Chance Encounters
Chapter 1
By: Lady Rava
It was a beautiful day. The sun shone high in the crystal clear sky, its beams of light seeming to embrace the entire countryside, creating a feeling of tranquility that could lighten the hardest of hearts and a warmth and peace that seemed to fill almost the entire land. Yet there was one place that was untouched by the good mood of the day. The Inverse estate seemed to be surrounded by an impenetrable aura of tension and anger, and all emitting from one very pissed-off girl.
"NO!"
"You must."
"I WON'T!" The fiery red haired girl screamed, infuriated. Her voice echoed across the nearly empty room, now empty because the majority of the palace staff had already fled the room in fear of their mistress's rage. Which was probably a good thing considering the enraged girl had already fireballed half the room's contents, leaving the room a charred mess.
Unfortunately, the recipient of the girl's anger seemed unaffected by her tantrums. In fact, he seemed to become even more annoying to her, though he was growing weary of her resistance. "My lady," he continued in an annoyingly patient voice, "you must understand you have no choice in this matter. By the king's law all noble ladies are required to be presented to the prince as suitors."
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE STUPID LAW!" Lina Inverse screamed in response, the elaborate dress that she was required to wear for formal occasions swirling around her as she paced. There was no way that stupid adviser was going to force her fawn before some stranger, especially not some prince who was rumored to be self-centered and cold-hearted. Nope, nothing could force her to weaken her resolve. Not one thing…
"Lina Inverse you WILL present yourself at the prince's court in two days," a stern voice interjected.
"Yes nee-chan," Lina replied in a meek voice.
And that was that.
"FIREBALL! FLARE ARROW! DIL BRANDO!" Came the shouts from Lina's bedchamber. The servants ignored her for the most part, both used to their mistress's temper and fearful of her rage should they attempt to check on her. And considering the fact that Lina was not really paying attention to what she was fireballing, this was probably a good thing.
At the moment said girl was laying on her bed panting after only partially venting her anger at the expense of her room. "Damn them," Lina growled softly "They only think of me as some pawn, a tool to be pushed around like some mindless drone. And I have to do what nee-chan says or I'll be punished." She shivered slightly at the thought of facing her sister's rage. Lina sighed softly, "L-sama I wish I hadn't been born a noble!" She paused for a second them slammed a fist into her bed, "Well if they think I'm gonna act like some simpering little lady they've got another thing coming, I'm Lina Inverse the most powerful sorceress in the land and I'll be damned if I'll marry some prince!"
Resolved, Lina stood, pulling her dress over her head she flung it into the corner and pulled on her sorceress attire, determined to enjoy at least one more day before she was forced to appear in the prince's court. Padding silently over to the window, she swiftly pulled it open and slipped out into the night.
At about the same time as Lina's err...argument with her adviser, the prince who had indirectly caused all of Lina's problems was involved in an argument of his own, over exactly the same subject...
Zelgadis Greywers, crown prince of the powerful nation of Gielata was not happy. Not happy at all. In fact he was downright furious. Of course it was not like anyone could tell, considering he always looked depressed and annoyed, he had right to anyway; not many people had the misfortune of being a chimera.
However, for once Zelgadis was not brooding over his condition. He was, at the moment, involved in a battle of wills with his very annoying, self-appointed adviser, who also happened to have fruitcake tendencies. Rava: Gee wonder who it is? ^_^
"Xellos!" Zelgadis growled, "I do NOT need a wife!" He clenched a fist while repeating this for perhaps the twentieth time and glared at the aforementioned mazoku.
Xellos smiled contently; he was getting quite a meal from Zelgadis's anger and it amused him even more that Zelgadis was probably aware of this and even angrier because of it. "Of course you do Zelly-kun," Xellos stated while wagging his finger. "You're certainly old enough and you need someone to keep you from brooding all the time. Plus the king has ordered that you marry a noble lady. But if you don't want a wife there's always me, ne Zelly-kun?"
"FRUITCAKE!" Zelgadis sputtered glaring at Xellos and flinching from the completely inappropriate nickname. He repeatedly cursed the fact that he was required to be civil with Xellos in order to uphold the treaty with the mazoku. After imagining several ways he'd like to kill the mazoku, Zelgadis calmly looked up and flatly stated, "There is no way you can get me to go through with this."
"Well yes I figured that," Xellos admitted. "That's why I took the liberty of issuing invitations to all the noble ladies without your permission." he finished proudly.
"YOU WHAT!!!" Zelgadis exploded. He should've expected that mazoku would do something like this, but that did nothing to vent his anger. Besides, it was not like any of the ladies would want to marry him anyway; who could love a freak like him? Zelgadis looked up "and how," he questioned, "do you plan to force me to do something I have no desire to do?" He finished in a dangerous tone.
And Xellos simply stated, "Sore wa himitsu desu."
Growling softly under his breath, Zelgadis stood, and stalked towards the door.
"Where are you going Zelly-kun?" The mazoku questioned.
"Hopefully as far away from you as possible!" Came the furious reply.
"Well then have fun!" Xellos said in a cheerful voice, "but be back soon, your guests arrive in two days."
His only reply was the forceful slamming of the door as Zelgadis stalked out of the palace.
"Damn mazoku," Zelgadis muttered, irritably shoving branches out of his way as he stalked through the underbrush in the Lymani Forest, which was just east of his castle. The forest was the largest such in the kingdom and extended to the border of Gielata. The tall, overgrown trees that made up the forest had the effect of making it nearly impossible to travel far without getting lost. Add that to the fact that the moon was concealed in the depth of the forest, and it should have been impossible for a normal human to detect anyone or anything approaching.
But Zelgadis was not human and he was far from normal. So therefore it was not strange that he detected a presence nearby after wandering through the forest for a couple of hours and straying far from the palace grounds. However, what surprised him was that whoever was nearby seemed to detect him as well, for he could tell that whoever he sensed had stopped moving the second he approached.
Freezing in his tracks, he warily looked around; his chimera senses should reveal to him the exact location of whoever was nearby. Or so he thought...
"Don't move," a voice commanded from behind Zelgadis. He could feel the soft intake of breath at the base of his neck and the pressure of the object pressed against his throat. Being careful not to move so as not to provoke the stranger, he silently mulled over his current situation. As the prince of a power of power country, it was not all uncommon that he found himself the target of an assassin's blade, and logically he assumed this to be the case. Yet, what surprised him was how the assassin had managed to sneak up on him without him noticing.
"Must not be one of the clumsy assassins I usually get", he mused to himself, "of course whoever it is doesn't seem to know that I can't be harmed by a simple dagger." He carefully reached downward toward the sword he wore at his side, planning to catch his assailant unaware. The assassin immediately grasped his arm at the same time removing the knife from his neck. Twisting quickly out of the assassin's grasp, Zelgadis shoved him roughly and plucked the dagger out of his attacker's hand while he was distracted. His assailant fought back savagely, giving him no time to draw his sword and clawing at Zelgadis with a deep rage while hurling a couple of spells at him, which surprised Zelgadis because most assassins were more proficient with a blade than with magic. However, as his assailant recited a spell Zelgadis attempted to gain an advantage. Shoving forward he managed to catch the assassin off guard and pushed him forward. The assassin stumbled and fell backward, the hands reaching out and grabbing Zelgadis caused him to fall as well and the two went rolling down the slight incline and landing in a clearing, Zelgadis on top of the assassin. Zelgadis looked down, the moonlight shining above revealing the identity of the assassin, and realized with a shock that his assassin was a girl.
The girl was dressed in a sorceress outfit with a long black cape wrapped around her shoulders. Blood red talismans adorned her wrists, waist and neck and she wore a black headband, which seemed to do know them to hold back her unruly red hair. "She certainly doesn't look like an assassin," Zelgadis thought to himself. Actually he thought she looked more like a child than anything else, but the way she fought told him that he should be careful in dealing with her.
Zelgadis pinned the girl's wrists to the ground, his weight on top of her keeping her from escaping despite her fierce struggling, and attempted to keep from blushing at their position. "Why were you following me?" He growled softly his ice blue eyes meeting her indignant, crimson ones.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Lina snapped, "you were following me."
"Why would I be following some child?" Zelgadis demanded.
"CHILD?! I'll have you know I'm sixteen and it's only natural that a beautiful sorcery genius such as myself be the target of an attack," Lina huffed arrogantly, "besides who would follow someone like you, its not like you're important or anything."
"There are many people who would want to kill me and I refuse to believe that you don't recognize me." He was the only chimera that was prince of Gielata after all.
"Well I don't. Should I?" she retorted angrily. She tried to move her hands so she could cast a spell, but found that she couldn't budge his grasp on her arms even an inch. Growling slightly she slammed her knee against his leg, but let out a cry of pain when she hit solid rock.
"Itai..."
Zelgadis released his grip and stood, watching the girl rub her injured knee. He was slightly perplexed as to why she would be stupid enough to hit someone made of stone; she looked fairly intelligent to him. Sighing softly, he knelt down and cast recovery on her knee. "You shouldn't hit someone made of stone," he told her seriously, "it isn't exactly the smartest thing to do."
"You're made of stone?" Funny she hadn't noticed that before, "Well you do look a little different," she said cocking her head slightly and looking at him closely.
Zelgadis was shocked, "she thinks I look a LITTLE different, can't she tell I'm a hideous monster?" He shook his head, bemused, "you're a strange girl."
Lina snorted and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Well at least I don't stalk innocent girls."
"Innocent?!"
Lina glared at him and stood, brushing herself off. She looked up and noticed it was considerably lighter than it had been before and realized that it was almost morning. "EEK Luna's gonna kill me. Umm I gotta go, try not to attack anymore beautiful girls, k?" She said cheerfully while flashing him a victory sign before dashing off through the forest.
Zelgadis sweatdropped, "what a strange girl," he mused running a hand through his hair. He stood and began the long walk back to the palace, no longer having any desire to roam aimlessly through the forest. For some reason, he had the strangest feeling that he would see that girl again. He just wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Chapter 1
By: Lady Rava
It was a beautiful day. The sun shone high in the crystal clear sky, its beams of light seeming to embrace the entire countryside, creating a feeling of tranquility that could lighten the hardest of hearts and a warmth and peace that seemed to fill almost the entire land. Yet there was one place that was untouched by the good mood of the day. The Inverse estate seemed to be surrounded by an impenetrable aura of tension and anger, and all emitting from one very pissed-off girl.
"NO!"
"You must."
"I WON'T!" The fiery red haired girl screamed, infuriated. Her voice echoed across the nearly empty room, now empty because the majority of the palace staff had already fled the room in fear of their mistress's rage. Which was probably a good thing considering the enraged girl had already fireballed half the room's contents, leaving the room a charred mess.
Unfortunately, the recipient of the girl's anger seemed unaffected by her tantrums. In fact, he seemed to become even more annoying to her, though he was growing weary of her resistance. "My lady," he continued in an annoyingly patient voice, "you must understand you have no choice in this matter. By the king's law all noble ladies are required to be presented to the prince as suitors."
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE STUPID LAW!" Lina Inverse screamed in response, the elaborate dress that she was required to wear for formal occasions swirling around her as she paced. There was no way that stupid adviser was going to force her fawn before some stranger, especially not some prince who was rumored to be self-centered and cold-hearted. Nope, nothing could force her to weaken her resolve. Not one thing…
"Lina Inverse you WILL present yourself at the prince's court in two days," a stern voice interjected.
"Yes nee-chan," Lina replied in a meek voice.
And that was that.
"FIREBALL! FLARE ARROW! DIL BRANDO!" Came the shouts from Lina's bedchamber. The servants ignored her for the most part, both used to their mistress's temper and fearful of her rage should they attempt to check on her. And considering the fact that Lina was not really paying attention to what she was fireballing, this was probably a good thing.
At the moment said girl was laying on her bed panting after only partially venting her anger at the expense of her room. "Damn them," Lina growled softly "They only think of me as some pawn, a tool to be pushed around like some mindless drone. And I have to do what nee-chan says or I'll be punished." She shivered slightly at the thought of facing her sister's rage. Lina sighed softly, "L-sama I wish I hadn't been born a noble!" She paused for a second them slammed a fist into her bed, "Well if they think I'm gonna act like some simpering little lady they've got another thing coming, I'm Lina Inverse the most powerful sorceress in the land and I'll be damned if I'll marry some prince!"
Resolved, Lina stood, pulling her dress over her head she flung it into the corner and pulled on her sorceress attire, determined to enjoy at least one more day before she was forced to appear in the prince's court. Padding silently over to the window, she swiftly pulled it open and slipped out into the night.
At about the same time as Lina's err...argument with her adviser, the prince who had indirectly caused all of Lina's problems was involved in an argument of his own, over exactly the same subject...
Zelgadis Greywers, crown prince of the powerful nation of Gielata was not happy. Not happy at all. In fact he was downright furious. Of course it was not like anyone could tell, considering he always looked depressed and annoyed, he had right to anyway; not many people had the misfortune of being a chimera.
However, for once Zelgadis was not brooding over his condition. He was, at the moment, involved in a battle of wills with his very annoying, self-appointed adviser, who also happened to have fruitcake tendencies. Rava: Gee wonder who it is? ^_^
"Xellos!" Zelgadis growled, "I do NOT need a wife!" He clenched a fist while repeating this for perhaps the twentieth time and glared at the aforementioned mazoku.
Xellos smiled contently; he was getting quite a meal from Zelgadis's anger and it amused him even more that Zelgadis was probably aware of this and even angrier because of it. "Of course you do Zelly-kun," Xellos stated while wagging his finger. "You're certainly old enough and you need someone to keep you from brooding all the time. Plus the king has ordered that you marry a noble lady. But if you don't want a wife there's always me, ne Zelly-kun?"
"FRUITCAKE!" Zelgadis sputtered glaring at Xellos and flinching from the completely inappropriate nickname. He repeatedly cursed the fact that he was required to be civil with Xellos in order to uphold the treaty with the mazoku. After imagining several ways he'd like to kill the mazoku, Zelgadis calmly looked up and flatly stated, "There is no way you can get me to go through with this."
"Well yes I figured that," Xellos admitted. "That's why I took the liberty of issuing invitations to all the noble ladies without your permission." he finished proudly.
"YOU WHAT!!!" Zelgadis exploded. He should've expected that mazoku would do something like this, but that did nothing to vent his anger. Besides, it was not like any of the ladies would want to marry him anyway; who could love a freak like him? Zelgadis looked up "and how," he questioned, "do you plan to force me to do something I have no desire to do?" He finished in a dangerous tone.
And Xellos simply stated, "Sore wa himitsu desu."
Growling softly under his breath, Zelgadis stood, and stalked towards the door.
"Where are you going Zelly-kun?" The mazoku questioned.
"Hopefully as far away from you as possible!" Came the furious reply.
"Well then have fun!" Xellos said in a cheerful voice, "but be back soon, your guests arrive in two days."
His only reply was the forceful slamming of the door as Zelgadis stalked out of the palace.
"Damn mazoku," Zelgadis muttered, irritably shoving branches out of his way as he stalked through the underbrush in the Lymani Forest, which was just east of his castle. The forest was the largest such in the kingdom and extended to the border of Gielata. The tall, overgrown trees that made up the forest had the effect of making it nearly impossible to travel far without getting lost. Add that to the fact that the moon was concealed in the depth of the forest, and it should have been impossible for a normal human to detect anyone or anything approaching.
But Zelgadis was not human and he was far from normal. So therefore it was not strange that he detected a presence nearby after wandering through the forest for a couple of hours and straying far from the palace grounds. However, what surprised him was that whoever was nearby seemed to detect him as well, for he could tell that whoever he sensed had stopped moving the second he approached.
Freezing in his tracks, he warily looked around; his chimera senses should reveal to him the exact location of whoever was nearby. Or so he thought...
"Don't move," a voice commanded from behind Zelgadis. He could feel the soft intake of breath at the base of his neck and the pressure of the object pressed against his throat. Being careful not to move so as not to provoke the stranger, he silently mulled over his current situation. As the prince of a power of power country, it was not all uncommon that he found himself the target of an assassin's blade, and logically he assumed this to be the case. Yet, what surprised him was how the assassin had managed to sneak up on him without him noticing.
"Must not be one of the clumsy assassins I usually get", he mused to himself, "of course whoever it is doesn't seem to know that I can't be harmed by a simple dagger." He carefully reached downward toward the sword he wore at his side, planning to catch his assailant unaware. The assassin immediately grasped his arm at the same time removing the knife from his neck. Twisting quickly out of the assassin's grasp, Zelgadis shoved him roughly and plucked the dagger out of his attacker's hand while he was distracted. His assailant fought back savagely, giving him no time to draw his sword and clawing at Zelgadis with a deep rage while hurling a couple of spells at him, which surprised Zelgadis because most assassins were more proficient with a blade than with magic. However, as his assailant recited a spell Zelgadis attempted to gain an advantage. Shoving forward he managed to catch the assassin off guard and pushed him forward. The assassin stumbled and fell backward, the hands reaching out and grabbing Zelgadis caused him to fall as well and the two went rolling down the slight incline and landing in a clearing, Zelgadis on top of the assassin. Zelgadis looked down, the moonlight shining above revealing the identity of the assassin, and realized with a shock that his assassin was a girl.
The girl was dressed in a sorceress outfit with a long black cape wrapped around her shoulders. Blood red talismans adorned her wrists, waist and neck and she wore a black headband, which seemed to do know them to hold back her unruly red hair. "She certainly doesn't look like an assassin," Zelgadis thought to himself. Actually he thought she looked more like a child than anything else, but the way she fought told him that he should be careful in dealing with her.
Zelgadis pinned the girl's wrists to the ground, his weight on top of her keeping her from escaping despite her fierce struggling, and attempted to keep from blushing at their position. "Why were you following me?" He growled softly his ice blue eyes meeting her indignant, crimson ones.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Lina snapped, "you were following me."
"Why would I be following some child?" Zelgadis demanded.
"CHILD?! I'll have you know I'm sixteen and it's only natural that a beautiful sorcery genius such as myself be the target of an attack," Lina huffed arrogantly, "besides who would follow someone like you, its not like you're important or anything."
"There are many people who would want to kill me and I refuse to believe that you don't recognize me." He was the only chimera that was prince of Gielata after all.
"Well I don't. Should I?" she retorted angrily. She tried to move her hands so she could cast a spell, but found that she couldn't budge his grasp on her arms even an inch. Growling slightly she slammed her knee against his leg, but let out a cry of pain when she hit solid rock.
"Itai..."
Zelgadis released his grip and stood, watching the girl rub her injured knee. He was slightly perplexed as to why she would be stupid enough to hit someone made of stone; she looked fairly intelligent to him. Sighing softly, he knelt down and cast recovery on her knee. "You shouldn't hit someone made of stone," he told her seriously, "it isn't exactly the smartest thing to do."
"You're made of stone?" Funny she hadn't noticed that before, "Well you do look a little different," she said cocking her head slightly and looking at him closely.
Zelgadis was shocked, "she thinks I look a LITTLE different, can't she tell I'm a hideous monster?" He shook his head, bemused, "you're a strange girl."
Lina snorted and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Well at least I don't stalk innocent girls."
"Innocent?!"
Lina glared at him and stood, brushing herself off. She looked up and noticed it was considerably lighter than it had been before and realized that it was almost morning. "EEK Luna's gonna kill me. Umm I gotta go, try not to attack anymore beautiful girls, k?" She said cheerfully while flashing him a victory sign before dashing off through the forest.
Zelgadis sweatdropped, "what a strange girl," he mused running a hand through his hair. He stood and began the long walk back to the palace, no longer having any desire to roam aimlessly through the forest. For some reason, he had the strangest feeling that he would see that girl again. He just wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.