Note to Readers: Sorry this update has been so delayed -- it's been a busy summer.
~ Zanne
Then Came the Dawn
Chapter Four
Amelia put down her quill and carefully used a towel to wipe ink smudges off her hands, massaging them as she did. Penning out official correspondence and thank you messages to those who attended the coronation ball the previous week ranked high on her list of despised tasks.
"You look beat," Val observed, looking over from the other side of the room where he was playing with Von.
"Don't let anyone ever tell you that being royalty is easy," Amelia said. "At least, not if the royalty's worth anything."
"Are you finished?"
She nodded. "Finally. It's extremely tedious to write out a few hundred copies of what's basically the same letter over and over and over, ad nauseam."
"Don't you have any court officials you could foist that off onto?"
"If it were absolutely necessary, yes. But this is part of my diplomatic training to prepare me for the eventually succession to the throne." Amelia blinked quickly as a sudden stinging sensation cropped up in her eyes and the bridge of her nose.
"Amelia?"
"It's nothing, just...I hate thinking of that, because it only means one thing."
"What's that?"
"Something's happened to my daddy." She looked up, trying to smile.
"He'll be fine, Amelia."
"Someding 'appen?" Von asked, looking between his father and Amelia, his facial features starting to scrunch up in worry.
Val ruffled the fur on his head. "No, nothing's happened." His eyes met Amelia's again. "And nothing will."
She smiled slightly. "I suppose you're ri--" A distant explosion cut her off, and she gasped.
Von skittered under a chair, nearly toppling it over as all four legs were raised off the ground by his size, and Val scrambled to his feet. "Bloody hell, somebody's got lousy timing!" he snapped, hurrying over to the window. "I don't see any...oh, wait. There's some smoke over there."
Amelia moved up to his side, looking out just in time to see a distant flash from the same relative vicinity, quickly followed by a faint boom as the sound reached them. "Oh, my. This is either a very bad thing, or a very good thing." She turned from the window, hurrying to the door.
"Good?" Val shot her an incredulous look. "How could this be good?"
"There's a chance it's Miss Lina." Val was silent, then she heard him groan, "oh, by all the gods," as she opened the door, looking out into the hall. "Gravos!" She waved her hand, seeing the two servants hurrying toward the room. "Come and take Von to the inner chambers until we know what's happening."
"Already fixin' to," Gravos replied as Amelia stepped back to let them in. He had no difficulty in lifting the chair off of Von, and picking up the wide-eyed hatchling. "Git the door, Jillas," he said as the foxman darted across the room to open the way to the inner chambers.
Amelia started to shut the door when rushing footsteps caught her attention.
"Your highness!"
She looked out the door, seeing a guard running at top speed toward the room. Hastily, she looked back to ascertain that Jillas, Gravos, and Von were out of sight, and stepped aside to let the guard in. He almost didn't stop in time to make the turn into the room, then bowed low, panting.
"I apologize for the intrusion, your highness," he said in between gasps.
"What is it?" Amelia asked.
"The woman you've had us keeping watch for is here, we think. She's currently in something of a rage, trying to demolish a restaurant, ranting about the cooking contest for some reason."
Amelia grinned widely and gave Val a victory gesture. "The fish took the bait. Go back at once and inform her at once that a dinner in her honor is being prepared here, and you are to escort her to me, as well as any companions. Also, do let the chef know she's en route, and send a cleric to erect a white magic barrier over the dining room, or at least the general area of the table, to forestall any eavesdroppers."
"Yes, of course. At once, your Highness." The guard bowed once more, then departed.
Val was smirking when the guard left. "Well, I'll give you credit. You know how to fish."
"The secret's all in knowing what to put on the hook. Shall we go down to the dining room to greet them?"
"Lead the way."
Amelia grinned, although butterflies were starting to form in her stomach as the moment of truth drew closer. "Val...?"
He arched an eyebrow, looking at her, then sighed. "I'm not going to start trouble."
She nodded, and stepped out the door. "Good."
"I might finish it," he muttered quietly as he followed her out into the hall.
"Val!"
"But I won't start it!"
Amelia covered her eyes as she hung her head. "And the Capital just finally finished getting rebuilt a couple years ago, too! Val, please, we don't need any more collateral damage than what's already been had this afternoon."
"Don't tell me she destroyed this city too?"
"No." Amelia started walking down the stairs. "Just a part of it."
"You got off easy, then."
"Yes, and I beg of you, please remember that."
"I said I wouldn't start anything!"
"Just let me handle the talking part until I get everything straightened up?" Amelia frowned, thinking. "I've got a better idea. Go wait for us in the dining room. I'll intercept them and try to get the situation cleared before you meet."
"All right. The sooner we get things out of the way, the sooner we can go after Filia," he said as he opened the door to the dining room.
"Wait!" Amelia hopped on one foot, then the other as she yanked off her shoes, handing them over. "Put those by my chair."
"Wha..?" Val raised an eyebrow in confusion, but she didn't stop to explain. Barefoot, and unhindered by the narrow high heels, she sprinted easily down the corridors for the exit.
Amelia knew the further away from the castle she was able to intercept Lina and Gourry, the better chance she'd have at actually having time to explain Val's presence. Once those two were ready for food, not much could stop them. Her long, full skirts were starting to hinder her, so she fisted her hands over the material, gathering them up to mid-calf. As she rounded a corner, her tiara almost slid off her head. And so, she raced by the guards at the front entrance with one hand holding up her skirts, and the other keeping her tiara in place. They jumped back in surprise, caught off-guard by antics the now-sophisticated crown princess had not indulged in since she was a teenager.
Amelia regretted relinquishing her shoes in favor of speed once she got out over the cobblestones. The lack of either heavy traveling or venturing out of doors barefooted had allowed her soles to soften enough for her to feel the tiny little sharp pebbles scattered randomly over the otherwise smooth stones. She started to slow down, then a lovely mental visual of Lina encountering Valgaav without knowing anything about what was happening, and the resulting inevitable mass destruction was motivation enough.
Still, her speed was somewhat reduced, and that proved to be to her advantage as she had just enough time to skid to a halt before running full tilt into the sorceress and the swordsman. "Miss Lina! Mister Gourry!"
"Do we know her?" Gourry asked.
Lina's eye twitched. "Do we know her, you noodles for brains?!" He tried to evade the incoming fist, but she was too quick. It hit his skull with a resounding thunk. "That's Amelia." Lina turned back to her, looking up. "You've gotten a lot taller though, and your hair..."
"It's a bit longer, yeah." Amelia quickly hugged them both. "It's so good to see you! It's been too long."
"Well, you had to know we couldn't stay away once we found out about your cooking contest," Lina replied.
"While there is going to be a cooking contest, I deliberately invented that just to find you and get you here quickly," Amelia told them, growing serious. "We need your help."
"Are you okay?" Gourry asked.
"Is it Phil?"
"No, Miss Lina, fortunately Daddy's fine. But the situation...come with me. We'll discuss it over dinner."
"But we were going to this big dinner a guard back there told us about," Gourry said.
Lina's eye twitched again. "That dinner's at the castle, where Amelia lives."
"Oh. So you're going to the dinner too, Amelia?" Gourry asked.
Amelia just smiled and helped Lina up from the ground where she had facevaulted. "Yes, Mister Gourry. The three of us, and another guest."
"Who?" Lina asked, dusting off her tunic.
She hesitated, looking around. While White Magic Capital was exactly that, there could still be, and have been in the past, Mazoku present. The less that was discussed outside of secured areas, the better. "You'll find out. Now come with me. It's been too long since I've seen you. How are you both doing?"
"We're pretty good," Lina replied as they fell into step beside her. "You might like to know that the Mazoku Lord Dynast is history."
"What?" Amelia almost tripped over a cobblestone in her shock.
"We found a sword to replace the Sword of Light," Gourry said. "But it's really sharp, though. Milgazia did something to it to make it dull."
Amelia wrinkled her brow in confusion. "Why would he do that?"
"Because the Blast Blade absorbs magical energy to make it sharp. Even with it dulled, Gourry can still cut through rock. It's so sharp that you can't even really do anything with it. It cuts through the sheaths, everything," Lina explained.
"Wow." Amelia glanced to the sword sheath hanging at Gourry's side, considering. "That could certainly come in handy."
"Are you in trouble, Amelia?" Lina asked.
"I can't really explain out in the open, Miss Lina. But there's someone who's joining us for dinner, and I need you both to bear in mind that he's not our enemy."
Lina's eyes narrowed. "What are you up to?"
"I'll explain over dinner, but trust me, please? Have I ever really let you down?"
"No," Lina admittedly, with a tone Amelia thought was slightly grudging. "You haven't."
"Everything will be made clear," Amelia promised. "I ran out here to meet you to make sure that's understood. You might want to attack the other member of our dinner party on sight, but I desperately need for you to hold off on that and hear what's going on."
"All right, all right! I'll give you a chance," Lina huffed. "Now where's the food?!"
"Right this way, Miss Lina." Amelia led them into the castle, and not much more was said until they were finally in sight of the dining room doors. "A white magic barrier should have been erected, and we'll do any talking inside that."
Lina raised an eyebrow in surprise, but merely nodded as Amelia opened one of the doors, immediately stepping in then standing to the side to allow them to enter.
The long banquet table was prepared with four places down at the far end, and a nice, plentiful variety of hors-d'oeuvres were laid out to whet the guests' appetites while the main courses cooked. Traces of a barrier shimmered on the floor encircling the table, warding it from anyone, including Mazoku, who might try to overhear the conversation by magical means. Val was down at the opposite side of the table at the head, standing, his back to the door as he studied some of the grand tapestries and portraits lining the walls. He turned around as they entered, not saying a word as he watched Lina.
Lina began to walk in, and came to a sudden stop when her eyes landed on Val. Gourry walked into her, and quickly grabbed Lina's shoulders with one hand to keep her from toppling over, and his other reflexively went to his sword. She didn't seem to notice as she looked to Amelia, her gaze both confused and wary.
"Please, Miss Lina. Join us for dinner. All of this will become clear shortly," Amelia said as she stepped behind Gourry, closing the door.
"It had better," Lina muttered under her breath. Neither of them moved until Amelia took a few steps forward, then glanced back and beckoned to them.
"Come on, Miss Lina, Mister Gourry. Your seats are over there." She gestured to the two chairs with place settings beside them to the right of the head chair. Her shoes were resting beside it, and she stepped into them before moving in front of her place, waiting for everyone to arrive at their seats. Val took the lone place setting to her immediate left across from Lina as they all sat down.
"What is he doing here? I thought he was dead!" Lina all but snapped, apparently oblivious to the food for the moment. Gourry's gaze was likewise suspicious.
"I thought you were going to explain things to her," Val said.
"I said I'd...Mister Val, I decided it would be better not to reveal too much in an unsecured location, and Miss Lina, we need your help."
Lina's indifference to the food didn't last long. She already had a strawberry speared with her fork and jabbed it in Val's direction. "Let me get this straight. He needs my help?" she asked before sticking the fork in her mouth. "And what is he doing still alive?"
"Your blast killed Dark Star, but it didn't quite finish me off," Val explained curtly before Amelia could answer. "I would have died, if Filia hadn't found me."
"And now Filia's in trouble," Amelia said.
"What did you do to her?"
Amelia shot a worried glance at Val, watching him glare at Lina as his hands tightened into fists. "Miss Lina, Val didn't do anything. He's not even Mazoku anymore."
"What?"
"You heard her. I guess that by merging with Dark Star, I somehow had my old nature restored." He shrugged, picking up a water goblet. "You're looking in the wrong direction for the trouble. Try looking at your old buddy, Xellos."
"Val, please let me handle this," Amelia begged.
"What's he done?" Lina asked, ignoring the princess, "and what does this have to do with Filia?"
"Well, Mister Val was--"
"I don't know what he's doing to her now, but I know what he's done." Val didn't even to appear to notice Amelia had been talking. His eyes were locked on Lina's. "Listen to me. Do you think I'd come here and ask her to find you if I wasn't serious about this? It's got nothing to do with the old grudges from before. I love Filia. More than that, she's my mate."
Lina blinked. "Your mate..?"
"And Xellos couldn't stand that. I've got every reason to believe that he severely beat her, and framed me for it to pressure me into leaving, and it worked."
"Huh? You mean she believed him over you and threw you out?" Lina frowned. "That doesn't sound like Filia at all."
Val shook his head. "It's not that easy. See, I believed it too. It's a long story, but he also hit me over the head pretty hard -- a maneuver he's at least 'fessed up to doing, albeit under the pretext of stopping me -- and I can't really remember too much immediately leading up to it. It took me three years, but I do remember clearly now that I went into the house because I heard her screaming."
Lina's eyes were narrowed as she listened intently, idly munching away on the fruit dish in front of her straight out of the bowl, while Gourry began to load up his plate with the kind of proportions that Amelia expected of them.
"What else?" Lina asked. "Is he still hanging around Filia?" When both Amelia and Val nodded, she continued talking before they could open their mouths. "How come she hasn't pulverized him with that mace or driven him off yet?"
"I don't think she can," Val replied. "For one, he's got leverage over her. For another, he can kill an entire flight of Dragons. Easily. One would be no problem for him."
"Why did he let you live?"
"I'm not sure. I think a large part of that was the leverage factor. He did come and find me several times, mainly to rub the whole incident in my face, insult on injury and all that."
"All right. So what else do you know?"
Amelia watched Val shake his head, looking down at his plate. "I don't know what he's done to her, but if you could just see her now..." He looked up at Lina again, this time with traces of desperation in his eyes. "I went back there, to the village where we lived, and I never even saw her. From what I learned from others, she almost never is seen outside of her shop anymore. Xellos handles everything."
"That's rare?" Lina asked.
Val nodded. "At least when I lived there, yeah. She opened a pottery shop when we moved in there to generate income. Sure, we all -- that is, Jillas, Gravos, and myself -- ran errands and picked up things for her while she was busy, but she wasn't a recluse like she is now."
Amelia wondered why Val wasn't bringing up Von yet, but before she could say anything, the doors from the kitchen opened and she hurriedly shushed the others.
Lina began to dig in with more fervor without the topic at hand to distract her, while Val and Amelia ate quietly, waiting for the servants to finish setting out the main entrees and depart.
"So you want my help getting Xellos away from Filia," Lina mumbled around a mouthful of food as soon as the doors closed.
"Preferably in a permanent fashion. We just want peace and quiet, and I..." Val trailed off, a distantly thoughtful expression on his face. "I don't want her or Von to be at risk from him any longer."
"Von?" Lina asked, picking up her goblet and taking a sip.
"Our son."
Lina choked, almost spitting out the wine.
"Miss Filia sent him to me as soon as she laid the egg, about three years ago," Amelia said. "I've been raising him."
Lina kept coughing and making high-pitched, incredulous squeaking sounds while Gourry pounded her on the back.
Val smirked faintly. "And she's done a damn fine job of it too."
"Why didn't you ever tell me, Amelia?" Lina demanded in between coughs, shrugging Gourry's arm away from her as she began to regain the ability to breathe.
"Miss Filia asked me to keep him safe, and the best way to do that was to keep him a secret. She worked so hard to ensure Mister Xellos didn't ever find out about him."
"I'm still not sure how well that worked. There hasn't been any indication that he's aware of Von, but to trick Xellos..." Val shook his head.
"Yeah, that's the catch," Lina said. "If he does know about Von, he's likely been using him for more leverage on Filia."
"I hope that's not the case," Amelia said.
"At any rate, we'd be going up against someone who knows how we work, knows our strengths, our weaknesses, and has even fought alongside us," Lina said. She paused for a moment, chewing another mouthful.
Amelia quirked a faint smile, but when she glanced over to Val, his expression was both hostile and pensive.
"In other words, you're not going to help," he said.
Lina arched an eyebrow. "In other words, we've got our work cut out for us."
"So you are helping!" Amelia confirmed happily.
"I always knew this day would come around sooner or later, even more so after Filia told me he basically offered up my head on a platter to you in exchange for you joining the Mazoku." She smirked at Val. "Incidentally, thanks for not taking that offer."
"Don't flatter yourself, I just wanted the satisfaction of killing you myself," Val shot back, but his words were softened as a half-grin tugged at his lips.
"So now what do we do?" Amelia asked.
"First and foremost, we eat," Lina announced. "Then we need to brainstorm and come up with a plan that could possibly stand a chance against Xellos. In the meantime, there's a nice little excavation site just to the west of here, on the other side of the borders in the Ralteague kingdom."
Amelia and Val exchanged confused looks. "What does that have to do with anything, Miss Lina?"
"We spread a rumor that some of the things being found are old spellbooks thought to belong to Rezo."
"Who? What good would that do us?" Val asked irritably.
"The Red Priest? But why would you..." Amelia trailed off, her eyes widening. "Miss Lina! That's cruel!"
"But it'll work!"
"It's unjust!"
"Oh, not that again! Do you want to help Filia, or do you want to go traveling about to L-sama knows where looking for him?"
"Well..."
"What are you two bickering about now?" Val asked.
"I need Zel on the team. Besides..." Lina looked over at Amelia. "Think of how unjust it would be to exclude Zel from kicking Xellos' ass. You know how much Zel hates him."
"Well," Amelia said reluctantly, "when you put it that way..."
"How long with this take?" Val demanded.
Lina shrugged. "I'm not sure yet, but it's not as though we'll be wasting our time either. I don't know yet what we will do, but I have a feeling this time waiting will be put to good use with you learning a few high-level spells."
Amelia sweatdropped. "Not around here, you're not!"
"Of course not," Lina replied. "That's why we're leaving Seyruun."
"Let someone else worry about it?" Val asked, smirking. "All right. I'm game."
"Lina?"
"Yeah, Gourry?"
"Just one question..."
Amelia and Lina both froze, and looked at the blond swordsman apprehensively.
"Yes?" Lina asked.
"Who is Filia? Do we know her?"
Amelia and Lina both facevaulted.
"You jellyfish!" Lina shouted, cracking her fist down onto Gourry's skull yet again. "What kind of a stupid question is that?!"
Amelia sat back in her chair, head in her hands, while Lina continued ranting. The old saying was true. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.
to be continued...
~ Zanne
Chapter Four
Amelia put down her quill and carefully used a towel to wipe ink smudges off her hands, massaging them as she did. Penning out official correspondence and thank you messages to those who attended the coronation ball the previous week ranked high on her list of despised tasks.
"You look beat," Val observed, looking over from the other side of the room where he was playing with Von.
"Don't let anyone ever tell you that being royalty is easy," Amelia said. "At least, not if the royalty's worth anything."
"Are you finished?"
She nodded. "Finally. It's extremely tedious to write out a few hundred copies of what's basically the same letter over and over and over, ad nauseam."
"Don't you have any court officials you could foist that off onto?"
"If it were absolutely necessary, yes. But this is part of my diplomatic training to prepare me for the eventually succession to the throne." Amelia blinked quickly as a sudden stinging sensation cropped up in her eyes and the bridge of her nose.
"Amelia?"
"It's nothing, just...I hate thinking of that, because it only means one thing."
"What's that?"
"Something's happened to my daddy." She looked up, trying to smile.
"He'll be fine, Amelia."
"Someding 'appen?" Von asked, looking between his father and Amelia, his facial features starting to scrunch up in worry.
Val ruffled the fur on his head. "No, nothing's happened." His eyes met Amelia's again. "And nothing will."
She smiled slightly. "I suppose you're ri--" A distant explosion cut her off, and she gasped.
Von skittered under a chair, nearly toppling it over as all four legs were raised off the ground by his size, and Val scrambled to his feet. "Bloody hell, somebody's got lousy timing!" he snapped, hurrying over to the window. "I don't see any...oh, wait. There's some smoke over there."
Amelia moved up to his side, looking out just in time to see a distant flash from the same relative vicinity, quickly followed by a faint boom as the sound reached them. "Oh, my. This is either a very bad thing, or a very good thing." She turned from the window, hurrying to the door.
"Good?" Val shot her an incredulous look. "How could this be good?"
"There's a chance it's Miss Lina." Val was silent, then she heard him groan, "oh, by all the gods," as she opened the door, looking out into the hall. "Gravos!" She waved her hand, seeing the two servants hurrying toward the room. "Come and take Von to the inner chambers until we know what's happening."
"Already fixin' to," Gravos replied as Amelia stepped back to let them in. He had no difficulty in lifting the chair off of Von, and picking up the wide-eyed hatchling. "Git the door, Jillas," he said as the foxman darted across the room to open the way to the inner chambers.
Amelia started to shut the door when rushing footsteps caught her attention.
"Your highness!"
She looked out the door, seeing a guard running at top speed toward the room. Hastily, she looked back to ascertain that Jillas, Gravos, and Von were out of sight, and stepped aside to let the guard in. He almost didn't stop in time to make the turn into the room, then bowed low, panting.
"I apologize for the intrusion, your highness," he said in between gasps.
"What is it?" Amelia asked.
"The woman you've had us keeping watch for is here, we think. She's currently in something of a rage, trying to demolish a restaurant, ranting about the cooking contest for some reason."
Amelia grinned widely and gave Val a victory gesture. "The fish took the bait. Go back at once and inform her at once that a dinner in her honor is being prepared here, and you are to escort her to me, as well as any companions. Also, do let the chef know she's en route, and send a cleric to erect a white magic barrier over the dining room, or at least the general area of the table, to forestall any eavesdroppers."
"Yes, of course. At once, your Highness." The guard bowed once more, then departed.
Val was smirking when the guard left. "Well, I'll give you credit. You know how to fish."
"The secret's all in knowing what to put on the hook. Shall we go down to the dining room to greet them?"
"Lead the way."
Amelia grinned, although butterflies were starting to form in her stomach as the moment of truth drew closer. "Val...?"
He arched an eyebrow, looking at her, then sighed. "I'm not going to start trouble."
She nodded, and stepped out the door. "Good."
"I might finish it," he muttered quietly as he followed her out into the hall.
"Val!"
"But I won't start it!"
Amelia covered her eyes as she hung her head. "And the Capital just finally finished getting rebuilt a couple years ago, too! Val, please, we don't need any more collateral damage than what's already been had this afternoon."
"Don't tell me she destroyed this city too?"
"No." Amelia started walking down the stairs. "Just a part of it."
"You got off easy, then."
"Yes, and I beg of you, please remember that."
"I said I wouldn't start anything!"
"Just let me handle the talking part until I get everything straightened up?" Amelia frowned, thinking. "I've got a better idea. Go wait for us in the dining room. I'll intercept them and try to get the situation cleared before you meet."
"All right. The sooner we get things out of the way, the sooner we can go after Filia," he said as he opened the door to the dining room.
"Wait!" Amelia hopped on one foot, then the other as she yanked off her shoes, handing them over. "Put those by my chair."
"Wha..?" Val raised an eyebrow in confusion, but she didn't stop to explain. Barefoot, and unhindered by the narrow high heels, she sprinted easily down the corridors for the exit.
Amelia knew the further away from the castle she was able to intercept Lina and Gourry, the better chance she'd have at actually having time to explain Val's presence. Once those two were ready for food, not much could stop them. Her long, full skirts were starting to hinder her, so she fisted her hands over the material, gathering them up to mid-calf. As she rounded a corner, her tiara almost slid off her head. And so, she raced by the guards at the front entrance with one hand holding up her skirts, and the other keeping her tiara in place. They jumped back in surprise, caught off-guard by antics the now-sophisticated crown princess had not indulged in since she was a teenager.
Amelia regretted relinquishing her shoes in favor of speed once she got out over the cobblestones. The lack of either heavy traveling or venturing out of doors barefooted had allowed her soles to soften enough for her to feel the tiny little sharp pebbles scattered randomly over the otherwise smooth stones. She started to slow down, then a lovely mental visual of Lina encountering Valgaav without knowing anything about what was happening, and the resulting inevitable mass destruction was motivation enough.
Still, her speed was somewhat reduced, and that proved to be to her advantage as she had just enough time to skid to a halt before running full tilt into the sorceress and the swordsman. "Miss Lina! Mister Gourry!"
"Do we know her?" Gourry asked.
Lina's eye twitched. "Do we know her, you noodles for brains?!" He tried to evade the incoming fist, but she was too quick. It hit his skull with a resounding thunk. "That's Amelia." Lina turned back to her, looking up. "You've gotten a lot taller though, and your hair..."
"It's a bit longer, yeah." Amelia quickly hugged them both. "It's so good to see you! It's been too long."
"Well, you had to know we couldn't stay away once we found out about your cooking contest," Lina replied.
"While there is going to be a cooking contest, I deliberately invented that just to find you and get you here quickly," Amelia told them, growing serious. "We need your help."
"Are you okay?" Gourry asked.
"Is it Phil?"
"No, Miss Lina, fortunately Daddy's fine. But the situation...come with me. We'll discuss it over dinner."
"But we were going to this big dinner a guard back there told us about," Gourry said.
Lina's eye twitched again. "That dinner's at the castle, where Amelia lives."
"Oh. So you're going to the dinner too, Amelia?" Gourry asked.
Amelia just smiled and helped Lina up from the ground where she had facevaulted. "Yes, Mister Gourry. The three of us, and another guest."
"Who?" Lina asked, dusting off her tunic.
She hesitated, looking around. While White Magic Capital was exactly that, there could still be, and have been in the past, Mazoku present. The less that was discussed outside of secured areas, the better. "You'll find out. Now come with me. It's been too long since I've seen you. How are you both doing?"
"We're pretty good," Lina replied as they fell into step beside her. "You might like to know that the Mazoku Lord Dynast is history."
"What?" Amelia almost tripped over a cobblestone in her shock.
"We found a sword to replace the Sword of Light," Gourry said. "But it's really sharp, though. Milgazia did something to it to make it dull."
Amelia wrinkled her brow in confusion. "Why would he do that?"
"Because the Blast Blade absorbs magical energy to make it sharp. Even with it dulled, Gourry can still cut through rock. It's so sharp that you can't even really do anything with it. It cuts through the sheaths, everything," Lina explained.
"Wow." Amelia glanced to the sword sheath hanging at Gourry's side, considering. "That could certainly come in handy."
"Are you in trouble, Amelia?" Lina asked.
"I can't really explain out in the open, Miss Lina. But there's someone who's joining us for dinner, and I need you both to bear in mind that he's not our enemy."
Lina's eyes narrowed. "What are you up to?"
"I'll explain over dinner, but trust me, please? Have I ever really let you down?"
"No," Lina admittedly, with a tone Amelia thought was slightly grudging. "You haven't."
"Everything will be made clear," Amelia promised. "I ran out here to meet you to make sure that's understood. You might want to attack the other member of our dinner party on sight, but I desperately need for you to hold off on that and hear what's going on."
"All right, all right! I'll give you a chance," Lina huffed. "Now where's the food?!"
"Right this way, Miss Lina." Amelia led them into the castle, and not much more was said until they were finally in sight of the dining room doors. "A white magic barrier should have been erected, and we'll do any talking inside that."
Lina raised an eyebrow in surprise, but merely nodded as Amelia opened one of the doors, immediately stepping in then standing to the side to allow them to enter.
The long banquet table was prepared with four places down at the far end, and a nice, plentiful variety of hors-d'oeuvres were laid out to whet the guests' appetites while the main courses cooked. Traces of a barrier shimmered on the floor encircling the table, warding it from anyone, including Mazoku, who might try to overhear the conversation by magical means. Val was down at the opposite side of the table at the head, standing, his back to the door as he studied some of the grand tapestries and portraits lining the walls. He turned around as they entered, not saying a word as he watched Lina.
Lina began to walk in, and came to a sudden stop when her eyes landed on Val. Gourry walked into her, and quickly grabbed Lina's shoulders with one hand to keep her from toppling over, and his other reflexively went to his sword. She didn't seem to notice as she looked to Amelia, her gaze both confused and wary.
"Please, Miss Lina. Join us for dinner. All of this will become clear shortly," Amelia said as she stepped behind Gourry, closing the door.
"It had better," Lina muttered under her breath. Neither of them moved until Amelia took a few steps forward, then glanced back and beckoned to them.
"Come on, Miss Lina, Mister Gourry. Your seats are over there." She gestured to the two chairs with place settings beside them to the right of the head chair. Her shoes were resting beside it, and she stepped into them before moving in front of her place, waiting for everyone to arrive at their seats. Val took the lone place setting to her immediate left across from Lina as they all sat down.
"What is he doing here? I thought he was dead!" Lina all but snapped, apparently oblivious to the food for the moment. Gourry's gaze was likewise suspicious.
"I thought you were going to explain things to her," Val said.
"I said I'd...Mister Val, I decided it would be better not to reveal too much in an unsecured location, and Miss Lina, we need your help."
Lina's indifference to the food didn't last long. She already had a strawberry speared with her fork and jabbed it in Val's direction. "Let me get this straight. He needs my help?" she asked before sticking the fork in her mouth. "And what is he doing still alive?"
"Your blast killed Dark Star, but it didn't quite finish me off," Val explained curtly before Amelia could answer. "I would have died, if Filia hadn't found me."
"And now Filia's in trouble," Amelia said.
"What did you do to her?"
Amelia shot a worried glance at Val, watching him glare at Lina as his hands tightened into fists. "Miss Lina, Val didn't do anything. He's not even Mazoku anymore."
"What?"
"You heard her. I guess that by merging with Dark Star, I somehow had my old nature restored." He shrugged, picking up a water goblet. "You're looking in the wrong direction for the trouble. Try looking at your old buddy, Xellos."
"Val, please let me handle this," Amelia begged.
"What's he done?" Lina asked, ignoring the princess, "and what does this have to do with Filia?"
"Well, Mister Val was--"
"I don't know what he's doing to her now, but I know what he's done." Val didn't even to appear to notice Amelia had been talking. His eyes were locked on Lina's. "Listen to me. Do you think I'd come here and ask her to find you if I wasn't serious about this? It's got nothing to do with the old grudges from before. I love Filia. More than that, she's my mate."
Lina blinked. "Your mate..?"
"And Xellos couldn't stand that. I've got every reason to believe that he severely beat her, and framed me for it to pressure me into leaving, and it worked."
"Huh? You mean she believed him over you and threw you out?" Lina frowned. "That doesn't sound like Filia at all."
Val shook his head. "It's not that easy. See, I believed it too. It's a long story, but he also hit me over the head pretty hard -- a maneuver he's at least 'fessed up to doing, albeit under the pretext of stopping me -- and I can't really remember too much immediately leading up to it. It took me three years, but I do remember clearly now that I went into the house because I heard her screaming."
Lina's eyes were narrowed as she listened intently, idly munching away on the fruit dish in front of her straight out of the bowl, while Gourry began to load up his plate with the kind of proportions that Amelia expected of them.
"What else?" Lina asked. "Is he still hanging around Filia?" When both Amelia and Val nodded, she continued talking before they could open their mouths. "How come she hasn't pulverized him with that mace or driven him off yet?"
"I don't think she can," Val replied. "For one, he's got leverage over her. For another, he can kill an entire flight of Dragons. Easily. One would be no problem for him."
"Why did he let you live?"
"I'm not sure. I think a large part of that was the leverage factor. He did come and find me several times, mainly to rub the whole incident in my face, insult on injury and all that."
"All right. So what else do you know?"
Amelia watched Val shake his head, looking down at his plate. "I don't know what he's done to her, but if you could just see her now..." He looked up at Lina again, this time with traces of desperation in his eyes. "I went back there, to the village where we lived, and I never even saw her. From what I learned from others, she almost never is seen outside of her shop anymore. Xellos handles everything."
"That's rare?" Lina asked.
Val nodded. "At least when I lived there, yeah. She opened a pottery shop when we moved in there to generate income. Sure, we all -- that is, Jillas, Gravos, and myself -- ran errands and picked up things for her while she was busy, but she wasn't a recluse like she is now."
Amelia wondered why Val wasn't bringing up Von yet, but before she could say anything, the doors from the kitchen opened and she hurriedly shushed the others.
Lina began to dig in with more fervor without the topic at hand to distract her, while Val and Amelia ate quietly, waiting for the servants to finish setting out the main entrees and depart.
"So you want my help getting Xellos away from Filia," Lina mumbled around a mouthful of food as soon as the doors closed.
"Preferably in a permanent fashion. We just want peace and quiet, and I..." Val trailed off, a distantly thoughtful expression on his face. "I don't want her or Von to be at risk from him any longer."
"Von?" Lina asked, picking up her goblet and taking a sip.
"Our son."
Lina choked, almost spitting out the wine.
"Miss Filia sent him to me as soon as she laid the egg, about three years ago," Amelia said. "I've been raising him."
Lina kept coughing and making high-pitched, incredulous squeaking sounds while Gourry pounded her on the back.
Val smirked faintly. "And she's done a damn fine job of it too."
"Why didn't you ever tell me, Amelia?" Lina demanded in between coughs, shrugging Gourry's arm away from her as she began to regain the ability to breathe.
"Miss Filia asked me to keep him safe, and the best way to do that was to keep him a secret. She worked so hard to ensure Mister Xellos didn't ever find out about him."
"I'm still not sure how well that worked. There hasn't been any indication that he's aware of Von, but to trick Xellos..." Val shook his head.
"Yeah, that's the catch," Lina said. "If he does know about Von, he's likely been using him for more leverage on Filia."
"I hope that's not the case," Amelia said.
"At any rate, we'd be going up against someone who knows how we work, knows our strengths, our weaknesses, and has even fought alongside us," Lina said. She paused for a moment, chewing another mouthful.
Amelia quirked a faint smile, but when she glanced over to Val, his expression was both hostile and pensive.
"In other words, you're not going to help," he said.
Lina arched an eyebrow. "In other words, we've got our work cut out for us."
"So you are helping!" Amelia confirmed happily.
"I always knew this day would come around sooner or later, even more so after Filia told me he basically offered up my head on a platter to you in exchange for you joining the Mazoku." She smirked at Val. "Incidentally, thanks for not taking that offer."
"Don't flatter yourself, I just wanted the satisfaction of killing you myself," Val shot back, but his words were softened as a half-grin tugged at his lips.
"So now what do we do?" Amelia asked.
"First and foremost, we eat," Lina announced. "Then we need to brainstorm and come up with a plan that could possibly stand a chance against Xellos. In the meantime, there's a nice little excavation site just to the west of here, on the other side of the borders in the Ralteague kingdom."
Amelia and Val exchanged confused looks. "What does that have to do with anything, Miss Lina?"
"We spread a rumor that some of the things being found are old spellbooks thought to belong to Rezo."
"Who? What good would that do us?" Val asked irritably.
"The Red Priest? But why would you..." Amelia trailed off, her eyes widening. "Miss Lina! That's cruel!"
"But it'll work!"
"It's unjust!"
"Oh, not that again! Do you want to help Filia, or do you want to go traveling about to L-sama knows where looking for him?"
"Well..."
"What are you two bickering about now?" Val asked.
"I need Zel on the team. Besides..." Lina looked over at Amelia. "Think of how unjust it would be to exclude Zel from kicking Xellos' ass. You know how much Zel hates him."
"Well," Amelia said reluctantly, "when you put it that way..."
"How long with this take?" Val demanded.
Lina shrugged. "I'm not sure yet, but it's not as though we'll be wasting our time either. I don't know yet what we will do, but I have a feeling this time waiting will be put to good use with you learning a few high-level spells."
Amelia sweatdropped. "Not around here, you're not!"
"Of course not," Lina replied. "That's why we're leaving Seyruun."
"Let someone else worry about it?" Val asked, smirking. "All right. I'm game."
"Lina?"
"Yeah, Gourry?"
"Just one question..."
Amelia and Lina both froze, and looked at the blond swordsman apprehensively.
"Yes?" Lina asked.
"Who is Filia? Do we know her?"
Amelia and Lina both facevaulted.
"You jellyfish!" Lina shouted, cracking her fist down onto Gourry's skull yet again. "What kind of a stupid question is that?!"
Amelia sat back in her chair, head in her hands, while Lina continued ranting. The old saying was true. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.
to be continued...