"Valgaav..."
The voice came from everywhere and nowhere. However, Valgaav didn't have to look for the speaker. He knew instictively who was with him. Focusing a shard of magical energy from the astral plane, he formed an energy blast and hurled it behind him.
"That wasn't polite, Valgaav," came the petulant response. "I didn't come here to pick a fight."
"Show yourself, you coward!" Valgaav roared. Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Whirling around, Valgaav found himself nose to nose with the Trickster Priest.
Xelloss smiled wickedly. "Now, now. That's no way to speak to someone who's come as a friend."
"Friend?" Valgaav all but spat the word. "I wouldn't call someone like you a friend!"
"But I could be your friend, Valgaav," insisted Xelloss. "I want to be."
A shiver ripped through Valgaav's body. What was this feeling? It was akin to fear, but different somehow. He'd felt it before...in the presense of Gaav.
red...
An image slowly began to come into focus. But Valgaav couldn't make it all out; it was as if he were staring through a dark mirror, a dusty piece of obsidian. He focused on the image, trying to brush away the cobwebs.
Valgaav could see himself...doing...what? Something to do with red.
blood...
Xelloss raised an eyebrow. "Something troubling you, Valgaav?"
With a start, Valgaav remembered his company. "You just want to kill me, just as you killed Gaav-sama."
"Don't be so sure," Xelloss purred ferally. "After all, there are those among the Mazoku who would be very sad to see you destroyed." He pressed a single gloved finger to Valgaav's lips.
Satin, Valgaav thought. The Trickster Priest's gloves were fashioned from pale blue satin. But why? The Mazoku have no need for such finery.
Xelloss traced the finger along the underside of Valgaav's mouth. Valgaav held back the urge to gasp.
"Oh, don't get me wrong," Xelloss continued, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper. "I never liked Gaav. But he DID have his uses. Creating you, for one thing."
This is why. Oh gods, now I know why... Valgaav felt the feeling within him growing, a strange feeling that cleaved his brain like Gorun Nova through a lesser blade. Not quite fear. This was something slightly different. Again, Valgaav remembered feeling the same way towards Gaav. Were these feelings the side effect of some power inherent in powerful Mazoku?
blood...
The image he had seen before returned, this time sharper. Valgaav could see himself now in the vision. He was sitting on the ground, his face smeared in fresh blood. In his hands was...something. A long, thin object. A stick? He wasn't sure...
Gods, this vision is so...intoxicating. Valgaav's head was spinning.
Xelloss' hand wandered down, stroking Valgaav's neck and shoulders. "You couldn't be more beautiful if I made you myself."
Valgaav flinched. "What did you say?" he whispered, his voice hoarse.
The satin hand paused. "You mean to tell me," Xelloss said incredulously, "that Gaav never taught you these things? Now I hate him even more." He continued tracing lines down Valgaav's chest, pausing to tease his already erect nipples. "How could Gaav ever deny one as lovely as you?"
Valgaav's eyes fluttered. He was drowning in sensation. The silky caress of Xelloss' hand...the deliciously stimulating image that kept rising in his mind. Valgaav turned the volcano mirror in his mind's hands, studying the image some more.
bones...
So that's what holding in his hands. Two broken bones, one in each hand. As more dust was cleared off the obsidian glass, Valgaav could make out more and more of the picture.
lina inverse's lifeless form...
her body torn apart...
blood from countless wounds...
her splintered bones in my hands...
"Are you enjoying this, Valgaav?" Xelloss bent towards Valgaav's ear, gently nipping at his earlobe.
"What are you doing? What is this image you keep sending me?" Valgaav felt his knees buckle slightly. But before he could fall, Xelloss was steadying him with his other hand.
"I'm not sending you anything," Xelloss said. "What you are seeing is what I want for you. My most intimate desires for you."
lina inverse's blood...
marrow between my teeth...
warm...red...
Xelloss' grin became vicious. "You enjoy what your seeing, don't you? I think you're more like us than you'd like to admit."
"Please, Xelloss..." Valgaav felt himself shivering. He wanted more of the Trickster Priest's touches, more of the visions of Lina Inverse's death. "Please..."
Xelloss pushed Valgaav backwards, bracing him against a wall. Valgaav's hands scraped against stone. Or perhaps they didn't. He couldn't be sure as Xelloss sunk his teeth into the flesh of Valgaav's shoulder.
"I can give you what your negligent master refused to give you. I can continue this. Or I can go and continue being your enemy. Do you want me to go, Valgaav?" Xelloss pressed a hand to the hard bulge between Valgaav's legs.
"Xelloss-kun..." Valgaav tried to beg Xelloss to stay, but his voice gave out.
"I'll take that as a no." Xelloss lowered to his knees, pulling Valgaav's pants down to his ankles. Satin hands caressed
bones...
Valgaav moaned as Xelloss ever-so-slowly circled his mouth around Valgaav's
marrow...
Ohgodsohgodsohgods... Valgaav could feel Xelloss' tongue and mouth working, could see the movements of Xelloss' throat muscles.
blood...
Xelloss snaked his arms around Valgaav's legs, his nails digging into Valgaav's skin.
blood...
trickled down the backs of his calves. But Valgaav didn't care. His body and soul trembled, awash with a pleasure so intense it brought tears to his eyes.
valgaav...
The obsidian mirror shifted.
blood...
valgaav...
Xelloss' tongue worked circles, moving up and down
bones...
pausing to lick at his
blood...
sucking
marrow...
Valgaav felt his hips buck sharply as his world exploded in pain and satisfaction. Xelloss held him tight, close. Suddenly, the mirror shifted, the image changing...
valgaav's lifeless form...
his body torn apart...
blood from countless wounds...
his splintered bones in my hands...
valgaav's blood...
marrow between my teeth...
warm...red...
"YOU!" Valgaav snarled, striking Xelloss and knocking him away.
Xelloss shook his head and looked up, a thin line of Valgaav's
blood...
trickling from the corner of his mouth. "Is something wrong?" he asked innocently.
"You lied to me!" Valgaav snarled as he struggled with his clothes and compusure. "You told me -- "
"I told you," interrupted Xelloss, "that what you were seeing were my most intimate desires for you. You DO remember that I am Mazoku, right?" With an evil sneer, Xelloss removed one of his satin gloves and wiped the corner of his mouth with his bare hand. "I apologize for any confusion I may have caused you."
"GET OUT!" Valgaav shouted, his voice shaking the walls.
Xelloss stood and pulled on his glove. "Very well." With a jaunty wink, Xelloss phased out of existance.
Valgaav fell to his knees, gasping. It was a long time before he could regain any control of himself. When he finally did, though, he stood up. His eyes were black holes, sucking up the darkness around him.
You just wait, Xelloss-kun. I'll make sure you never get the chance to have that dream again. I'll see to it that when the time comes, you'll wish that you'd killed Lina Inverse yourself.