Chapter 22: The Impossible Truth
The wind whipped past their faces in the silent courtyard. Lina subconsciously noted that she could no longer hear the people of Saillune running around in a panic. It appeared that they had all been avoiding the white palace at the heart of the city. The sudden silence was eerie, but it was short-lived.
"Namagomi!!" Filia shrieked, grabbing her mace, her face beet red with rage. "You traitorous decomposing pile of trash! I knew this was all your doing!!" The ex-priestess charged forward purposefully and quickly, mace-sama raised, only to have the red haired sorceress stretch out her hand and hold her back.
"Not now, Filia," she muttered sharply to the golden dragon, her gaze holding Xellos'. Zelgadis clenched his fists at his sides in anger, while Gourry just looked on with wary curiosity.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Zelgadis asked, his voice dangerously soft.
Xellos stood, leaning against the open doorway, his staff in one gloved hand. There was no hint of a smile on his face, and no hint of amusement in his voice when he answered, "Sore wa himitsu desu." His gaze moved from Zelgadis to Filia and back again.
Zelgadis growled and was about to lunge at the trickster priest, but Lina was quicker. In one quick motion, she held the purple haired mazoku in a chokehold.
"Stop with the games and just answer us, dammit!" Lina said sharply, her voice no louder than Zelgadis' had been, and her hold on him becoming tighter. Xellos struggled a bit, but the sorceress knew perfectly well that he found pleasure in pain.
"Forget this," Zelgadis muttered, and began to walk towards the doorway again. But in the blink of an eye, Xellos stood in the centre of the doorway again, his menacing purple eyes open and his staff stretched out in front of him. Lina's arms closed in on thin air, and she looked up, a bit surprised. Zelgadis growled and rushed forward, drawing out his sword, but he was soon stopped short. The tip of Xellos' staff pushed against the centre of the chimera's throat. Had it been any other person holding the staff against his neck, Zelgadis would've laughed; but Xellos was a mazoku, and as much as Zel hated to admit it, had much more power than even Lina.
Xellos' mazoku eyes glittered dangerously as he pressed the tip of his staff harder against the nook in Zelgadis' neck. "First, we have to make some sort of an agreement. See, the mazoku race has never really been fond of Saillune's royal family; Amelia's late mother, for example.She was quite a nuisance to us. Although Saillune doesn't pose any threat to us, and none of us would really go through all the work to destroy Saillune, seeing the great white holy city fall and stay fallen would make life as a mazoku more…pleasant."
"And you want to be able to make sure that you'll be able to gain something from letting us in there and saving Saillune and Amelia," Lina said, the picture of perfect control. "Okay, so what do you want to use us for this time?"
Xellos smirked at the red head. "Help me kill the person sitting on that throne right now."
Lina raised her eyebrow. "Common Xellos, that was already our intention; kill the person trying to kill Amelia. But you already know that, now don't you?"
Xellos' purple eyes glinted as his smirk turned into a grin. "Well, actually, there are two things sitting on that throne at the moment. You want to kill the one who wants to kill Amelia, whereas the mazoku race wants the one giving that person its power dead. If you kill the one you want dead first, then I won't be able to kill the one giving that person its power."
Gourry scratched his head. "I don't get it…"
Everyone ignored Gourry as Filia added, "Why wouldn't you be able to kill that thing you want dead?"
"Because it'll disappear, and 'this thing', which happens to be a very powerful half demon and half mazoku, is hard to find. If I don't kill it now, I might never be able to have the chance ever again. It's wasting a lot of its power helping Amelia's…non-benefactor, so it might not even notice me until its too late. You're to be my distraction."
"And how are we going to know when it is you've killed the thing you want to kill?" Lina asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"And how do I know that you aren't going to let Amelia die first?" Zelgadis growled.
"You don't."
Filia glared at the mazoku. "So you were a part of this all along, weren't you? We just played into your greedy hands again." I can't believe I listened to him, Filia thought angrily, her fists clenching tightly. I knew he was up to something!
Xellos' intense gaze turned towards the ryuzoku and stayed there for a long moment, before he turned around and walked through the doorway. Filia took two steps forward, rage in her eyes. "Answer me Xellos! For L-sama's sake, answer me!!"
Xellos stopped in his tracks, the only sound coming from the harsh winds before turned his head slightly. "Sore wa himitsu desu," he called over his shoulder, before vanishing. "Check the throne room," came his voice from all around them. "I'll be waiting for you there."
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Amelia couldn't believe her ears; that voice, so familiar and yet unfamiliar. Why did I come alone? She silently asked herself as she sat upon the hard marble floor, crying. I can't do anything by myself…I just can't.
The person sitting upon the throne stood up, still a black figure shrouded in darkness. The slanting rays of light coming from the large, arched windows were quickly lost in the darkness filling the room. The sounds of the dark figure's footsteps were loud in the large, cold, empty room, and grew louder as the figure got closer to Amelia.
Amelia sniffed, looking up, and pressed the heel of her palms against her eyes, roughly wiping away her tears. Her azure eyes held rage, confusion, and hatred.
"You," she whispered angrily, her eyes still silently leaking tears. She took a shaky breath and slowly stood up, her legs feeling weak and ready to collapse again. "Why? I…I don't understand…It can't be…"
The figure slowly walked up to Amelia, who turned away. A cold, dark hand turned Amelia's face back again, forcing the Princess to see her ill bearer. Cold hazel green eyes bore into Amelia's azure ones, as if trying to find something.
And for a moment, a black fire seemed to engulf both of them, and Amelia could only stand there, petrified. She could feel the hot black flames licking her body, scorching her, burning her.
…Killing her.
And the figure laughed, throwing Amelia back onto the floor. It was a high, cruel, menacing laugh that filled the dark throne room. The raven-haired Princess' heart thundered in her chest as she stared at herself; where was the burnt flesh, the white-hot piercing pain, the black fire? Her hands shook, and the figure looming above her continued to laugh. Tears streamed down her olive face, and she slowly looked up to see the dark figure smiling wickedly at her. Long wavy brown hair framed the figure's once beautiful face, which was now twisted and ugly.
"No…it can't be," Amelia whispered softly, her eyes returning to the floor. "No…I-It doesn't make any sense…You could've killed me earlier…in y-your house…"
Reirs smiled wickedly, her cold eyes wide. "But Amelia dear, this is so much more fun…" She laughed again, cold and mocking. Amelia shuddered. "It was so much fun, playing with your mind…it also caused you more pain and suffering, did it not?" Again she laughed, and Amelia let out a small noise.
Still on the floor, Amelia began moving backwards, slowly trying to inch away. This can't be happening…I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for any of this…make it stop!!! I-I can't face this by myself…no…
"Stop it!" Amelia cried out as the figure laughed again.
"Oh, this is too good!" Reirs cried out in between gasps of cruel laughter. "Stop it? But I'm enjoying myself!"
"No! Just…please…stop," Amelia whispered as her body began to shake from her sobs. "W-why are you d-doing this Reirs? I-I…I don't understand…I t-thought you were…my Mother's f-friend…"
Reirs looked down at the Princess, sprawled and helpless on the floor, a smirk playing on her lips. "Amelia, dear, I was your Mother's friend. I was her closest friend since childhood," A shadow passed over her cold hazel-green eyes as she spoke. "And I hated her. I hated your Mother. That day she died, I told her to meet me,"-She smiled with a faraway look-"I had it all planned out, you see. I knew I was going to kill her, and I knew how." Reirs eyes were wide, and Amelia backed away even further. Reirs looked insane.
"Y-you…you killed my Mother?" Amelia choked out, hardly believing a word.
Reirs turned back to face Amelia, anger and hatred burning in her hazel-green eyes. "No," she spat out, glaring at the Princess. "Someone, or something, got to your Mother first. It's not right…I was supposed to be the one to kill your Mother! Me! And I was so close…"
Amelia shook her head, still disbelieving. No…L-sama, make this stop…I can't take it anymore… "No," she whispered, shaking her head. "No…"
"Yes!" Reirs cried out angrily, stepping closer to Amelia. "But now, Amelia…I can torture and kill you…yes…If I couldn't kill your Mother, than I'll kill her last surviving daughter!" Reirs smiled again, and moved once again towards the Saillune Princess, her hand outstretched.
"No! Get away from me!!" Amelia cried out as she tried to stand and run. Her heart hammered in her chest, and anger mixed with fear in her veins. Her legs felt weak; she was powerless. She stumbled and fell, her breathing already hard and fast. She tried to open her mouth, to chant out some sort of spell, but no sound came out. She turned around; Reirs was so close…
"Nooo!" Amelia shrieked, trying frantically to get away. She felt herself being surrounded by darkness, her body engulfed and slowly being crushed by the cold tendrils of the darkness that encased her, trapped her…
…And then she screamed.
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"Amelia!!!" Zelgadis cried, bursting through the Throne Room's doors with Lina, Gourry and Filia all behind him. There was Amelia, with Reirs advancing upon her, and darkness surrounding the both of them.
"Nooo!" Amelia shrieked, and they could see her scramble frantically to try to get away, to fight or run…to do something, but she was paralysed.
"Amelia," Lina breathed, anger surging through the sorceress. "Flare Arrow!" The red head cried, but the darkness just swallowed it. Gourry charged forward, trying to slice his way through the pitch-blackness, as Zelgadis frantically cast every single spell he could think of. Filia chanted in the Ancient tongue, casting her spell, but before she could finish, a cold voice filled the dark room.
"And so her friends have finally arrived. This will make this all the more fun!"
And they were quickly surrounded by darkness, with Reirs' cruel laughter filling their heads.
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"Lina!!!" He cried out, chasing her frantically, her golden body slowly drifting father and farther away. "Lina-aaaa!" He wouldn't let her go; he couldn't. The agony and pain he felt at the thought that he might lose her, that he might never see her again… She was rising straight up into the sky, moving towards a huge black ball that hung in the air. Terror and agony filled his being as he tried to follow her; he couldn't let her go! He had to save her! Everything was being pulled into the black ball of energy, and he jumped from the huge black rocks from the ground that rushed to merge with chaos. He had to reach her, but she was so far… And then she disappeared. She flew into the black ball hanging in the sky, her glowing form no longer there. There was no trace of her; almost as if she had never existed. But he knew she had. And he wasn't going to lose her. The blond swordsman followed her into the black ball of oblivion, shouting her name, telling her why it was he needed her…and he did…
I need you! He thought desperately, his hands reaching for her. And as he finally caught up to her, his hands encircling her arms, she began to fade…and she was gone; she disappeared. "Noo!" he cried out, his hands closing in on thin air. "No…"
And suddenly he remembered. He remembered this happening before, but no, she had come back. She had come back to him. Gourry looked around, noting that it didn't feel the same. This is different, he thought, confused. This isn't what happened…this can't be right…Lina comes back to me…I know she does…she can't be gone yet…
He heard her voice then, filled with agony and pain. And for a moment, everything flickered, and he saw a white-stone room, with bookshelves lining the walls and rugs gracing the floors. And he saw her, alone and in pain. Lina…
But then he was back. The room was gone, and he felt himself floating once again. And then he remembered something else; earlier that day, while fighting those black-winged creatures in Saillune, it had disappeared for a moment. It wasn't there…he thought to himself, before slowly closing his eyes and taking a step, feeling his feet land on a stone floor and hear a troubled voice beside him. "Lina…" he whispered, and opened his eyes.
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*A/N: I'm sorry I took so long again, but sharing a computer with 2 brothers and a father who like to hog it is hard. But don't worry, come Christmas time, I'll have another computer (only newer ^^)
Anyways, are you confused? Well, all right, I'll explain this last part a bit. It's actually supposed to be longer, but it's late right now and I'm really tired. It'll be part of the next chapter instead now. Anyways, maybe some of you have been able to guess by now what exactly is going on…and if none of you do, just humour me and take a guess at what you think is going on. I know its not exactly like what happened it Next, but maybe you see the reason why its not. If this chapter seems a bit rushed, well it was a bit at the last few paragraphs, but I really think its been too long already since my last chapter. I'm a bit unsure about this chapter, and I'm even thinking about rewriting the ending of this chapter, so tell me whatever you think. Constructive criticism is welcome ^^ If you don't like it, tell me, although if you gave me a why I'd be very grateful. If you do like it, then yippee for me! ^_~
And now, time for my thankies!!
Thanks to Winged Dancer (There was a bit of a clue as to who the person on the throne was, but I don't think anyone got it *grins* Which I'm happy about ^^), Digi-riven (Yay! I get to keep your banner!! *waves it in the air* ), Minimerc (Heheh, sorry about the cliffie, but I couldn't resist! I'm afraid that I don't think any other Slayers characters are going to pop up. Everyone I need and want is already counted for and present. And as for Phil…You'll find out what happened to him later ^^), Faith (I was pretty happy with the last chapter ^^ I'm glad you liked it so much!! Hopefully this chapter didn't disappoint you too much…), and Gee, Daruko y Darukoshi (I see you've changed your name, Gee ^^ Oh, and I was thinking that any normal person WOULD probably go nuts if put in Amelia's position, so I sort of incorporated that thought into my ending *grins* Just wait and see…but I'm not saying Amelia goes nuts exactly…heheh, just wait ^^)
I have two new reviewers!! YAY! There's my no-name/anonymous reviewer (I had a hard time trying to figure out exactly what to call you since you didn't give yourself a name whatsoever *grins* And thanks for telling me its defenseless and not defenceless ^^), and Suki (No need to be sorry! You read my fic, for which I can't thank you enough, AND you even took some time out to review! I'm sorry for making you wait, but I'm glad you liked it so far ^^)
So, once again, thanks everyone for taking some time out to review. What would I do without you? *winks* Till I write again (which I hope is sooner and not later) –Vivi Laney