Shattered


Author's Note

Hiya! This is going to be a fanfic based on Zelgadis. Even though Xelloss is in this one, the fic is NOT yaoi! NO! I don't write yaoi....yet. Anyway, this is bound to be riddled with errors, the same as the last one. Thanks for reading! Ur...this one isn't gonna be happy either.


He hated mirrors.

Hated what they reflected. Hated what he sees in them. Hated what they tell him.

He is a monster.

Sure, he could almost past for human. Lately, he had thought he could actually live with his curse. But it wasn't true. He was doomed to be a monster, a monster that everyone fled from.

And it wasn't his appearance that was frightening. It was his eyes now. It bothered him, how cold those eyes were. Hard and flinty and unforgiving. A monster's eyes. He remembered when those eyes had been human. They were human the first time he saw his cursed body. The terror in those eyes were human. That was a long time ago. Now his eyes were cold, determined. Obssessed.

Was he obssessed? The cure that he was hunting haunted him. The cure was all that he thought about. Was that obssession?

Those eyes, they are angry now. They were sullen and resentful. They blamed him, glaring frustration and despair and anger. They want him to do something. Anything.

Shut up! He screamed silently. Just SHUT UP!

The eyes continued to bore into him. With a snarl, he smashed his fist into the mirror as hard as he could. It shattered, fragmenting and falling and tinkling. The crunch of the shards beneath his fist was satisfying. But those eyes....they were still there, staring back at him out of the shattered pieces.

"My, my." an annoying and unwelcomed voice proclaimed. "Is destroying mirrors your new hobby, Zelgadis-san?"

Zelgadis turned to glare at Xelloss. "What the hell do you want?"

"Touchy." Xelloss smiled. "Why would I want anything?" he asked as he seated himself crosslegged on the chimera's bed.

"I doubt you're here to make me happy." Zelgadis replied sarcastically. "Make your point or leave. Now."

"I just wanted to know why you're destroying mirrors, that's all." The Mazoku replied innocently, his smile bright. Zelgadis forced himself to unclench his fist. He hated Xelloss. Maybe more than he hated mirrors.

Why?

Was it because Xelloss was granted a human guise while he is a total and complete monster inside? Was he angry because of the unfairness of it?

"If you're so smart, why don't you figure it out?" Zelgadis retorted. Xelloss put a hand to his chin and assumed a thoughtful position as if he had expected such an answer.

"Well, let's see. Why would one smash a mirror? One must have had some powerful feelings for them to have such an violent outburst. Maybe the mirror reflected the person and he didn't like what he saw? Maybe the mirror showed him the monster inside and he couldn't handle it?" Xelloss picked up one of the pieces, looking at it, still smiling. "Maybe he didn't like the monster he turned into."

Zelgadis fought down the chill that ran down his back. How did he...

"So, did I guess right?" Xelloss asked. Zelgadis shrugged.

"What do you think?" He shot back. "Now that you're done speculating, will you leave?"

Xelloss smiled his mysterious smile. "Not just yet. I feel like playing the psychiatrist today. Indulge me a little."

"I don't think so. Leave."

The Demon shrugged. "Fine. But tell me one thing, Zelgadis. Has it occurred to you that if you were really a monster, not being human wouldn't bother you at all? If you were really a monster, you wouldn't want to be human."

Zelgadis looked at him with shocked eyes. "What?"

"You call yourself a monster, Zelgadis. But do you really know what it means to be a monster?" Xelloss shrugged. "I saw Amelia on the way up here, and she was pretty messed up. Good job."

Zelgadis looked at him with horror.

"See? That bothers you. It doesn't bother me at all. Who is the real monster?" The demon turned to leave.

"Wait."

"I thought you wanted me gone," Xelloss grinned.

"Why..why are you telling me this?" That's what he would really like to know.

"Do you want a real reason or just a reasonable reason?"

"The real reason." Would the two be different?

Xelloss smiled and opened his eyes. "You make a great lunch, Zelgadis. Now, we all know if you leave out good food, other people are going to eat it too. I just want to make sure I can keep the Zelgadis Buffet all to myself."

The chimera's eyes widened. "Why, you - !"

"You wanted the real reason." Xelloss giggled. "Now, you'd better get a hold of yourself and go apologize to Amelia. A good dose of those positive emotions should keep all those other hungry mazoku away."

"You bastard!"

"Yes, I know." The mazoku waved as he faded out. "I'll be glad to counsel you any time you feel the urge to smash those mirrors!"

Zelgadis was speechless for a second. Then Xelloss was gone and he was in the room with the broken mirror and the glass all over the floor. Those eyes were still here...but they were calmer. There was truth in what the monster told him...maybe he wasn't a monster...

Not yet. His hopes haven't been completely shattered yet.


Fanfiction