"Hah, hah, so tired." With that Asuna collapsed on the ground.
"Ugh, useless, tired already?" Amelia grumbled as she set down her pack.
"Okay, what's with the attitude?" Asuna growled, this was why she hated kids.
"What attitude?" Amelia asked cocking her head. Asuna stood up and grabbed her by the collar.
"Why you little-"
"Asuna-san! You shouldn't treat children like that." Setsuna insisted.
"But she really needs to be taught a lesson, she's rude to everyone."
"No just you."
"You!"
"Amelia-san!" Negi was talking this time.
"I don't know why you don't like Asuna-san but please be nice, please?" Amelia didn't say anything, and then turned her head to face Asuna.
"For Negi's sake, I'm sorry and I'll be nice, for now." Asuna let her down and smirked.
"What do you have a crush on Negi?"
"No."
"You do."
"Oh, ew, no, we're…." She trailed off.
"Forget it. But saying such stupid stuff, or I'll disrespect you more." She went set up a place her to sleep with a swish of her hair.
"Such a cheeky seven-year-old."
"I'm nine." She lay back her blond hair spreading out over her sleeping bag. She would grow to be a real beauty. They decided to stop for the night since Asuna was tired and the children were being tough but they were children and needed their rest. Asuna got up in the middle of the night and snuck over to where Amelia was sleeping she was about to pull a prank when she noticed that she was crying.
"Mother, Father ….." Asuna's eyes softened and went back to her sleeping bag. They woke up the next morning finding Negi and Amelia asleep next to each other.
"Even if she is a brat, you have to admit she does look like an angel."
When Amelia woke up she cooked them all breakfast. The words were few; they didn't discuss anything beyond the mission. Asuna couldn't help but think back to the night before.
"Amelia, what's your family like?" The question caught her off guard, but she answered.
"I don't have a family, I never really did."
"Never?" She chewed at her fork thoughtfully.
"My real father doesn't know I exist, he and my mother weren't married. My mother gave me up to another family who acted like I was their daughter, but they didn't care about me."
"Why did your mother give you up?" Negi asked, she looked right in the eye and said.
"She didn't want me to be labeled the bastard girl. She gave me up for my own good."
"Where is she now?"
"My real mother vanished when I was one and my surrogate family abandoned me a few years later."
"Why didn't you go to your father?" Her fork clanged, touchy subject.
"He doesn't want me; he adopted another girl so why would he want me? Why would he want his love-child? " She stood up and dumped the rest of her food on Asuna's plate.
"You can have the rest." She walked away.
"She seems familiar somehow." Negi whispered.
"Huh?"
"Never mind."
"Negi, come here, I want to discuss strategy."
"Alright Amelia I'm coming." Setsuna watched quietly as the two children conversed.
"That child has seen a lot of pain; you really shouldn't be so hard on her."
"It doesn't matter, you and I and Negi have faced pain too, but we don't handle it like her."
"True, but she hasn't faced the same pain as you Asuna. I can tell that unlike the rest of us, she never had a friend. You can tell that she never had anybody. She was alone." Amelia pointed something out then Negi smiled and pointed to something else. Amelia smiled softly at Negi.
"She's pretty fond of Negi though….."
"Who isn't?"
"I guess but still…it seems different, she only listens to him."
"Why are you so interested?"
"Negi said she was familiar but Amelia obviously knows Negi. I wonder if they're friends or something."
"Then Negi would know her, he is older."
"I suppose."
"Hey!" It was Amelia.
"We're heading out." She told them.
"Hey Amelia-san?" Setsuna asked.
"Hmm?"
"Why do you want to find Mrs. Springfield, you're of no relation to her."
"I have my reasons." She was only nine but she acted like an adult. She was kind of like Negi.
"She's the Thousand Master's wife; I doubt he'd be happy to come back only to find her missing." Amelia shrugged.
"So you believe he's alive." Negi whispered.
"I do, but he's a huge jerk." She grumbled.
"Huh?"
"He left her alone for ten years, it would serve him right if she remarried, but she adores him too much." Amelia sniffed haughtily.
"I'm sure he has a good reason."
"I doubt it, he was a good guy but he wasn't exactly faithful, he was wooing other women while his wife was pregnant." Amelia growled angrily.
"How do you know!?" Negi demanded.
"I was told by companions of his and handwritten accounts. He does not deserve an angel like Miss Catherine." She told him matter-of-factly.
"You're too young to have met her, how would you know."
"I knew the villagers where she lived, they all told me she was kind, and that they believed she was abandoned by her husband." She scoffed.
"I refuse to believe my father was a bad man." Negi shouted looking determined.
"He wasn't bad, just a bit of a jerk."
"But he loved my mother."
"You didn't even recognize your mother; I bet you didn't even know she comes a prestigious family in the Magic World. She's from a long line of healers going back to the Life Mage, and she's the woman of prophecy."
"No I didn't know that." His eyes grew sad. Amelia withdrew looking ashamed of herself.
"I apologize, I didn't' mean to be rude. I didn't know Catherine, abut who she was to other people, but you were her son. I did not mean disrespect; I hope you can forgive me." Negi didn't respond at first, she was right he knew nothing about his mother.
"Of course."
"Thank you, we're almost there." Negi gazed at her concerned.
'Something so familiar about her, perhaps she was raised in my old village and I simply can't remember.'
"See that castle there; it's where Miss Catherine is." Her long hair cascaded down her back. It twisted in the wind her eyes burning with determination. She said she had her reasons but what were they, why did she know so much about a woman she had never even met?
They stormed the dark building breaking through the door. The Ironheart Mae was not there to meet them. Instead there was a little girl with purple blue hair standing there holding a wand. Her purple eyes glared into theirs. She waved her wand causing purple swirls to appear. Amelia immediately took them as a threat and leapt out of the way, the others followed suit.
"Go Away!" The tiny girl shrieked. Out of nowhere a blast of white magic knocked the girl down, Amelia's work. Setsuna and Asuna grabbed her and pinned her down.
"Where is Catherine?!" Amelia demanded.
"I don't know what you're talking about, there's no one here but Papa, Mama and me!"
"Mama?" Amelia heard her speak, she was quiet for awhile.
"This boy is here to save his Mama, please help us find her."
"But Papa said if I killed all of you Mama would wake up…….."
"Lilith!" A Man in dark colors stormed in his beauty was the cruel sort. He looked a lot like the little girl, but she was filled with innocence and love.
"What are you doing?" He hissed.
"What you said Papa." She whispered. Amelia side stepped grabbing firmly on Negi's wrist. She get them behind the fierce man.
"Come on Negi!" They ran through the halls.
"What about Setsuna-san and Asuna-san!?"
"They'll be fine!"
"But-!"
"No time, do you want to save your mother or not." They ran through the stone hall. They heard explosion from behind them. They stopped at a large heavy door at the end of the hall.
"Pateo tui specialis!" Negi shouted waving his staff. The door swung open. They ran inside and closed it behind them. They panted and exchanged glances. They heard soft breathing and they spun around. A woman was lying on a stone bed decorated with ruins. Her straight blond hair spread out over the stone. Her hands were neatly folded over her chest. She was wearing a white dress and white heels. Strange markings were painted on her shoulders chest and brow. Her pink lips were closed. Her amber pendant was glowing with golden light.
"Is that…..?"
"Yes, that's Catherine." Negi approached her and reached to touch her. His fingers brushed her, she didn't even stir, she was cold to the touch. Negi began to shake her gently but she did not awaken.
"Don't bother, she won't wake up she's in an enchanted sleep. She won't wake up unless Ironheart releases her or……"
"Or what?" Negi asked desperately.
"He he harms a child of Catherine, meaning you or Lilith. It could be as simple as a punch or a slap and she would be released."
"Then…" The door was kicked in. The Ironheart Mage stared them down. His hair was bluish purple and his eyes purple.
"You will not take her from me!"
"She needs to be with her son, how she could be happy being like this!" The mage tossed the unconscious forms of Setsuna and Asuna on the ground.
"She is not unhappy, did you even know how betrayed she looked when I told her husband was alive but he had abandoned her. You should have seen her face."
"Catherine has faced a lot in her life. She has been betrayed, left behind and abused mentally. She's strong she has endured it all and do you know what made it worth it for her? Not her husband, not her friends, her son. She loves her son dearly, and she thinks that's the only good thing she ever did was bringing that boy into the world. So shut the hell up, you're the one who took her away from her precious child and made her sleep for what? Eight years?"
"Stupid girl she's happy now that she can't feel!"
"How can she feel anything?!"
"You will hold your tongue if you know what's good for you little one." He hissed, but Amelia stood strong.
"You just know that if she wakes up she will leave you because you know she will leave you! You know she doesn't love you!" The Ironheart Mage slapped her. The amber pendant strung from Catherine's throat shattered and a sharp gasp filled the room. Amelia smirked rubbing her swollen cheek.
"We win."
-
-
-
-
-
Princess: Dun dun dun du du dun! Midterms are over so it's time to update. I honestly don't expect any reviews but they would be nice. So if you haven't been following the plot Amelia is Catherine's daughter. She made several hints of it, the main one being her sisterly affection of Negi, she'll only obey her big brother, and she finds him as a life line to her family. I love writing Amelia, now she seems bratish but she'll grow to be quite manipulative. Catherine loved Amelia but she couldn't raise her to b the "bastard girl". You'll find out how she had a baby without anyone noticing next chapter. BTW that nonsense Negi said was Latin for Reveal Your Secrets, I couldn't find the word unlock so I had to stick with that.
-
-
Reviews: What? No reviews at all come on people if you like this story enough to follow it, one would be nice, I'm not asking for much, one freaking review!