Xelloss reached his hand out in disbelief to poke at the lifeless body. "Ame-chan..." She lay crumpled in the snow, her black hair covered in flakes. Crimson blood flowed from the wound in her back, staining the white ground beneath her. "Ame-chan...!" He shook her softly, as though he was clinging to one last shred of hope that she might still be alive. Yet there was no response, no breath or heartbeat left to comfort him.
His hands fell to his sides in defeat, his head slumping forward as he sank to his knees in despair. She was gone. He knew that something or someone had to have killed her, but he was more preoccupied with the fact that she was gone. She'd never smile at him again. He'd never be able to hold her in his arms, never be able to share the warmth of companionship with her ever again. A lonely lupine howl exploded from his throat, echoing off into the distance and waking the two humans sleeping nearby.
Shaking hands traced over her face and the cloaked Mazoku clutched her to him. "What am I going to do without you?" he whispered, not even bothering to hold back the tears that fell. Grief-stricken, he pulled back to look at her beloved face and leaned down to kiss her lips one last time. But they were cold and unresponsive.
Xelloss wiped his eyes and picked up his staff, unflinching in determination. Setting it carefully in the snow before him, he began to chant that most forbidden spell...the one he'd never used before, and never even thought he would have to...
Deep in Zelas Metallium's throne room, Dynast Grausherra suddenly smiled as he received a pleasing report from the servant he called Sherra. He chuckled darkly and turned to the famed Beastmaster, grinning knowingly. "Well, looks like my job here is done, Zelas."
She blinked. "What do you mean, your job here is done? We're not nearly finished with this."
His grin widened. "Perhaps not with this. But we are finished."
"What are you talking about?" she demanded, dread filling her chest.
"You'll find out soon," he replied mysteriously and vanished.
Zelas stared. "What the hell is he - " she stopped short as she felt one of her mind links, one that had been there for centuries, break off completely. "NO!" Her head ached with intense pain from the disconnection...a permanent disconnection. "He didn't...he couldn't have..." She stumbled forward in utter disbelief, feeling not only pain but a sense of incredible loss.
The Beastmaster teleported herself to the place of demise, sensing exactly where her servant had terminated his existence. She completely ignored the two humans who stood there, looking on in horror.
A corpse. Little Amelia's body, nearly frozen in the snow. Dynast had done this, she knew. Traitor. Trickster. Where was her servant? Nothing left but his cloak, draped over Amelia. Zelas felt an incredible rage build within her, along with a sort of numb sadness. The two humans behind her were talking, one of them said something to her, but she couldn't hear them. Zelas gingerly picked up the dark-colored cloak and, with a vow of revenge, phazed out.
She reappeared back in her lair, footsteps now somber as she clutched the cloak to her. Dynast was going to pay for this. He was going to rot in a Hell of her making. Zelas's shoulders slumped. Amelia would probably be buried in Seiryuun, with the rest of the royal family. Nothing was left of her Trickster to bury. Only dust.
"Juuou-sama? Is something wrong?"
Zelas could barely bring herself to answer Razilee's question. Obviously the child felt something, suspected that something wasn't right. "Yes."
The little girl's voice grew quiet. "Are Mommy and Daddy coming home?"
"No," she managed to whisper. "They're never coming home again."