Ascend
By: blue lady
Chapter Ten – Arrival
We arrived just in time to watch the sun bathe the city in it's morning light; dousing the intimidating white walls in glimmering shades of pinks and oranges. There were times when I just wanted to get away and be free to travel the world - to get away from the humdrum of royal life and the cutthroats of Seyruunian society. However, seeing Seyruun again made we realized that no matter what I will always hold Seyruun close to my heart.
"Lina-san! Gourry-san! Hurry up!" I yelled, waving at them. Gourry-san yawned, rubbing at his eyes sleepily as Lina-san came trudging behind him.
"Look, Amelia, I know your excited and all but couldn't this wait UNTIL this afternoon!" Lina-san shouted, stomping the ground in mild irritation.
"Of course not!" I chirped happily in reply, immediately grabbing her by the wrist, "Come on! Besides the sooner we get there, the sooner you get your meal!"
"Even at the age of twenty, you can still be so childish…" Lina-san muttered darkly, as I dragged her towards the city gates.
I stuck my tongue at her, giggling a little as Lina-san responded with another spew of mumbling obscenities.
The paved streets were quiet and uneventful for it was still too early for anyone to be up and about. The usual bustling crowds and the many shouts of merchants selling their wares were not present as we padded through the empty streets. I sighed to myself, looking around, it was great to be home.
Though my return to the city had been quiet, my return to the palace caused quite an uproar. Upon my arrival, the guards went into a frenzy to inform everyone in the palace of my return. So that everywhere I turned and every hall I passed, there was always someone bowing profusely before me shedding tears as they ardently praised Cepheid for my safe return. However, all this could not compare to my Uncle's personal welcome.
My uncle was never a very emotional man, he was quite reserved - the complete opposite of my father. So it came as a surprise when he pulled me into a fierce hug, spinning me around as if I was still ten-years old.
"Welcome back, Amelia." Uncle Christopher said, his blue eyes a bit glassy. I then realized why everyone had been so enthusiastic about my return - They were afraid that I would never come back. That I would run away like Gracia did. Yet knowingly, he had still let me go.
I hugging him tightly, noticing the new wrinkles that had formed along his brow during my absence, "Thank you, Uncle Christopher."
The day passed by in a blur of warm welcome and fabulous meals. By the time we finished dinner both Gourry-san and Lina-san were out like a light, completely satisfied with their long-promised feast. I was then left at the mercy of my many fussing handmaidens as they busied with both the task of getting me ready for bed and catching me up with the latest gossip around the palace.
"So Jacun finally got the courage to ask her to go to the Harvest Festival with him." Lydia, the youngest of my handmaidens, said.
"What did she say?" I asked curiously.
"She said yes, of course!" Leela, Lydia's twin sister, answered squealing excitedly.
"They have been together for six months now." Gentle Beth said, smiling happily.
"Oh! Did you know? That Lord Clarence-sama had came to visit you three months ago?" Meria asked, twittering slightly.
"Really? What for?"
Meria merely shrugged, "I don't know, but the servants of the Alsenurn family have told me that their lord seemed to be quite taken with you."
I blushed, "How can that be? We haven't even met before."
Lydia rolled her eyes at me, "Well, you are the Princess of Seyruun and a very public figure. He must have seen you and fallen in love with you on first sight."
I sweatdropped, as Lydia's eyes became dreamy and distant.
"Besides, everyone in Seyruun loves you. Why wouldn't he?" Meria asked incredulously.
"You're lucky you know? He's quite dreamy." Leela said, placing clasped hands beneath her chin, "When will I find my knight-in-shining-armor?"
Then all four of them broke into a fits of giggles.
"That's enough of that girls," Celia, the head handmaiden, said stiffly, "Concentrate on the task at hand, the Princess is probably tired and here you girls are jabbering away."
A round of "Yes, Celia" were heard as all four of them returned their attention to dressing me. The room was soon engulfed in silence and I thanked Cepheid for it.
After feigning slumber for several hours and listening intently for anything outside I quickly got out of bed. Grabbing a random cloak from my closet I wrapped it closely around me and walked out onto my balcony, deciding that I needed some fresh air.
"Levitation."
I flew above my balcony and onto my favorite turret, where I had the perfect view of the city and the gleaming moon above. Smiling, I gently landed onto roof, grabbing onto the spire for balance. Looking up at the night sky, I want about the task of identifying the constellations. It always succeeded in making me relax. However…
"I just can't seem to concentrate." I said to myself, finally giving up as my neck began to hurt from the strain. I lowered my eyes to the landscape around me, sighing. The conservation with Lydia and them had reminded me of something – someone – I hadn't had the time and didn't want to think about. A sudden chill ran through my body and I drew my flapping cloak closer. Noticing the color of the cloak that was wrapped around me, I couldn't help but smile at the irony.
"Blue." I whispered silently to myself. That terrible night came rushing back to me. The anger, the indifference in his voice, how wonderful he looked in the moonlight but most of all, that awful smile, "Then you're a fool. I could never care for you in that way."
"Oh, Zelgadis-san you couldn't have meant that. You could never be that cruel." I said, burying my face into my hands. Then a long-forgotten memory began to replay itself in my mind:
"How could you have done something like that Zelgadis-san?" I yelled at him angrily, shocked at what Zelgadis-san had done to those townspeople, "I know what they said wasn't very nice but that doesn't mean you had to blow them away! That was uncalled for! How could you do something like that?"
"There is a reason why people call me a heartless mystical swordsman, Amelia." He stated gruffly, turning away from me, "Because I am one."
"That's not true and I know you don't believe that." I said, running ahead to stop right in front of him, forcing him to look at me.
Looking sternly into his teal-green eye, I continued, "I know you regret hurting them. You're probably beating yourself up about it right now."
Zelgadis-san flinched as if someone had slapped him and stood there staring silently at me. Scoffing, he skillfully sidestepped me,
"Man was born essentially bad and were taught by the servants of the Gods what was moral and immoral. Go ahead and believe whatever you want, but that doesn't make your ideas any less unrealistic or childish."
"Zel! Shut up!" Lina-san shouted, who up until now had decided to stay out of the conversation, "Apologize to Amelia."
Reaching up to touch my cheeks, I realized I had been crying. Zelgadis-san turned to look at me, the hardness in his eyes was suddenly replaced with something I could not identify.
"Sorry, Amelia…"
The first ray of dawn lighted across my face, bringing me back to reality. I cursed silently to myself; I was going to have a hard time staying awake the rest of day. I looked out towards the horizon watching the sky turn from a light purple to a beautiful shade of pink as the sun reached out towards the sky. Those cold words still hanging in the air, "Then you're a fool. I could never care for you in that way."
"Zelgadis-san, you couldn't have meant it, could you?"
Author's Notes
Here we go! Chapter Ten! Finally all the boring stuff is over and we finally get to the interesting stuff. Zelgadis will finally arrive at Seyruun in Chapter Eleven and you guys will also get your first glance of Clarence. I am quite pleased with this chapter and I know it a bit angsty however I thought it was about time to write how Amelia felt about her whole thing with Zelgadis. Anyway, please read and review. Reviews really inspire me to write more.