AN: I LIIIIIIIIIVE! RAWR! (Stomps around living room woodenly…)

Oh, have I been forgetting disclaimers? If I owned Lina and Xelloss, my home would be quickly reduced to a gigantic crater in no time. I don't so it's not. Enjoy!

Devil's Advocate

Chapter Two:

Solid State

"Where the hell are we going? Hey! Answer me you…"

Xelloss casually strolled down one of the main halls of his Master's fortress, a broad and carefree grin on his face as he gazed from side to side, cheerfully tut-tutting the general mess the place was in. He also studiously ignored the almost constant stream of imprecations and threats Lina called after him as she followed. The exact content of what she said to him mattered little, so long as she said it with feeling.

Indeed, her irritation was putting him in such a fine mood he almost felt like whistling.

What a good thing it had been for her to stay! Of course, if she'd decided to do otherwise, he was certain he would have found a number of things to pique her interest. Wolfpack Island had so many secrets that sharing a few with her wouldn't make much of a difference. So when Lina had awakened earlier, he had promised her 'a treat most black sorcerers would sell their own mothers for'. As he'd predicted that was intriguing enough for her.

Of course, he'd then walked away without another word and expected her to follow. She had, but not without voicing her misgivings… and a few random death threats.

The Mazoku priest sighed happily as he basked in the flow of Lina's blistering negativity and thought, Ah, just like old times!

However, he found himself alone in treading giddily down memory lane. Lina suddenly appeared before him, blocking his path. He stopped, smiling down at the small sorceress as she glared peevishly up at him.

"What's so special that you've got to show me instead of telling me?" she asked suspiciously. "And don't you dare say 'it's a secret', or you'll get pounded to a pulp, buddy!" Lina shook a bare-knuckled fist under his nose for emphasis, but Xelloss shrugged.

"I'm leading you to the first place I opened my eyes to see." Xelloss edged around her and continued striding down the hall. He heard the rapid tapping her boots made on the stone flagging as she hurried after him. Again, he ignored her complaints as they started up anew. They really weren't very far now and she would see what he'd meant earlier.

Lina caught up with him just as he halted in front of a very grand set of doors. He turned to her and said with a touch of the old dramatic flair in his voice, "Words fail to describe a feast for the mind such as this."

Lina's mercurial temperament switched from frustration to excitement in a flash. "Woo hoo hoo!" She jumped up and down, grabbing his cloak and trying to pull him in a few different directions because she still had no idea where they were headed. "I like feasts of all sorts! Let's see this indescribable wonder! Lead on to the goodies, uh, your hallowed Mazoku birthplace!" She added gleefully as she hung on his cloak.

Xelloss figured Lina's death grip on his cloak was just in case he suddenly had a change of heart and tried to run away. There was no chance of that, he knew. If there was a way to sell Lina into staying on the island for an unspecified length of time, this was it.

He looked up at the doors nervously. If there was one thing in the wide world he feared, it was the wrath of his Master. Leading a human to her most protected place on the island he felt was the one indignity which Lord Xelas would have destroyed him out of hand for… but he didn't see where he had a choice in the matter, because during the night, Xelloss had come up with a plan.

He wanted to hope that Lord Xelas still existed somehow, but he didn't feel her anywhere. Not even when he had finally regained full possession of his faculties had he been able to reach her. That must mean she was gone for good, right?

With the loss of his Master so long ago had come the loss of his sense of self. In his long experience, he knew it was only natural for Mazoku to live for the will of their Lords and betters. However, in the unthinkable event of a Lord's disappearance, it was again only natural there would be diminishment, if not the total ruination of the minion. As he had found, it certainly had led to madness.

But of course, all had not been lost, after all. Dear girl that she was, Lina had shown up to help jog his memory. Deep down, he was horrified he'd let himself fall so far and he needed no repeats. Therefore, if he wanted to remain in his restored state in perpetuity, it seemed obvious he would have to keep Lina around.

So the night before, as she slept, he had devised his plan. He would lead her to Lord Xelas' lab. As a sorceress, Lina was uniquely qualified for researching his Master's notes, right? And as Lord Xelas was sure to have over a millennium's worth of notes, Lina was sure to be busy for a while. That way Lina could research Lord Xelas' disappearance and Xelloss could search for a permanent return to sanity. The first goal didn't seem likely, but it was a tool to achieve the second, in which Lina's continued presence was necessary for him.

Besides, it wouldn't do at all to simply shoo her off the island, would it? Not when he was supposed to be so overjoyed at seeing his 'friend' again, right?

His musing was suddenly cut short as he was dragged off balance, bringing him back to the purpose at hand. Lina was trying to pull him down the hallway, but was succeeding admirably in knocking him over.

Trying to check his stumbling Xelloss asked, "Lina? Where are you going?" A mischievous smile spread across his face as he asked, "Did I forget to say that this is it?" He gestured at the doors they stood in front of. Lina solicitously helped him back to his feet, only to abruptly knock him off them again.

Xelloss looked up at her, somehow failing to be surprised as she towered over him. She shouted, "What the hell do you mean 'this is it'?! Why didn't you say so in the first place? You are so useless sometimes, Xelloss!"

Much to Lina's obvious irritation, Xelloss began to giggle at her. "But Lina, I was simply collecting my thoughts before opening the door! YOU were the one who wanted to charge all over the fortress!"

Still laughing he got back to his feet, unaided by the fuming sorceress this time. "I could have just let you drag me all over the place and led you back here once you'd tired yourself out!" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he regarded her. "That might not have been a bad idea…" he mumbled.

"What did you say?"

"Oh, nothing!" He chuckled as he placed a hand on the door. Thank goodness for him Lord Xelas had never bothered locking it. She'd always trusted him implicitly with never disobeying her orders. Xelloss felt his good humor draining away into the dull emptiness he felt in his Master-less existence. Lina seemed to sense his mood and stood back as he tried the doors.

At first they didn't seem to want to budge and he pushed against them even harder. Xelloss winced as the doors to his Master's lab made a horrifically loud squealing groan as they opened. It had been over a century since they'd opened last and now they, just like everything else in the fortress, needed his attention.

He grinned sheepishly back at Lina as she stood behind him to his right. Her arms were crossed and she smiled mockingly at him and asked, "Was that the 'indescribable' part you mentioned earlier?"

He chuckled as he replied, "I suppose so…" Even though Xelas had restricted her lab to him, he deemed it was the singular thing on the island which would pique Lina's thirst for knowledge. Therefore he was leading her through its doors despite a lifelong trained aversion. Or he would have led her, given a chance.

"Lighting!" Lina called as she dashed past him. Xelloss stared after her, cursing himself for forgetting one of Lina's special charming qualities: her greed. She was always taking the lead, always wanting to be first. He could only thank the Mother of All Things that Lord Xelas hadn't left any traps to kill the unwary.

Xelloss breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Lina dance and skip around the room, muttering excitedly. Still, he paused to glance down suspiciously at the threshold before stepping gingerly over it. Nothing continued to happen to him… so he relaxed and lit a few more candles with a careful wave of his hand. Dust swirled thickly in the old lab as Lina darted from one table to another taking in the collection of odd magical paraphernalia which filled the room. To bring her back to earth, he asked anxiously, "Is it acceptable, Lina dearest? You will be able to puzzle something out of this?"

Lina paused in mid-dash and turned around to face him. Her face shone with excitement and her eyes nearly glowed with it. She answered in a dreamy tone, still not taking her eyes from the room's contents. "Yeah, I think this'll do… I don't know what this thing is," she pointed at a glass box which, if Xelloss remembered correctly, had once glowed and made crackling noises. He had no ideas on its purpose either, as he'd only seen it in action over Xelas' shoulder once. "But I'll do my best!"

Then she appeared to snap back to reality, and gave Xelloss a hard look. The dreamy tone had been replaced with an accusing one as she growled, "Wait a minute. Xelloss, are you inferring I'll be on my own here?"

"Well yes, I suppose I am." He smiled and scratched his neck as Lina began stalking towards him.

"I thought you were going to help! How am I going to figure all this out? Don't tell me you're going to be useless about this too!"

Xelloss began to back away from her. "But Lina, there's so much cleaning up I need to do after our little battle! The island's in a shambles!" He scolded her, saying, "Someone left a gigantic crater on it!" By now, Lina had reached him and was leaning so close she almost touched him.

She's so cute when she's angry! Xelloss bent down and kissed her on the nose, knowing how it flustered her. "Just be patient! Once I am done fixing things up, I will come help where I can."

Lina glared at him still, but he could tell she wasn't going to try hurting him. She stepped back and casually put her hand on the door. She grinned at him, but then snarled almost sweetly, "Just don't make me wait too long." Then, without warning, she slammed the door in his face.

"Ow… Lina, you're so mean!" So much for his intuition.

Her muffled voice came at him from the other side of the door. "Quit whining and get to work! We've got tons to do and if you're going to be a pain in the ass about it, have my dinner ready in four hours!"

"As you command, Lina dearest." Xelloss backed away from the door and assessed the damage to his battered face. He turned away grinning, thinking of his human companion fondly. I'll keep it to myself, but there are times when Lina resembles Lord Xelas a little too closely.

oOo

Xelloss watched Lina as she slept, despite the fact there were other things he had to do around Wolfpack. He hadn't seen much of her in the past week, aside from the usual at her mealtimes, so the solitude was beginning to grate on him. Although she was near, this wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind when he'd sat next to her… she was boring when she slept. He sighed, half in the hopes the sound would wake her up, also because he was procrastinating and he knew it. Over the past week he had cleaned the entire fortress, thoroughly eradicating its accumulation of dust and vermin. Now that was out of the way, the big job awaited him. The island outside the fortress was still in a shambles. He had yet to finish repairing the damage their little fight had caused… in particular, filling in Lina's crater. It wasn't a difficult job, it just promised to be tedious and he didn't look forward to it. He looked back to her lying under her blankets when her hand shot out of the blankets and grabbed his arm.

Curiosity piqued, he leaned closer to see if she was awake when she mumbled, "Waiter… Five chicken dinners and four House Specials please." She then dropped his arm and Xelloss chuckled as Lina turned away and began snoring lightly. Lina tossed restlessly in her sleep and murmured something else but he couldn't quite make it out. Her movement slowed as she finally rolled over to face him.

He leaned in again to lift a few locks of hair out of the way in order to look more closely at her face. He thought as he noticed a fine little line between her eyebrows, Funny, that wasn't there before, was it? Thanks to her mastery of magic as well as her incredible capacity, Lina was much more long-lived than other humans… yet even she still aged. It was a sobering thought. Curiosity got the better of him and he gently lifted the blanket to study her. She slept in her underwear, due to an obvious lack of sleepwear on Wolfpack Island. Little human girl… the years have changed you finally. His eyebrows rose with his surprise as he noticed he couldn't exactly call her a little girl anymore; he noted a couple of new developments. When that had happened? I wonder if it makes her happy? He replaced the blanket and sat back down.

Lina frowned and rolled away from him, snuggling deeply into the blankets. She'd been sleeping for quite some time and he had lit candles in the dark room, hoping their light would wake her. At times she'd grimaced as she traveled the dark lands of human dreams, but she had generally continued to snore softly and peacefully. Yes, he was putting off finishing his duties, but he wanted to be near his 'savior' for a while longer.

That's an amusing concept, he thought. A human savior for a Mazoku is a ridiculous notion. I am grateful for what Lina did, but still I don't quite understand why she did it. I understand self-sacrifice well enough… After all, he'd killed enough misguided fools in his lifetime to recognize it when he saw it in Lina. She had gambled her life to save people she didn't even know from a Mazoku of unknown abilities. She said it was for the sake of their friendship. Strangely, he almost felt it too, but the alien emotion slipped away so easily. However, that night on the beach, as he had stood next to her and they'd watched the ship leave together, he had vowed to try his best. He was unable to feel for Lina quite what she felt for him. So instead he would continue to watch over her and protect her, just as his Lord Xelas had ordered well over a century before. As a Mazoku cut off from their glorious traditions of hierarchy, he was nothing, an abomination. Despite that, he could still follow his orders.

Every line of thought brought him back to his Lord's disappearance. He buried his head in his hands and rubbed his face, mulling over the situation. Xelloss knew he'd never forget what it had been like to lose his identity to madness after the first horrible shock of finding his Master vanished without a trace. There had been nothing he could have done, and the knowledge of it had unhinged him. All his wonderful power at the beginning hadn't helped him. He had fought to establish some sort of link to Xelas, but failed over and over. Maybe duty demanded he report to another Dark Lord, but how was he to know his Master hadn't disappeared due to their scheming? Sometimes Lord Xelas had cursed the two who were left for their unwillingness to understand the precarious position their race had been put into. He himself had never really had dealings with the two remaining Dark Lords, but he knew his Master had and they had frustrated her. In that light, he wasn't sure he wanted to have anything to do with them. He had decided to stay put and wait for her, as surely she couldn't have been gone for good. Then as the years set in, he'd forgotten everything during his long descent into hell.

It wasn't the first time he'd had this particular line of thought. On some of his more lucid days, he would consider his situation as best he could, but the line of reasoning had often descended into the same circular logic. Now, as he followed the familiar path in his mind, his form began to change unbeknownst to him. Skin and hair darkened, sliding together as if melting. His form began to whirl and spin as his thoughts led him down again.

oOo

An errant breeze on Lina's skin woke her up and she turned to face the wall and burrowed deeper into her blankets. She'd had a long day and night, so she wanted to relax a little longer before starting her morning. She opened her eyes fuzzily. She could see light coming from somewhere. Morning, huh? She had no idea what time it really was, remembering this room had no windows. She could see though and the way the light flickered she knew Xelloss had set out some candles for her. More than a few, it looked like. Without moving, she could count four on the table across from the bed. He was being very thoughtful towards her, which seemed a bit off even for Xelloss. It was nice though to imagine he was reciprocating her feelings of friendship. She knew exactly how stupid that sounded, but she'd been without a real friend for so long, it was fun to imagine. She'd only been here for a week and expected to be here for who knew how much longer, so her stay might as well be pleasant. After all… she had promised she would do her best to look into the Beast Master's disappearance.

This was exactly what she'd thrown herself into. Every day since Xelloss had shown her to his Master's lab, she had been learning its organization, the order the notes were stored and which apparatus she should leave alone until later. These tasks were important. There was no way of making a decent stab at researching Xelas' disappearance without trying to duplicate the direction her studies had gone. In fact, just yesterday she had unearthed Xelas' oldest notes. The paper they had been written on was crumbling with age, but the clear and concise script of the Mazoku Lord had been thankfully legible. Her only worry was simply that the notes might not survive her handling of them as she studied and what if she missed something important scribbled hastily along a crumbling edge?

Never mind that, it's not the time to brood, she thought. She'd buried herself in her work and last night had been a late one. She'd stayed in the lab all day, reading Xelas' notes. When she'd been done she was so tired Xelloss had wasted no time in showing her into a room with an actual bed in it. Up until then, Lina had been sleeping on her bedroll under the stars while Xel had finished cleaning the lair. Lina had walked over to it and run her fingers over the massive footboard. The entire frame was huge and ornately carved out of some dark red wood to resemble delicately coiling clouds. From what she knew of Xelloss, it did fit his tastes although Lina thought it was a bit over the top. When she sat down on it, it seemed like no one had ever used it. The mattress was still firm with no dents. Xelloss' explanation had been simple. Despite having no use for a bed, he'd liked it.

"We have no need for human comforts such as this, but I found this bed hundreds of years ago, and considered it so well-crafted I wanted to keep it. Consider it a museum piece."

That had been as good a reason as any and she had been so tired by that time she hadn't bothered to ask the obvious, 'Wow, who'd you have to kill to get this?' She simply didn't want to know.

It had been comfortable enough, and her sleep had been quiet and uninterrupted. She thought of her host and smiled. It was good to have Xel back. She'd even missed getting pestered by him over the long years, so she didn't mind it as much as she used to. Sooner or later though, she had to remember to toughen up on him, or he would soon be getting away with murder. Heh, only as a matter of speaking… Still smiling, Lina turned over and opened her eyes.

"YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAGH!!!" Something horrible was looming over her, ready to strike! Why hadn't she sensed—wait a minute. A multitude of surprised violet eyes gazed back at her from a familiar dark and turbulent miasma.

Xelloss whirled and bounced, saying brightly, "Good morning, sunshine!"

"Xel, you jerk! What the hell are you trying to do, scare me to death?" Lina sat up straighter in bed and glared at the nightmarish creature looming over her.

"But watching you sleep is boring, Lina dearest!" For a moment dozens of eyes gazed earnestly back at her. "I had to liven things up somehow!"

Lina decided she might never get used to hearing the strange dichotomy of Xel's lovely tenor voice coming from something so hideous. She let out a huge sigh. "Whew… be still, my pounding heart."

"Was it that bad?" A few more eyes formed to watch her reactions. They crinkled in amusement as the silence stretched on, Lina staring at him crossly.

When no answer was made he shrugged, his numerous eyes winking out as he gave up trying to goad her any further. Xelloss's form whirled chaotically, instantly replaced by the more familiar, smiling human guise which, though more annoying, was much more welcome.

"Thank you. Now you can cook my breakfast too, smartass." Turning away from him, Lina sighed and sat up straighter in bed. She began to stretch, her arms reaching for the ceiling as her head lolled to the side. She pushed the blankets away from her and bent forward, stretching her back in a forward arch.

She paused, listening. Something's wrong, she thought. It's much too quiet in here. Shouldn't I be hearing him getting breakfast ready by now? The clanging of pots and pans, maybe?

Lina pulled the blankets back up to her chest and sure enough, there was Xelloss standing nearby. He was leaning back with one leg drawn up, his foot braced against the wall. Her brows knitted together in irritation as Xelloss crossed his arms, tilted his head to the side and smiled winningly at her. Oh, you're caught and you know it buddy, she grumbled to herself. "What do you think this is, some kinda peepshow? Beat it!"

"Oh dear, don't mind me Lina. Please continue… human morning rituals can be so fascinating!"

Lina wrapped her blanket around herself and glared at the still grinning and more importantly, unmoving Mazoku. "That's it, Xelloss. You're outta here. Now."

"If you're afraid I'll see you in your underwear," he intoned solemnly, "have no fears on that account. I looked while you slept!"

Lina turned red and exploded, "You WHAT?! That's it! You are toast, you pervert!" She sprang out of bed and advanced on Xelloss, replacing her sense of modesty with anger.

Xelloss' eyes widened as he watched her approach. Pointing down at Lina's chest, he gleefully quipped, "I was right! They are bigger!"

"Augh!?" Lina was aghast for a moment, but the warm glow of impending murder filled her heart. She raised her arms and shouted, "Fireball, damn you! Fireball-fireball-FIREBALL!!!"

A few minutes later, she threw the singed but still giggling Mazoku out of the room and huffed angrily, "Breakfast or death, Xelloss! Your pick, damn it!" When she heard the rattling of pans finally, she leaned against her door sill and sighed, "My vacations are the worst ever…"

oOo

Xelloss flipped some fried eggs from the pan to a waiting plate and started on a new batch. Regardless of the fact he was currently up to his armpits in domestic duties, he was in a good mood. Lina was bathing, but he no longer needed to anger her; there was no reason to push things too far. Rather, he wondered good-naturedly at the notion of a domestic Mazoku. It was ridiculous and he knew he'd be laughed at until the end of the world for it if anyone knew. However, he didn't think he had much choice in the matter. In this case, to look out for number one (himself), he had to look out for number two (Lina). So in order to keep Lina happy and busy working on the dilemma of his missing Master, he would look after her needs. He tossed the pan's contents onto the mountain of eggs which had accumulated and sighed disgustedly.

He just didn't know how he would explain to his Master when she got back why her lair smelled like human food. That was the important thing to remember… 'when the Master got back'. That phrase helped him immensely.

Or maybe not, he thought as he recalled his transformation while Lina slept. While he spent time agonizing over his past earlier, he didn't realize he had popped into his true form again until Lina screamed. She probably thought he wanted to scare her, but in truth, he had been every bit as surprised as her. The regression had happened without his conscious will, the thought of which disturbed him. It still meant he was a hairsbreadth from madness. Lina's presence might have restored him for the most part, but apparently without interaction he could forget himself again. If he was to always be on guard against himself, he would remain crippled. His mind was his power after all… what was true of the Golden Lord was true of all Mazoku.

But, he brightened as the thought occurred to him, Lina can stick around! I'll just have to keep finding more reasons to stay with her if her research doesn't pan out.

But how long would that last though? Lina might live a very long time by human standards, but his life would last far longer. A rough guesstimate put her remaining life at five centuries and counting down, which seemed like plenty of time. Xelloss knew better though.

He always felt like he had just turned his back merely a moment and the creatures which had so cleverly climbed out of the primordial ooze were suddenly building huts out of mud, much to his delight. For laughs, he'd blasted some of those huts and their owners into dust before disappearing again, only to find later that the hut builders were building entire cities! So time could fly right by him and he was sure soon enough, he might be right back where he'd started.

The knowledge that his time with Lina was finite weighed very heavily on him. The notion of another, permanent descent into insanity with nothing aside from Lina's desiccating corpse for company was something he found not at all amusing. He knew she would never pledge anything with him--the Mother of All knew he'd tried in the past--so that was either endlessly delayed or even out of the question.

Surely this line of thought was one he could save for a later date. Lina had only been hard at work for a week and that didn't give her much time for discoveries, sorcery genius or no. He found that impatience didn't suit him well and rather than worry needlessly, perhaps he could interrupt his cleaning duties for a visit to the lab? He could satisfy his curiosity in the guise of dropping in to give Lina a helping hand. He could also admit to himself the idea of poking around his Master's lab held a certain degree of titillation. He'd let habit rule him since Lina had started her work and dropped easily back into his policy of never setting foot in the lab, but now with Lord Xelas gone, it was no longer forbidden, correct?

Besides, he'd always thought it curious that a being of such tremendous power as Lord Xelas was would have need of a laboratory.