Chapter 2: Friends at a Fault
Lightning flashed across the black
sky and lit up the roofs of the buildings below, followed with the loud boom of
thunder. The rain was coming down heavily, pattering relentlessly onto the
buildings and the ground below.
Amelia's eyes cracked open. She was lying on her side facing the window, and
stared outside at the silver beads that passed by. The sky, a blanket of
complete darkness, was lit up as lightning pierced it with its bright light.
She could smell the scent of the rain as it wafted into her room, and the scent
made her feel depressed. It made her feel like crying into her pillow.
Something had woken her up, and looking outside, she assumed that it must have
been the storm that was raging on outside the white castle walls. She began to
close her eyes when suddenly, she felt the sharp cold of steel press against
the smooth skin of her neck. Her eyes widened in horror, as she felt a hot
breath against her ear, as a harsh, male voice beside her whispered to her, stilling
her heart with fear.
"You really should be careful what you ask for...Princess...."
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A new storm had raged the night
before, as relentless as the one that had taken place two and a half weeks ago.
The golden sun peaked over the green hills, casting a warm glow on the
still-wet earth. The scent of the summer morning filled the warm air, with the
birds singing for the start of a new day, perched on the branches of the sweet
green trees, and everything was quiet.
The day seemed to go by quickly, and as night began to fall, two travellers
could be seen walking on a path through a gloomy-looking forest, the little
sunlight that was left barely hitting the ground they walked on. The ground
felt damp and spongy beneath their feet as they trudged on, ignoring the sounds
coming from their empty stomachs. They both wished that they had stopped at the
last town, but had just passed through quickly because they couldn't waste any
time.
One of the travellers, a petit young woman, stopped suddenly, causing the tall,
well-built man travelling with her to stumble and almost fall over. The young
woman's ruby-red eyes scanned the area, and then she moved to a log off the
side of the road in a clearing. The young man just stood watching her, then
moved a few steps closer to where she now sat.
"What did we stop here for, Lina?" he asked innocently, looking at
the red-haired sorceress.
Lina Inverse could feel the anger rise in her, and she clenched her fist. She
knew that it wasn't the time to blow him up with a fireball or pound his head,
but she couldn't shake all of her anger off. She had already been in a bad
mood. No food and a dilemma just fed her anger, and the stupidity and
forgetfulness of a certain 'protector' topped it all off.
"I stopped," she began to say through clenched teeth, "because
I'm hungry, tired, depressed, worried, and because THIS IS WHERE WE'RE SUPPOSED
TO MEET ZEL, YOU JELLYFISH!!!!" she finished, yelling at the blond
swordsman who stood in front of her. Could
anyone really be that dense? she asked herself. She sighed, knowing the
answer was a yes.
"Oh, right," was all Gourry Gabriev replied. I gotta remember these things! he thought to himself.
Lina bent over and put her chin in her hands, thinking. "How could it have
happened?" she said softly, staring at the ground with sad eyes. She had
asked him that question about a hundred times earlier that day, and each time
he had answered "I dunno, Lina."
This time though, he added thoughtfully "Maybe it was that time of the
month."
The next thing Gourry knew, a boot flew and smacked him in the face, to which
he responded with an "Ow", and then gave Lina back her boot. He knew
how much this whole thing was bugging her. This
is bugging the both of us.
"You know, maybe Gourry has a point there, Lina," came a voice from
the other side of the clearing. A figure emerged from the shadows, his hood and
mask covering most of his face, and his beige cape following behind him as he
walked closer.
"Zel!!" Lina and Gourry both exclaimed, as he pulled down his mask
and hood.
"Lina, Gourry, long time no see."
"Yea, its good to see you, " Gourry replied, looking at the blue
chimera.
Guess he still didn't find his cure,
Lina thought to herself, looking at his rocky blue skin.
Lina's smile was replaced by a very serious look, and she motioned for Zel to
sit on the log with her and Gourry. Zelgadis Greywords swiftly sat down, and
turned to face his two friends.
"You really think that's a possibility?" she asked Zel, as Gourry
looked on a little confused.
"What a possibility?" the swordsman asked.
Lina turned and bopped him over the head. "You said it yourself, you
idiot! It could've been that time of the month for her."
"It is a possibility," Zel thought out loud, looking from the redhead
to the blond. "She isn't the one to go down without a fight."
"Exactly, and that's what I'm worried about. Nobody heard a thing during
the night, and if she had fought them, someone would've heard something."
Lina said, a worried look on her face.
An uncomfortable silence followed, as each of them were swallowed up in their
thoughts. The wind began to grow, causing Lina and Gourry's hair to fly behind
them, along with their capes. Lina's stomach growled, and Zel, remembering
their appetites, slung off a bag he had been carrying, and took out some bread.
Both Lina's and Gourry's face lit up as they yelled "FOOD!!", as Zel
handed it to them. "Thanks Zel," both Gourry and Lina replied, their
mouth's already full of chewed bread.
The air began to get a little cooler, and thinking that they would spend the
night in this opening, talking about the dilemma they were in, they decided to
make a fire. Gourry left the opening to get some firewood with Zelgadis, and
left Lina alone in the clearing to think by herself. If Xellos were here, he might be able to help us. No, maybe not. He'd
either say it's a secret, or would just play games. Filia could probably help
us, though.... she thought, looking up at the moon. Lina sighed, the cool
night air whipping her hair around silently in the calm breeze. She'll be alright.... we'll find her.... we
have to find her...
Lina turned at the sound of a branch breaking, and saw Gourry holding a bundle
of firewood. He smiled at Lina when he saw her looking at him. Lina forced herself
to smile back. Gourry's the least worried
out of all of us. He's so sure that she'll be all right, and that she can take
care of herself.... but...
Gourry looked at Lina as he walked closer. Lina's
really worried, he thought to himself, when she smiled back at him. Even her smile is fake...I've never seen her
like this before. This all must really be getting to her. Who would've thought
that she could get so worked up about it? She's normally so cool about these
kinds of things....
Gourry dropped the stack of wood he held in his arms, in front of the log and
the place where they had put up their tents and their sleeping bags. But, Gourry thought, as his red-haired
friend stared off into space, she never
seemed to care any other time something like this happened...last time she was
captured, it wasn't such a big deal. But she was never worried at all…in fact,
she just didn't even seem to care...maybe its because she's been missing for a
while now. I mean, it has to have been.... Gourry began to count with his
fingers, a very, very long time now....
Zelgadis came not too long
after with his own pile of firewood, which he added to the pile that Gourry had
put down. Lina looked at the wood for a moment, then cast a fireball into the
pile to get the fire started.
The yellow, orange and red flames rose up quickly, casting a warm glow on each
of their bodies, as they all sat back down on the log to think. Lina looked at
Zelgadis. He must be pretty worried too,
or else he wouldn't have stopped looking for his cure. Maybe he's starting to
realize...Lina's thoughts were interrupted by Gourry.
"Maybe they knocked her unconscious while she was asleep, "Gourry
said thoughtfully. Lina and Zel both stared at him, amazed that he would even
think of that, let alone even think at all.
"That's a possibility also," said the chimera after closing his
mouth, which had been hanging open in shock. "But what would they want
with Amelia?"
Lina raised her eyebrows and looked at Zel. "Maybe you're just forgetting
this from being away for so long, Zel, but she IS a princess.... the next in
line for the crown. You know, with lots of money. And she's not all that bad
looking either. Amelia also happens to be very powerful in shamanic magic....
there's tons of reasons someone would want to kidnap her. They might want a
ransom, or use her to get the crown or whatever." Zel's so worried he can't even think straight, Lina thought to
herself. That was more like a question
Gourry would ask.
"Hey, do we know who kidnapped her?"
Lina and Zelgadis both turned to look at Gourry.
"Gourry," Lina said, her temper rising, "If we knew, this would
be a whole lot easier, and we would probably have found them by now."
"Well, then how are we supposed to find her if we have no idea who took
her or where they went?"
"Simple, Gourry...." Lina said, her voice taking on a mischievous
tone, and an evil-looking smile playing on her lips. "We just ask the
bandits nicely, and they'll tell us. Or…we can always ask them the hard way.
Someone is bound to know something, since word gets around quickly with
them."
"Tomorrow, then," Zelgadis said. "We'll begin our interrogations
tomorrow morning. I'll take first watch. You guys go rest."
"Okay, thanks Zel," Lina said, yawning. "Night you guys."
she said, as she went to her tent.
"Night Lina. I'll take the next watch, okay Zel? Goodnight." Gourry
said, retreating to his tent for the night.
"Ok, Gourry. Night you two." replied Zelgadis, as he prepared himself
for the long night ahead of him. He stared into the fire for a while, before
shifting his gaze towards the stars. The sky was a light blue around the moon,
and it reminded him of Amelia's eyes. I
haven't seen her in ages, he thought to himself. He unconsciously began to
play with the bracelet she had given him, which he kept around his water
canteen beneath his cape. It became a habit after having it there for so long.
"Will we really be able to find her?" he whispered to the fire,
casting an almost eerie glow on his rocky, blue skin, and as if in response,
the fire crackled loudly, and then quieted again to leave him with his
thoughts, and the darkness that encased them all.