Unhindered Imagination
Chapter 2 – Between fits of boredom and despair
Fic written by-- Fire (The wonderful!)
Amelia yawned as she made her way down the castle halls, one thing clearly in her mind: Breakfast. It was a rather uneventful morning. She got to the breakfast hall which required grotesque amounts of unnecessary description and ate a marvelous breakfast which also required a grotesque amount of unnecessary description.
Afterwards, she made her way to her office on the in the west wing of the castle and spent the most of the day attempting to read documents about the economy of Seryuun, of treaties, and of marriage proposals. For the most part, however, she mostly had day dreams, writhing in boredom when her mind decided to take that brief hiatus.
Mostly her mind stayed occupied by reflections of her travels with Lina and company. When one had seen most of the planet, been dragon-slaved on numerous occasions, been caught between a fight of a Mazoku and a Ryuuzoku, foiled dark-lords, died, and fallen in love, one found that desks and papers did nothing to appease the apatite for adventure, in fact, it only made her want it more.
Somewhere in-between pondering her recent life and fits monotony did she realize that she would give anything to be truly free, even if for a single day. To not be held to any obligations, to have no burdens, and no responsibility, it was an overwhelming concept, something she couldn't even grasp. The closest to this state she had ever been was when traveling with her companions, and even then they had the fate of the planet resting upon their shoulders. And even then, she had to worry about whether her own actions would cause a war.
"And what about that dream?" She muttered to herself, staring out the window and into the sky which was tinged pink in the early evening. Even now, after the dream was done and over with, she couldn't recall what the man in her dream had looked like. She blinked in confusion, or was it a woman? She could hardly remember the dream, and at the same time it was all to clear in her mind. For some reason she couldn't shake the image, it was as though someone or something was trying to tell her something.
"I sure hope I'm wrong." She said quietly, averting her attention to her desk. It was frightening, but she couldn't help but smile a little. Maybe it meant a new enemy would appear soon and she would be saved from this realm of boredom she had been residing in for the past year, and perhaps even be reunited with her group.
How wonderful it would be to see everyone once more. Lina-san and Gourry-san, with their fights over food. Maybe Fillia-san or Xellos-san, with their battles and arguments. And maybe even Zelgadis-san… Her mood fell again at thought of him. Many a time had she wondered where he was, how he was doing, if he had found his cure yet. And why hadn't he come to visit her in Seryuun? She gently placed and hand on her bare wrist, a constant reminder of him. Sometimes, when in the darkness of her bedroom, or the within the solitude of a field outside the Seryuun walls, she allowed herself to wonder if he even still lived, only to be reprimanded later by herself. One with a burning heart of justice should never allow themselves such hopeless thoughts, not while there was still blood in their body and breathe in their lungs. She sighed. Even her justice obsession seemed to be fading a bit. Now this was truly terrifying to her. It meant she would have to re-discover herself again, who she truly was. It had taken so much time to pull herself back together after her mother's death, and ever since, justice had been her reason for everything, her essence.
Times were changing, and sure enough, so was she.
*****
Lina sighed contentedly and stretched her hands toward the ceiling. Gourry sat next to her on the tavern chair, finishing the last few bites off of his drumstick. She was full. It was immensely amazing, but she couldn't swallow another bite even if she wanted to.
"Lina?" She snapped out of her thoughts and turned her attention to her companion who had just finished his own meal.
"Yeah?" Her eyes followed the plates as they were removed from the table.
"Uh, where was it we were going again?" She slouched back into her chair. Gourry's stupidity wasn't something that was easy to get used to, but once you were your patience was incredible. She couldn't even say that she was used to it yet even though they had been traveling together for over five years. She would still give him the occasional pounding when he fell asleep during her lectures or didn't understand something even though she had explained it to him several times.
Five years… They had known each other, day-to-day for five years. And still their relationship wasn't much different from when they had first met each other. It was kinda discouraging, to say the least.
"Uh, Lina?" She shook her head as she was, once again, snapped from her reverie. "I just asked where it was we were going again?" ….Oh, yeah….
"I've already told you, jellyfish. We're going to Agaeuus to check out that ancient scroll being presented there." She grinned in a very Lina like matter. "And if we're lucky, perhaps they'll even consider selling it to the beautiful, sorcery genius." Gourry looked genuinely confused, as usual.
"Uhhh, I don't get it." Lina shook her head. He could be a sad, sad case sometimes.
"You don't have to Gourry… Trust me, you don't have to." Gourry shrugged in a nonchalant manner.
"Whatever you say Lina." Lina crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back into her seat. Why was it that she had a bad feeling about this?
*****
Amelia didn't even realize there was anyone in the room with her until they were standing right before her. Her eyes trailed up the tall and broad figure of her father as he stood proudly, arms crossed and back strait.
"Amelia?" He asked almost as though unsure.
"Hmm?" Phil was taken aback to not be tackled in a bear-hug and showered with love and justice speeches, but nevertheless, he had some serious issues to breach with her, so it didn't really matter.
"I came here to talk to you, about marriage… It's but a few months before your nineteenth birthday and this is long overdue. It's Seryuun law that princesses must be married before they're eighteen, but I was rather lenient. You're going to have to choose someone, or I'll have to do it for you." She gave him a dismissive glance, returning her attention back to the window. She hated it when her father brought this up.
"I don't wanna get married right now, Tousan. I'm not ready for that yet."
"When will you be ready?"
"I don't know!" She answered abruptly. She wasn't sure why, but her patience for such things were growing shorter and shorter. Man… She felt like she was turning into a temperamental Lina, although it was understandable since she was on her period.
"Well with all the justice in the world you must be ready soon! We need heirs! We need treaties! Amelia, for the good of the kingdo-"
"I'm really starting to hate that phrase, Tousan! What about me? What about where my sights are set?" She finally took her eyes away from the setting sun and snapped them back to her fathers, a scowl on her face. Her father stood firmly planted in the ground.
"You can't spend your life waiting for Zelgadis to return to you. What if he never does?" It was stated coldly, but it held truth to it. She hated that, and proceeded in glaring daggers at him.
"The point of the matter is that I'm not ready to get married to anyone whether it be Zelgadis or wealthy noble!" She was really starting to regret telling her father about her feelings toward Zelgadis. He blamed all her refusals to marry on him
"You'd better choose someone soon, or else I'll be forced to choose for you." Sometimes she couldn't believe him.
"What right do you have!? You don't understand where I am right now! I don't want to get married right now, that's all! And don't you dare bring Zelgadis-San into this!" She snarled, cutting off her father's reply when he opened his mouth to speak. He gaped a little, then closed his mouth with a firm click.
"Defiance…" He started, "Isn't something those of noble blood will be looking for… Clean up your act Amelia." And with that he left the room. She didn't even try to stop him; in fact she was starting to welcome his absence. All he ever did was blabber about how her marriage to a prince would bring justice to the kingdom.
A prince… Such an interesting concept. A state of heroism, or someone who would save you from everything, including yourself. Tears filled her eyes as she realized the hopelessness of her situation. And as she turned her attention back to the window a tear made its way out of her eye and down her face.
"So…" She whispered, "Where's my prince now? Where's Zelgadis-san?"
A/N: Ahhhhhhhhhh! I've been sitting at this screen for about forty-five minutes writing this!! My back hurts! I wanna go to bed! Jesus!
Okay… Anyway, I know it wasn't very good, and I'm also well aware of the fact that I'm not nearly as good as describing Amelia's boredom/loneliness/despair/etc. as so many others are… It's my first fic okay? Please be gentle! ^_^;; Too much description! Nothing actually happened, and my fight sucked! Aug! Weeeeeeeell, Anywho! You know the drill. R&R please! (Oh yea! Extra props to those who actually reviewed my story!! Thank you so much!! And I'm sorry I don't have personal "thank you's" cause I really have to get to bed right now… School in the morning! Hey, if you review again, I promise you'll get recognition in the next chapter!! Either way, Thanks!)
----This is Fire :: Signing out!
