With every step she took, her heart pounded harder against her chest. She was vaguely aware of the sound of her friends' footsteps beside and behind her, and of the light drizzle of rain that remained. Looking up, she passed underneath the broken gate of the white city, nearly tripping over the rubble and debris that lay all around her. Was she really home already? It seemed like it took no time at all to reach the city of Saillune, no longer shining in its white brilliance, no longer tall and glorious, no longer bright and beautiful. And yet the days had been long, and she felt as if years had passed. She felt aged and old and weary. But after that long eternity that, looking back now, had felt like only a few blurry seconds, she was back. She was home.
But then, why did she still feel so lost?
It was a crumbling ruin of white stone that greeted her very own eyes. She was once again walking along the very same streets that had been lively and full of people. These streets had been filled with joyous voices and laughter, bursting with vivid colours and different people, energetic children and patient parents…
But now the streets were cracked; ruined; empty. She felt tears fill her sapphire eyes, and anger caused her fists to clench at her sides. Looking around at the ruined buildings around her more closely, she could see people—her people—hiding and watching in fear. She stared into their bruised and terrified faces; and they stared back into her sad and horrified one. One by one, more and more shadows moved into the light to look upon their Princess, but no one cried out joyously. No one was filled with hope. There was something in their eyes that Amelia couldn't read, but she still turned away. She couldn't bear to look into their hurt faces.
To them, she was the Princess who left when they needed her most. Where was the justice in that?
As if in response to the questions in the gazes of faces surrounding the group, Lina shuddered involuntarily, the sight before her filling her yes, and felt a large and comforting hand rest on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Gourry's small and reassuring smile, before he looked away and scanned the scene that lay before them all. She felt a warmth stir in the pit of her stomach, and after staring up at his handsome profile for a moment, she turned away also, thankful for the warmth he could give her. The rain had ceased just then, and she became fully aware that she was soaked to the bone. Her wet red hair was plastered onto her equally wet face, and her ruby eyes showed the sympathy she felt towards the people huddled in the shadows; pity, even. But she would not be afraid, and she would not show how weak she felt at that moment; she was the Enemy of All Who Live, and the great and beautiful Sorcery Genius. She had fought a piece of Shabranigdo, Hellmaster Phibrizzo and the dark lord Dark Star. She had to be strong for everyone else now, just as she had been then.
The blond swordsman's other hand rested on the hilt of his sword, as did the blue chimera's. Filia's eyes filled with tears also; these people looked like frightened animals, with their large, scared, watchful eyes. A small sound escaped involuntarily from the dragon's lips. Who would do something like this? She thought in disgust and horror.
Zelgadis looked around at the scene before them as they continued walking. The people didn't cower at the sight of him; but they hid, and glanced wearily at the group. Not one sound escaped any of their lips, causing an eerie silence to creep over the bleak city, the only sounds being the patter of feet and of rubble scattering across the streets. He glanced over at Amelia, and the look on her face made him feel a pang of guilt; she was enduring all this, and all the while still holding a grudge against him. He was making her life worse…
He felt Lina's eyes on him, and turned to look back at the red head. She gave him a fierce look with her ruby eyes, and nodded towards Amelia. What does she expect me to do? He asked himself, turning away from the sorceress' glare. I'd only hurt her more…
"I'm not going to wait all day for you to say something to her, Zel," she whispered sharply at him. He held her strong gaze. "Enough is enough. Just look at her! Whatever happened between you two, you better fix it up now."
Seeing Zel not doing what she wanted, she cast a small fireball in her hand and glared up at him menacingly. "I said now."
Zelgadis sighed labouredly. He knew that Lina could do nothing to him with such a small fireball, and he knew that she wouldn't try anything else. But then, who would, at a time like this? He quickened his pace a bit more, a part of his mind wondering how Lina knew something was up.
Nothing gets past her, except when it comes to her and Gourry, he thought as he found himself walking beside a very sullen looking Princess. She didn't glance up at him to acknowledge his presence; she just kept walking, her once deep blue eyes now staring blankly ahead. She looked tired and worn, and utterly lost. Zelgadis grimaced, and opened his mouth to say something, anything, but no words came. He couldn't even comfort her with simple words.
Words were something that came easily to Zelgadis. Saying these words, though, was a completely different story. Sometimes words came at a loss to him when he tried to voice them. This time was no different. He knew what it was he wanted to say, what he should say, but the words wouldn't allow themselves to be rolled off his tongue. Or maybe I'm just making up an excuse, he thought to himself. He sighed inwardly; he'd just have to stay close to Amelia. Maybe then she would remember that he was with her; all of her friends were.
Amelia's gaze was empty; she just turned a corner, fighting back tears, and continued to head towards the castle. Her home. Maybe, if I curl up in bed and fall asleep, I'll wake up and find that this is all just a dream…no, a nightmare. I'll wake up, and everything will go back to the way it was. This train of thought merely brought tears to her blue eyes, and she forced herself to stop.
"Amelia?" Zelgadis barely even whispered her name as she felt his shadow drop over her. He opened his mouth hesitantly, unsure of what to do, then closed it again. He was never the one for words. Amelia just stood still in the middle of the ruined street, rubble and debris lying around everywhere. She refused to open her eyes; she could feel her people watching her, and she could feel her friends' eyes on her too.
Suddenly, she felt two rough hands clasp over hers, and she was surprised at how gentle the rough hands were. A soft voice she knew well filled her head.
"Amelia…I'm sorry," Zelgadis began, sighing, his voice soft. "Look at me, Amelia."
When the Princess refused to open her eyes, he squeezed her hands gently. "Amelia, open your eyes." Still, the raven-haired Princess kept her eyes shut tight. "Look at me!"
Amelia almost jerked her hands out of his at the way he had sounded. His voice had been rough, cold, and hard, just like it had been when they had first met. Hasn't he changed at all?!? A small voice in her head asked, followed by another small voice. Of course he has, just look at him. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see if it was him standing before her, if he had even changed. Sometimes she didn't know what to think of the chimera. She stared hard into his eyes, and he could see a different emotions flit across her face. He could see everything she felt. It was…disturbing.
Her deep blue eyes, once bright, optimistic, energetic and full of innocence, were now empty, hollow, and full of pain. How could all this have happened in such a short period of time? And yet, and small voice in the back of his head told him that he had not even seen her for three years.
Lina looked on with sad eyes, Gourry's hand still resting lightly on her shoulder for support, reassurance, and comfort. She forced herself to look away, and let her ruby eyes scan the ruins before her. Something wasn't right; where were those creatures? Why weren't they attacking? Why hadn't she seen a single dead body yet? She shuddered and moved backwards, knocking into Gourry. His hand on her shoulder gave her a small squeeze, his other hand still resting on the hilt of his sword.
Lina sighed inwardly; shouldn't have Phil returned by now? The news of the attack must've reached him by now, unless something had really happened to him. Please no, the sorceress thought, her gaze resting once again on her dark haired friend. She's already been through too much…
Out of the corner of her eye, the red head saw Filia stiffen, her tail poking out from underneath her pink dress. Lina glanced around again; now she knew that something wasn't right—Filia had just proven it. Filia's tail swished back and forth, her head darting from one side to the other.
Something isn't right here, Filia mouthed to Lina as she caught her eye. She began glancing around worriedly again. And then, she heard it. Wings.
She spun around to face Lina, who had turned around also. The sorceress' fingers crackled with magic as she cast a fireball, followed by a burst rondo and diem wing. I have to cast quick spells, even if it only slows them. They're much too fast for anything else, she reminded herself. Black, shadowy creatures flew at them, their bony black wings burning with a black flame. Their dark red eyes glowed menacingly, and their claws were long and sharp. It was scaly, with the long, thrashing tail of a lizard. One of the creatures let out an ear-piercing shriek, narrowly dodging one of Lina's spells. Five of them flew straight towards the group, lusting blood and death, and it wasn't until Lina had finished her wave of spells that she began to notice the panicked screams coming from the people around her.
She felt herself being pushed and shoved as the people of Saillune ran in every direction, shrieking and wailing, running for their lives. It was utter chaos; Lina quickly cast diem wing, knocking the creatures back for a moment. She turned around to see if she could find her friends, but the throng of people was too much, and she had been pushed away.
"Lina!" Gourry cried, fighting against the tide of panicking people pushing past him. Twice he almost fell down, but he quickly righted himself. He had to find Lina. He looked up, hearing a blood-curdling shriek, to find one of the creatures coming down at him. The people around him cried in alarm and ran away, leaving Gourry with enough space to not worry about having his sword knocked out of his hand. In a split second, he had his naked sword in hand, and swung at the lunging creature. With a shriek, it flew back up and disappeared. Lina, he thought, running through the crowds once more. I have to find Lina and the others.
Looking up once more, he saw one of the creatures fly past him, and then, it wasn't there. He blinked, and there it was again, flying past him. A voice he recognized reached his ears, and he saw Lina, casting another diem wing. Forgetting what he had just seen, he fought his way towards her again.
Lina tried to stay on her own two feet as people pushed her out of their way. If it had been any other day, she would've fireballed them all. Her gaze returned to the flock of people running this way and that. And suddenly, something caught her eye; a figure fought through the crowd to reach her as another figure appeared out of thin air right beside her; Gourry, his sword out and at the ready, and Filia, who had teleported to them.
"Amelia…Zel…where are they?" Lina yelled over the sounds of screams surrounding them. They were still being jostled around every which way. Lina looked up once more, readying herself to fight off the creatures again, but they were nowhere to be seen. Lina's body stiffened in alarm. This isn't right! Her mind cried, and she began to fight through the crowd ferociously. Filia and Gourry followed her, and they turned their heads at a voice.
"Amelia!!!" a familiar voice yelled. Lina, Gourry and Filia fought their way towards the owner of the voice, to come face-to-face with Zelgadis.
"Amelia," he said, breathlessly. It was obvious he had been running through the crowd searching for her. "I…can't…find her…anywhere!"
And it was then that he knew where she was. "The castle," he choked out, knowing it was true, even though it sounded impossible to his ears. "She's gone to the castle."
"No," Lina said, unbelieving. She knew it was true, but she didn't want to believe it. Amelia would never do anything so stupid and thickheaded…would she?
"That's insane!" Filia cried out, worry etched across her face. "Why would she even think about doing something like that? I thought she had more sense! I know its her home but…its suicide!"
"Revenge," Lina and Zelgadis both said quietly. Lina and Zelgadis both looked at each other before she continued. "We have to get to her first." And with that, she grabbed Gourry's hand, and raywinged herself towards the white palace.
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Her footsteps echoed loudly in the empty hall. The walls were chipped, the floor littered with pieces of rubble and debris. Even the inside of the castle had been damaged. She stopped and turned and saw only empty halls and some doors hanging off their hinges. She was scared, being in the castle by herself, while someone might be watching her, ready to strike. But rage and fury boiled in her blood; someone had half destroyed her home. She wasn't about to let them get away with it. And if Reirs was right, this thing had tried to kill her mother. Or had.
She hadn't noticed the tears welling up in her blue eyes until they began to slide down her olive cheek. She quickly wiped them away, and continued walking. Her feet slowly brought her to the throne room, the blue, dirty dress she wore making soft swishing noises as she moved.
Amelia found herself face to face with the large, double oak doors separating her from the throne room. Taking a deep breath, she pushed them both open, and found herself in the large, dark room. A shadow seemed to fall across the whole room; the light from outside couldn't seem to penetrate it. Above the throne, hung Saillune's flag, set high above the dais. And upon the dais, sitting comfortably on the throne, sat a figure, still and watching.
Then the figure spoke. "Welcome at last, Amelia dear."
And Amelia fell to the floor, crying.
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Lina set Gourry down carefully in the courtyard of Saillune's once magnificent palace, and stood before two open doors. She could see the hallway, and beyond that, and good distance away, was the Throne room's doors. It was so gloomy inside that she couldn't tell if the doors were open or not.
Zelgadis came to land beside the sorceress and the swordsman, and not a second later the golden dragon appeared beside them. But she was already glaring around, looking for something. Lina looked at her curiously, while Zelgadis walked quickly towards the door. He wanted to reach Amelia as soon as possible. And then a voice they all knew well greeted them.
"Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis, and my sweet Fi-chan. Whatever took you so long?"
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*A/N: Hello all! I'm sorry to have disappeared for a long time again! But I assure you, I WILL finish this fic! Now, I'm know that this chapter is pretty depressing, but you should know me by now. I just can't stand sad endings!! This fic will have a light chapter…somewhere ^^ And this fic is getting closer and closer to the end! I think there will be around 25 chapters or so…at least less then 30. At least I think ^^ And this chapter turned out differently than I had originally intended *grins* Ah well, tell me what you think!
Now, I'd like to thank my reviewers! Thnx to Lauren-sama (I'm glad last chapter was amusing, and I'm really glad you liked the end segment ^^), Digi-riven (Don't apologize! I keep on taking too long nowadays to get a chapter up! *grins at the banner*), Graelyn (Oh, I know I'm giving Amelia a hard time, but you'll see, everything will work out. And I think Ame and Zel will kiss again…but you'll just have to wait and see ^_~), MoroTheWolfGod (Sorry I took so long, Moro!), Faith (I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I tried not to make it too light, and not too dark), and Mu Mao (I'm glad you liked that chapter! I've got a few surprises coming up ^^ And am I going to have to guess who your sister is? Lol)
And I've got even more new reviewers!! Lahrri-chan (Ummm…Oops? Sorry I took so long!!!), Gee Metallium (lol, I'm glad you didn't complain ^_~ Thnx so much for you review!!!), and ice-cold (Yeah, I do make being a princess pretty bad, don't I?) Thanks so much to all of you for taking the time to write a review ^^
Thank you all for reviewing, and thank you to the people who just read my fic ^^ I wouldn't be writing this if I didn't know I had people who want to read my work! THANKS SO MUCH!! Adieu!! –Vivi Laney