Chapter 52
Lina and Zelgadis returned to the Palace several hours later, to find Naga practically beside herself. The staff had searched for Amelia and couldn't find her, and Naga was ready to call the Royal Guards and have Jedah's head on a platter. She'd already called for Sylphiel and Gourry to meet her, and when Zelgadis finally figured out what was going on, he cast out a thought, and his eyebrows lifted at the flicker that he received. Chuckling, looked back to the eldest Princess. "Naga, calm down. She's with Jedah and they're fine. They're somewhere perfectly safe."
"But she's-!" Naga burst, only to be interrupted by a strangely calm Zelgadis, considering the words that he was saying, and the nature of the knowledge he'd gained, feeling his cheeks pink slightly, but fighting it valiantly for a moment before it quite suddenly faded into acceptance as he thought about it and knew what needed to be said.
"An adult, Naga." Zelgadis lifted his hand as Naga opened her mouth to say something else. "She is the same age that you were when you met Lina. Consider that: how much had you accomplished? How much has she?" He let the words settle for a moment, and then softened his expression as he saw Sylphiel put her hand to her mouth in sudden understanding.
"Of all of us, Amelia's the one who has grown up without anyone noticing. She's not the little girl that jumped in terror every time I looked at her anymore. She can make her own choices; make her own way in life. If that path includes Jedah... then it's something we'll just have to work out for ourselves." Zelgadis' voice softened, the hard edge no longer necessary. He knew how much of a shock this had to be for Naga… he'd faced much the same earlier.
Lina tilted her head, looking to Zelgadis thoughtfully. He wasn't the same man, either. Jedah's words echoed back at her. I'm not the me I started as. You aren't the you that was yesterday, or even this morning. We all grow, we all change. We do things that shape us and mold us differently from how we expected.
It was just as Jedah had said. None of them were the same as when they'd started, and they wouldn't be the same again. She kept her mouth closed, though, for she knew the chances of Naga listening were higher if she didn't muddy the waters with her own commentary. It was bad enough that Gourry looked like he was going to pipe up with something, and Lina relaxed slightly when Sylphiel put her hand on Gourry's arm and stopped him.
Naga sighed, lowering her head. "She's my sister, Zelgadis. I have a hard time looking at her and knowing who she is at times. Sometimes I feel as if she's somehow grown up past me, that even though I'm older than she is... somehow she managed to leave me behind." She'd been the one to run out on Amelia, it hadn't occurred that Amelia would continue to grow and become her own woman.
Zelgadis' hand fell to Naga's shoulder, his gaze and smile kind. "Naga, though you'll never believe me in a thousand years, I know how you feel. Somehow I was in my own head when Jedah told me who and what he was. It felt as if I'd failed him; somehow let him down by not being there for him. But he proved better of it in the end, and I know that as long as Amelia is with him, she's safer than she's ever been in this world."
"I'm just worried…" Naga said quietly, looking to Zelgadis. "I left her. I ran away and left her to the mercies of the world. Now she's out there and I don't know where she is if she needs me, or what she's doing." It didn't worry Naga so much that Amelia was with Jedah. It was the thought that her sister might be in over her head wherever she was.
"I can tell you what they're doing."
The voice that spoke was jarringly familiar, a sardonic and slightly nasal voice that none of them had expected to hear. As Zelgadis turned, he realized that he should have expected it, and had even had the ability to know it ahead of time… but hadn't thought to use it. "Xellos!" The moment his eyes fell upon the violet-haired figure, he knew that it was beyond a doubt the one that they had all thought gone.
Gloved hands lifted in a show of innocence that no-one believed. "Did you miss me?" Without waiting for a reply, the Trickster Priest continued brightly. "Too bad! I never left, what a shame." As he spoke, he walked closer, watching the expressions with closed-eyed glee. "No welcomes? No open arms and tears for a long-thought-lost companion?" He was mocking them, and they knew it.
Lina glared at Xellos, her eyes blazing with scarlet fury, and she stepped forwards with a snarl. "I have no welcomes for you, Xellos. Not after what you pulled with me earlier. Too bad you didn't get what you deserved." She moved to hit the Mazoku clad in the robes of a Priest, but he caught her hand easily, something he could have done whenever he so chose.
Xellos saw Zelgadis tense, and knew he had to move quickly. He pulled Lina into his embrace, looking at her furious eyes for a moment before he grinned darkly at her. "Oh, but I did, Lina. Oh… but I did." Before anyone could move, he leaned in and kissed her hard on the lips, vanishing as she lashed out, leaving her only empty air to try to pummel.
"Oh… that… FRUITCAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Lina shrieked, scarlet-faced, spinning around as if half-expecting to find Xellos taunting her from behind. Instead, her gaze fell on Zelgadis, and she glared at him as if he should have come to her rescue.
It would take most of the night for Zelgadis to calm her down, he realized with a sigh. Leave it to Xellos to return from the 'dead' and turn his life back into unmitigated chaotic hell.
