"Men and lady, I have an announcement to make," Hal announced when the caravan stopped for the night the evening after leaving Atlas City. "The trading in Atlas City went very well." There were weak cheers. "In fact, this whole journey has been unusually profitable, in no small part because you stopped bandits from stealing so much as a copper coin from us." There were more cheers and some enthusiastic grins. "Therefore, I've got a little something to thank you for all your good work. That tavern across the street just got a shipment of top-quality Zephilian wine and I bought an entire keg just for us." The cheers this time were deafening.
Seymor nudged his friend. "Go on. Ask them. You'll never stop wondering if you don't."
Everyone turned to look at Akio.
Akio took a deep gulp of his drink. He cleared his throat. "Zel, Amy...who was that red-haired girl I saw you with back in Sairaag? At the restaurant? This is going to sound stupid, but...she looked a lot like...Lina Inverse."
"That's because she was Lina Inverse," Zel said calmly, sipping his wine.
"The real Lina Inverse?"
"The one and only. (I hope)"
"Then where was her partner?"
"With her," Amelia said blankly. "You must have noticed Gourry-san. He's tall with long, blond hair, and he eats almost as much as Lina-san."
"Yes, we saw the swordsman, but where's the woman she used to travel with?"
"Woman?" Zelgadis repeated. Slyphiel? Martina? Filia? "What did she look like?"
Akio's eyes focused on a mental image on the far side of the table. "She was definitely a woman, very much a woman." He held his hands out in front of his chest to indicate just how much woman she was. "She had black hair and a leather bikini and a laugh that I will never forget." He shuddered. "I think her name was something like Nada the Snake, but I can't remember."
Over the course of the description Amelia had switched from blankly shaking her head to looking stricken. "Not 'Naga the White Serpent'?" she breathed.
"Yes, that sounds right. How did you know?"
"Was she a powerful and beautiful white sorceress who traveled from land to land healing the sick and righting wrongs?" Amelia asked urgently
"Uh, no. She was a powerful and beautiful black sorceress who slaughtered my band without mercy and then stole all our treasure."
"Oh, can't be her then."
"After they burned our camp to the ground, she and that Lina Inverse ate a month's worth of food and took every last gold coin and trinket. They were still fighting over the treasure when they walked out of the camp over our scorched and frozen bodies." Akio was almost in tears at the memory.
"That does sound like Lina," Zelgadis commented.
"It sounds like Gracia too," Amelia admitted.
"She was beautiful, though. She had this body like...like...I can't describe it. Like perfection." He sketched the outlines in broad hand gestures. "And her breasts..." He drew in his breath in a low whistle, and then remembered he was in mixed company. He coughed in embarrassment. "Anyway, she was good looking."
Amelia was upset, but not because of his leering. "Oh, Gracia," she sighed. "Why did you turn to the dark side? You were supposed to be Naga the White Serpent."
"How do you know these people anyway?" Hal asked suspiciously.
Zelgadis answered, "We used to travel with Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev. I don't know this Naga person. Amelia?"
"When we were children," Amelia said tearfully, "my sister and I used to pretend that we were great heroes saving the world. She called herself 'Naga the White Serpent' and I called myself...well, that's not important. My sister was tall and beautiful just like Akio-san described, but Lina-san never told me that she used to travel with my sister. Don't you think she would have told me, Zelgadis-san?"
"She had no way of knowing that 'Naga' was your sister."
"Your sister, huh?" Akio looked Amelia over appraisingly. His eyes lingered in the chest area. "You do look a bit like her, come to think of it. At least, your hair's the same."
"Lina Inverse was the one who taught you that fishing spell!" Yosh suddenly realized.
Amelia smiled. "Yes."
"Wow, what was it like travelling with a celebrity?"
"Insane." Zelgadis scowled. "Frustrating. Sometimes terrifying." He looked over thoughtfully at Amelia. "Celebrities tend to be very different from what you expect. They have personalities just like anyone else, only louder. But sometimes they can be very good friends."
"Yeah, think of the kind of favors someone with that much power could do for you." Seymor grinned.
"No, not for that reason. I've known several celebrities. I used to work for Rezo and I hated him. Then I met Lina and she's the best friend I ever had, not because she ever did me any favors. Just because...because she cared. Because she held onto me and wouldn't let go."
"What about me?" Amelia protested angrily. "I'm your friend too!"
"You are..." Zelgadis tried to find words to express his feelings for Amelia and how they differed from his feelings for Lina. "...my friend too," he finished lamely.
Amelia still looked angry.
"You're a very good friend." Zelgadis hastened to clarify. "Every time I look in a mirror, I think about how much I have to be grateful to you for. You gave me back my humanity. Even finding the Clair Bible...we wouldn't have done that if you hadn't insisted on helping those priests. And I needed the books in your library to finish my chimera spells. You helped me perfect them too, against that chimera maker."
"Yes, I helped you with the spells." Amelia still did not seem entirely mollified.
"Yes." Zelgadis couldn't think what more she wanted him to say. "Thank you," he tried. Then he noticed how the other caravaners were grinning at him. He turned red and shut his mouth.
"Now, about Lina Inverse holding onto you..." Seymor prompted.
Zelgadis pressed his lips together and shook his head. Then he opened his mouth to say, "How much have I drunk?"
"I don't remember. A lot," Geoff supplied helpfully.
Zelgadis buried his face in his hand. "I forgot that my alcohol tolerance is much lower as a human. How could I forget something that important?"
Amelia patted his arm sympathetically.
"I'm going to bed now," Zelgadis announced, standing up.
Amelia started to get to her feet too, but Hal forestalled her. "No, I'll take him. I'm about ready for bed anyway. You stay here and enjoy the party."
The path Zelgadis took to the door was not quite straight, but he managed to walk it unaided. As he and Hal left the bar, the other four caravan guards returned to their conversation.
"Amy, what's all this talk about humanity? Did Zel use to be something else?"
"That would explain why he was so bad with a sword at first."
"And why he didn't know how to shave."
"And the brand-new armor."
Seymor and Akio exchanged glances. "Why didn't we figure that out sooner?"
"So, Amy, what was he before?"
"He was..." Amelia considered what to tell them. Fortunately, she didn't like strong wine so she had only managed to drink two glasses so far. As a result, her head was relatively clear. Hmm. She saw nothing wrong with letting them know that Zelgadis had been a chimera, but Zelgadis obviously didn't want them to know. "He was under an evil spell."
"Cool! Who put it on him?" Yosh asked.
"Um...someone he trusted...someone who should never have betrayed the bonds of family to mutilate his own grandson!"
"His grandfather? That's awful!"
"So magic runs in his family?" Akio broke in.
"Um, yes."
"Leave her alone, boys," Geoff said sternly. "Those secrets aren't hers to tell."
"Tell us more about Lina Inverse and the White Serpent then," Akio said unrepentantly.
"I'd rather hear more about you," Amelia demurred tactfully. "Tell us about your family, Yosh-san."
Zelgadis stumbled into Amelia's room very early the next morning and buried his face in the bed.
Amelia stared at him in surprise, rubbed her eyes, yawned, and stared some more. "Zelgadis-sama?"
"Amelia," he groaned, his voice muffled by the bedcovers, "can you do something about this headache? I think I'm going to throw up but I don't think I can make it to the lavatory."
Amelia quickly jumped out of bed. A raywing bubble helped her get Zelgadis to the lavatory before he could mess up her room. She waited patiently until the sounds of vomiting ceased and Zelgadis stumbled out of the lavatory again.
He squinted his eyes against the faint dawn light. "I have never felt this sick in all my life," he declared. He looked like zombie with an intestinal virus and smelled even worse.
Amelia debated with herself whether she really wanted to get any closer to him, but he was her friend. She stepped forward and placed her hands on either side of his face.
"This is a spell for neutralizing poisons..."
"Don't shout!" Zelgadis protested weakly.
Amelia rolled her eyes and tried not to inhale. She continued more quietly, "...but maybe it will work for hangovers too. You look poisoned." She spared him a lecture about the evils of drunkenness only because she knew that he had done it by accident. The hangover had already punished him enough for his crime.
The spell spread through Zel's body, taking away the sick feeling and leaving cleanliness in its wake. "Thank you," Zelgadis whispered as the last of the poison vanished from his body.
Then he realized that he was standing in his pajamas and bare feet in front of the lavatory and Amelia, also in pajamas and bare feet, was holding his face in her hands. Amelia realized the same thing a moment later. They sprang apart.
"Um, good night," Amelia said, watching her erstwhile patient hurry back to his room.
Zelgadis didn't say anything. The situation was just too embarrassing.
Amelia had several more hangovers to cure in the morning.
It was a beautiful day. The sun was warm but not too hot. The wagons were rolling smoothly down the well-paved road. Akio, Seymor and Zelgadis were having a friendly argument over what features the ideal sword would have.
Yosh surfaced from daydreams of slaying dragons. "What's that city up ahead?"
"That's Lenos," Hal told him. "It's a small city but I like it. It has clean streets and a low crime rate."
"There's a large temple of Ceiphied there," Amelia said slowly, searching her memory, "not as large as the one in Seyruun, of course, but still pretty big. It also has one of the best white magic schools in the area."
Hal nodded approvingly. "The school actually teaches a variety of subjects, not just magic. The city is full of clever young people with too much time on their hands who think they are even more clever than they actually are." He shrugged. "There are worse things a city can be full of."
The road ahead was blocked from edge to edge by a huge detour sign. There was a tired-looking man sitting in front of the sign. He straightened up at the sight of the travelers.
"You may want to avoid Lenos just now," he said. "It's haunted."
"What happened?" Hal asked.
The roadblock man sighed. "One of the temple novices apparently broke an ancient seal that was binding some rather nasty ghosts. We'd punish him but no one can find him. Several heroes and most of the priests who were not possessed in the first wave have tried to exorcise the ghosts but all have failed. In the meantime, we're advising anyone who does not have urgent business in the city to stay away."
"We'll do that then," Hal said. "How long is the detour?"
"Not too long. You just have to take country roads around the edges of the city. It will probably add about half a day to your trip."
Hal nodded and yanked the head of the lead horse in the direction of the side road.
"No!" Amelia shouted, leaping on top of the Detour sign. "We cannot let malicious ghosts break down the lines of transportation and communication between cities! Now that we know of this menace, we must do everything in our power to end the reign of the evil dead over this peaceful city! Hal-san, Yosh-san, brave adventurers of this caravan, you have heard the call. Now FIGHT in the name of Justice!"
Stunned, Yosh reached for his bow. Hal took a more levelheaded approach to her demands. "What do you want us to do? Swords and arrows are no good against spirits and, besides, we have a schedule to follow. We can't afford to get caught here."
"Hal's right," Zelgadis said before Amelia could launch into another speech. "You and I are the only people in this caravan capable of fighting ghosts."
"Then will you at least fight with me for Justice, Zelgadis-san?"
Zelgadis turned to Hal. "Is it alright if Amelia and I stay in Lenos for a day or two and then catch up with the caravan?"
"I guess so," Hal said reluctantly. "Are you sure?"
"I need to conduct some business in the city in any case. Amelia and I should be able to protect ourselves from the ghosts."
"Right!" Amelia piped up.
"Alright. Don't take too long or I'll get worried." The caravan rumbled onto the side road while the detour man let the two mages though the roadblock.
"I didn't expect you to agree to this so easily," Amelia remarked as the pair approached the haunted city. "You really are becoming a better person!"
"I don't intend to fight the ghosts unless we have to," Zelgadis replied. "I'm doing this because this is the perfect opportunity to get our so-called marriage annulled."
"Well, I intend to fight the ghosts," Amelia pouted.
"Then you'll have to do it alone. I know only a few spells for dealing with the undead and none for dealing with possession."
Amelia did not speak to him again until they were well inside the city, and then it was only to say, "I think the temple is this way."
Lenos was a gloomy place. Thick, dark clouds hovering over the city foreboded the king of all thunderstorms although no rain was falling. There were few people on the streets and they were glancing at each other warily as they hurried about their business. The marketplace was almost empty. There were a few carts selling food and several selling protective charms, and that was it. Occasionally, ghosts would try to grab Amelia or Zelgadis, but an elmekia lance or two easily got rid of them. The temple, when they reached it, looked surprisingly normal. There were two priests sitting in front of the entrance, playing checkers.
"We need to consult a priest about a legal matter," Zelgadis told them. "Who should we talk to?"
Before Amelia could even begin her rant about the irresponsibility of people who had the power to help the afflicted city but ignored it to play checkers or pursue their own selfish goals, the priests attacked the intruders.
Zelgadis took one look at their blank eyes and slavering jaws, and screamed, "Look out! They're possessed!"
Fortunately, the ghosts had much weaker defenses against magic than their priestly hosts would have had. Zelgadis and Amelia left them unconscious and walked into the temple.
Many hallways, priests and ghosts later, they finally found the man they were looking for, the high priest. He pulled them into his room, glancing warily up and down the hallway. The room was large and circular with a shallow pool in the middle. There was a tall statue at the center of the pool which represented either a dragon or a fire.
The high priest was an old man in rich robes with a long, white beard and a crystal-tipped staff. "How did you manage to get here?" he asked after slamming the door shut behind his visitors. "Even I dare not leave this room!"
"How did you manage to escape possession?" Zelgadis returned suspiciously.
"This room is the heart of the temple," the priest explained. "The ghosts can not pass through its walls. As long as we stay in here, we shall be safe."
Amelia frowned thoughtfully. "If this is the holy center of the temple, a purification spell cast here should affect the entire city. This is where we need to be so we can get rid of the ghosts! Right?"
"Uh, yes. That is correct," the high priest confirmed.
"So why haven't you done that already?" Amelia asked.
The priest looked nervous. "I cannot cast such a strong spell alone."
"Then why don't you get some of the other priests to help? Why haven't you brought any of them into this room?"
"I must assume that anyone outside this room is already lost," the priest said sadly, but there was a shifty look in his eyes.
"Why didn't you bring them in here and perform an exorcism on them? Surely a high priest like you could handle that."
"You ask too many questions!" the priest snarled, swinging the crystal end of his staff at Amelia's head.
Zelgadis' sword blocked the staff before it could hit. "I presume that you are one of the ghosts?" he grunted around clenched teeth.
Amelia backed out of the way of the fight. The possessed priest swung his staff in a new attack. He had surprising strength for such an old man. Zelgadis blocked the staff again.
"I am the leader of the ghosts," the possessed man growled in reply. "I was a great warlord before the *&%#ing priests of this temple annihilated my army and imprisoned our souls. I did not know that white magic could be used for such evil."
The ghost must have been a great swordsman in life. However, a staff is not a sword. If Zelgadis had been willing to kill or seriously injure his opponent, he could have won quickly. As it was, the fight stretched on inconclusively.
Off to one side where the priest couldn't see her, Amelia knelt down and began a whispered chant. "Megido Flare!"
On the last word, she grabbed the priest's ankles. A pillar of blinding light shot up from her hands, through the priest's body and up through the ceiling. When it faded, the priest dropped his staff. He blinked repeatedly and looked around with wondering gaze. He fell to his knees beside Amelia and embraced her. Zelgadis ran to defend her, but he needn't have worried.
"Thank you!" the priest cried. "Thank you! How can I ever thank you enough?"
"The best way to thank me is to help me free this city from these villainous ghosts," Amelia answered fiercely.
"No, that would be another debt that I owe you." The high priest helped Amelia to her feet. "Will you two help me save Lenos?"
"With all my heart!" Amelia shouted joyfully. Zelgadis sheathed his sword and nodded.
Having obtained their consent, the high priest got straight to business. "We'll need three more people for the spell. Let's bring them to this room and exorcise them as you suggested."
Zelgadis went out into the hall and grabbed the first three people he found. Amelia went with him to guard his back. It would be awful if Zelgadis got possessed before they could cast the spell.
They got the priest, priestess, and temple novice into the room and ghost-free without significant difficulty. Then the high priest arranged them around the points of a hexagram centered on the pool. He took the north-most point. Amelia took the south-most point. The other four filled in the points between the most powerful white mages.
While the high priest explained the ritual they were about to perform, Amelia cast a basic amplification spell to power up her new magic-amplifiers. Threads of bluish-white fire shot from her forehead to her ankles, from ankles through her belt clasp to her wrists, between her wrists, and in a circle around the outside of the star. The pentagram flared brightly and vanished, leaving her with a feeling of greatly increased power.
"Ready?" the high priest asked. Everyone else nodded.
They began the ritual. As they chanted, winds came out of nowhere to ruffle their hair and clothing. Energy crackled through the lines of the hexagram. The air seemed to thicken. Tension built. The statue of Cephied burst into brilliant, white radiance, which spread outward through the circle of spell casters, through the walls of the room, through the temple, and outward through the streets of the city. Wherever it touched, ghosts shrieked and left the bodies they were possessing. The dome of light continued to spread until it covered the entire city.
"I wonder what they're doing right now," Yosh muttered to himself.
Geoff overheard him. "Zel and Amy, you mean?"
"Yes. Why are they always going off alone together?"
Geoff studied him seriously for a long moment. "Yosh, have you told Amelia how you feel about her?"
"What? I don't...I mean...uh...well, yeah."
"And?"
Yosh scowled and hunched his shoulders defensively. "What do think? She said no."
"Zel?"
"He isn't her boyfriend! Amelia-san herself told me that. What a heartless idiot." Yosh muttered the last part under his breath.
"No kidding," Akio agreed just as sub-vocally.
"Yeah, I can't figure out their relationship either." Geoff replied thoughtfully. "It's the weirdest one I've ever seen. Even if they aren't in love (and I'm not sure one way or the other about that), they're bound together by experiences and secrets that they've chosen not to share with us. They've shared our path for a while but they seem to belong to another world. In a week, they'll go back to that world and forget us."
Yosh scuffed his boots along the path. "I hope they're okay."
"I'm sure they're fine," Hal said.
"Yeah," Akio agreed, "If it was anyone else, I'd say they were ghost fodder, but those two will come back, no problem."
"I wouldn't even put it past them to exorcise the ghosts," Seymor grinned.
"Look." Geoff pointed behind them, where a pure white light was rising over the horizon like a mid-day sunrise.
"I don't believe it. I just don't believe it," Seymor gasped.
"Do you think they caused that?" Yosh asked.
"Who else?"
Akio shook his head slowly, visions of Lina Inverse rampaging through his memory. "I'm just glad they're on our side."
The dome of light began to shrink. As it moved inward, it took the ghosts with it. They shrieked even louder and battered at the glowing wall with insubstantial hands, but they were helpless against it. By the time the dome shrank to the size of the temple, it was full of ghosts flittering back and forth desperately. By the time it shrank to the size of the hexagram, it was opaque from the density of the translucent bodies within. It continued to shrink. Finally, it vanished under the statue. The six around the statue said the last few words necessary to bind the seal in place again. They let their hands drop.
In the ensuing silence, the sobs of the boy at the foot of the statue were very clear. The temple novice ran to the boy and grabbed his shoulders. "Jordy! Jordy, are you alright?"
"I...I'm sorry," the boy sobbed. "I will never EVER play with forbidden magic again. I promise!"
The high priest left the lesser members of his temple to soothe the boy who had caused all the trouble. "I'll decide on a suitable punishment later," he said. "For now, the boy has been punished enough."
He escorted Zelgadis and Amelia to his office and offered them seats. "You have saved us all. Is there anything I can do to repay you?"
"Actually, yes," Zelgadis said. "We came here to ask for your advice...and help."
Amelia reluctantly agreed. She would have preferred not to request anything for herself, but they really did need the priest's help.
The high priest stroked his beard. "What is the trouble?"
"We may have...accidentally gotten married. We need you to tell us whether it was a valid wedding and, if so, how to annul it," Zelgadis said, blushing. He explained what had happened.
The priest looked thoughtful. "I see. I've never heard of such a thing happening before, but I will do my best to help you. Let me make sure I understand the situation. You do not wish to be married?"
"No," Zelgadis replied calmly.
"No," Amelia echoed but there was something in her eyes that didn't quite agree.
The old man nodded wisely. "You have not consummated the marriage?"
"Consum..?" Amelia began to ask.
"No, we haven't," Zelgadis interrupted. "It means the same thing as 'sleeping together', Amelia." Zelgadis managed to maintain a dignified expression despite the redness of his face.
Amelia considered that. "But we..."
"You kissed me once. That does not add up to consummating a marriage. Trust me on this."
"Okay."
The priest chose to believe them. The girl was too innocent not to be a virgin. He cleared his throat and tried to remember his next question. "You said it was conducted in the name of a mazoku, not a god?"
"Yes," the young people said together.
"Well, it sounds to me like you could not possibly be bound by this, but I would like to talk with Amelia-san privately before I declare that officially."
Zelgadis stood up. "I'll wait outside."
Once they were alone, the priest gave Amelia a piercing look from under his bushy eyebrows. "Are you sure that you want me to annul this marriage? You seem somewhat hesitant."
"Yes, annul it! I refuse to accept a marriage that was forced upon us by the cruelty of monsters and the will of the mazoku! I sometimes think that I might like to marry Zelgadis-san someday," she admitted with a blush. "But not now - I'm only sixteen - and not in this way. If I ever do marry Zelgadis-san, it will be because we choose to be married, and we will pledge our love for each other in the name of a true god under the eyes of our family and friends. I will not accept less than that!"
"You realize that you may not have another chance to marry him in any sense?"
"I would rather not marry at all than marry someone who doesn't love me. I will not force myself on Zelgadis-san. Ever. It would be unjust, and it would not make him love me. Besides, I'm not sure I want to marry such a selfish person."
"You are very wise for your years. Zelgadis-san, you may come back in now."
Zelgadis walked in nonchalantly, trying to look as if he had not been listening at the door.
The priest raised his hands. "In the name of blessed Cephied, I declare that you are not and never have been married to each other." He lowered his hands and said in a more normal tone of voice, "That seems like a small repayment for your help. Is there anything else Lenos can do for you?"
"We would have helped you for no reward at all," Amelia said.
"I don't suppose you can get rid of these rings?" Zelgadis stripped off his left glove.
The priest studied both rings for several minutes before having to admit defeat. "If it's any comfort, I can't sense any energy coming from them," he said to try to soften the blow. "If there's any spell bound into them, it must be a very subtle one."
Zelgadis grimaced, thinking that 'subtle' described the giver perfectly.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be more help," the high priest added helplessly.
"I didn't really expect you to be able to get the rings off, and that annulment is a great relief to us," Zelgadis said. "Don't worry about it."
The sun was shining down upon the city and people were beginning to emerge from their houses again as the young sorcerer and sorceress left Lenos.
"Zel, Amy, can I speak with you for a minute?" Hal touched his mages' shoulders. They followed him to the lead wagon where he pulled out two sheets of paper. "We'll reach Seyruun tomorrow so I want to give these to you tonight."
"What are they?" Amelia asked.
"Letters of recommendation. You've both been excellent employees. I couldn't ask for better. You saved our cargo and probably our lives more than once during the trip and you were a pleasure to travel with. I wish I could keep you but I know you have other business. I'm just glad you stayed with the caravan as long as you did."
"That's high praise," Zelgadis said. He spoke calmly but his eyes shone with emotion.
Amelia threw her arms around the caravan master. "Thank you, Hal-san! It was a pleasure to travel with you too! I really enjoyed earning a salary and helping with the caravan."
"Enough of that." Hal pushed her away gently. He had to wipe his eyes before continuing. "I just need to ask you your full names so I can put them on the letters of recommendation."
"Zelgadis Greywords," Zel said, and spelled both names for Hal.
Hal carefully wrote, "For Zelgadis Greywords" at the top of one of the letters and handed it to Zel. Then he turned to Amelia.
"Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun," she chirped.
"WHAT?"
"Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun," she repeated. "A-m-e-l-i..."
"You're a princess?"
"Yes. Is that a problem?"
Hal looked back and forth between the two. Zel looked amused. He had obviously known. Amelia looked confused.
"No, it isn't a problem," Hal replied dazedly. "But I would have treated you much more respectfully if I'd had any idea, Princess Amelia. Why didn't you tell us?"
"You didn't ask," Amelia replied simply.
"You would have treated her differently if you'd known," Zelgadis said. "We enjoyed being ordinary members of the caravan. Right, Amelia?"
"Right!"
"Zel...Zelgadis-san, are you royalty too?"
"Hardly." Zel snorted. "I'm just a freelance mercenary who happened to end up travelling with the same people as Amelia."
"Can I tell the others?"
Amelia looked at Zelgadis, but he just looked straight back at her without any indication of approval or disapproval. "I don't mind," she smiled. "I'm proud of my family and my city!"
Hal was about to go proclaim the news when he realized that he still had Amelia's letter of recommendation in his hand. "Do you still want this?"
"Yes! Whether one is a princess or a pauper, it's good to have an employer's praise!"
Rather doubtfully, he wrote out, "For Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun" and handed it to her. She hugged it to her chest.
"Guys, you'll never believe this!" Hal called, running towards the campfire.
Amelia looked around at the busy streets, her face shining with a happiness that was almost too great for the human heart to hold. "It's good to be home," she said simply.
"Then why have you been trying so hard to avoid it?" Zelgadis asked with mild exasperation. The two had parted from the caravan at the city walls and were now nearing the palace.
"Have I?"
"Only at every opportunity."
"Well," Amelia admitted with downcast eyes, "It's kind of boring. When I'm home, I spend all my time reading over new laws and planning parties. It's important work! It maintains the bonds of justice and friendship! But I enjoy traveling and helping people in person more. Besides, you never come visit me in Seyruun and I miss you."
"Seyruun is not a good place for someone who looks like a monster."
"But you're human now. Does that mean you'll come visit me more often?"
"I'll think about it. My sister is going to be living in Seyruun too soon. That will give me twice as much reason to come here."
They paused in the shadow of the palace gates. None of the guards had spotted them yet.
"Where will you go now?" Amelia asked.
"I don't know," the young man replied. "There's an entire world out there where people will no longer run screaming at the sight of my face. My father suggested that I should study more magic."
Amelia looked down at her feet and blushed. "Would you like to stay here for a while? There's a lot more books in the library that we haven't looked at yet, and Daddy likes you almost as much as he likes Lina-san."
Zelgadis watched the petite princess grind her toe into the dust. Then he looked up at the castle towers above them and around at the busy street. An expression crossed his face which had never been there during his years as a chimera, a warm, happy, carefree smile. "I guess I can stay a few days," he said.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading my story! I hope you enjoyed it. As always, I love getting feedback so please feel free to tell me anything that made you laugh, sigh or scream in frustration.
This story is now up in prettier form on my webpage. I won't give the address here because it is subject to change, but you can find it on my author page (Just click on my name in the header of this page).
I double-checked this story for typos and weird punctuation but it is likely that errors still remain. If you find any serious ones or a lot of little ones, please let me know. I'd also like to know about any facts that are contrary to cannon, characters that you find out-of-character, or plot holes. Barring the discovery of such things, this story is now in its absolutely final form. That means I can move on to the next one!
I do have some ideas for a sequel. It would probably have Lina, Gourry, Xellos and, of course, Zel and Amelia as the major characters, and it would involve political intrigue, disguises, and lots of new places and people. I have hopes that it might even have a climactic plot although I suspect it would be almost as episodic and short on action as this one. A certain amount of shameless romance is also a possibility. Unfortunately, it will probably take me at least a year to write it and I refuse to start posting it until I'm sure the early foreshadowing is pointing in the right direction. To keep you satisfied in the meantime, I have some shorter stories in the works. Keep an eye out for them.
Once again, thank you for sticking with this story through all eighteen long chapters. Knowing that somebody is reading my stories is a great incentive to keep writing them.