk around without a head, and Zelgadis felt ill he could feed off Rissa and her father's unease at that. But now, there was only one dead: The one Zelgadis had killed with his sword.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Elmekia Flame!"

The direct hit instantly dropped the one Rissa had originally killed. It didn't rise again.

Mazoku, then? Zelgadis narrowed his eyes as the beheaded one dashed at Rissa, a hand coming back… only to feel something great and powerful grow in his hand. Not an Elmekia Flame… it came from within. It came… from the barest hint of Shabranigdo that resided in his veins. It grew and grew as the beast pinned Rissa, her daggers coming up to try to force the beast off her as another came to finish the job, a third sneaking up behind her father to pounce on him.

Zelgadis tried to keep it in. If he didn't keep it in, it would be a Dragon Slave. It would have the same destructive power. He would kill Rissa. He would kill her father. He would-

Something broke inside him.

His head tossed back as the power exploded, red and black becoming his entire world. For the briefest moment, he could feel Rissa's utter terror at the realization at what she had been talking to, at what she wanted to hire. He could feel her father's hatred for Zelgadis, and the wish he could have been the one to kill him. And then, he felt their deaths, shivering along his skin, inside his skin, filling him-

When he opened his eyes, the red and black was gone. No, the only colour he could see was purple.

"You get in so much trouble alone, Zelgadis-sama," Xellos told him, eyes open to stare at him.

Zelgadis stared at him for a moment, then growled, grabbing his collar, driving him down to the ground, made glassy and scorched by the power wielded by the chimera. He didn't even know what he was doing anymore. His body moved on its own, one hand wrapping possessively around Xellos's throat as the other ripped the faux fabric off his legs. Xellos only helped Zelgadis, only helped his Master as he helped take off Zelgadis's pants and spread his legs.

Foreplay was foreign here. One quick thrust sheathed Zelgadis, and Xellos tilted his head back, eyes still on the chimera. Zelgadis built a brutal pace immediately, watching Xellos the hand on his Priest's throat slowly tightened.

This wasn't about sex, he realized suddenly as Xellos watched him steadily. Xellos was purposely submitting to him, to his whim. Purposely being his Priest. Purposely showing… he would do what he wanted.

Zelgadis buried his face against Xellos's clothed shoulder, gasping as he came. Then, he raised his head, staring into Xellos's eyes.

"Do whatever you can to make sure I don't do this again," he whispered.

Slowly, Xellos smiled.

"As you wish, Zelgadis-sama."