Disclaimer: I do not own: Slayers or anything else that ends up on this story!

Epilogue:

Xelloss Returns!

Xelloss hurried towards Saillune, he wondered how long they had been gone. It had only felt like a few hours; it was morning when they were pulled from the world. The sun was already setting and the world felt different. The balance of power had shifted somehow. Despite Lina and company's best effort, the demon races had gained the upper hand in recent years. With the decimation of the golden dragon race; the world had very rapidly been tipping in favor of the demon races. The destruction of the world was imminent. The Demon Lords were on the verge of being triumphant yet suddenly it felt like the world had been infused with enormous amounts of white magic. He had teleported to a forest near Saillune with a huge crater. You could see the Saillune royal palace from here but a wave of white magic was emanating from it that was so strong, he was wary of going near the city. He bent to examine the edge of the crater.

'So that Past Tense Theater wasn't fiction after all,' he thought worriedly. This was definitely done by Lord Ruby Eyes' spell: The Dragon Slave. This near Saillune, only Lina could've caused this kind of devastation. He heard a crashing in the remains of the woods nearby. He used a concealment spell and hid himself among the debris. To his surprise a badly injured Shuura came limping through the woods half carried by a troll and followed by three large ogres who seemed to be acting as bodyguards. She sat down heavily at the edge of the crater.

"Rest Master," the troll said softly putting Shuura down carefully. Xelloss wondered with some deep concern what could have caused Shuura to get in that condition!

"We can't stay long, those things might find us," Shuura said as she tried in vain to patch herself up. He could tell that her powers had been severely drained. It was probably taking all her remaining strength just to stay alive and keep moving.

"How long do we wait for the masters?" the troll asked. Shuura turned and hit him. She still had enough strength in her to knock him over.

"You idiot! Weren't you paying attention! They're not coming back! They've been vaporized be that damn…." She yelled at him and the long list of curses that followed told Xelloss only that a man had used a very powerful spell yet nothing more. Xelloss was frozen to his spot.

'One spell vaporized every single one of the demon lords!' he thought horrified. Shuura was ordering her small contingent to keep moving. Apparently the demon lords and the entire army they had been using within the city limits were destroyed by the same spell. He wanted to teleport to his master but didn't want to give away his presence to Shuura yet. He waited until she was some distance away then decided to continue towards the capital. He approached carefully on foot ready to teleport should he encounter trouble.

'Ok here goes,' he said to himself as he reached the wall at the edge of the forest behind the castle. Night had fallen by the time he arrived and he could hear music and laughter. The waves of joy emanating from the city and the white magic emanating from it were making him feel sick. Very carefully he reached his staff towards the city limit line and the instant the rod touched the wall it shattered! A burning pain shot through his arm and it was all Xelloss could do to keep from screaming in pain. He tore his glove off in a slight panic attempting to heal himself first then teleported back to his master. When he returned to their lair his master was tending to one of her wolves. He looked like he'd been burned badly. Zelas had a singed cape and some soot on her face.

"Master, what happened?" he asked as he came near. She shook her head.

"It was nothing. I went to see a Balrog and had to kill it, that's all," she replied casually. Adding that her wolves refused to stay behind and one of them got hurt. Xelloss frowned. The only reason any demon lord goes to a Balrog is if they need to steal some special power or demon-made artifact. Balrogs were extremely powerful; one could say they were at the same power level as the demon lords but they stayed far underground. The Demon Lords endeavored to keep them there because they would burn the world to cinders if left to roam free. But no one demon lord was strong enough to take out a Balrog. It shocked Xelloss that his master had done it with really no damage to herself!

"What did you find?" she asked solemnly. Xelloss shook himself out of his ruminations and told her everything that he had seen and heard. As he spoke she conjured him a new staff looked exactly like the one he used to have and but it was more powerful.

"And Shuura didn't see you? You're sure?" Zelas questioned. Xelloss nodded firmly.

"Absolutely! In the state she was in I'm surprised she could even walk," Xelloss insisted, his tone unusually solemn. Zelas paced, at first she looked worried but the look changed. She seemed excited!

"Go find any others of our kind. Interrogate them then kill them. Start with Shuura! On your way back here find out as much as you can about what's happened in Saillune. Be careful not to approach it yet until we know more about what's happened to the other Demon Lords," she instructed pacing. She had a maniacally gleeful look on her face. Her excitement was contagious as Xelloss mirrored her evil glee.

"Yes Master!" he replied without hesitation and teleported away to find Shuura…

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Xelloss found Shuura still making her way towards her master's lair on foot. She limped heavily but wasn't as weak as he had seen her in the woods. The troll and the three ogres were still with her. He quickly approached her.

"Hi Shuura! What happened to you?" he greeted feigning ignorance. Shuura was startled by his sudden appearance and reached for her weapon. She relaxed a little when she realized it was Xelloss.

"Xelloss! Where the hell have you been?" she asked irritated. Xelloss scratched the back of his head in false embarrassment.

"Well my master and I were unfortunately detained by the Great Guardian," he replied feigning an embarrassed tone. Shuura gave him an arrogant laugh.

"Were you trapped in that fetid place with those horrible little singing creatures?" she asked mockingly. He gave her an apologetic shrug in response. She gloated that her master had been able to figure out a way to escape.

'Yea, escaped just in time to get vaporized,' Xelloss thought but decided not to make fun to her face just yet. He realized as she continued to gloat about how they had handled GG's trap that the big guy had just let them think they escaped. That his plan was to cut down the number of demon lords. Why he and Zelas had been spared and the others destroyed still wasn't clear to him yet.

"So where are the others? My master hasn't been able to find anyone else," he asked innocently. Shuura cursed angrily and explained what happened. He learned that they had been trapped in some sort of time distortion because what appeared to be a few hours was actually two weeks.

Shuura warned him not to go back to Saillune because the white magic that protected the city had been magnified and its effects were beginning to spread through the adjacent countryside. She believed she was the only one able to escape. She fought her way free of a tiny portion of the spell of light but it cost her nearly all her magic and destroyed all her weapons. She picked up a sword she found on the ground and found the troll and ogres in the forest and they attached themselves to her as they escaped.

"I was lucky that I was just outside of the city limits regrouping the troops. I think that sniveling ex-genie Jafar escaped too. I didn't see him at all when we got to Saillune. Everyone else is toast…well except for you guys," she added giving him now a suspicious look.

She explained that Jafar had delivered an invitation from a super demon that called himself Sephiroth but he never returned to Saillune. She surmised he was no longer a genie slave because he didn't have the golden manacles on his wrists anymore when he showed up to deliver his message. This was good news. Jafar was a low level member of Zelas' cadre but ever since an ancestor of King Kashue tricked him into a lamp he had been out of commission. Zelas left him in his prison hoping someday he would redeem himself by finding a way to free himself.

"So what is your master going to do? Saillune is untouchable right now," she asked. The troll and the ogres were huddled together watching the forest around them warily and mostly ignoring their masters. Xelloss continued to feign innocence.

"Well we're just trying to find out what happened and see if there was anyone left," Xelloss began cheerfully. Shuura began to nod but stopped; something about Xel's statement seemed off. Hadn't he just admitted he didn't know what was going on? An alarm went off in the back of her mind.

"In fact she asked me to deliver a message for any survivors," he continued undaunted. Shuura's eyes went wide as she realized she had been played. She reached for her sword but too late. He slapped the sword from her hand and stabbed the bottom end of his new staff in her chest.

"Goodbye!" he announced his message cheerfully. Shuura's screamed died with her as Xelloss removed his staff. He snapped his fingers and disintegrated Shuura and her ragtag crew of bodyguards whom hadn't even begun to react to what happened to their master when Xelloss dispatched them. He chuckled a little; satisfied by his mischief and teleported away. Shuura turned out to not to be the only survivor but Xel dispatched them with speed and ease. When he returned to see his master and report he found Jafar on his knees in front of her reporting all that happened in Saillune while they were gone.

"Today was declared a day of mourning. The spell Greywords cast required many to sacrifice themselves to save their loved ones. It should be safe enough to approach tomorrow as Greywords will be out of town. The spell's residual effect should diminish during his absence," Jafar concluded solemnly. Zelas nodded in acceptance of his report and dismissed him. Then she heard Xelloss' report confirming everything Jafar had already told him.

"First, I need you to go and do a head count. Check to see how many of ours were lured to this execution and the status of all our current projects. Then go to Saillune, your new staff will protect you," she ordered. She explained the crystal at the top of the staff was a shard from a stone made from a Balrog's heart and it absorbed power from every demon he killed. She had a necklace with the rest of the crystal. She had powered it by killing six Balrogs. Xelloss did the math quickly and that meant she had killed all of the Balrogs.

"And every demon you killed added to the power of our crystals. Just make sure you keep it close and it will protect you from the effects of the white magic," she instructed solemnly. Xelloss nodded.

"I think the guardian simply wanted to restore balance and had to resort to some drastic measures. I warned those fools!" she added in a self-satisfied tone. Xelloss smiled, it was just the coup they had always dreamed of! No more politicking with the other demon lords they had free reign!

"We were chosen to survive Xelloss because we are capable of self-control, neither darkness nor light should ever have the upper hand. The great guardian sends us a warning with the destruction of the monster race. We will heed it," concluded Zelas solemnly stroking the head of one of her wolves. Xelloss nodded, for a moment his face was devoid of the mischievous smirk that characterized him.

"Either way it looks like we are the ones in control of the darkness in our world now. Despite the restrictions I'm sure that we can make the most of it, right?" she added with a sly smile on her face. Xelloss' smirk returned.

"Right! I'll go now Master!" Xelloss agreed cheerfully. He bowed to Zelas and teleported away…

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It took Xelloss three weeks to get demon affairs in order. Jafar was a loyal and hardworking lackey and between the two they were able to set things back on track. All of their projects had suffered severe setbacks from Zelgadis' spell. The spell had affected every country and every village in some way no matter how remote! On the plus side he was able to absorb all the projects of the other demon lords. He axed what didn't make sense and kept the worthwhile ones. The largest bright spot for him had been the decimation of the priests of Cepheid! He had found their temple empty. Every priest had been stripped of their powers and their hallowed grounds were not so hallowed anymore. Their own arrogance and sense of superiority had led to their downfall.

He had waltzed right into their most sacred chapel where he found Luna – Lina's sister – laying in front of the altar in a simple white robe screaming and crying, clawing at herself. The one person in the entire world whose powers had been equal – if not greater – to his was a wreck! A couple of women were attempting to restrain her. Zel's spell had taken the knight's powers away and was causing Luna to experience all the terror and pain she had inflicted on Lina as a child. They only stopped when they saw him. An old woman came out to greet him hurling insults at him but he realized right away that though she wore priestess robes she had no power to fight him. How he had laughed at their misery! He could just have waved his hand and killed them all in an instant but watching them suffer was so much more fun so he left them shaking in impotent rage to report to Zelas his progress.

Xelloss made his way carefully now towards the capitol of Saillune. The power of that spell made him nervous but he was curious. He had spotted Lina and company in Galbadia weeks ago but had decided not to approach them. He wanted to find out the state of the world first. He felt a little sting when he first set foot past the city's expanded magical barrier but it was quickly gone thanks to the protection of his new staff. He made his way to the city gates and was greeted by a young man with tri-color hair wearing a palace guard uniform. He had an intense look about him and recognized Xelloss right away.

"Master Xelloss! Lord Greywords has been expecting you," he greeted enthusiastically and a bit surprised though not in the way Xelloss had hoped.

'A little too happy to see me,' He thought concerned as the young man – now identifying himself as Yugi Motou – offered to bring a horse around for him and escort him up to the palace. He spoke into a shell announcing Xelloss' arrival and to his surprise another voice emerged in response. Xelloss declined the offer and made his way to the palace; he teleported from place to place around the city trying to get a feel for the mood of the citizens. They seemed in fairly high spirits though here and there would be someone weeping and talking about some lost loved one.

When he arrived at the palace gates he found Zelgadis in the yard dressed like a Saillune royal giving orders to the guard. The man that had transformed into the dragon in the past tense theater presentation was standing next to him. He remembered his name was Kaiba; he would keep an eye on that one. Druids were supposed to be extinct but then again so were the ancient dragons. Once Zel was done Kaiba gave the dismissal order and he excused himself to follow his orders. Zel turned to look at Xelloss and raised a hand in greeting. Xelloss plastered on his ever present cheerful smile as he approached.

"I was wondering when you would turn up. Where have you been? You missed Amelia's birthday party," he greeted amused. Xelloss laughed.

"I'm sorry! I hear it was quite the celebration! No way she'll top it next year," he countered cheerfully. Zelgadis laughed and Xelloss took a moment to subtly scan him. He had a lot of white magic which didn't seem right. Zelgadis was part demon. He should not have so much white magic. Zel walked with him up to the palace. He and Amelia had planned to travel for another month but they had to cut their trip short.

"I'll let her tell you why," he said and the amusement in Zel's tone bothered him. Zel's emotions became happier as his thoughts turned towards Amelia; it hit then Xelloss what had happened. Zelgadis was the Knight of Cepheid now! Luna had been stripped of her powers and those powers were now within Zelgadis, the chimera appearance was just an illusion. Luna had been the perfect knight for them. She was arrogant and treated the whole office with extreme apathy obsessing only with terrorizing her sister. It was Lina and her friends who tackled the "save the world" stuff and they did it out of loyalty and friendship towards each other. But now that Zelgadis was the knight…

'Crap!' he thought as he followed Zel inside the palace…

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Kaiba entered the queen's quarters as Anzu opened the door for him. He had never gotten a chance to really speak to Master Xelloss and he was hoping this time might be different. From Val, Seto knew he was a member of the monster race and Val absolutely hated him! So did the Lady Filia for that matter. He didn't hate Xelloss, his curiosity was academic. Druids had no animosity towards the monster race or anyone else for that matter; they only opposed monsters (or anyone else) when they posed a direct threat to the balance of nature. He wondered why Master Xelloss had not been at the battle like the rest of his brethren. He wondered if some monsters, like Xelloss, were aware of the balance of nature and that was why he wasn't here.

Seto took in the scene before him with amusement that he hid behind his usual stoic demeanor. Her highness Amelia and Mrs. Lina were still at the table eating in their usual frenzied way. Lord Gabriev was trying to convince her to slow down. Seto advanced towards Lord Greywords and Prince Philionel to give them the report.

"Can't! Eating for two here!" Lina replied cheerfully. Amelia giggled as she nodded in agreement and continued eating.

'Two? There's enough food on that table for 6 people!' thought Kaiba amused. They were making every last morsel on the table disappear with great speed and efficiency. It was no wonder the wedding had been moved up some. The pregnant Queen would not likely fit into her dress if they waited any longer at the rate they were eating. And neither would her pregnant matron of honor Lina!

On the other side of the room was Filia shouting insults at Xelloss who simply giggled in turn. The boys were sitting on the couch. They were never far from Filia these days and had even gone traveling with her when she trooped off with Lina's company. Mokuba watched Xelloss and Filia with a frown on his face but he had his arms wrapped tight about Val trying to hold him still. The little dragon-boy looked an inch away from wanting to claw Xelloss' face off! Seto sighed and excused himself from the prince and Zel. The boys quickly rushed to him and hugged him.

"What's wrong Val?" he asked softly stroking the little boy's head gently. Val was calmed slightly.

"I hate him! I wish he'd been here so he could've been vaporized like all the rest of them!" Val growled his shoulders tense with rage. Seto sat the little boy back down and knelt in front of him to be at eye level.

"I understand why you're angry Val but listen to me and think about what I will say to you and hopefully you won't let your anger get the best of you," Seto began in a lecturing tone.

"Among my people we see life as a circle. Everything is connected. Every creature great or small, good or evil has a purpose to fulfill in the great circle of life," he began as he thought of his mother and a song she used to sing to him when he was very small. He ignored the diminishing in the volume of the conversations in the room as he spoke to the two little boys. It struck Seto suddenly why Xelloss was still alive when all the other monsters were destroyed.

"Without Night there is no Day. Without sorrow there is no joy. Val, if Master Xelloss had perished the world would have been unbalanced; throwing it into chaos and destroying it. I know that you don't want that," Seto lectured stroking the little boy's head.

"No I don't," Val replied in a tiny voice "I still hate him though," he quickly grumbled. Seto chuckled a little and stood.

"Lady Filia and Master Xelloss represent the two opposite sides of our world. Each is an important part of the other's purpose in the circle of life," Seto explained. Filia made a face.

"Yes he's all the disgusting filth and garbage of the world! Which I always have to find a way to clean up! Disgusting, filthy creature!" she growled angrily. Xelloss just laughed. Seto cringed for an instant, he could never get used to the horrible things that came out of Filia's mouth when Xelloss was around.

"It's ok if you hate him because it's part of the natural order. I'm pretty sure Master Xelloss doesn't mind," Seto added ruffling Val's hair and glancing towards Xelloss who just laughed.

"Hardly!" agreed Xelloss cheerfully. Seto nodded towards him then turned back to Val.

"Just don't let it control you ok?" Seto advised Val. Val sighed but his anger was mostly spent now.

"Ok Seto-papa," Val replied in a reluctant tone. Seto ruffled his hair playfully again finally coaxing a smile from Val. He admonished both boys to behave themselves for Lady Filia. After bowing respectfully to Xelloss, Filia, the royals in the room and Lina and Gourry he made his exit with a slight smirk of satisfaction on his lips. He walked towards the construction site at the end of the corridor in Prince Philionel's quarters. The foreman nodded to him as Seto made a cursory inspection as he headed towards the balcony. He looked up to the sky letting the magic of the wild forms surround him. As he transformed into a falcon and took to the sky he felt for the first time in his life - since he left his home forests - truly happy…

'Damn druid! I was having so much fun too!' thought Xelloss annoyed. Like it was typical of druids he had evened out the emotions in the room. There was a perfect balance now between happiness and annoyance in every single person in the room. Val and Mokuba were now ignoring him and Filia's anger was almost gone too. He needed to do something to turn things back to the way he liked it.

"I'd forgotten how interesting druids could be!" Xelloss commented with a laugh.

"It's too bad he's the only one left! If only they hadn't tried to help the ancient dragons they might still be around," he added with a convincing sigh of regret.

"What lies are you concocting now you filthy creature?" asked Filia her anger rising once more. Xelloss tried not to smile.

"Lies? I don't know what you're talking about. I'll have you know that the druids hid the ancient dragon's hatchlings and they did such a good job of it the golden dragons had to wipe out every druid village," he countered in an offended tone. The wave of horror coming from everyone in the room was delicious to Xelloss. He relished the wave of guilt and sorrow from Filia and Val's renewed anger at him.

"How else would young Mokuba still be around?" he continued still affecting an offended tone "though how he and his druid protector ended up here a thousand years in the future is an interesting question. Druids can't do time magic after all," he added pensively. Val opened his mouth to retort something angry-sounding but Mokuba cut him off.

"Don't say anything Val," Mokuba admonished calmly then he turned to Xelloss who was once again annoyed that he had not been able to rile this young dragon up.

"It is a very interesting question…tell you what: you tell me how you survived Lord Greyword's spell and I'll tell you how Seto and I survived the destruction of our village," Mokuba countered shrewdly. Xelloss laughed, he couldn't help but be amused by the little dragon's ruthlessness.

"You've taken your druid lessons to heart little dragon!" Xelloss countered and chuckled again.

"I always listen to my big brother," Mokuba retorted feeling pleased with himself. Zelgadis had reached the boys by then and put a hand on Mokuba's shoulder.

""It sounds like a fair exchange Xelloss. What do you say? Care to tell us how you missed Amelia's party?" Zelgadis asked in an annoyingly calm tone. Xelloss smiled but realized he had reached an impasse. He couldn't cause any more damage here. He had done enough for now. It was time to go.

"That…is a secret!" he said with a smile and wink wagging his finger at them. He teleported away - to the endless frustration and anger of Filia! He spied for a little while to see if he could learn how the druid survived but realized that Zelgadis was fully aware of his new abilities. A shield surrounded the palace that protected it from his ability to see and hear inside it as soon as he winked away. It was likely Mokuba was telling his tale for the Lina and her crew.

'I'll have to find some other way,' he consoled himself and teleported to his lair to report to his master all the things he had learned…

-0-

Victoria watched the monitors with satisfaction. Xelloss and Zelas were in control and Zelas had been gifted with all the strength and abilities of the other demon lords. But to balance things out Zelgadis, Filia and her two dragon wards had been strengthened as well. Balance had been restored at last. She would keep an eye on Seto. He had a destiny to fulfill. She had planted that memory in him of his grandmother telling him about the dragon shape hoping he would remember the truth but his human from is much too young still to hold his true form. It seemed apparent now that he didn't know the truth.

'When he's older I'm sure,' she thought. Though how to get him to realize what he truly was would be the real trick. It was a very well-kept secret.

'Perhaps I can lead Xelloss down that trail,' she thought.

'After all, wouldn't the last of the monsters love to torment what's left of the golden dragons with Seto's existence?' she thought.

"How long do you want to wait before we tell him?" George asked Victoria. She turned around to look at him and cringed. He had re-assumed his Fabio look. He was even making his hair flutter as though it was being blown by a well-aimed breeze. She made a face before continuing.

"Before we tell him that he's actually a half-dragon and that the golden dragon that saved him and Mokuba was his mother?" she retorted sarcastically. It was a huge and devastating truth and Seto needed to be older and wiser before he could bear the burden of it.

"I think we can wait until Mokuba decides he wants to marry a human. That, I think would be the right time," Victoria replied. Seto wasn't the only half dragon either. There were others whose parents had sent them into the future as part of their contingency plan. Seto had arrived a few years sooner than the rest because Victoria hijacked the spell to allow Seto to establish himself first and grow strong enough to protect them all. A group of half dragon children would be hard to conceal than just one. Seto was unique even among them. The other half dragons all had an ancient dragon parent except for him.

"Well, I guess we just wait," George replied and with a slight shake of his flowing hair he disappeared. Victoria shuddered thinking how much she disliked that form of his. She shook her head half amused and half annoyed. On her screen Seto went about his duties while the two dragon boys were reassuring Filia that Seto would never hate her. She smiled and turned off her screen. She would go check on the care bears and make sure they understood they couldn't make a habit of showing up in Saillune without good reason.

"That's all folks!" she said to the people reading this story as she turned off the lights…

-0-

Thanks for reading everybody! I'm sorry it took so long to get this together again. I know I left things kinda hanging on what's going to happen between Xelloss, Filia and Seto and the other half dragons. I figured that if you want me to I can do another epilogue (sort of) with the either a tragic or a happy ending – or both! – depending on how you guys vote. Otherwise I can just leave it as is if you're not that curious it seems pretty much finished to me.

Thanks again for reading!