navy = flashback
"I'm sorry, Xelloss-san, I can't do this with you.
I love Zelgadis-san."
The cheerful smile gradually slipped off his face. He scanned her
emotions quickly, but could glean no information. Mazoku were experts in
sensing dark emotions, those of anger or fear, but most had little experience
in looking for feelings of the lighter kind. Happiness or love had to be
phenomenally strong for them to sense it. The Trickster could sense no hate,
but also no strong love for either him or Zelgadis. He couldn't confirm her
statement, but couldn't refute it, either. How frustrating. "My dear
Ame-chan," he said softly, running a bare hand across her cheek, "I'm not
certain I can believe you."
She pulled back from his touch, clutching her sheets closer to her chest.
"Xelloss-san, I love Zelgadis-san. Not you. I can't...I won't do this
with you!" Her eyes widened as she saw him reaching for the clasp of his
cloak. "I...I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
He let the cloak fall to the floor, feeling quite miffed by the
princess's statements. Ah, well. So much for love. He'd just seduce her,
then. He had to. Xelloss reached eagerly for her lips, determined to have
her, and was greeted by a stinging slap.
Amelia stared at him with shocked eyes, her mouth struggling to form
words. "What are you doing?!" she finally burst out, shrinking away from him
in fear. He ignored her question and leaned over to kiss her, much to her
dismay. "Stop it!" she cried, breaking away from him and slapping him again.
"I told you to leave!"
His eyes darkened slightly as he rubbed his cheek, offended. "I chose
not to listen," he whispered, a dangerous edge to his voice. The Mazoku
whisked off his shirt and pushed her to the bed in one crushing movement.
Her reaction was less than satisfactory. She kicked and fought and
screamed...not that anyone could hear her, for he'd already cast a silence
spell upon the room. She beat on his shoulders with her fists, kicked at his
stomach, pulled at his hair. Xelloss's patience had already worn quite thin,
and his Mazoku temper was starting to shine through. In one swift motion, he
pinned her down and forced his lips almost painfully upon hers. She bit him.
Whatever self-control the Trickster had left suddenly shattered. A deep
growl of irritation rose in his throat as his usually human hands morphed,
for a moment, into those of a clawed beast. He shredded her clothing in one
swipe, keeping her at bay with fear of those horrible claws. She screamed
even louder and thrashed around, desperate to get away from him. Xelloss
forced her back against the bed and bound her hands to the headboard with her
own sheets.
Then he raped her.
Oh, he'd relished the intense waves of fear that she emitted, reveled in
her hoarse screams and in the tears that stained the pillows beneath her,
savored her pain and his own sick pleasure.
And had stared in horror when he was done at her exhausted body, her
beautiful face marred with salty streaks, her chest rising and falling
heavily. Her eyes were squeezed shut with pain and the fear still rose off
of her like steam. With shaking hands he removed her bonds, no response from
her. Blinding himself with Mazoku rage once more, he picked up his things
and left, not looking back.
For a while he'd refused to acknowledge what he'd done. If he didn't think about it, he could pretend it never happened, right? WRONG. It had felt worse to ignore it than confront it. So he'd gone to find Amelia, who'd run away from home, and had been dismayed to discover that he'd doubly punished her. But instead of revealing himself then, he'd donned the role of Trickster once again. Amelia was more likely to go with him if the stakes were higher. Thus the baby's usefulness had come into play.
Xelloss sighed. He'd even used his own daughter to get what he wanted. Ah, but that was the life of a Mazoku. Selfish, always selfish. Uncontrollable.
"Xelloss?" Amelia's cheerful voice reached his ears and he turned to see her watching him with a knowing little smile on her face. "I was wondering where you'd gone off to."
He looked at her carefully, confused by her expression. How could she be so happy after such memories? How could she look upon him with such fondness? The former princess scooted next to him, snuggling close. "You were?" he finally asked after some length, recovering from surprise.
She leaned comfortably into him, her head resting on his chest. "I was lonely without you."
From the balcony above, Lina Inverse growled under her breath. I can't get a shot at him with Amelia around, she thought irritably. Rats. Why is she even bothering to be nice to him? She hates him, right?
Below, the couple cuddled a bit awkwardly on the flat stone bench, gazing up at the stars. "Xelloss?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you ever wonder what's out there?" she asked, pointing to the night sky. "I mean, if there are other people on all those stars? Maybe people just like us, looking back at our world and thinking the same?"
The Mazoku chuckled under his breath, feeling exhilarated from the emotions Amelia was emitting for him. "If that's true, then I'm pretty insignificant, ne?"
She wrapped her arms tighter around him. "Not to me, you're not."
Lina nearly began to throw a tantrum on the above balcony. Why was Amelia doing this?? She should have been savoring every moment she could get away from the dirty beast, and here she was going out of her way to spend time with him! What was wrong with her??
She heard footsteps behind her and Gourry appeared beside her. He leaned over the balcony, looking for what Lina was so interested in. "Oi, Lina...what are you doing out here?"
"Shh!" She clamped a hand over his mouth. "They'll hear you!"
"Who?" Gourry peered over the edge, brow wrinkled. "Lina, you really shouldn't spy on people like this. It's not right."
"Spying? Who's spying?" Lina exclaimed, flushing a little. "I'm just waiting to get a good shot at Xelloss so I can kill him for what he's done to Amelia!"
Her companion looked at her oddly for a moment, then shook his head slowly. "No, Lina."
She blinked. "What?"
Gourry put a hand on her shoulder, his eyes for once full of comprehension. "Don't interfere with them, Lina. Don't you see it? Can't you see how happy they are? Why do you want to ruin that?"
The sorceress stared back at him. "Gourry..." She looked at the cuddly pair again, wondering if perhaps her brainless companion was right. They looked so content together... Lina sighed and gave in, too tired and frustrated to do anything about it. "All right, Gourry. I'll let them be." She thought back to her conversation with Amelia, wondering how she could forsake her love for Zelgadis so easily. Perhaps it was because of how he ignored her, she considered, remembering.
"Zelgadis-san, I need to talk to you about something," Amelia whispered,
trying desperately not to cry. He didn't answer her. "Zelgadis-san?"
"Hmm? Did you say something, Amelia?"
"Yes." She fought to raise her voice. "Zelgadis-san, I need to talk to
you about something." Again he didn't answer. "Zelgadis-san!"
The chimera didn't look up from his book. "I'm busy, Amelia," he said,
sounding irritated. "I've got a new lead on a cure for my body. I can't
have you tagging along and bothering me like this."
She took a step back, feeling the tears well up in her eyes again. "But
Zelgadis-san..."
"If you're going to keep interrupting my work, you should just leave," he
snapped.
"But Zelgadis-san, that's not why I'm here!"
The chimera's nose was still buried in his book as he walked along,
barely acknowledging that she was there. "I told you I was busy, Amelia. Go
bother someone else."
"But Zelgadis-san, I need your help!" The tears were streaming down her
face, unrestrained. "Please, help me!"
He brushed her off, distancing himself from the princess. "I've got my
own problems. Go home, Amelia."
Her voice broke as he walked away from her, not looking back. "But I
can't go home..."
Lina shuffled a bit, uncomfortable with the idea. But why would that make her turn to Xelloss instead? It was his fault all this happened to her.
Gourry noticed the pensive expression on the sorceress's face and rolled his eyes. "Lina, stop worrying about it! It's not our business!"
"Of course it's my business!" she insisted. "Amelia is my friend! I care if she's unhappy or hurt or miserable!"
The swordsman pointed at the couple below. "Does she look miserable to you?"
"....."
He sighed and patted Lina's shoulder. "Amelia will be fine. She and Xelloss will be fine. Trust me."
Zelgadis grumbled in annoyance as he collected his few belongings, tossing them into a small carrying sack. There was no way he was going to stick around the castle to watch Amelia and Xelloss play house. He didn't need to feel any worse than he already did. The chimera muttered a few curses, mentally berating himself for not telling her soon enough. Why did he have to ignore her so much? Why did he have to be such a jerk?
"Zelgadis-san?"
Zel nearly jumped at the sound and quickly whirled around, expecting to see Amelia behind him. Instead, he was met by a little purple-haired girl. "Oh. It's you. What do you want?"
Razilee produced a leather-bound book from behind her back and held it out to the chimera. "Will you read this to me? Everyone else is gone and I don't know how to read yet."
"I'm busy," Zelgadis snapped at the child. "I don't have time to do foolish things like that."
Razilee took a step back in surprise, stung by his harsh words. "You don't have to be so mean," she scolded, then promptly stomped out of the room.
Her words echoed in his mind. You don't have to be so mean... Zelgadis finished collecting his things and left quietly.
Xelloss's tender moment with Amelia was suddenly ruined as his master's voice burst into his thoughts. Xelloss!
Yes, Juuou-sama? She rarely contacted him with such alarm. What is it?
I'll explain later. Just get back here as soon as possible. And
don't let Razilee out of your sight!
I understand. Xelloss broke the mind-link and sighed, clearly annoyed that his time with the former princess had been cut short. "Ame-chan," he said, gently removing her arms from around him, "we have to leave. *Now.*"
"Leave? Already?" She searched his face, just barely detecting the hint of worry there. "Is something wrong?"
He shook his head. "Never mind that. Where's Razilee?"
Razilee sat grumpily in the corner of Philionel's throne room, hugging a chibi-Daertal doll in her small arms. She'd been sulking for quite a few moments, thankfully alone, about how mean Mommy's friends were. All they did was fight and say bad things about Daddy. They were not nice. The little girl wondered why her mommy even bothered being friends with them. "Stupid people," she muttered darkly, throwing the doll at the wall.
"Yes, there are a lot of stupid people in this world," a child's voice whispered behind her.
She spun around on her butt and looked straight into the face of a young boy, dark-haired and dusky-eyed. She'd never seen him before. "Who are you?"
He gave her a small smile, an almost wicked gleam momentarily flashing through his eyes. "Would you like to get away from all the stupid people? Would you like to leave them here while you go where none of them have ever been?"
Razilee gave him a pouty look. "Of course I do! They are annoying."
The boy laughed. "I agree," he whispered darkly. "I can show you a place where there aren't any annoying people. Would you like to come with me?"
She examined him closely for a few seconds, then nodded, taking his outstretched hand.
Xelloss teleported madly through the palace rooms, an almost unidentifiable blur. Shit, shit, shit, he thought, his search unbearably futile. If only he hadn't left her all alone. He phazed back to the throne room, where he'd first discovered her absence.
Amelia ran over to him, clutching her daughter's stuffed animal, and buried her face in his chest. "She's gone, Xelloss! We can't find her anywhere!" she cried into his shirt.
"I have to get back to Juuou-sama..."
She tilted her head back to look at him. "But Razilee...! We can't leave her, lost here!"
Xelloss turned away, eyes concealed by thick bangs. "She's not in the palace. She's not even in Seiryuun." He paused. "She's not lost, Ame-chan. She was kidnapped, probably by one of our rivals. That's why Juuou-sama ordered us back."
Amelia felt a sharp stab of pain in her heart. "Oh, Cephied..." she whispered in horror, sinking to the floor. "My baby..." Fear seared through her, piercing her chest with an icy sword. Rivals. That meant other Mazoku. Other Mazoku had her baby. "Xelloss, what are we going to do?"
He briefly ruffled her hair. "I'm going to discuss this with Juuou-sama. You are staying here."
"You're leaving me?" she asked, panicked. "But..."
"I'll be back," he reassured her. "Try to hang in there, okay?"
"Xelloss..." Amelia's eyes brimmed with tears as she watched him phaze out. She immediately threw herself into the arms of the person nearest to her. "Lina-san," she sobbed. "What am I going to do? What can I do? My baby...my little baby..."
The red-haired sorceress sweatdropped slightly and patted her friend on the back, unsure of how to handle this. "Umm..." There had to be some way to make the former princess feel better. Briefly, Lina wondered what possibly could have happened to the little half-Mazoku. If the Beastmaster's rivals could infiltrate the palace, they had to be Mazoku themselves. That meant the other Mazoku lords and their subordinates. Gaav and Phibrizo were dead, so obviously they couldn't be the culprits. That left Deep Sea Dolphin and Dynast Grausherra. "Amelia, I have an idea..."
She squeezed her eyes shut, tears leaking out the corners. "There's nothing I can do..."
Lina put her hands on the younger girl's shoulders and made her look up. "We're going to find Razilee, Amelia."
Amelia sniffled. "We are?"
"Of course we are!" Lina exclaimed. "We're going to hunt down whatever stupid Mazoku kidnapped her and make him pay!"
Gourry shook his head. "Here we go again...how do you propose we do THAT, Lina?"
"Ehehehe...that's a good question."
"So you believe it was one of his people?"
"Yes. I'm certain it was, Xelloss. You have to go after her, you know. She's very valuable to me. And to you, of course," the Beastmaster added, seeing the annoyance on her servant's face. "You'd better not fail this one."
"Have I ever failed you before, Juuou-sama?"
Zelas laughed. "I suggest you bring Amelia with you. She's probably bawling her eyes out right now, the dear." She paused. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get going, my little priest. Go beat the pants of that pansy Dynast."
His grin turned wicked, that was obviously what he was planning to do. "Hai, Juuou-sama." He disappeared.
A shadowy figure of a man stepped from the darkest corner of the room, behind the Beastmaster's throne. He shook his head at the lithe blond woman. "You are a strange one, Zelas."
She blew him a teasing kiss. "Don't worry about that, Dynast, darling. Just go play along with them."
He sighed and quickly switched to his less-used form...that of a small boy. "You owe me for this one."
Zelas leaned back on her throne as he left, a self-absorbed smile on her face. Her little Trickster deserved a bit of happiness after all the crap he'd had to put up with in his life. And if this didn't bring her two lovebirds closer together, she didn't know what would.