Love Sees Not With Its Eyes
by Cooking Spray
We've made it to chapter four! I'm excited!
Little Voice in Head: That's just because you usually forget all of your other fics and never make it to chapter four...
^_^0 Well, true, I do have a reputation for that... But what can I say, I'm a slow writer. However, I might actually be able to finish this one!
Anyway, instead of sitting here and listen to my meaningless chatter, let's just get to the story.
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Act III:
An Argument at the Ryuuzoku Temple and a Promise Under the Stars
Just as both feet made contact with the frozen ground, already an enraged female voice could be heard from inside the massive temple. Soon followed several varieties of crashes and bangs, all which sounded suspiciously like pottery shattering. Sure enough, they'd reached their destination.
Zelgadis sweatdropped in accordance to the sounds of the ruckus that was transpiring inside. "Are you sure it's safe to enter?"
Amelia copied the expression. "Oh, sure... Don't mind Filia-san, she just gets a little... worked up sometimes... heh heh..."
"Indeed," the chimera muttered as they approached the entrance, pushing back the ornately carved doors and entering the warmth of the large structure.
Instead of being greeted by the archetypical silence of most places of worship, their welcome mat was a stream of obscenities screeched by the priestess herself.
"NAMAGOMI!!! How dare you disturb the holy peace of this temple! May the gods strike you dead!"
A woman with impossibly long saffron hair wielding a large mace streaked past, apparently in pursuit of something smiling and purple. A tail protruded from beneath her many petticoats, showcasing her extreme anger.
Both princess and stone man displayed another set of sweatdrops, watching in complete stupefaction as the dragon maiden swung her weapon wildly, face streaked with rage, the perpetrator clearly amused as he phased out, expertly missing each blow. It was a bizarre sight indeed.
"Um, Filia-san?" Amelia managed to squeak, and the priestess in question froze as solid as the icicled eaves of her shrine. Blood rushed to her cheeks, quickly thawing her, and embarrassment settled in. The so-called 'namagomi' appeared beside her, still wearing his infuriatingly happy grin.
"G-gomenasai, your highness, I did not hear you enter," Filia said, ashamed, her skirt sweeping the floor as she bowed low. "Forgive me, but this annoying man was being extraneously rude to me and it was my duty to set him about the right path."
"The 'right path', Filia-san?" the 'annoying man' beside her questioned. "From what I gathered, you said you were going force open the ground and shove me into the fiery pits of he-"
Filia swacked him upside the head with her mace, leaving him temporarily with a large dent in his forehead.
"Ow, Filia-san, that hurts," the victim whined, rubbing the afflicted area, even though by now it bore no marks.
She ignored him. "I am honored to have you as a guest in my temple, Princess. Who is it you have brought with you?"
Amelia motioned toward her rather dazed companion. "This is Mr. Zelgadis Graywords, Filia-san. He's looking for a cure for his skin. I was wondering if you could help us, since you know holy magic."
Zel mumbled something that might have been counted as a greeting, but it was so quiet you really couldn't tell.
"A cure for your skin, you say?" the purple-haired man spoke with glee. "Acne problems, perhaps?"
Filia's eyes glinted dangerously. "Can't you just leave me alone now and stop being so RUDE to all of my customers?" she hissed through clenched teeth.
"No, not really. My schedule's free today, I'm afraid!" he announced happily, making no attempt to leave.
Seething, she turned to her guests, plastering a smile on her face. "Follow me, Princess Amelia-sama and Mr. Graywords, and I'll offer to you the best of my services," she said in a tone dripping with sugar, shooting 'namagomi' with a last withering glare.
The quartet, with Filia in the foremost position, and the trickster priest hovering at the rear, traveled across the wide marble floor, marveling at the exquisite architecture. They were led into a vast, dimly-lit room, with a cathedral ceiling that seemed to wind up into the heavens themselves. Filia stopped at a large pentacle-like design on the floor, and began.
"Holy magic, as I am sure you are both aware of, was once known to all of the priestesses, a very long time ago. However, the art was lost, and now precious few people alive today are familiar with it. I am extremely fortunate to be one of those individuals." She opened her eyes and offered a smile. "I'm willing to help you in any possible way I can."
Amelia was the first to speak, since Zelgadis had gone strangely silent, wandering off to the bookshelves. "What can you do with holy magic?"
"Well," said the priestess thoughtfully, "holy magic indeed has a magnitude of power that cannot be duplicated with the effects of lesser arts. In truth, the full measure of strength is unknown. It can be used for powerful attack spells, or simply as an energy enigma. Also, varied types of healing have been reported to be successful by just the sheer conversion of holy magic into released energy. It's very complicated."
"I see," responded the princess quietly. "Is there anything you can do that might help Zelgadis-san?" she asked, glancing over to where he was still thumbing through the bookshelves across the room.
"He's the man I mentioned at your coming-of-age banquet a couple of nights ago, isn't he?" Filia whispered, bending forward conspiratorially.
Amelia was slightly startled at the change in conversation, but managed a nod. "I heard what you said then, and decided that it was my royal duty to discover his motives," she whispered. "But the meeting didn't go quite as planned, and now I've ending up helping him." She smiled. "I want to help him, he must have had it rough. I feel really bad."
The dragon woman gave her a smile of her own, and straightened up. "From the looks of his skin, an unfortunate occurrence in the past must have caused him to be fused with either chimera and golem genes. There is one thing I might be able to do... but it's a very high-energy spell, and I'm not very familiar with it." Her cerulean eyes pooled in thought. "It's risky, but judging from his condition, it might be worth it."
The smaller girl looked at her hopefully. "Should I tell him?"
Filia turned so that her back faced her. "Not just yet. I'll tell him when the time is right." She looked back to give the young royal a reassuring smile. "Until then, keep searching the city. I have a feeling you might be a good influence on him." With a small wink, she walked forward with Amelia to Zelgadis' sentry by the bookshelf. He peered over a rather dusty leather-bound book with a runic-looking cover to see both priestess and princess approaching him, and promptly shut it and returned it to its proper place on the shelf.
"So," the chimera questioned, "anything?"
Filia gave him a genuine smile. "Not yet, Mr. Graywords, but I'll definitely be looking into some things now. Thank you both very much for visiting." She bowed courteously.
Another figure appeared on the farewell scene. "So, Filia-san, you weren't able to find him any topical creams? No ancient Ryuuzoku blemish remedies? And you call this a holy temple..."
Zel's right eyebrow twitched in anger.
In a fraction of a second the infuriated dragon was off the floor and already enraged, pointing an accusing finger at her intruder. "The only thing that isn't holy in it is YOU!" Filia glared at him as he continued to grin, both oblivious to their audience.
"Um," piped Amelia timidly, "but, if I may ask, who is this man you're fighting with all of the time?"
For a second the sparring pair stared at her dumbfoundedly. Filia, however, was the first to act. Thrusting her still extended finger for emphasis on the man in question, she began.
"This," she spat, "is Xelloss, the most rude, annoying and obnoxious person in the entire existence of the planet! He's the evil priest from the Mazoku Temple and he comes here to terrorize me and make my life miserable!" She clenched her fists. "I get angry just thinking about him!"
"Hi," Xelloss greeted his sweatdropping audience, waving.
"Anyway," the dragon maiden replied, the flames in her eyes extinguished, "I truly am honored to have had both of you as guests today. Please come back soon, when I'll have more information for you!"
"Um, bye, Filia-san," the violet-haired youth said nervously, giving a small wave before exiting.
And with that they left, leaving Filia-san's cries of 'NAMAGOMI!' far behind.
~*~*~*~*~
The sky began to dim and the light, or what little there had been to begin with in gray sky, sank beneath the clouds and out of reach. It was breathtaking, soaring so high above her own fair city, the air clear and cold, stars dotting the sky like a tapestry of L-sama Herself. Behind her she could here Zelgadis' cloak billowing as they shot through the air. It had been a most curious day.
She mulled the events through in her mind, from their unsuccessful visitation to the library to the more promising drop-in at the Ryuuzoku Temple. Filia-san had mentioned the possibility of a holy spell that might benefit Zelgadis-san. She'd also said his genes had been fused with those of golem and chimera... who would do something so horrible? What could've happened in the past to have made him this way? The answers were shrouded in mysteries.
A lot, though it was unexpected, had happened over the past two days, since she first went searching for the 'stone man' of Filia-san's rumor. And now she found herself bound to her promise, one to do everything in her power to aid Zelgadis-san in his quest to find a cure for his rocky skin. And, surprisingly, she really wanted to help. There were so many things she had yet to discover about him... but she wanted to be there for him, whenever he needed her.
However, despite the depth of her ponderings, her stomach, having not been filled since early that morning, gave an embarrassingly loud growl of protest. Now she'd better get home soon, for both reasons of hunger and those of her curfew.
Right on time, both figures descended upon the rooftop of the Pearl Shrine, illuminated eerily in the moon's shadow. They faced one another, silent for a few moments.
"Thank you, Amelia-hime," Zel said with a grateful smile. "You've helped greatly."
She flushed slightly, giving him a shy grin. "Well, it's my duty to help those in need, if I'm going to become Queen. But," she started, gazing into his eyes with a serious expression, "I want to help, too. You deserve it, Zelgadis-san! You deserve to find your cure!"
He looked into the constellations above. "I've been searching for so long now." He diverted his vision to her. "Perhaps you'll be the one, after all of these years." Something in his gaze looked lost, distant, as if he was remembering something years ago...
"I promise," Amelia answered with a tone full of emotion, barely above a whisper. "I promise I'll help you... no matter what."
In the night she shined like hope, and Zelgadis, having gone solo for so long, saw the truth in her words and gave her a piece of his trust.
~*~*~*~*~
Another chapter completed! I like the ending... we haven't delved very deep into the story yet, but this is the turning point for the plot! I hope everyone's liked it so far. See you all next chappie!
~*NEXT CHAPTER*~
Act IV:
A Father and Daughter Chat and More Mysterious Rumors