Xellos whistled happily as he strolled down the dank hallway that led to Beastmaster's lair. The ever-present stench of rotting flesh filled him with a tingly joy and the cooling satanic air revived his exhausted body. He had been feeding rarely lately, mostly due to the fact that Lina was separated from her usual companions and was relaxing in a resort somewhere to the west of Atlas City. The chimera had also taken a short break, or so he told the others and was supposedly lounging in the great casino city of Prismacol. Gourry decided, though reluctantly, that it was all right to leave Lina alone for a few months and went home to visit his elderly mother. The Princess had other business to attend to which revolted Xellos deep down into his soul. She was taking the position of Seyruun's Royal Diplomat and was traveling the countryside making peace with other kingdoms. The four just weren't as fun when they were separated, so Xellos had decided to go with the flow and find a few new victims to feed off of. The hunt for creatures that were more overly excitable than Lina and her buddies was a difficult task, even for a Mazoku of Xellos's skill. He had found a few, but most of them ended up being boring or just plain repetitive. He had never realized before that Lina had overreacted about so many various different things. The shear darkness and creepiness of the castle was enough to make him feel more at home. Anyway, it wasn't often that Beastmaster called upon him anymore. In fact, it had been over 2 months at least. Not only did she not invite him to visit, but she also slapped a shield around her castle so no one could enter. Xellos would have been worried ... if he were human, that is.
His boots padded softly on the damp stone floor making small splashing noises as he stepped. Every few feet, he took the time to jump into a deeper puddle, making waves ripple across the floor. He brushed away cobwebs that wafted softly in front of his face and sneezed as they tickled his nose. He giggled.
The reason that she had engaged a protection spell on her lair was a mystery for him, though he had been too busy struggling to feed to pay much attention to her lack of concern for his curiosity. He merely assumed that she was absorbed in her own projects and that she would call upon him when she so needed. Now that he was here, however, he realized how odd it was for her to do such a thing. She had often locked him out of the castle, frequently tortured him (in ways that even caused him awful discomfort), and repeatedly forced him to do her bidding when he didn't want to. Of course, he never complained. The fact was that he really enjoyed being the priest and general of the Greater Beast. But the strange thing was, Zelas was not one to hold a grudge against him, and Xellos didn't remember even minutely upsetting her before she went into seclusion. Though she had forced him to live outside of the castle many a time, she usually didn't make it last this long, and it was usually because she was expecting him to do some sort of job for her. He couldn't think of anything that she said to accomplish before she blocked him. Plus, she hadn't even checked up on him, the way she normally did.
A light was coming up in the distance, yet the rest of the hallway appeared even darker. Xellos drank in Zelas's miasma and sighed. With a few last reluctant steps he came upon the great evil before him. Pausing a moment, he opened the door.
The old metal hinges creaked as he peered around the door frame. Bright light shot from the interior of the room into Xellos's sensitive eyes. He took in a choppy breath of air and shut them quickly. The brightness took a while to get used to, but Xellos had been to Zelas's chamber enough times to grow accustomed to it. Even so, it still was always a strain on his eyes at first and today his mind had been too busy elsewhere to pay heed to the brilliance of the decor. However, it looked like whatever Zelas had been doing, it wasn't redecorating. Though tasteful, (and bright,) as always, the room looked surprisingly the same as it had in previous months.
Zelas's chamber was filled with white decorations. Though there was a deep evil residing in the room, a regular mortal with no magic powers would have taken it as quite cheerful. Fluffy white pillows and velvet blankets grazed the bed on one wall while the opposite wall was chock full of fuzzy sofas and bright white lamps. Hardly the room of the other dark lords, Zelas's chamber was taken care of and cleaned daily by her various hoards of unintelligent lesser Mazoku, slaves, and less important faithful followers.
Xellos called out to his master, "Zelas-sama?"
He took a few steps and shut the door behind him. It gave a quiet click as his hand released the doorknob. His eyes open, he glanced around the room to check for any sign of his master. He could feel her, but her body wasn't there.
He called to her again, "Zelas?"
His lavender eyes flicked from one corner of the room to another. His brow furrowed in confusion but then he relaxed again. Blinking, he walked in, padded over to her bed, and plopped softly onto it, backwards with his arms extended. The airy furnature gave a satisfied "poof" as he sank into it. He snuggled into the fluffy pillow.
"I'll just wait for her right here."
With that he closed his eyes and rolled over.
Crunch!
"Hm?"
Xellos rolled onto his back and held the paper up to the light.
His eyes snapped open.
"Wha?"
Part 2 | Fanfiction