Abandoned Story of Zel and Xelloss
QP/Diana          
This is the summary of the Japanese novels,
Slayers series, written by Mr. Hajime Kanzaka.


Speciall thanks to Avatar for supporting my English.
Go Back



Slayers Series Part 1 (Abandoned Story of Zel and Xelloss)
    The author of Slayers novels revealed that there was an abandoned story involving Zelgadiss and Xelloss, about how they met and how they joined force. In "the Longest Afterword" of Slayers Special #8, there is a section "An Episode Buried in the Darkness". (Below, "K" stands for the author, Kanzaka-san, and "L" is for the Lord of Nightmares.)

K: Well.... Talking about the Slayers series.... There must be something I can't write.

L: It is written from Lina's perspective, so there must be limits. Hey, I know that you described so little about certain episodes. For example, in "Monster of Sairaag", you wrote that Gourry and Sylpheel had been involved in some happenings; and also you wrote in "White Silvere Magical Beast" that Zelgadiss, Xelloss and the men of the cult had opposed each other before. Will you write these episodes as spin-offs?

K: I don't have any idea.

L: Why?

K: Because I have no idea what happened in Sairaag....

L: Hey....

K: But I have an idea about the story of Zel and Xelloss.

L: Hmmm.... Tell me.

K: OK....

        Zelgadiss traveled around searching for the way to get his human body back. One day, he rescued a girl, Plum, who was being threatened by someone.

        He asked her about the reason why she was being threatened but she didn't answer him and ran away.

        In her village, people gathered and hired many mercenaries and sorcerers, because there was a mysterious creature that was eating all the humans one by one. One of those guards was a mysterious priest, Xelloss. Zelgadiss was involved in the incident. The mysterious creature killed both mercenaries and sorcerers one by one.

        Zel found that Plum was being stalked by a mysterious group (the cult of Krotz) and her little brother had been seized by them.

        At last the creature appeared before Zel. He chased after it, but was interrupted by Zooma the assassin. The killer had been hired by Krotz. Zooma overwhelmed Zelgadiss and almost killed him, but they were interrupted by someone.

        The cruel fact was revealed: The creature was Plum's brother. He had been changed into half-demon and half-human. Zelgadiss, being a chimera, couldn't attack the creature, as he saw himself in it. Xelloss killed it without hesitation. Zel got angry with him, but Xelloss ignored Zel. (Anyway, Zel didn't see Xelloss' killing it.)

        Zel learned about Plum's background. She was a descendant of the priest of Retideus. The people of the kingdom had studied immortality, but they did too much and it caused the fall of the kingdom. He came to know that Plum had a copy of Clare Bible.

        Before he found out her secret, however, Plum was taken by Krotz.

        Zelgadiss and Xelloss went together to rescue her and they, confronting an army of Krotz's men and the assassin Zooma. Xelloss told Zel to go ahead, and he stood before Zooma.

        At the foothold of Krotz, the leader of the cult said to Plum, 'I'll give the order to kill all the people in the village if you won't tell us the truth.' Plum told him where the copy was.

        Zooma and Xelloss stood face to face. Around them were dead bodies of the soldiers of Krotz. Xelloss said to Zooma. 'Well, what will you do?' Zooma replied, 'I kill if I am ordered to kill --- I am an assassin. But --- I know I can't --- kill you', and he ran away from Xelloss. Xelloss gazed after him and said, with a smile. 'There is a man who knows himself very well.'

        Zel arrived at the foothold of Krotz only to find the cold, dead body of Plum. Soon after him, Xelloss arrived. He said 'I want to ask her something.' and he revived her. 'What did you do?!' Zelgadis asked, stunned. Xelloss answered, 'It's a secret.'

        Zel and Xelloss went to the cave where the copy was hidden. But the copy had already been taken away by Krotz. Xelloss disappeared and followed Krotz. Zelgadiss had one final battle with a killer who waited for him.

    Finally, Zel left the village, to quest after the copy of Clare Bible. Plum watched him go, quietly.

K: That's all!

L: Wooooooow! Well then, you have a good idea. How about writing it into a spin-off?

K: No I won't! I have two reasons why I can't write this story!

L: What? Tell me.

K: First of all, it doesn't have air of Slayers!

L: ... Oh ... Regarding the plot, it would be a serious story without any gags.

K: Yes, it would be! Hey, think about this. How would you feel about reading the scene in which the mercenaries are killed one by one. It would be horrible.

L: But..., it IS a spin-off and it can have a different flavor. I know that you have said about the Slayers series that the second half would have an air different from the first.

K: Not only the matter of air prevent me from writing it. Here is another one!

L: ... Tell me.

K: You can see this story is made up in order to attract interest for "Battle of Saillune" and "White Silver Magical Beast".

L: Oh, exactly!

K: If I wrote this before those two episodes, people would see how strong Zooma was and how mysterious Xelloss was. So in reading "Battle of Saillune", they would be thrilled at the scene where Lina was attacked by Zooma, and also they would be interested about Zel and Xelloss, as they didn't appear in that story.

L: Then they would read "White Silver Magical Beast"....

K: Yes. In the beginning, Lina lost her magic, and Xelloss appeared before her. Readers would well know that Xelloss was extremely strong and sometimes he was as cold as ice. But Lina didn't know anything about him, and began to trade with him. Then there would come Zelgadiss, as the readers expected. Finally, the readers would find that there was a way to create a magical beast written in the copy of Clare Bible as they might have imagined from the title. That was my purpose to create this plot.

L: .... I see... But you didn't write it. Now people know that Xelloss is a demon. They know that Zooma and Zanaffar were killed, too. So you can't do....

K: It is too late, isn't it? That is the reason why I can't --- I won't write it.


      Go Back




Mail

Top Page Slayers Page