"The Maze"

By: Miracle Shining

AUTHOR'S NOTE: All the Slayers characters are property of their respective companies and distributions. I'm just a fan, please don't sue me. This is an alternity fic with heavy angst, dark themes, and YAOI, so if you are under 18 or the legal age in your state or country, offended by m/m relationships, or can not handle really dark literature, than leave now!! I won't be responsible for you if you do not! Domo arigato, and enjoy the fic!! =^.^=

CHAPTER THREE: A Dark Empire

Normally, he didn't watch the action in The Night Dweller. It wasn't something he found a necessity to do. He could just sit up in his office and enjoy the thunderous rhythm of the music from down below and occasionally glance over his shoulder to look at the strobe light from one of his mirror windows. But tonight was different. He was edgy. He sloshed his rich red wine around in it's slender wine glass. Some of it splashed over on the floor, but he didn't notice. He got up and stared out of the window. His eyes fell upon Bleu, dancing with that Vulun again. He sighed. Vulun was a regular customer of Bleu's, but he never was gentle with Bleu. If it was one thing that he abhorred, it was the poor treatment of his employees. The man turned from the window again for a while, pacing to the other side. There was a rich oak desk loaded with crisp green bills. There had to be at least five grand sitting there in front of him. It was only a margin of what the club pulled in on any given night. It was a Friday tonight, which meant about two times more. People were on the hunt for sin, and he was more than willing to provide them with necessary distraction.

Once again, he paced back to the window. This time he was surprised to see Bleu talking to a handsome chimera in a leather coat.

"Hmm, perhaps Vulun finally got tired of Bleu." the owner absently thought, sipping at his wine again.

After a moment, he watched Bleu walk in front of the chimera and into the crowd. He couldn't supress a smile that crept on his lips. Looks like the chimera was going to get the ride of his life. That is, if he had the cash to pay Bleu.

The man turned back from the window and finally sat down in a huge, maroon chair that rested behind a metal desk. This was his workspace, and supposedly his sanctuary. But, he felt no comfort from the security tonight. He was concerned about Bleu leaving the club, even though he didn't want to admit it. He had already lost two of his valuable employees. Vert, originally known as Martina, and Rouge, originally known as Garv, were both dead. He frowned, wondering why he didn't feel more sorrow over their loss. Sure, they had been somewhat of friends, but they had been employees. They also were expendable.

"Hey, mess with fire, and you'll get burned." He thought again to himself.

He hadn't bothered to tell Bleu. No reason to upset the young man. Besides, Bleu brought in twice the amount of money that Vert and Rouge brought in combined. Bleu was sweet, beautiful, and could about bend in any direction anyone could want. It made him a vital asset, and there was no reason to shake the boat. So, the owner of the club was left with two human assets. He had Bleu, and he had Noir, his bodyguard. He sighed, wondering where in the world she was. Finally, slightly frustrated, he pushed his intercom button.

"Phibrezo, would you please come in here?"

Phibrezo opened the door, her shoulder length black hair and black eyes looking curiously at the man. She wore a skin tight black vinyl body suit with black heeled boots.

"You haven't called me my real name in years, boss."

"Forgive me, Noir, does it bother you?"

"Nah, it's kind of nice to hear. What's up?"

"Bleu left with some young chimera a few minutes ago."

"Ya' want me to follow 'em?"

The man shook his head. The strobe light flashed by briefly throwing light over his purplish black hair. His purplish eyes scanned Noir for a moment, and then he sighed, standing up and walking over to the window again.

"Look at me, Noir, what do you see?"

Phibrezo crossed over and joined the man at the window, looking down at the dancers grinding their bodies against one another like animals in heat. She then glanced over at the owner.

"I see a damn wealthy man who's got a lot on his plate right now."

"Oh, you are so right, Noir. Me, the great Xellos Metallia, can not even figure out how in the hell two of his best hookers get boffed off in the space of four days."

Frustrated, Xellos turned back to his chair, sinking down in it and throwing back the last of the wine before throwing the glass across the room. Phibrezo watched in silence as the crystal shattered and fell in tiny pieces on the floor. The strobe light flashed through the room, striking the broken glass and giving it a strange prism effect. Phibrezo found it oddly beautiful, and stood silent watching the light.

"Noir, are you listening to me?"

"What? Oh, yah, go on, boss."

Xellos rolled his eyes, annoyed. Phibrezo sighed, walking over to Xellos and sitting on the edge of his desk. Her body suit accented her slim frame, making her bust stand out even more. Xellos couldn't help but stare at her as she watched some of the action from the window.

"You know, boss, you really need to loosen up. I mean, think about it. It could have been any hookers that got knocked off by some nut case. It just happened to be two of yours. Maybe we got a serial killer on our hands who only kills hookers with the French names for colors."

"No, it's definitely not that, Noir." Xellos said flatly, running his fingers through his hair.

"How do you know that, boss?"

Xellos was silent for a moment. He stared at Phibrezo for a long time before grabbing the young woman and pulling her into his lap.

"It's a secret." he responded quietly.

Phibrezo raised an eyebrow, but then grinned and leaned down, kissing Xellos on the lips. The two were soon engaged in a series of deep kisses. Xellos finally growled, throwing Phibrezo on the desk and pinning her. Phibrezo squealed for a moment and then eagerly waited whatever Xellos could give her. The two were deeply involved, having gotten Phibrezo's front zipper undone when a rap on the door interrupted them.

Xellos growled, "Go away, I'm busy!"

There was silence at the door. Satisfied that the interrupter had been properly reprimanded, Xellos went back to work on Phibrezo's body suit. As he pulled down the zipper, the knock came at the door again.

"Who is it?!" Phibrezo shouted, obviously quite annoyed.

Once again, there was silence. But this time, Phibrezo and Xellos didn't start up again. They both stared anxiously at the door, almost waiting for a voice to come from the other side. Nervously, Phibrezo did up her body suit and reached into her boot, pulling out a dagger. Xellos very quietly pulled open one of his desk drawers, pulling out a small handgun.

Both stared at the door waiting. The silence still continued and after a moment, both relaxed a little.

"I think they must have went away." Phibrezo whispered.

The knock on the door the third time was unmistakable. Xellos and Phibrezo raised their weapons, Phibrezo taking her place in front of Xellos as the door knob turned. Slowly the door opened and the sound of footsteps entering the room could be heard.

"What do you want?" Phibrezo demanded.

The first set of footsteps was followed very closely by a second set of footsteps. Xellos pulled the trigger release on his handgun, and prepared himself to pull the trigger if necessary. The room was dim, too dark to see anyone very clearly unless the strobe light passed by. Slowly, the strobe light moved over an area of a room, and a trench coated figure was seen standing just near the door. Xellos felt his heart speed up more than it ever had. He silently said a prayer, even though he was far from a religious man. The strobe then passed over another figure, wearing a hat to shadow his face, and a long trenchcoat. Xellos pressed himself against Phibrezo, making sure that she did her job as his bodyguard.

"What do you want?!" Phibrezo repeated, trying to keep her voice steady.

The figure that stood at the doorway stepped forward, his hands appeared to be tucked neatly in his pockets in the dim light.

"We've come to deliver a message to Mr. Metallia." he stated.

Phibrezo narrowed her eyes, making sure that Xellos stayed behind her.

"Maybe he doesn't have a need to talk to you."

"Oh, I'm sure he does. After all, with the loss of Martina and Garv..." the figure said quietly.

Xellos stared dumbfounded at the shadowed man.

"How did you know about that?!" he demanded.

The second figure moved from the side, his hands also tucked neatly in his pockets. His hat made if virtually impossible to make out any facial features, and the strobe lights did little to offer an insight into their facial identities.

Phibrezo spun her blade in her fingers, a kind of warning to the unwelcome invaders that they were just that, unwelcome.

The second figure slowly removed his hands from his pocket. Instinctively, Phibrezo thrust out her knife, barely holding it to his throat. Even then, she couldn't make out any features. The man raised his hands, showing that he had no weapons.

"We have come to deliver a message from the Kopii." he stated quietly.

"The Kopii? What does the mob want with me?" Xellos demanded.

The other figure stepped forward, also drawing his hands from his pockets. Xellos was the one to hold up the gun this time, but the figure also made the gesture of no weapons. Instead, he held a small envelope in his right hand. The strobe light passed over them again, and for a brief moment, Xellos could make out a lock of hair that seemed to have a blue black color to it.

"Strange..." Xellos thought distantly to himself. "Where have I seen that hair color before?"
The man offered Xellos the envelope, but it was intercepted by Phibrezo.

"He doesn't touch anything, unless it goes through me."

The figure only nodded shortly and took a step back. Phibrezo felt the envelope carefully, and then inserted her knife, opening the paper and drawing out the small note inside.

"It seems okay, boss, here."

Phibrezo handed Xellos the small piece of paper. It was difficult to read in the dim room, but Xellos squinted enough to make out the words scribbled on the paper.

"Roses are red, Your Gourry is Bleu, Keep a close eye on him, Remember, we're also watching you. Signed, The Kopii Mob." Xellos read silently to himself.

He numbly folded the note and slipped it back in the envelope.

The figure who had handed him the message stood quietly, waiting for some sort of response.

"Is it money you want? I can give you as much as you need." Xellos stated.

The figure with the hat shook his head.

"You know what we want. Keep your employees quiet, and you won't see any more unfortunate 'accidents'." he flatly stated.

Xellos frowned, but nodded.

"Well, then, I believe our work here is done." The figure stated and motioned for his hat clad partner.

The duo exited as quickly as they entered, not another word said. They closed the door behind them and both Phibrezo and Xellos could hear their foot steps as they walked down the hall. Neither one said anything to the other, the sound of the breath seeming to echo between them, despite the loud music blasting below them. Finally, Phibrezo turned to look at Xellos.

"B-boss...what was that about? What does the Kopii want with you?" she asked quietly.

Xellos swallowed, placing the trigger release back on his handgun. He threw it on the desk and sunk into his chair, rubbing his temples.

"Boss?" Phibrezo asked softly.

"I don't want to talk about it, Noir."

"Okay..."

Without another word, Xellos pulled Phibrezo onto his lap, burying his face into her chest. Phibrezo swore that he was crying, but then again that couldn't be possible. The mighty Xellos Metallia never cried.

*****

The two figures made their way out of the nightclub, pausing at the doorway for a moment. The first figure tipped his hat back for a moment, running his fingers lightly over the jewel that graced his forehead. He was slightly amused at the actions that had occurred in the club. Surely, people were truly hunters of sin, and he had seen it first hand. It had been an odd rush, and an enjoyable one. The second figure brushed some of his long blue black bangs from his eyes. He studied his partner silently. It had been fun threatening Xellos Metallia. He might be one of the best pimps in The Maze, but he was still below The Kopii. The blue black haired figure mused over the fact that it was much more opportunistic to work for the enemy, than to make enemies.

"So, what do we do now?" the jeweled figure asked.

"We go back and report what we did."

"Then what?"

"We find this Gourry Gabriev and dispose of him just like we did with the other two."

"Do you think he's with him?"

"If not, well, we'll just have to make an extra trip to see our 'old friend,' now won't we?" the blue black haired one spat bitterly.

The other nodded silently, and together they wandered into The Maze, disappearing among the streets and noise, unnoticeable among the others who worked and played.