Chapter three

Clarissa walked down the hall. It's not like I have anything better to do. Not like Vaughn. Up there in the cockpit watching the scenery. She looked up from the ground and remember that she was in the exact place where they had kissed. She kept walking, I hope we get there soon. Vaughn was at the other side of the hallway, coming down from the oppisite side. Clarissa stood still. Vaughn stopped in front of her. Clarissa shook her head and looked up again, but he was still there, the same Vaughn.

"How much longer?" Clarissa asked.

"I'm not sure. Not more than an hour, though," Vaughn replied.

"I ment, 'how much longer can can you go like this?'"

"I don't know what you mean," he said.

"Don't you remember? It was here. In this hallway, in this spot."

Vaughn turned his head away from her, "Yeah, I remember."

"Vaughn, do you still feel that way?" Clarissa looked at the floor.

"A lot's happened. I don't think anyone can be the same," he asnwered.

"Yeah, smae with me." she paused, still looking at the floor, "Vaughn, who are you?"

"I'm Vaughn, King of Fanelia," he answered, "and I love you." Before anything else could happen, Allen came down the hall.

"Vaughn, I think you should see this." he said. Vaughn nodded and rushed to the cockpit area, following Allen. Clarissa hesitated, but ran along with them.

She stopped in the doorway looking out. "It's Fanelia." She was shocked. Clarissa ran up to stand next to Vaughn.

"It's Fanelia," Vaughn repeated. It was Fanelia, and it wasn't burned to the ground. No armies were there, but Fanelia's own. They landed in the hanger. Vaughn and Clarissa stepped out into the castle.

"So we're in Fanelia. What do we do?" Clarissa asked. Her stomach growled.

"Well I think that we should have dinner," he said.

"Yeah, I'm sort of hungry anyway." The headed to one of the dining halls.

~~*~~

Clarissa laughed when the bubbles from the champagne tickled her nose.

"Enough for you," Vaughn said, taking the bottle from her hands and pouring him some more. The bottle was now empty.

"Look at yourself." Clarissa giggled again. She was drunk.

"Ok, I think I can safely say that dinner is officially over." He got up from his seat and helped Clarissa out of her chair. She had a serious look on her face, but Vaughn ignored it. He helped her to the room across the hall. She still had the glass of champagne in her hand. She drank the last of it and collapsed on the bed and fell asleep. Vaughn took the glass out of her hand and kissed her on the forehead. "Good night," he said. He walked back to his own room.

~~*~~

Clarissa was in a dream. She could feel the breeze and knew that Victoria was coming. There was something different, though. Very different from what she remembered. Yes, then she finally realized that she wasn't in the Fanelian castle, but in Melaso. Victoria was there, but she wasn't dead like Clarissa had seen. Victoria was truthfully alive, and so was she.

"Thought I was going to kill you?" she said. The knife was in a grip in her hand. "Thought that all I wanted was Vaughn. But no, I want more than that. To see the pleasure of you die is more than what I hoped for. And all I wanted to do was rule. The least likely ruler is going to be me. And I will rule forever and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

~~*~~

Clarissa's forehead was sweaty. No longer was she drunk, but she was completely pale. She got out of the bed and looked in the mirror. Clarissa couldn't help worrying. She was thinking of staying up all night, but then she realized that it was almost time to get up. The drapes were drawn and it was impossible to see anything but a ray of light that shone upon the floor. The walked over to them and opened the up, looking out into the east. She could see the sun clearly from the distance. She walked over to Vaughn's room, remembering where it was somehow. She knocked on the door and was surprised that no one answered it. Probably some business thing. More important than my dream, she thought. She knocked again just to make sure that he wasn't still sleeping. Vaughn opened to door.

"I see you weren't drunk from last night," she said sarcastically. His hair was perfect. It was like he didn't even sleep. And Clarissa was thinking, what's wrong with this picture?

"What? It's not like you weren't either," he responded. Clarissa came into the room and shut the door behind her.

"Yeah, but it wasn't me who was acting all not drunk. We have four bottles of wine, not including that one bottle of champagne. You don't even look like you actually went to sleep. What's wrong, Vaughn?" she asked.

"I don't know. You're the one who came her. There must be something wrong," he assumed.

"Yeah, I had another dream about Victoria. A very short one. And she did all of the talking. And we weren't even dead, but it sounded like I was," she paused to recollect thoughts, "It didn't even seem real."

"Maybe it wasn't real," he suggested.

"That's an idea. Ok, considering it wasn't real. It could be just my mind telling me something. So what do you suggest? That I just ignore it?" Clarissa asked.

"For right now, I think that's the best idea." Clarissa turned around and faced the door. "Stop being upset. It's nothing, really." He put his hand on her shoulder.

"Your right, it's nothing," she said as she turned around and shook her head, "I'm worring too much. It just seems that their's something wrong with the castle. It seems like something shouldn't be there." Vaughn brushed her hair back from her shoulder. Clarissa stood there thinking. Vaughn was stairing at her. Clarissa finally looked up, but realized that he was stairing at her and looked back down again. I hope he doesn't kiss me again. No, maybe he won't. I hope he does kiss me again. She sounded confused, even to herself. So what do I want? No, it's not about what I want, but it's about what we want. I hope he kisses me. He did. Vaughn kissed her, but Clarissa didn't know if she wanted to accept it. Vaughn realized that she wasn't kissing him back, so he stopped and put his forehead on hers. She looked down.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know. Maybe, no, I'm not sure," she answered.

"Well, you did say 'maybe'. Maybe means a lot of things."

"I think I want to go back to Melaso."

Vaughn jumped back in surprise, "We just got here! You want to go back? Already?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's just that I need to know more. I'm sorry I'm just worring too much about what's going to happen." She drew closer to Vaughn now that he'd stepped away. "Can't you do anything?" she asked.

"Well, the Crusade needs refueling and it needs to get ready for a trip back. That will take another day. But I can't come with you." He looked at the wall to his left.

She turned his head back towards her and kept her hand on his chin. "Why not? Why can't you come?" she asked repeatedly.

"I need to help in Fanelia. I've been away too long from this place. I'm sorry," he said.

"That's ok," she sighed, "I understand." This time she drew even closer to him and kissed him. She wanted it to be short, but it was long. Vaughn didn't want to let go, but towards the end, neither did Clarissa. Vaughn ended it. "Ok, well, it's only another day." She turned towards the door and ran out.

Clarissa walked down the hall, not knowing where she was headed. She was looking down on the floor, still feeling Vaughn's kiss. She finally looked up from the granite to realize that she did not know where she was headed. The hall was too long to see the end. She closed her eyes. She was know at a different part of the hall. She closed her eyes again. She was in a different hall, at the corner, or maybe it was the same one. Clarissa started to panic. She ran down the hall, but there was never an end, and she couldn't find the corner any more. She frantically opened a door, but stupidly, closed her eyes. This time she was at the entrance of the castle. The huge door was wide open. Clarissa ran into the forest, and finally came to the end, the end. She came to a large abyss. She stopped on the edge. A few rocks and peices of dirt fell into the unending dark crevice. She wanted to jump, but if she blinked she would be somewhere different. She lifted a foot, but turned around at the calling of a voice. They said, "Don't jump Clarissa!" Vaughn ran out from the trees and approached her.

"One more step and I will jump!" Clarissa yelled. The ground broke under her feet and she plummeted into the abyss. There was an angel, or at least she thought. The wings we so bright and they came closer to her. Clarissa still was falling. but the angel was coming closer. She did not dare close her eyes. It's Vaughn! Vaughn was her angel. He had glorious wings. He picked her up and they went back to the top of the cliff where he set her down. By know, the spell that had been cast upon her had been broken by Vaughn, and Clarissa had fainted out of shock.

~~*~~

It was snowing. It never snowed here. Ever. Or at least that's what Clarissa thought when she looked out the window. I thought it never snowed her. Someone told me that. Who? She sat up in the warm bed looking out the window. Why am I in a warm bed? I only remember Vaughn. Just then, he came into the room. He didn't realize that she was up.

"Why is it snowing?" she asked. She turned her veiw to him.

"Because it's supposed to snow?" Vaughn sat down beside her.

"I'm not going to ask what happened like I usually do," Clarissa said.

"It's been more than a day. You could leave for Melaso tomorrow," he said.

"Why tomorrow? Why not today?" she asked.

"You can't leave today. You just woke up."

"Yes. but I can walk."

"Yes, but you're probably not going to be able to."

Ok, now you're making me hungry."