Zelgadiss wasn't paying much attention to what he was translating.
His mind was still running over what had happened two nights before. Why
hadn't anyone heard? Who had put up a silencing spell, for that was all
that he could think of that would have prevented anyone from hearing
anything?
He glanced at the washed out book. It had seen far batter days and he wasn't having much luck with it. Too much of it had been rotted or washed out with time. Some of the pages weren't even readable at all. Those that were hadn't been offering him much help. So far, it had all just been about some sort of disaster that had occurred, though he had yet to figure out where. The only reason he had not given up on translating it was because he had told the temple he would since he was more efficient at it with the older texts.
"A waste," he muttered. Not one had his cure in it. He had come all this way back for absolutely nothing. He growled at the time he had wasted. Just once, he wished he could find something that would change him back to the human he had been before. Why was the universe so against him finding a cure!? He grabbed some of the papers with the translations on it and threw them in the air, frustrated. When all the papers had landed, he threw some of the books he had been using, letting them hit the floor, breaking the spines of some of them. He really wanted to destroy something but knew better then to do so here. He needed a way to let out his temper...
He was cut off by a soft tapping on his window. He glared at the covered glass. He stalked over and ripped the curtains back and attack what ever it was that was disturbing his peace. He stopped when he spotted the raven from the other night. It watched him with one knowing black eye. It cawed and matched his glare.
"Oh, so it's you," the man muttered. "And what brings you back here?" He opened the window, letting the bird in. Unlike Turquoise, this bird did not come flying in to make itself right at home. "Well, you've got a few more manners then your friend." He held out his hand and the black bird hopped on. Zel lifted the avian up so he could look it over better. "There's something odd about you two..." The bird cawed, interrupting him. "At least you admit it. You're not some little dumb bird, are you?" The bird ignored him and flew off his hand to the floor. It pecked around among the papers as if looking for something. Zel knelt down next to it, watching the creature with great interest. "What are you looking for?" He didn't really expect an answer, but said it allowed anyway. He picked up a few of the papers and glanced over them, trying to guess what the black bird was looking for. He stopped as his eyes skimmed over something interesting...
~the destroyer of dark lords ... ... ... ... ... be the vessel for the mother of all things...~
He read back to the beginning, now with great interest. He didn't remember translating this part...
~...bring ... a child of great power... ... ... ... the destroyer of dark lords ... ... ... ... ... be the vessel for the mother of all things...~
There were breaks in the text where the words had been to blurred to read...
~...will create destruction ... ... ... a monster of white given blessings ... ... calling the powers of heavens and earth... ... ...
... ... ... of ... demon blood ... healer ... ... ... ... master of ... life ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... black dragon ... ... wisdom ... ... ... ... ... foster of ... ... ... ... evil ... ...
... ... ... end of the world's life blood ... ... their ... shadow ... ... power ... ... ... birds ... ... death to all ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ~
The chimera stared at the words, reading them over and over on the page. What did they all mean. There was so much missing. He knew he hadn't translated this...but who had. He whirled around the room as if expecting to see an intruder. All he saw was the little black bird who was now perched one of the books. Its cold stare never wavered from the man. He grabbed some of the papers and threw them at the bird. The avian dodged and flew out the window, cawing as he went. Frantically, Zelgadiss began searching for the next page that would have more translations on it. There had to be more. There just had to be. His demon eye grazed over the book it had come from. He snatched it off the ground and fumbled through the pages to try and find where it had come from.
*****
Turquoise watched the girl curiously. He had been given a nice tray of broken up crackers and bread crumbs to feed on, so he was content to stay on his perch on one of the chairs where he could easily reach his meal. The girl was reading over some papers that seemed important, though it was never processed in his mind why.
His mistress looked up from her work and stretched. She had been there all morning after breakfast and it was almost lunch. She looked over and smiled at the bird. "Enjoying your lunch?" The bird cawed. She giggled. "I'll take that as a yes." She set down her feather pen and held out her hand. Obediently, he flew to her and perched there for her. She stroked him, much to his enjoyment. "You're a very good boy. I wonder who trained you so well." He cawed and hopped on to her shoulder. "And daddy said birds weren't very friendly..." she trailed off as the door opened. One of the servants slipped in a bowed.
"Lunch will be served out in the gardens this afternoon, m'lady," the woman said before bowing a second time and leaving, closing the door behind her.
Amelia paused, thinking this over for a moment. Why's daddy having it out in the garden, she wondered. Turquoise cawed, tugging on a small strand of her hair, drawing her out of her thinking. "Yes yes," she sighed, "You can come too. Just don't go landing on the table. Stay in the trees. Some of the guests may not appreciate you there." The bird nuzzled against her cheek, making her smile. "Though there are a few I'd be happy if you chased away," she admitted. "Not all of them are very nice, ya know." He crocked his head to one side watching her with his bewitching sea blue eyes. "No, I guess you don't. Well, you will once you see them. One's a prince from one of the outer land kingdoms. His father's trying to arrange a marriage between us with daddy. I don't really like him... he's kind of pushy and arrogant and pale and kind of sickly..." She giggled, remembering talking with him when he and his father had arrived. "Though, I suppose it's only fair to say that he doesn't really want to be here either. Maybe if you could just bother his father..." she trailed off as she tried to stifle a few giggles at the thought of everything her little bird could do to the balding man, who wore a horrible toupee to cover it.
She quickly straightened herself out, knowing it wasn't just to think like that, even if it might have been entertaining. It was not proper of a princess. She knew the dinner party that night would be far worse with dancing. She knew her father would insist on her dancing with the rail thin man.
"Oh well," she sighed. "Might as well get it over with."
*****
No, no. It couldn't be right. It just couldn't. Zelgadiss checked it for the tenth time since he had found. He had translated it right. He read it over for the third time. How could this be right. It didn't make since. This book was thousands of years old. Wouldn't this prophecy have already come true? He read it again. There were still so many gaps, including the whole bottom of one page, but its message was pretty clear. He needed a second opinion, someone else to look it over, another set of eyes. The black bird cawed.
"No, not you!" he snapped. "You can't even read!"
"Mr. Zelgadiss?" a female voice called from outside. "Are you alright?"
The chimera's sense perked up. Amelia! Perfect! He need someone else to look at it, well here she was, right on cue. He grabbed the door and yanked it open, startling the young princess. "Amelia, I need you to read something for me." Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside. He snatched the papers he had been writing on and handed them to her. Still a bit confused, she took them and read through them, glancing up at him every few lines.
When she was done, she looked back at him, a little dumb founded. "Mr. Zelgadiss, is this some sort of joke..."
He shook his head. "No, I found it in one of the books..."
"But it..."
"I know," he sighed, feeling defeated. He had been right. For once in his life he had wanted to be wrong and he wasn't.
She read over it again. "Why are there so many blank spots?" He picked up the book and showed her. "Oh... ... M-maybe it's wrong..."
"You'd like to try translating it?" he asked skeptically.
She opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by a loud squawking. Turquoise went diving under her skirt, tailed closely by the black bird. The black one stopped and landed on the ground glaring at Turquoise. "Ah, him again!" She ruffled her skirts at it, trying to get it to fly away. It just dodged her, cawed several times, and glared at the blue bird.
"What is it between them?" Zelgadiss commented. "They're worse then Lina and Gourry over lunch..." He trailed off, frowning deeper. Amelia's expression changed from annoyance to faint sorrow as she looked down at the black creature. "Never mind."
"She's not going to like any of this."
"I would either, if I were her. She has to know, though."
"And how are we suppose to find them?" she demanded in a hushed whisper.
"I don't know. I haven't heard from them since we split up..."
"I haven't either." She whirled around to face him. "Look, we have to figure out as much as we can about this prophecy before we do anything else. Knowing Miss Lina, it probably hasn't even begun yet..."
*****
Mean while, out in the garden...
Phil drummed his fingers over the table top. Everyone had long since given up on waiting for the princess and started lunch with out her. That was almost an hour ago, though, and she still hadn't shown up. He refused to believe she was still reading the treaty he had wanted her to look over since she would be following him to the thrown, yet he had sent someone to check anyway. The servant he had sent said she wasn't there. He had them check her room, the library, her private garden. All had turned up negative. He couldn't think of where else she could be...well, there was one place, but if she was there he wanted to speak with her privately...
*****
The clock suddenly rang out a single chime, announcing that it was now one in the after noon. Amelia suddenly dropped the book. Zelgadiss, who had been sitting across from her, glanced up, slightly startled.
"What?" he asked. "It's just one..."
"Oh no," she breathed out. "I forgot! The lunch!"
"So you missed lunch? The servants would probably give you something if you asked..."
"No, that's not it," she stated in a panic, jumping up from her seat. "I was suppose to be talking with some visitors from the outlands were making a treaty with..." she trailed off, running out the door.
She ran down the hall and a flight of stairs, taking the quickest way she knew to the public gardens. Turquoise flew after her, grateful for the chance to get away from the black bird that hated him so much. Just as she got through the door, she ran in to him, literally. The princess was knocked to the ground. She didn't have to look up to know who it was.
"Oh, so you decide you want to show up now?" Phil asked a bit sarcastically. He did nothing to hide the slight anger in his voice.
"Daddy, I'm so sorry," she nearly cried as she jumped to her feet for a second time.
"I hope so," he sighed. "I didn't realize the treaty was that interesting..."
"No, no, no. Iwaswalkingdowntocomeandeat and IheardMr.ZelgadissyellingatsomeonesoIwenttogoseewhohewastalkingto, and thenheshowedmesomethingthathe'dbeentranslating, and itinvolvedMissLina, and Ididn'tthinkitcouldberightsoIstayed and triedtotranslatesomeofit and IguessIlosttrackoftime and I'msososorrydaddy," she related in one big breath at a rapid pace. Had she not been so winded, she might have been tempted to cry. Hey, running in high heals is not easy.
Phil frowned. "Now, slow down, slow down. What happened?" he asked in a much more concerned voice. It wasn't like his daughter to ramble like that.
The girl took a few deep breaths before continuing. Turquoise, all the while, had landed on her shoulder patiently. "I was coming to lunch," she explained much slower, "When I heard Mr. Zelgadiss yelling at someone so went to see who he was talking to..."
"Oh, is that where you were," he interrupted sounding a bit annoyed.
Amelia's frown deepened. "Yes, but..."
"Amelia, you are a princess of Saillune. You have certain obligations to fulfill and I expect you to do them. This is the third duty this week you have failed to be a part of. It is not only rude to say you will be somewhere when you will not, but it is an embarrassment to this kingdom." Amelia tried to protest, but he silenced her with a flick of his hand. "People will begin to look down on this kingdom if it continues. Now, I have several things to attend to, so we can discuss your behavior and duties as a princess later."
He passed by her, leaving the princess standing there. She would have tried to follow him and explain, but her mind just didn't seem to want to work right. Turquoise cawed and she reached up a hand to pet him.
He glanced at the washed out book. It had seen far batter days and he wasn't having much luck with it. Too much of it had been rotted or washed out with time. Some of the pages weren't even readable at all. Those that were hadn't been offering him much help. So far, it had all just been about some sort of disaster that had occurred, though he had yet to figure out where. The only reason he had not given up on translating it was because he had told the temple he would since he was more efficient at it with the older texts.
"A waste," he muttered. Not one had his cure in it. He had come all this way back for absolutely nothing. He growled at the time he had wasted. Just once, he wished he could find something that would change him back to the human he had been before. Why was the universe so against him finding a cure!? He grabbed some of the papers with the translations on it and threw them in the air, frustrated. When all the papers had landed, he threw some of the books he had been using, letting them hit the floor, breaking the spines of some of them. He really wanted to destroy something but knew better then to do so here. He needed a way to let out his temper...
He was cut off by a soft tapping on his window. He glared at the covered glass. He stalked over and ripped the curtains back and attack what ever it was that was disturbing his peace. He stopped when he spotted the raven from the other night. It watched him with one knowing black eye. It cawed and matched his glare.
"Oh, so it's you," the man muttered. "And what brings you back here?" He opened the window, letting the bird in. Unlike Turquoise, this bird did not come flying in to make itself right at home. "Well, you've got a few more manners then your friend." He held out his hand and the black bird hopped on. Zel lifted the avian up so he could look it over better. "There's something odd about you two..." The bird cawed, interrupting him. "At least you admit it. You're not some little dumb bird, are you?" The bird ignored him and flew off his hand to the floor. It pecked around among the papers as if looking for something. Zel knelt down next to it, watching the creature with great interest. "What are you looking for?" He didn't really expect an answer, but said it allowed anyway. He picked up a few of the papers and glanced over them, trying to guess what the black bird was looking for. He stopped as his eyes skimmed over something interesting...
~the destroyer of dark lords ... ... ... ... ... be the vessel for the mother of all things...~
He read back to the beginning, now with great interest. He didn't remember translating this part...
~...bring ... a child of great power... ... ... ... the destroyer of dark lords ... ... ... ... ... be the vessel for the mother of all things...~
There were breaks in the text where the words had been to blurred to read...
~...will create destruction ... ... ... a monster of white given blessings ... ... calling the powers of heavens and earth... ... ...
... ... ... of ... demon blood ... healer ... ... ... ... master of ... life ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... black dragon ... ... wisdom ... ... ... ... ... foster of ... ... ... ... evil ... ...
... ... ... end of the world's life blood ... ... their ... shadow ... ... power ... ... ... birds ... ... death to all ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ~
The chimera stared at the words, reading them over and over on the page. What did they all mean. There was so much missing. He knew he hadn't translated this...but who had. He whirled around the room as if expecting to see an intruder. All he saw was the little black bird who was now perched one of the books. Its cold stare never wavered from the man. He grabbed some of the papers and threw them at the bird. The avian dodged and flew out the window, cawing as he went. Frantically, Zelgadiss began searching for the next page that would have more translations on it. There had to be more. There just had to be. His demon eye grazed over the book it had come from. He snatched it off the ground and fumbled through the pages to try and find where it had come from.
*****
Turquoise watched the girl curiously. He had been given a nice tray of broken up crackers and bread crumbs to feed on, so he was content to stay on his perch on one of the chairs where he could easily reach his meal. The girl was reading over some papers that seemed important, though it was never processed in his mind why.
His mistress looked up from her work and stretched. She had been there all morning after breakfast and it was almost lunch. She looked over and smiled at the bird. "Enjoying your lunch?" The bird cawed. She giggled. "I'll take that as a yes." She set down her feather pen and held out her hand. Obediently, he flew to her and perched there for her. She stroked him, much to his enjoyment. "You're a very good boy. I wonder who trained you so well." He cawed and hopped on to her shoulder. "And daddy said birds weren't very friendly..." she trailed off as the door opened. One of the servants slipped in a bowed.
"Lunch will be served out in the gardens this afternoon, m'lady," the woman said before bowing a second time and leaving, closing the door behind her.
Amelia paused, thinking this over for a moment. Why's daddy having it out in the garden, she wondered. Turquoise cawed, tugging on a small strand of her hair, drawing her out of her thinking. "Yes yes," she sighed, "You can come too. Just don't go landing on the table. Stay in the trees. Some of the guests may not appreciate you there." The bird nuzzled against her cheek, making her smile. "Though there are a few I'd be happy if you chased away," she admitted. "Not all of them are very nice, ya know." He crocked his head to one side watching her with his bewitching sea blue eyes. "No, I guess you don't. Well, you will once you see them. One's a prince from one of the outer land kingdoms. His father's trying to arrange a marriage between us with daddy. I don't really like him... he's kind of pushy and arrogant and pale and kind of sickly..." She giggled, remembering talking with him when he and his father had arrived. "Though, I suppose it's only fair to say that he doesn't really want to be here either. Maybe if you could just bother his father..." she trailed off as she tried to stifle a few giggles at the thought of everything her little bird could do to the balding man, who wore a horrible toupee to cover it.
She quickly straightened herself out, knowing it wasn't just to think like that, even if it might have been entertaining. It was not proper of a princess. She knew the dinner party that night would be far worse with dancing. She knew her father would insist on her dancing with the rail thin man.
"Oh well," she sighed. "Might as well get it over with."
*****
No, no. It couldn't be right. It just couldn't. Zelgadiss checked it for the tenth time since he had found. He had translated it right. He read it over for the third time. How could this be right. It didn't make since. This book was thousands of years old. Wouldn't this prophecy have already come true? He read it again. There were still so many gaps, including the whole bottom of one page, but its message was pretty clear. He needed a second opinion, someone else to look it over, another set of eyes. The black bird cawed.
"No, not you!" he snapped. "You can't even read!"
"Mr. Zelgadiss?" a female voice called from outside. "Are you alright?"
The chimera's sense perked up. Amelia! Perfect! He need someone else to look at it, well here she was, right on cue. He grabbed the door and yanked it open, startling the young princess. "Amelia, I need you to read something for me." Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside. He snatched the papers he had been writing on and handed them to her. Still a bit confused, she took them and read through them, glancing up at him every few lines.
When she was done, she looked back at him, a little dumb founded. "Mr. Zelgadiss, is this some sort of joke..."
He shook his head. "No, I found it in one of the books..."
"But it..."
"I know," he sighed, feeling defeated. He had been right. For once in his life he had wanted to be wrong and he wasn't.
She read over it again. "Why are there so many blank spots?" He picked up the book and showed her. "Oh... ... M-maybe it's wrong..."
"You'd like to try translating it?" he asked skeptically.
She opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by a loud squawking. Turquoise went diving under her skirt, tailed closely by the black bird. The black one stopped and landed on the ground glaring at Turquoise. "Ah, him again!" She ruffled her skirts at it, trying to get it to fly away. It just dodged her, cawed several times, and glared at the blue bird.
"What is it between them?" Zelgadiss commented. "They're worse then Lina and Gourry over lunch..." He trailed off, frowning deeper. Amelia's expression changed from annoyance to faint sorrow as she looked down at the black creature. "Never mind."
"She's not going to like any of this."
"I would either, if I were her. She has to know, though."
"And how are we suppose to find them?" she demanded in a hushed whisper.
"I don't know. I haven't heard from them since we split up..."
"I haven't either." She whirled around to face him. "Look, we have to figure out as much as we can about this prophecy before we do anything else. Knowing Miss Lina, it probably hasn't even begun yet..."
*****
Mean while, out in the garden...
Phil drummed his fingers over the table top. Everyone had long since given up on waiting for the princess and started lunch with out her. That was almost an hour ago, though, and she still hadn't shown up. He refused to believe she was still reading the treaty he had wanted her to look over since she would be following him to the thrown, yet he had sent someone to check anyway. The servant he had sent said she wasn't there. He had them check her room, the library, her private garden. All had turned up negative. He couldn't think of where else she could be...well, there was one place, but if she was there he wanted to speak with her privately...
*****
The clock suddenly rang out a single chime, announcing that it was now one in the after noon. Amelia suddenly dropped the book. Zelgadiss, who had been sitting across from her, glanced up, slightly startled.
"What?" he asked. "It's just one..."
"Oh no," she breathed out. "I forgot! The lunch!"
"So you missed lunch? The servants would probably give you something if you asked..."
"No, that's not it," she stated in a panic, jumping up from her seat. "I was suppose to be talking with some visitors from the outlands were making a treaty with..." she trailed off, running out the door.
She ran down the hall and a flight of stairs, taking the quickest way she knew to the public gardens. Turquoise flew after her, grateful for the chance to get away from the black bird that hated him so much. Just as she got through the door, she ran in to him, literally. The princess was knocked to the ground. She didn't have to look up to know who it was.
"Oh, so you decide you want to show up now?" Phil asked a bit sarcastically. He did nothing to hide the slight anger in his voice.
"Daddy, I'm so sorry," she nearly cried as she jumped to her feet for a second time.
"I hope so," he sighed. "I didn't realize the treaty was that interesting..."
"No, no, no. Iwaswalkingdowntocomeandeat and IheardMr.ZelgadissyellingatsomeonesoIwenttogoseewhohewastalkingto, and thenheshowedmesomethingthathe'dbeentranslating, and itinvolvedMissLina, and Ididn'tthinkitcouldberightsoIstayed and triedtotranslatesomeofit and IguessIlosttrackoftime and I'msososorrydaddy," she related in one big breath at a rapid pace. Had she not been so winded, she might have been tempted to cry. Hey, running in high heals is not easy.
Phil frowned. "Now, slow down, slow down. What happened?" he asked in a much more concerned voice. It wasn't like his daughter to ramble like that.
The girl took a few deep breaths before continuing. Turquoise, all the while, had landed on her shoulder patiently. "I was coming to lunch," she explained much slower, "When I heard Mr. Zelgadiss yelling at someone so went to see who he was talking to..."
"Oh, is that where you were," he interrupted sounding a bit annoyed.
Amelia's frown deepened. "Yes, but..."
"Amelia, you are a princess of Saillune. You have certain obligations to fulfill and I expect you to do them. This is the third duty this week you have failed to be a part of. It is not only rude to say you will be somewhere when you will not, but it is an embarrassment to this kingdom." Amelia tried to protest, but he silenced her with a flick of his hand. "People will begin to look down on this kingdom if it continues. Now, I have several things to attend to, so we can discuss your behavior and duties as a princess later."
He passed by her, leaving the princess standing there. She would have tried to follow him and explain, but her mind just didn't seem to want to work right. Turquoise cawed and she reached up a hand to pet him.