Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Slayers For the Future: The Prophecy of Inverse ❯ The Dark Priest….Pain is Thy Game ( Chapter 10 )

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of "The Slayers."

Chapter 10

The Dark Priest….Pain is Thy Game

(Note to readers: The comedic aspect of Slayers is present in each chapter from here on, slightly, but there will also be great violence, some swearing, and downright creepy behavior, mostly on Hiero and Xellos' parts. Not that these warnings are really meaningful, after all, this is only a story, right? Apologies for the long time span for most of these stories, but it's something a little different.)

~ 15 Years Later ~

The Dark Priest sat quietly in his own private grove, staring at nothing and everything with a small bluebird perched on his outstretched fingers. The bird was sleeping, perched delicately and nuzzling its small head into its back. The priest smiled, his features hidden beneath the long and dark folds of his hooded robes.

This was one of the few pleasant moments he had for himself, nice and quiet with none of the guild riding him about needing his services. Providing a thieves' guild with white magic protection was ridiculous, but the very fact he was depended on for every little thing was insane. Though, in a way he was happy they needed him so badly. Being needy made you weak, addicted to the help. It would brush aside life's little suspicions about himself, what he did at night while the guild was out robbing and pillaging, all the small things that would prove deadly later on.

'Life is good, but time is almost out. Nearly 100 years of life here and the time of the prophecy is coming. Hmm, if the Demon King only knew what I'm going to do with him. Death….no, not death. Threatening him with that lie makes him think I am terribly impulsive, not letting himself consider what I am really going to do. I'm not stupid enough to destroy the source of my favorite spell in the world.' He thought lucidly.

For the past 15 years he'd been in the loyal service of the Daggers and had learned plenty about them from one glance at the entire group, they were a pack of idiots. Never in his life had he seen such a blatant disregard for brainpower. They were an insult to the real idiots of the world, making Gourry look like a genius. They thought being rich would be able to make them famous and respected, but they didn't seem to know how to fight, let alone steal correctly without messing it up.

They were by far the clumsiest, most accident-prone bunch of rejects he'd ever set eyes upon. The fact that Onyx was smart, cunning, mystical, priestly, and very coordinated made him like a god in their eyes, those that he hadn't poked out for being imbeciles in front of him at the wrong time.

It took him plenty of time he didn't want to waste to gain their confidence and make them go to nightly thieving rather than daytime hours. He could only see at night, so it made sense to him, but he didn't want them finding out that he was blind, or anyone else for that matter. The name Onyx was something that struck fear and hatred into the minds of all on the continent he resided upon. If anyone found out that he was really blind would take a bit of that fear away.

'I wouldn't have beaten Xellos so easily if he knew, but with age comes greater wisdom and power. You can't beat what you don't understand, you can only fear it. You can't fight a telepathic invasion if you don't know about it in your opponent either.' He thought, smiling wider as the bird shuddered in its sleep.

Xellos, dear, powerful, yet weird Xellos. He'd met him, a grand plan to explain off why he had his Demon's Blood bracelet. He'd gone back to Wolf Pack island to do just that, challenging Xellos as loud as he could the moment he appeared. Xellos took his time until Onyx gave him a mental nudge.

The battle had been quite brief with a well placed Astral Vine spell upon his dark sword and Elmekia Lance while he distracted Xellos with his newly stolen prize, the Sword of Light. Anyone would have called him a liar to say he surprised a Mazuko, but the look on Xellos wide-eyed face was priceless. It always made him feel better to know he got Xellos where it hurt, right in his pride, not mention his chest, an arm, kneecaps and his groin. He made Xellos think he saw him take his bracelet from him, though he'd been ready to blank out any memories Xellos had if he'd discovered it missing years before.

Xellos had been in a rage, making Onyx's trip worth it, and it made him even happier to leave the Mazuko there screaming a fresh string of ancient curses. He teleported away upon hearing something in reference to his mother. Xellos didn't know who he really was, which was all the more satisfying and beneficial to his mission.

To brag about it to the guild was simple, they believed in the tooth fairy still. Their leader, Andavari, was the genius among them, if that was possible, other than Onyx himself, but their leader was slightly different from Onyx. Andavari had a piece of the Ruby-Eyed Demon King Shabranigdo inside his body, which cut off his great strength from his body.

He was a very well built man, bigger than most earth golems were in muscle mass, but the demon lord's influence inside cut off the strength they held. He was weaker than a newborn, and he knew this for a fact. Onyx had seen it first hand when a tiny baby had been in a party heading for Krimzon on business, a party he and the leader had gone to rob. The baby swatted him once and he was out cold.

Onyx just sighed and put the startled group to sleep, wiped their memories clean of the event and robbed them. He had a hard time dragging his weak leader back with all the valuables, but if the leader was caught and executed, Onyx would have to wait for the piece within him to be reborn.

Andavari was always getting hurt and Onyx was always healing him, which made him much more priestly than he actually cared to be. He also had to keep his leader's secret from the rest of the guild so he could go on taking most of their riches. Greedy, haughty, and big-headed, that was Andavari for you, but just as naïve as a desperate child. He was a real patsy, never once questioning Onyx's behavior when he'd kill members for messing up a job or for barging in on his private moments.

Andavari had the impression that Onyx would kill him too if he denied Onyx anything, so he was very easy to manipulate. Now, the manipulation was at its end. He'd sent that fool off to rob some very 'simple' travelers. There was nothing simple about them, aside from the way they were dressed.

They were members of an even more powerful guild of thieves, ones that never killed, but would cripple competition and victims of their robberies. 'The perfect trap to set this guild up for the last time, then, I will show them who I truly follow. Myself. Heh, heh….and then some' he thought whimsically.

"Um….um, sir, uh, Dark Priest Onyx…..sir?" a burly, yet frightened voice sounded from behind him. It was daytime, so he didn't bother turning, he would see whoever it was, the voice said it all. It was Belard, the idiot he'd become fond of beating up whenever he was angry. "Yes?" was Onyx's soft reply, careful not to disturb the bird.

"Um….it's Andavari. He hasn't come back yet from his business….f….f….for three hours. That's an hour over what you said was p….proper for such a simple job. Would you mind looking for him….please? We can't seem to locate him and its going to be dark in a few hours." Belard said, even quieter than before.

'Might as well, I was going to go look for him when night fell. Walking around until then won't hurt. Without those feebs around, I can acquire the piece of the Demon Lord with ease.' He mused, standing up, poking the bird slightly to rouse it. He needed its eyes until darkness came, the bird was just handy during the day since no one seemed to mind a small songbird.

~ Krimzon ~

Lina Inverse sat at her table, ripping her meal apart. It was to keep her energy up for magic use, and for that, she'd never gain a pound. Her companions ate less like starved animals in a feeding frenzy, but they understood, eating their single plate portions and one sipping his coffee. Her husband was the one with the coffee, Zelgadis Greywords, her most trusted and valued companion, but he rarely spoke anymore.

It had been a long time since they had been proud parents, almost a century of sadness in missing their only child, a child that was dead to the world before he died. Gourry, Amelia, and Sylphiel had been the only ones who had known about his existence. Those people had already died in the recent years from old age. Those that knew of him that were alive were all those sitting at the table.

Lina thought this even as she wolfed down two loaves of bread in one mighty gulp and looked at each person out of the corner of her eye. Filia, the former dragon priestess of the Golden Dragons, she'd come because their son had be such a treasure to them, and a nephew to her.

She cried endlessly with Lina over the loss and even had an urn made from the finest materials in her pottery shop to make an urn to bury what little remains Luna had left of him. Filia also detested such blatant regard for life as Luna had shown towards her own true nephew, seeing him as a threat rather than her own blood.

Beside Filia was her foster son, Val, formerly the evil Mazuko-dragon Valgaav and the ancient dragon Valteir. He looked like Valgaav had in that life, only with sincerity on his face, when he wasn't thinking about tearing Luna limb from limb and dissecting her for murdering his best and only friend in life, Hiero. Val missed him more than she and Zelgadis did at times, going into full blown rages that left hotel rooms and whoever happened to rub him the wrong way torn to pieces.

When he'd calm down, he was distant, thinking about things and forgetting what he'd just done. He'd remember later and start hitting buildings or trees, sometimes his dragon form giving him the most comfort to take the rage away or if things were really bad, he'd blow an area to ashes. Filia was all there was between Val and the world being fried, and Lina was thankful for that. She kept Val sane.

Her husband sat across from them, quietly sipping his coffee and staring at it. Zel rarely spoke anymore, that much was true. It had been decades since they kissed or pretty much did anything romantic. For a married couple, they didn't act it, but after losing your son, the only one you'd ever have, at the hands of a relative was enough to break hearts so badly they couldn't be repaired. Deep down, she knew Zel was bawling his eyes out within his soul, wishing things were like they always were and that Hiero was still alive.

Then came the only person she wished never heard of Hiero and had just stayed away, but he kept following her around. Xellos had been a particular thorn in everyone's side the moment he casually 'bumped' into them at the docks that would take them back to their home continent when the mission against Luna began. He'd promptly replied his reason of being there with "That's a secret." Then Lina promptly fireballed him a million times before starting to beat the living crap out of him, Zel and Val aiding him while Filia was still getting their boat tickets. Once Filia returned and found them beating him up, she lent a hand and knocked him out of sight with her mace.

He kept showing up, when they least expected him, which was practically every day. Lina didn't care much for him anymore, his teasing Val and Filia was bad enough, but then he'd go after Zel and blame him personally for not taking better care of his son. To be told that by the very Mazuko that had kidnapped and tortured their son was more than any parent could bare, and the Ra Tilt Zelgadis would cast at Xellos proved it. He was still bugging them, leaning casually back in his seat with that obnoxious grin and closed eyes plastered on his face in the table next to them.

She suddenly didn't feel hungry anymore, dropping her half eaten turkey leg with slow disgust, to which Xellos started talking. "Ah, my Lina-chan finally feels guilty for wasting so much time with food. Not that it makes her look fat. I like my Lina-chan the way she is. Don't you, Zelly?" Xellos chirped out with so much saccharine that it gave Lina cavities.

'My Lina-chan….how disgusting. Maybe it was cute way back when, but not now. Why can't he cram the crap he spouts and go kiss Xellas' ass for a while? He does it best.' She thought, sticking her tongue out at Xellos. "Fuck you, Xellos. I just got nauseous staring at your slimy face. Go torture a playwright or something, you're not interested in revenge or Luna. Why are you still here?" Lina asked, suppressing the rage she was feeling with all her might.

"Ah, that's a secret, Lina-chan. I suspect we shall leave now. Where do we go, Lina-chan?" he asked ever so pleasantly, a snicker audible in his voice. "The forest outside of Krimzon, Lost Moon Woods….there's supposed to be an infamous group of bandits that run it, Daggers I think it was. And I got that information on my own, Mr. Secretive Child Molester!" she snapped back, gaining a sinister smile from Val.

Sadly, she got one from Xellos too. "You still going to harp on that little incident? Lina-chan? It's in the past and it was a direct order from Xellas. Who was I to deny her when I live to serve her? You're so one-sided on that old thing." Xellos chided. He flew through the wall behind him when Zelgadis got up in a flash, punching the still smiling Mazuko square in the face.

"Let's go….while he's busy fixing himself." Zelgadis said crisply, walking out of the restaurant quietly and stiffly. Val quickly got up and followed him, wiping the food off his face with his arm. Filia went over to the counter and paid the owner for the food, saying Xellos would be back to pay for the wall.

'Liar…but a good lie. Xellos may never pay, but its not like this guy will ever forget his face. Oh, who cares, this is delaying revenge. I wish now I wasn't always so hungry, my poor Hiero, I haven't avenged you yet.' She thought tearfully, but pushed it all away as she raced after Filia and the group, unhappy to see that Xellos was already back with them again.

Lina strode behind the rest of the group, shoving Xellos forward when he tried to hang back and put his arm around her. Xellos loved to tease Zelgadis, even though she'd married the chimera long ago, but Xellos never knew when to shut up about bothering them. He'd tried to steal Val away 50 years ago, but they'd all been there to protect the young dragon boy. Val had been more than willing to help fight back, for a subtle revenge.

Hiero had told them all what Xellos had done to him, and Val was deeply angered, thinking that Hiero was being punished for Xellos wanting to steal him. He felt like he'd endangered Hiero's life by Xellos wanting him on Xellas' side. They'd assured him otherwise, but Val went on blaming himself, just with less ferocity.

Val, their one time enemy, now they're friend and ally looking just like he did as Valgaav, clothes and all. His weapon was the one his mother had bought him to use during his sword lessons with Zelgadis, a long silver sword with a black hilt, one he named Soul Breaker.

Zelgadis was dressed like he was when she first met him, wearing his hood and mask in towns and crowded areas and not when they were in open spaces, ones with smaller populations. Filia wore her normal priestess garb as if it were all she owned. Lina had never really cared about what any of them wore, it just made her think, to see them all together like this over one lost soul, was a wonder.

'It's a wonder I ever fit back into my old mage outfit. My chest is a lot bigger than it used to be. I just got used to wearing dresses. Oh, it doesn't matter. Revenge does and if we have to spend eternity hunting my bitch of a sister down. Ooooo! So help me L-sama, I'll do it!' she thought, remembering how much Hiero had touched and pulled at her dresses when she was in them, saying he bet she looked like a goddess in them.

Hiero, her one and only child, taken from her so quickly she barely had time to register what had happened. The apparent pain in his eyes mixed with something else, what she'd mistaken for the way he looked when he was going to say something sarcastic. Why he'd looked like that so close to death she'd never know.

"Dammit! Xellos, get off!!" Lina shouted right in the trickster priest's ear as he draped his arm over her shoulders. He'd taken advantage of her silent pondering again, but she wasn't about to let him get away with it. She kicked him hard in the groin, then grabbed him in a suffocating headlock. "Oh, I like it rough, Lina-chan." he chirped, his cheerful smile still present. Lina's face erupted with anger as she threw him into the sky with a fireball up his nose.

"Rough that, creep." She shouted, running to catch up with the others, walking in stride with Zelgadis. His eyes were very angry, his face looking red with rage as the sun began to set, but she knew it was just a trick of the light. The sun would be down soon and they weren't within the forest yet.

It would probably be down by the time they got inside it, open to night attacks, when the Daggers were rumored to attack. Only at night, never once going after people during the day. What was even weirder was the fact that they had a acquired a priest that was always with their leader. For the life of all that knew the rumor about the mysterious priest, no one could recall what he looked like.

'Like it matters….if he's an outcast priest, I can handle a little white magic. No prob. Anything to find and lynch Luna.' She thought, suddenly finding herself gripping Zelgadis' hand. He'd actually taken notice in the fact. "Nervous?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Nah, not me, just anxious. I just want to find Luna and settle this. He….he wouldn't want us to keep punishing ourselves, but we need to do this." She said quietly, getting a curt nod out of him as he gave her hand a soft squeeze. Then he pulled his hand from hers with ease.

"I know. I do too. Let's just pick up the pace. The sun's almost gone and we'll be within the forest soon. Best we keep our guard up. The Daggers won't be easy to find." He said evenly, and those were his last words for the day.

Lina sighed out a sad "yes" and remained at his side, the last rays of sunlight cringing into the horizon like red wine falling down one's lips, like blood drained away.

~

Lina fought back a yawn as they trekked through the darkened woods. They'd been combing around the Lost Forest for a few hours and they hadn't seen hide nor hare of the Daggers guild. Zelgadis had the better eyesight and hearing and even he had detected nothing. Then again, these woods stretched clear from the coast to a few other kingdoms, so searching them was a bit of a feat.

They'd gone back and forth through different areas, never splitting up in fear they'd get separated worse in the maze-like woods, or that Xellos would screw around with their quest. Xellos had been very quiet upon entering the forest, he hadn't made a single peep the entire time. His smile was almost guarded, opening his eyes from time to time to look at certain and seemingly pointless things like bushes and tree trunks. Very pointless, that was Lina's personally opinion.

Filia had vouched they camp out for the night and pretend they were rich travelers, a thief's wildest dream in her opinion, which she had stressed she was correct in. That was the bad part about asking Filia anything, her opinion was always the right one, even if she was actually very wrong.

Zel had not commented on the idea and Val just grumbled, telling his mother they'd have to camp all over the forest to ensure they got attacked, and Xellos was more than willing to yell into the forest for help since they were already lost in their quest anyway.

It had been the Mazuko priest's only comment, but done too cheerfully, enough to instigate a fight between him and Filia. She had her mace in his gut before he could blink, if he could have at the moment with his eyes shut. She was dragging him by his purple hair currently, smashing him in the most painful areas of his body whenever he twitched.

Val seemed to have some amusement in his eyes over the whole thing, but his mouth was still in a stiff emotionless line, just like Zelgadis. Filia just looked incredibly pissed off, her small nose all crinkled up. Lina just looked out ahead of them thoughtfully, daydreaming about her son, reliving the days of his childhood, the brilliant and bright little spark he'd been in her life, the way he'd always been.

She never expected Zel to shove his arm in front of her, knocking the snot out of her when her face collided with it. His face looked alarmed as she staggered back, but shook it off. "I'm fine….," she began, then when he put his fingers to his lips, she said it quieter," What is it?"

"Someone is coming….one person….very light. Hold your ground everyone, wait for it. The smell of blood is about it." Zelgadis said in a hushed tone to the party. Filia finally let go of Xellos, but he made no move to make any kind of noise. Soon Lina could hear it, soft footsteps making their way through the brush, perhaps ahead or to their sides, she couldn't tell. She was too busy watching the dark expanse for a shape or movement to care about what direction it was coming from.

When she saw the person come into view, he didn't seem to see them, rather he was walking out in front of them, his left side facing them. He stopped in mid-stride when Xellos finally broke the silence with a cough, not getting the hateful glares everyone so wanted to give him. All eyes were on the black clad figure. He turned very slowly, then stood stiffly in place as he stared at them.

Lina assumed he was, all she could see was the faint outline of a jaw, and that was just barely. He was wearing all black, priestly robes that were very long, covering everything but his slender hands. His robes were shut with a small waistband, so she had no idea how big he actually was within the man folds of his robes.

He had stared at them for a good ten minutes without so much as a word, for what Lina mistook at first. She thought it had been Zelgadis he'd been staring at, the chimera form enough to frighten a simple minded traveler, not someone with brains. Yet as she followed his gaze, she found he was staring dead at Xellos. Xellos stared right back, with his own eyes, when the 10 minutes ran down. "I found you at last, Onyx. You're still wearing those tacky robes. Tsk. Such a pity you never learned from the master of style." Xellos said cheerfully, smiling menacingly at the one he called Onyx.

Onyx shrugged, a voice so much like liquid velvet that it made Lina catch her breath, yet it was hauntingly familiar. "I can see that you're still a wimp and a user. My, my, such nice looking people traveling with the loser Mazuko priest and general of the psycho slut Xellas. Be still my beating heart, Xellos, it's been ages since I kicked your butt….Hmmm, and took my prize." Onyx replied, actually sounding smug as he lifted his right hand up for them to view.

On his wrist was Xellos' bracelet, one Xellos had never really explained with more than his usual secret crap. It gleamed like pool of blood on the man's gloved hand, black gloves. 'He sure likes to look morbid. He looks like death himself, but he sounds so young.' Lina thought.

Lina looked back at Xellos to see the most enraged look he'd ever had on his face. He was grinding his teeth rather hard and sneering, no hint of a smile anywhere on his face. He was positively seething, using all of his emotional control not to leap at Onyx and brutalize him.

"I see you're still as ugly as ever too, Xellos. Have you come to cower or ask me to join your little Mazuko family again? Hmm, not talking? What a shame. I usually delight in hearing raw garbage attempt intelligent speech. You want to play with me again and lose? That's fine, but they can't be here, Mazuko, no, they're just toys to you." Onyx went on, not giving Xellos a chance to reply. He seemed to be laughing at Xellos and the Mazuko wasn't responding, only looking angry.

"We're here for the Daggers, their leader had a run in with Luna Inverse recently. We'd like to question him on the matter." Zelgadis said loudly, keeping his face stiff and serious. Onyx made a movement, but whatever it was, it only moved his robes, nothing more.

"Luna….ah little Luna the lunatic. She wanted some supplies, as always. She's very pushy. Alas, she left rather quickly, but the boss was in traction afterwards and something about her going to the outside world did cross his lips. She seemed very desperate. That's rich, isn't it, sir? Why do you seek her?" Onyx replied evenly, as if it was casual conversation.

Zelgadis' eyes narrowed and he pulled out his sword. Lina and Val joined in the act, staring hard at the man in black. "Boss, huh? I suspect you are their priest. Thieves don't normally dress in such great amounts of clothing. You'd better not mess with us. We're on a mission to destroy Luna!" Val shouted, his voice filled with great anger. Onyx looked at him and gave a gentle nod.

"Oh, how nice….a proud warrior. Smart too. Yes, I am their priest, unfortunately. You all look intelligent, save for the Mazuko bastard who thinks gritting his teeth is intimidating. Fine then, I will not stop you from your quest, just leave me alone in mine. It's none of your concern." Onyx said with great pride.

Before anyone could answer him, the sudden sounds of rushing feet and blades filled the air. Onyx slumped his head down in defeat, or rather annoyance from the groan he made when a array of brown clad men came out of every angle of the forest. "So much for subtlety. Imbeciles….what are you doing here? I was in the middle of walking away!" Onyx yelled, the thieves backing up slightly as he did.

'Has a lot of power backing him up. They look scared to death of him and he doesn't even run the show.' Lina thought, watching a young blond thief get close to Onyx, timidly at best.

"The leader, we found him and brought him back to camp. I think he might be dying. He begged us to find you, so you could heal him. Please, Dark Priest Onyx, heal our leader. We will handle these trespassers that hindered your search." The man said, shrinking back a bit as Onyx threw his arms up in the air, then rubbed his chin.

"Fine. Why don't you play with these nice people for while? Maybe you'll learn something about swordplay that does lop your comrades' ears off, dolt. I'll be back and don't you kill them. Don't leave either, you imbeciles need all the practice you can get." Onyx said in a baneful tone, disappearing in an array of black and purple light.

Lina just let her jaw drop. 'Mazuko….but wait, he said Xellos had asked him to become one, like he'd asked him earlier. He might be human, but how does a human create a Mazuko teleport spell on his own and why did he say not to kill us? He's weird….yet….strangely familiar," Lina thought, then saw the thieves rushing at her in a sloppy charge,' That doesn't matter, what matters is surviving a barrage of armed baboons.' With that thought in mind, she sent a fireball rocketing into the stumbling thieves.

~

Andavari was laying rather pathetically all alone in his tent, coughing up blood. He was misinformed by his trusted priest about the travelers, walking into a group of thieves better known than themselves, and know for breaking bones with their bare hands. They took everything, even his clothing. He'd been carted back naked and with all his limbs broken and slashes across his body.

The men had said Onyx was sent out in the search for him, but he knew better. He needed Onyx more than anything, but the dark priest had proven that he had just tried to kill him. He wanted Onyx to think that he was getting away with this, then he'd have the priest's legs broken so he could never again do him harm. Onyx didn't need to know that the he knew what had been done, neither did the guild. The man was just a priest and with the guild only listening to him, they'd have him subdued in moments. No need for him to get hurt.

Andavari smiled, thinking about how he was going to have Onyx tormented for weeks for his treachery when the priest in question stepped appeared within the tent. Onyx seemed to be smiling upon his arrival, then started smirking, as if he knew something Andavari didn't.

"Terribly sorry about that. I was sure those spies told me that they were shipping valuables. This must have really….really hurt, boss." Onyx said, actually sounding as if it amused him. Onyx shrugged and was soon lifting the sheets off of his slashed chest and grimaced. "Very bad, you won't survive this unless I do something drastic. Something very necessary." Onyx was saying, pulling his sword out from within his robes.

'Shit! He's going to kill me right now!!' Andavari thought, wincing as Onyx lifted the sword a bit. He hurt a gasp of pain along with metallic slicing, then he felt something warm trickle over his chest. He opened his eyes and discovered that Onyx had cut his own hand open and was bleeding on him. 'This is not healing magic….what is he up to?' He thought, watching the priest with careful eyes.

"I pledge myself to thee, oh lord of the frozen north. I cleanse myself for thee, oh maiden of the deadly seas. I bleed of my free will for thee, oh mistress of the beasts. The dark power unchallenged of thy ruby-eyed king, with a heart of ice and eternal soul, I praise thee, to launch the becoming of the soul! Divine Hand!" Onyx was chanting, making a symbol with his blood on Andavari's chest. It was a pentagram with a blot of crimson and warm blood in its center that seemed to spread like a disease within the symbol.

Andavari had a moment to cry out before he watched Onyx's glowing red hand plunge into the symbol as if it were nothing and went on shouting until the light and pain subsided, only his ragged breaths to be heard.

As he opened his eyes, he saw that his chest was intact, the symbol blurred somewhat, but there were no ragged holes in his flesh. Then he looked at Onyx, who had shed his right hand of the glove now soaked with blood. Onyx was holding the most beautiful jewel in his hand. The center was kind of dark, but dark crimson rather than black, like heart would look.

The jewel was a fine ruby, in an oval shape with pointy ends. Onyx was using his gloved hand to take something out of his robes, a golden talisman with a pentagram in its center. He placed the small jewel on the necklace and they both glowed for a moment, then Onyx let go and Andavari just stared. Onyx had three jewels, one a bit cracked, but he still had them, on a very expensive looking gold talisman.

"You're of no use to me now, boss, well, ex-boss. So are the Daggers. I might have spared you if you hadn't been plotting to break my legs behind my back. Your mind is so weak, always has been, like your body used to be." Onyx said simply, a bland smile on his face.

"Like my body was? What do you mean? You took that jewel out of me and my strength has finally been restored?" Andavari asked, finding his whole body had been healed, and his legs were moving. Onyx was also leaving the tent, but he went on speaking. "Yeah, too bad you'll never get to use it. You're weak, all of you….but you are bandits, and bandits are villains. Villains have no rights! Good-bye, Andavari!DYNAST BRASS!!" Onyx called from outside.

Andavari got to his feet, hugging the sheets around his body when he saw part of the familiar pentagram shape forming under his feet. It was all over the ground within. He didn't know what it did, he wasn't a mage, but he knew who Dynast was, the ruthless Mazuko lord of the north. Andavari started to run, but he was far too late. Lightning began crashing through the tent and unto him within the pentagram and all at once, the lightening crashed entirely into his body, frying it down to the bone. Andavari never had a moment to scream before he was snuffed out.

Onyx was several safe feet away as he watched this, prepared to go with the old fashioned sword slashing to kill Andavari if he managed to escape the spell. He was pleased when nothing came out and as he looked harder, he saw the charred skeleton of his former employer wracked with pain and insane agony where the ten once stood.

"Thank you, glorious Dynast Grauscherra. You always seem to bless me far more than the others. Its what I like most about you, you stone cold bastard. Thanks again, later." Onyx said, knowing the Mazuko Lord probably heard him considering he called on his power twice tonight. He always liked that Mazuko Lord, the one who'd never bothered him, never caused him pain, the one who never would.

He wasn't making himself threat to Dynast and never wanted to be, and that was a beautiful arrangement. Now Xellas, Onyx grimaced at thinking her name, she needed to be taught some manners. 'But that can wait, I have four pieces to go. Time to make my announcements. Xellos has probably had a good enough time sitting on his lazy demon ass letting the others have all the fun laughing their asses of at how poorly the daggers fight skilled individuals without me. This calls for a personal favorite….in honor of my family….and my future.' He thought with a smile and teleported away from the guild's camp.

~

Lina was laughing for once, along with everyone else except Zel, who just seemed more puzzled than anything. Here they'd expected to deal with the evil thief priest who'd taken utmost pleasure in talking down to Xellos and admiring the others. She'd been ready to call him a giant weirdo when their chat had been interrupted by a bumbling group of thieves, the Daggers she'd been searching for.

Now that they'd found them, she actually felt bad for them. It was obvious none of them knew jack about fighting, and even at Onyx warnings to be careful most of them had only managed to wound each other and the trees.

However, The Daggers were good at blocking the party's way from getting after Onyx. They were downright bothersome for a pack of wimps with no skills but dirty trash talk. Lina felt bad when she sent a fireball into a few of them, but not that bad. They weren't smart enough to run away.

'They must be deathly afraid of Onyx to keep this up for so long. What kind of priest does this to people? He reminds me of Rezo.' She thought, sending another fireball when she heard "Dramatta" grace her attacker's lips. He went flying into the forest, but game back limping and burned to stay in the fight. "This is insanity! Stop this now!" Zelgadis shouted out, tossing a few men off of his chimeric body.

"Yeah! We only want Onyx to take us to Luna! We don't want to hurt you, so stop making us do this!!" Filia growled, already in her dragon form and batting thief after thief away with her tails and massive arms. Yet, they kept coming back, doing more damage to themselves and their weapons in every respect. Lina was ready to shout at them, but someone with a voice like liquid velvet did it for her.

"I can't leave you idiots alone for five minutes on such a simple practice run without you all getting battered. Stop fooling around and get behind me, dummies." Onyx shouted, now stand where he'd first appeared. His right hand was covered in blood and he had an odd ruby and gold talisman hanging around his neck.

The thieves quickly obeyed, huddling into some kind of crude circle. Belard, the only idiot who hadn't talked since the fight started, was at the front of it with biggest begging look on his face. "How is the boss? Is he all right….you took care of him, right?" Belard asked.

Onyx then started to laugh, so evil and malicious that it gave Lina chills. "He's been taken care of, yes, he has. I killed him. Now its your turn." Onyx said simply, chuckling still as if it was some grand joke. The thieves looked a tad stunned, murmuring to one another as if the statement confused them. Onyx just shrugged and angled his hooded head towards them.

"I suggest you all should get high in the sky, this won't be pretty. Except you Xellos, who cares what happens to raw garbage." Onyx chuckled, waving them off with his clean, gloved hand then turned back towards the murmuring thieves who were finally understanding Onyx was being honest.

"You killed him, so we have to kill you for it. Death to the traitor, its guild policy." Belard said, but not as forcefully as he'd wanted. Onyx was ignoring them, starting up a chant that made Lina start casting Levitation immediately on herself and Val.

Filia had transformed back into her human self and was being lifted up with Zel and his Ray Wing spell, her nude body being wrapped in his cloak. Xellos simply just wasn't there anymore as the entire group lifted themselves as high in the sky as they could stand and still breathe.

Tiny golden balls of light formed with Onyx's hands as Belard watch him with interest. The lights were rather pretty as they began to toil within the traitor priest's fingers, the blood almost melting off of his naked hand. He didn't know anything about spells, so he just backed up a bit.

"Darkness from twilight,

Crimson from blood that flows,

Buried in the flow of time;

In Thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness!

Those who oppose us shall be destroyed by the power you and I possess!

DRAGU SLAVE!!" Onyx chanted, spinning about once with the pretty bubbles of golden light and then when he made his turn complete, it became a giant ball of crimson energy. The energy just swirled around within the ball like red dragons chasing each other, then as Belard tried to run, trying to get the others to move out of their stock still fear, the ball of crimson shot forth at them. Everything went red.

~

"He knows the Dragu Slave spell…..How!? I thought only select people could perform it….in the old days, Aunt Lina!" Val shouted, watching the Dragu Slave spell blow out the forest in a huge explosion of destruction. When the dust cleared, all that remained of the spot they'd fled was a smoking crater of ash, a lone dark figure standing in the center of it all. The group watched the figure for a while before lowering themselves back down, Xellos reappearing in front of the figure.

It was Onyx, plain as midnight, just standing there and a small smile on his creamy lips. With so little foliage left, Lina could see his chin to his mouth much easier, but the rest was hidden under his hood and robes. "Been a while since I've been so happy. I love that wonderfully destructive spell," Onyx chuckled, eliciting a grin from Xellos for the first time," Its so beautiful to take so many worthless and villainous lives, no matter how pathetic. Too bad you chickened out, it would have been nice to see you regenerate from that, Xellos."

Xellos kept smiling, though it was borderline with a sneer. Lina set herself and Val down, Zel and Filia joining them as they stared with disbelief at the chaos one man had wrought. "I know my motto is "Villains have no rights," but even my Dragu Slave isn't this nasty." Lina piped, to which Onyx lifted his right hand up, showing off Xellos' former bracelet.

"The Demon's Blood opal within this bracelet is most powerful in elevating black magic. What, dressed like this and you didn't get it? I'm a black mage, but we tend to get quite bored with only having one line of defense. So, I learned all magic over the years, all the magic that really mattered." Onyx sighed, putting his right hand to the talisman about his neck.

"That's the Golden Demon Talisman, you have no right as a mortal man to have it. That belongs to Xellas. Hah, I should have known you challenged me for more than my bracelet that you wanted to distract me so you could steal that from my mistress!" Xellos said matter-of-factly, still smiling, but with his amethyst eyes open.

"Its Lei Magnus' talisman that L-sama gave unto him, not to Xellas. She stole them during the Kouma Wars. He gave it to me or rather gave me the right to have it. I gave him a very good reason that he was more than willing to allow my mortal hands to grace it." Onyx said, rather haughtily at Xellos.

"And what was the reason, Dark Priest?" Val asked, his face a mask of uncertainty. He looked half like he wanted to know and half like he was scared to death of the answer. Lina couldn't blame him. Not only did she not know what this talisman was for, this Onyx was really starting to creep her out. He'd killed his own boss and men, as if they were nothing.

"Xellos knows, but he'll just give you his usual secret crap. I'm feeling most generous today, it's been such a lovely one too, so I'll tell you, regardless of how you take it. This talisman has the power to resurrect the Ruby-Eyed Demon King, Shabranigdo, and as you can see, I have three pieces of him. I have four to go. Any questions?" Onyx said cheerfully, tapping each ruby piece gently with his slender fingers.

"Resurrect Shabranigdo!? Are you insane!?" Lina spat. "Not really. Next question….make it a good one next time." Onyx chided, wagging his finger at her. Lina bit her lip back in frustration. "Oh, is that all….you're giving the Mazuko an edge after all, but being the one to resurrect Shabranigdo, you'd be his personal favorite over all. This is all a power thing….How typically human." Xellos said, putting plenty of hatred onto the last word.

If Onyx had noticed, he didn't show it. He just laughed. "You should know, being human once, little Xellos. The power has nothing to do with it. I just want to resurrect him. The outside world is my next stop, it contains the last four pieces that I require." Onyx said simply, moving back a bit with both hands raising slowly above his head.

"Why then, oh Man of Midnight?" Xellos said, mocking Onyx's gestures.

What Onyx said before vanishing from his place sent Xellos into a mad screaming fit of ancient curses. "That's a secret."

"This all just got a little harder. We can't avenge Hiero with some mad man running around trying to resurrect Shabranigdo. He'd end everything!" Filia cried, still tugging Zel's borrowed cloak about her.

"We've spent so much time trying to locate Luna and now this guy wants to resurrect the Demon King. That'll make finding her even harder. Shabranigdo hates everything non-Mazuko, that's a fact. I agree with Mom, we should go after Onyx and stop him." Val added. Zel only nodded with a soft response. "It would seem in our best interest to track Onyx. His plans could greatly hinder our own. That is something I won't stand for."

Lina nodded at them all, looking curtly over at Xellos to see if he was still around or agreed with them. "Right….and since he has Xellos jewelry on….I suspect you'd know how to find him or would have he hadn't kicked you butt so bad as he said. Hmm?"

Xellos smirked, his eyes now shut. "Xellas told me to leave him be….to rival the power of the Mazuko is to be taken seriously. We don't mess with them they don't mess with us, but he just broke that little rule with his idle hands. I haven't seen him in over half a century, but he looks and sounds pretty much the same to me. And yes, the fact he has something of mine allows me to know where he is when I need to know. I'll help, but for my own reasons, which are none of your business, Lina-chan." He smiled, making Val and Zel grumble.

"Fine, now let's go get to the coastal towns to get out of here and to the outside world. Onyx said that's where he was headed and Luna had fled. I say we hurry and stop talking about it. He can teleport people….we don't have much time." Lina spouted, casting Levitation once more. Zel conjured up his Ray Wing and lifted up Val. The young dragon boy didn't like being touched much, even for his own good. The look of annoyance was all over his scarred face.

Filia just held Zel's cloak in her teeth and turned into a dragon, flying after them while Xellos simply vanished, all of them heading for the city that took them to the outside world a century ago.

To Be Continued….