Ishy-chan: YES! I crept into your home in broad daylight and *gasp* STOLE *gasp* your ideas! [xelloss: you're a bad person, DSD! ] lol. Nah, I just thought Xelloss and Lina being childhood buddies was quite an obvious thing. I had it in my mind for my other fic "Xelloss' Past" (now discontinued) and so I just put it in modern day instead. I put them together that way for a very future chapter. And yup, I bet Lina will have so much fun in annoying Rodimus and ordering everyone around! As to your question about the apartments, yes record companies usually give (small) apartments out for their artists so they can keep track of them and it also signifies that they see them as an important asset to the company. If they don't sell well, the apartment gets taken back. Unless they get so famous and rich that they can afford to buy something better, that is.
Soobin: There will definitely be confrontational situations between Xelloss and Lina. I think Xelloss' "darkness" lies in his obsession with Lina, though he'll never show it in front of Filia, Amelia, etc.
Mimet: Thanks for telling me I kept everyone in character! The focus will be on Amelia and Lina. Something will always be happening to either one of them so the story doesn't get bogged down by one particular character.
shikome kido mi: I always liked Xelloss when he's happy. He's a little scary when he's all evil (like in TRY).
----------------------------------------------Chapter 5: Zelgadiss
.
As the midnight train starts to leave The skies start to rainAnd I. . .
Still remember that first kiss
That last night
"Not enough feeling."
Amelia turned around, surprised at the stranger coming towards her. Didn't Filia-san tell her the room was vacant for the rest of the afternoon? Who was this guy anyway? He was a head taller than her, and had messy dark brown hair falling on to his eyes. As he got closer, she could see that his features were quite attractive in a boyish way. Yet his composure made him look cold and mature. And he looked so familiar too. . . .OH MY GOD, her mind screamed as realization dawned upon her, IT'S ZELGADISS GREYWORDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Zelgadiss Greywords. One of the hottest idols who managed to stay on the top ten charts for more than four consecutive years ever since he started, he was famous not only in Seyruun, but equally so in places like Elemekia and Atlas City. It wasn't surprising either ¡V he was talented and had his own no-nonsense style. Oh, and he just so happened to be in the same room as her and talking to her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"This song's supposed to be sad. You're singing like you just won the jackpot," he quietly pointed out.
Amelia didn't know what to say. Her face had a tinge of pink from looking directly at his gaze. "Yes. . . thank. . . . thank you," she stammered. "I'll try again."
She tried again, but felt distracted by the cold brown eyes that were looking intently at her. "I'm sorry, but could you leave the room?" she asked politely.
"Why?"
"Because," she hesitated, feeling that flush to her cheeks again, "I can't sing if someone's watching."
The young man shrugged. "Deal with it. You're the singer. Are you going to tell everyone to leave the concert stadium so that you can sing alone on stage?"
Amelia looked thoughtful for a moment and then giggled. "That's silly. How can you say something like that!"
"Hey, you're the one who wanted to sing alone. Come on, let's hear you try it again."
She nodded and looked back on to her papers. Put some feeling to it, she told herself.
As the midnight train starts --She was interrupted by his sharp clapping. "No, no. Try again."
"I am doing it once more. Until you interrupted me, that is."
"You're just singing the words. Anyone can do that."
Now, she felt quite annoyed. Okay, so he was hot and famous, but that didn't give him the right to charge in here and criticize her singing! Fuming, she turned her back to him. "Let's see you try it, if you're so smart," she muttered under her breath. She hadn't meant it for him to overhear her, but she almost regretted it when he came forward and took her paper from her hands. He scanned it for a few seconds, stepped back and started to sing.
As the midnight train starts to leave The skies start to rainAnd I. . .
Still remember that first kiss
That last night
Amelia drew a breath as the room was surrounded
with his voice. It was deep and resonating, full of emotion. She could feel so
much hurt and angst.
I cried
Knowing our distance
Who could hear
Drowned by consuming darkness
Her eyes were still closed when he finished -- she didn't know he had stopped. She only knew when he came over and handed back her paper. "That," he spoke quietly, "is how you sing this song."
"It was. . . .amazing. How did you understand the song so well? And you knew the words just by looking at it!"
He gave her what she thought was a mischievous smile. "That's because I wrote it."
---------------------------------------------------------
As soon as it was over, Amelia rushed out of the doors and ran up the stairs, knocking over some people in the process. What had happened was just too surreal! She had to tell Lina-san about this, which raised the question: where was her best friend she needed her most? CRASH!!! Amelia fell backwards from the collision. "I'm really sorry," she immediately apologized to the stranger.
"Oh, don't worry about me," a smooth voice replied, and before she could realize it, she was helped to her feet. When she looked up, she saw it was a purple haired man. He looked a little strange, with his eyes closed in a happy expression. Well, if he was happy then maybe he wasn't angry at her, right?
"Thank you. I hope I haven't messed up your suit," she said sheepishly.
"No worries. Ah. . . .you must be Amelia-san."
She giggled nervously. Did everyone know about her by now? She hoped if she had a reputation, it was a good one. He shook her hand. "I'm Xelloss. Welcome to Mazoku Records. I'm look forward to co-operating with you sometime in the future."
"Thank you. . . ."
"Well, I'm off to a meeting now. It's been nice meeting you." and with that, he waved goodbye and disappeared into an open door. Amelia found him rather friendly and thought it wasn't as bad as the rumors had been. Everyone was so friendly, even though they didn't know her! That purple haired man. . . .Xelloss-san, well he was very nice. At least he didn't call her a klutz or something -- he even shook her hand! She resolved to tell Filia-san of him. Maybe she knew him too. Speaking of which, she'd never actually seen Filia socializing with the other people in the company. The only time she seemed to talk to people was when it had something to do with work. Hmm. . . .
"Lina-san!" she called, looking into their usual meeting room. The room was in a complete mess. Papers were strewn everywhere, along with pizza boxes and Chinese take-away. In amidst the chaos, she couldn't see Lina anywhere. Suddenly, a head bobbed up from under the table. "Hey Amelia," Lina grunted, struggling to stand up, "Help me with these."
Amelia quickly went over and helped her friend move the heavy box files. "What are those?"
"Market analysis reports and other boring stuff. I didn't know you were coming. I've got the stuff done. Filia and two other guys are about to arrive."
"Oh, I came to tell you about something that happened earlier today," she replied, throwing the pizza boxes into the bin, "I saw Zelgadiss Greywords while I was practicing today!"
"Amelia, you're at a record company. I think that's self-explanatory."
"No, that's not what I meant! I mean he's the one who composed my debut song! And he taught me all sorts of voice techniques too!"
Lina was about to reply when Filia walked into the room. Amelia's eyes widened in surprise when she saw the two people who were following behind.
They were. . . . . !!!!
"Hey Lina."
"Hey Zel."
WHAT in the four worlds was happening? Did those two just greet each other like old buddies?!
"This is Xelloss Metallium. He will be Amelia's executive producer."
It was that nice purple haired guy from earlier!!!!! So Filia-san and Xelloss-san did know each other! But why did Filia-san look so annoyed? Oh, so many questions but no answers! She resolved to ask them all later about it. After a while of necessary introductions, they all seated themselves at the long table and Lina began explaining her work. Amelia didn't really understand most of the things that her friend was saying; stuff about market analysis and consumer attitudes, but she was relieved that she was in good hands. Everyone else seemed interested. From time to time, Filia would make suggestions or ask questions, and Zelgadiss was sipping his cup of coffee and participate once in a while. Xelloss, however, didn't say anything. But he was smiling ¡V eyes still closed, strangely. But he seemed to like what Lina was saying.
"Amelia, have a look at this." Lina handed her a stack of papers. She carefully looked through them one by one, and was quite impressed. They were mostly sketches of the type of clothes she would wear, and the style of songs she would sing. Zelgadiss-san probably had a say in that too, she thought wryly.
"We'll be using your middle name as your stage name. 'Tesla' sounds more catchy than 'Amelia'. Oh, and that song you were practicing today. . . .Well, we've decided to replace it with something else."
Huh? Did Zelgadiss-san think she didn't do well enough? Her heart sank a little, and she shrunk further into her seat.
"Don't worry, it's not personal," Lina assured her, "It's to fit with my work. We couldn't possibly have you singing angsty songs to debut, right?"
"Oh. . . . I see."
"I'll get something fixed up then," Zelgadiss said grumpily.
"Make it happy. Or I'll make you do it over again."
Wow, Lina-san had control over Zelgadiss-san! That was so cool! She was definitely going to badger Lina-san about this later on.
------------------------------------------------------------
Author's note: Did you all like the way I made Zel as another singer but at the same time a composer for Amelia's debut song? (^-^) I kind of like Z/A, though I absolutely refuse having them jump into bed with one another! *swarmed by Z/A fans*