Lina sighed with relief as the Eternal Queen left the carriage and walked into the palace. Luna looked at her disapprovingly as the driver started the carriage again, heading in the direction of Luna's cottage. "You shouldn't look so relieved." Luna said.
"Hey, it's hard to completely relax in one's own home when you are hosting the sovereign of your country!" Lina said, "I'm looking forward to it just being me and Gourry again…well, and Zel and Amelia." She added quickly as she glanced at her friends sitting across from her, "And our parents…and twenty or so kids."
The twins started bouncing in their seats as they recognized the familiar streets of their neighborhood, eliciting grins of indulgence from Gourry and Amelia and annoyance from Zelgadis. "Now that I think of it, I guess I'd better box up the boys' baby stuff and send it up to you." Luna reflected.
"That'd be nice. Though, I thought you were going to have more."
"These two are potty trained and sleep through the night." Luna said, "And it struck me that I don't want to go back."
"Hey, looks like I'm a good influence on you!" Lina commented as the carriage pulled up to Luna's cottage.
"Huh?" Luna asked.
"Well instead of dutifully doing Ceiphied and the Eternal Queens' beckoning and spawning a ton of powerful children, you're doing what you want to do and stopping at two! Way to go, Sis!"
Luna glared at her, and Lina found herself missing the bangs that used to shield her eyes. But soon the carriage stopped and the boys were clamoring to be let out to see their father. "Oh, hold your horses for one moment!" Luna snapped as she opened the door and her sons ran out. "You sure that you don't want to come inside for some tea?"
"We're good, but thanks." Lina said.
"We've got shopping to do!" Amelia said chipperly.
"Enjoy then. And now that the Eternal Queen and I are gone, don't mess things up!"
"I never do." Lina said sweetly, "Bye!"
After Luna left, Lina practically sank bonelessly into the seat as the carriage headed for Main Street. "Ah, now I can really relax!"
Given that Lina had had to spend a few days on bedrest, when the Eternal Queen had asked them to accompany her back to Zefiel City she was happy for the opportunity to get out of Maninstit and enjoy the hustle and bustle of the town. She'd quickly made plans with Gourry, Zel and Amelia to go shopping and to see a comedy that would be playing that evening and to enjoy some downtime after all of the stress of the past month. And now that both the Eternal Queen and Luna were gone, the fun could begin!
They had just gotten out of the carriage when Lina learned that her popularity had not diminished in the time she had been away, as she had hoped it would. Soon she could hear a woman cry, "Look! It's Lady Lina!"
And just like that they were surrounded by people congratulating her on her pregnancy. But that wasn't the bad part. No, it was when an adolescent boy asked Gourry, "So, did you really off your own mom?" that Lina's temper flared.
"Hey, unless you want to taste a Burst Rondo you'd better knock it off!" Lina yelled as she grabbed him by the collar, "The Eternal Queen herself witnessed Gourry miles away from the murder scene at the time it occurred, so unless you want to call our illustrious sovereign a liar then you better stop spreading those unfounded rumors! Now get out of our way before I start wrecking things!"
Lina let the kid go, and as she scampered away Amelia whispered, "Lina, this might not be the best way to prove his innocence."
"Damned if I care." Lina said as she grabbed Gourry's hand and ducked into the first shop that she came upon.
Once inside Lina found herself facing a shelf of cute, folded baby garments. Amelia squealed with delight as Lina felt her face go flush. "Ah, Lady Lina! Princess Amelia! I was hoping you would stop by my humble store." The shopkeeper, a middle aged woman who was knitting a garment said as she saw them. She then looked at the crowd clamoring outside and went to address it, "My store is closed to everyone else while Lady Lina and Princess Amelia shop. After they leave I will open the store again and make note of the items that they liked. I'm sure they will be quite trendy in a few months."
How shrewd. Lina thought approvingly as she started to look around. "Please, make yourself at home." The owner said, as she took a step back and gave them some room to look around.
Lina paired off with Amelia as Gourry walked off with Zelgadis, "Thank you." Amelia said as she picked out a garment, "Could you start a basket for me?"
"Of course, your highness."
Lina tried to ignore the crowd pressed against the window watching their every move as Amelia kept grabbing garments left and right. While the outfits were cute, Lina couldn't see using them for an actual real live baby! Eventually Amelia pulled out a garment embroidered with red hearts and cooed, "Isn't it so cute!?"
"Well, yeah." Lina said, "But as soon as you put it on the baby will throw up all over it, or poop all over it and ruin it. It just seems like such a waste."
"That's why you buy a ton of them!" Amelia said as she cradled it to her chest.
Lina looked at her, "Don't you royals ever launder your clothes?"
"Why do that? The more we buy the more it benefits the clothes makers." Amelia said.
"I don't know." Lina said as she looked at the small mountain of clothing that Amelia was buying, "At the rate you're going the clothes makers won't be able to keep up!"
"That's so silly." Amelia said as she put the garment on the top of the pile. "Aren't you going to buy anything?"
"Well, Sis says she has a ton of hand-me-downs to give me. And then I think I'll just wait and see what I get at the baby shower and then go shopping for whatever else I need."
Amelia sighed as she grabbed a knitted outfit with little lambs on it and held it out to Lina, "You have to stop thinking like a peasant! You have plenty of money now to splurge on Little Dimmy."
"Don't you start with the Little Dimmy stuff!" Lina yelled as she took the garment without thinking about it.
Then Amelia squealed as her eyes set on a dress, "Ohh! Look at all of the frills and lace! I can't leave without it!"
"What if you have a boy?" Lina asked.
Amelia shrugged, "Eventually there will be someone I can gift it to. But I don't think I have to worry. Everything about this pregnancy screams GIRL to me!"
"I don't know." The shop owner said, "You're looking too beautiful in my mind. Girls steal a woman's beauty."
"What sort of nonsense is that?" Amelia asked even as she patted her hair, and Lina felt a flare of jealousy about how Amelia didn't even have to fish for a compliment. "Lina, aren't you going to get one thing?"
"I don't know," Lina said, and then she wondered if she bought something if the clerk would be a bit more complimentary, "It just seems so wasteful when I already have good clothing lined up."
"Wow, you really are having a hard time shaking your upbringing." Amelia said as she started shifting through a box of baby bonnets, and Lina bit her lip.
"What's wrong with reusing things?"
"A brand new baby should have brand new things!" Amelia said, "And this baby will be very important. He can't go around in tattered old clothes."
"Definitely not." The shop owner said, and a bit guiltily Lina had thought about how she was helping them get away from the crowds. "And you will have to show him off, you'll want to ensure he is dressed in the best clothes for that."
Lina sighed, but she did have a point. Luna had said there would be a big ceremony for the baby, and somehow she was fairly sure there would be severe punishment if Lina brought the baby to it underdressed, "Well, do you have anything with gold trim?"
"Let me look, I'll be right back."
"So what does Zel think about you blowing all this money?" Lina asked, but then she looked across the room where Zelgadis had gathered a basket full of socks and shook her head, "Nevermind."
"He's really worried about her little feet getting cold." Amelia said, "It's rather cute."
Suddenly, from the back of the store, Lina heard Gourry called, "Lina look!"
She turned to see him walking up to her holding out a blue knitted garment with jellyfish on it, "Isn't it too cute?" he asked as he held it to his face as he wore a big, dopey grin.
Lina felt her heart melt as her face heated, "Um, right. Yes, yes, we'll take it! And this as well." She said as she held up the garment with the lambs.
"Oh, that was a good show!" Amelia exclaimed as they piled into the carriage.
"Wasn't it, though?" Lina asked, still giddy off the rush of having seats in a private balcony with an amazing view of the stage. Growing up if she'd want to see a show she could barely afford to pay to stand in the back of the auditorium to watch. "Oh, I don't think I've laughed so hard in a while."
"That chase scene at the end!" Zelgadis said as he wiped tears of mirth from his eyes.
"Not to interrupt, but where are we going?" the driver asked.
"Maninstit." Lina said.
"But it's rather late." The driver pointed out. And that much was true.
"I told my parents I wouldn't leave them alone with all those kids both days this weekend!" Lina said, "They deserve a day off as well. The sooner we get going, the sooner we'll get there."
"Right, milady." The driver said as he started the carriage.
It was a moonless light, and Zelgadis chanted a light spell to fill the interior of the carriage with a warm glow as they traveled. Lina reflected on how badly they'd needed this breather as they talked amicably about the show as they left Zefiel City behind and entered the forest. Trees heavily lined each side of the road, but it was nothing too special to look at. In fact Lina would get uneasy if she did and would start thinking of all the things that could roam the forest at night, so she focused on the interior and the company she was with. They were getting close to Maninstit when Lina felt a chill in the air and thought it was strange. Given that it was summer and how hot she'd been since getting pregnant the only time she felt chills anymore was when…
Her instincts were screaming at her to look out the window even as her stomach started flipping. Nothing good ever came from not being able to see what was on the prowl, though, so she forced herself to look out the window. She sat up and moved closer as her eyes widened as she discerned what looked like two children, glowing white in the night, as they slowly walked by the side of the road. But before Lina could get a good look at them the carriage overtook them, leaving them behind on the road. "What the…?" Lina exclaimed.
"Did you see them, too?" Amelia asked as she turned in her seat to look behind them.
"I think." Lina said.
"What?" Zelgadis asked.
"It's strange but I think I saw a pair of children by the side of the road." Amelia said.
"They aren't from Maninstit?" Gourry asked as he craned over Lina to get a look out the window.
"I…" Amelia said, and then she paled.
Lina didn't have to ask why. Gooseflesh erupted all over her skin as she saw the children racing at impossible speeds towards their carriage! Soon they had caught up to them and Lina got a good look as they peered into the carriage, their eyes black empty sockets. Their eerie laughter reverberated through the air as they suddenly raced ahead to overtake the driver.
A moment later Lina heard the driver scream and the horses whine. Gourry suddenly grabbed her as he called out, "Brace yourselves!"
The carriage swayed ominously, and Lina wedged herself between the wall and Gourry to give herself a measure of protection. Somehow the driver managed to stop the carriage without tipping it over. "You okay?" Gourry asked.
"Fine." She said as she opened the door and climbed out, followed by the others.
They raced up to where the horses were as the driver ran in the opposite direction, screaming. Gourry grabbed him and shook him as he said firmly, "Get a grip on yourself!"
Meanwhile, everyone else's attention was on the ghost children floating in the middle of the road with eager smiles on their faces. Lina was suddenly overcome with a memory of the vision she had seen when they first sealed the Sad Lady. Two children had been with the Sad Lady. It was hard to tell for sure, but Lina's gut was telling her that these were her children!
"You two are with child." One of the children said, her voice an otherworldly gurgle, as they stared at Lina and Amelia. "You can carry us home. Bring us into the world again. Give us new life."
Lina's hair stood on end as the children started to advance towards them and a green light started to shine in their black eye sockets. The summer air grew cold as the driver started crying and praying and Lina protectively put her hands around her stomach as Amelia started chanting beside her. Quickly Lina said, "But then you'll never be with your mother again. And I know where she is."
"Lina?" Zelgadis asked.
"The Sad Lady." Lina said quietly.
"You know Boadicea, our mother?" one of the children said as they halted.
"Yes." Amelia said quickly, as though an idea had just struck her, "We can reunite you if you ride in the carriage with us...with us, not within us."
"Amelia!" Zelgadis cried, and Lina had to agree that the plan sounded insane.
"Trust me." Amelia said, though whether she was talking to the children or Zelgadis was uncertain. "We can give you a ride home to see her."
"You want to do what!?" the driver exclaimed.
"Oh buckle up." Zelgadis said, "I'll ride up front with you."
"I can't!" the driver said.
"Would you rather sit in the carriage with the ghosts? Or walk home in these woods at all alone at night?" Zelgadis asked.
"Fine, I'll do it!" the driver said.
Zelgadis climbed up to the bench, and the driver joined him, shaking from head to toe. With a sense of unease Lina watched as the children floated into the carriage. She took a deep, bracing breath and then followed them in with Gourry and Amelia. At least for the first time in ages I'm not hot! Lina thought as she wrapped her arms around herself as she started shivering.
"What happened to you?" Lina eventually asked.
"The other queen wanted our land and fought our mother the Chieftess for it. There was a battle and they took us from her and said as punishment for her insubordination we would never be reunited." One of the children explained.
"What are your names?" Amelia asked.
"Iceni." One said.
"Prasutagus." The other said.
Lina checked to look out the window and with relief noted that Maninstit was coming into view. She wasn't sure what Amelia's plan was, but she wasn't going to ask while the children were in earshot. Then she turned to ask the children a question and felt a jolt as she realized that they were gone! "What the…" Lina said.
"They just vanished!" Gourry yelled.
Amelia, meanwhile, smiled knowingly as though she was expecting this.
Lina grabbed her stomach, "They didn't enter our bodies...!?"
"There's a pool of blood, where they were sitting." Gourry said.
Amelia nodded, "I cast a spell earlier and found that just like I've bound the Sad Lady to the old parlor, those children are bound to the forest outside of the border of Maninstit. So I knew that all we had to do was get to the property safely and they would go away on their own."
"So someone cast that spell so that their ghosts would never meet the Sad Lady's ghost?" Lina asked.
"Yes," Amelia confirmed. "It's rather tragic."
"Wow." Lina said as she suddenly felt disturbed, "It looks as though Queen Carliena was ruthless and heartless."
"Is there any way we can help them?" Gourry asked.
"Well, this is good information for me to present to my White Magic group. It we reunite them then it could very well heal the wound and close the portal." Amelia said. "I have a few ideas, well see if any of them can help. It would help if we had a personal item of theirs."
"Indy and Jean-Luc have been digging around this place. What should they be looking for?" Lina asked.
"I'm not sure. What did the tribes who used to live here keep among their possessions?" Amelia asked as the carriage pulled up to the house.
Lina sighed as she exited the carriage, "Well, your guess is as good as mine."
"Maybe Indy and Jean-Luc will have an idea." Gourry suggested, and then they all stopped and shook their heads at the sight of the driver kneeling as his kissed the ground over and over again.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
Lina shook her head and considered that at least she was no longer freezing. Suddenly being hot didn't seem too bad! But then the students guarding the door, Ace and Clark, ran up to her, "Lady Lina! Thank goodness you're back!"
"Why? What happened?" Lina asked.
"It's Indy and Jean-Luc." Ace said, "They went exploring today and never came back. Your father is still out looking for them!"
AN: When I was a pre-teen I had a dream that I was in the backseat of a car when we drove past a man walking by the road. A few minute later the man transformed and flew past our car, looking rather evil as he did, and then the car crash and I realized he was death personified or something. It rather freaked me out and stayed with me. As an adult I later found out that in Wisconsin and Minnesota there are stories of people being chased by a man who can run impossibly fast while they are driving and the details parallel the dream that I had so perfectly it's surreal, except the man in those stories is more animal like running on four legs while in my dream he was more bird like. I've only been to Wisconsin once as an adult, long after I had the dream, and I've never been to Minnesota, so I don't know how I could have picked up in folklore on places I've lived so far from. I did read a lot of ghost stories when I was a kid so it's possible that there was a story like that in one of them and I forgot about it and later dreamt of it, but given how detailed my memory is and how I can still recite some of my favorite ghost stories that I'd read as a child, I think I'd remember if I had. I tend to think there are common elements that people find scary and it's a lot of coincidence. So on the one hand there is a urban legend it is based off it, but I also dreamt it before I heard of that urban legend (I'm 90% sure of it), so I'll take credit for the idea even though other people have had it, lol. Though if someone knows a Scariest Stories to Tell in the Dark or Fear Street novel with that in it, I will stand corrected! The latter part with the ghost children vanishing is a twist on the vanishing hitchhiker story, which is one of the oldest urban legends out there. Pretty much every place has a vanishing hitchhiker legend, so that is definitely NOT my idea.
Oh, Happy October! Halloween is coming up! Get ready for chills and thrills in honor of my favorite holiday!