Author's note: Oh, it took me a long time to write this chapter (well, 5 hours actually but still!) and a long time to make corrections and flesh things out.
A big THANK YOU to Ishy-chan for being willing to beta-read this chapter - I know you've got that blanket to make! Thanks to her, this isn't so bland as it was originally, especially with the grammatical errors pointed out. Hee hee! Ishy-chan also knows the whole story now because I gave her long spoilers! I'm so bad...
Lina Gabriev: I've been hanging around at the coffee shop with Xelloss too much, I guess. (Heh) What will Amelia think when she gets her lyrics back? What's been changed? The un-italicized parts of the song are Zel's suggestions. I think through their songs their relationship can develop!
Ishy-chan: Too short, I know. Blame it on......Noonsa! Yes! That bit about "sweet boy"....it's supposed to sound sick and perverted!!!!
Phizzy-chan: oO You and Ishy-chan make me wonder.......(facefaults) Yes, Zel-chan was getting raped by his dearest grandfather. I couldn't possibly have him as a chimera in modern day, nor scarred physically (or else how would he have his fickle fan girls?). So I had him scarred psychologically, and that he doesn't trust people too much.Apart from Lina, no one knows about it.
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Chapter 9: A day with Zelgadiss
.
Everyday
I write six hundred 'I love you's'
Years pass by but never ceasing
Waiting for that one letter
I know we're in two completely
Different worlds
But could you stop for just 18 seconds
To answer whether you think
We should all have dreams?
.
I know you're a superstar
And I
Just a face in the crowd
Yet unrelentingly I persist
Yearly, monthly, nightly
Dreaming that you'd reply one day
Just once
.
When everyone's tired and weary
I put my hopes into this envelope
I know we're in two completely
Different worlds
But will you understand?
.
Dear Tesla
Thank you for your letters
Thinking back,
I too had the same thoughts when I was young
That's why I ask you
To carry on believing
.
I won't ever give up....
.
.
"Good job, but there's been a minor alteration that we thought would be better."
Amelia took back the paper, wondering what had been changed. "Oh!" she let out a little cry of surprise. "This fits much better. You're a genius!"
The man looked a little embarrassed. "Well, actually we didn't do that. We came back from lunch yesterday and found someone had done it for us," he admitted, rubbing the back of neck sheepishly. "We thought it would've been better this way."
"I wonder who did it? I really want to thank him or her."
"Well, it doesn't matter. Work hard on your single! Everyone liked the lyrics." He gave her a thumbs up.
Blushing, she nodded before heading off to find her manager. Mazoku Records is truly a strange place, she decided. Who would be so selfless to help out and not take credit for it? She wondered who it could be, since she didn't know a lot of people here. It couldn't be Filia-san or Lina-san, since they didn't write lyrics. Nor anyone else in the marketing and production department. And the music department already said it wasn't them.
Could it be....Zelgadiss-san? Part of her hoped that it was, but quickly dismissed that thought out of her mind. He was supposed to be in Elemekia, miles away doing his promotion. She let out a sigh of disappointment, and bowed her head in defeat. Yeah right, like Zelgadiss-san would waste his time on me, she mentally chided herself. If he knew the lyrics were about him, he'd probably laugh. . .OUCH! She stumbled backwards from the collision, only to find herself looking into Zelgadiss' face.
"Zelgadiss-san!" she exclaimed, a blush rushing to her cheeks.
"Hi Amelia."
"I didn't realize you were back so soon!"
"Yeah, I returned yesterday. How's your single going?"
Amelia's eyes lit up. "I've finished and just got back comments," she said happily. "There's this small bit that was changed, but that was better than what it was originally."
"Really? The team must've been pretty good then." A little self-praise never hurt!
"Well, they said it wasn't them who did it," she frowned. "And no one knows who it was. Still, I'd really like to thank him or her if I knew."
"I'm sure he'd understand," he replied, trying to keep a straight face. "Let's see what you've got then."
Zelgadiss and Amelia chatted on recent events of the past few weeks as they made their way to Filia's office. Zelgadiss' promotion of his latest album had been a remarkable success, with over thousands attending his events and having mass media coverage. Security was tightened, he told her, in case some of his fans became too enthusiastic. She giggled as he recalled a time when a guy went up onstage and proposed to him. "And the next day, the magazines were speculating on my sexual orientation," he shuddered.
"I saw that on tv too. It must have been very embarrassing."
"Never again." he said solemnly, and they both laughed.
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"That's great!" Filia said enthusiastically when Amelia told her the good news. "I liked the lyrics too. I don't think anyone's ever written about it before."
"Same here," Lina said, her eyes still on the lyrics sheet. "I bet lots of people will be able to relate to it - a girl writing to her idol. Though I think the altered bit is a little strange."
Zelgadiss turned to her. "Why is that? I think it's perfectly fine." He was trying to keep the offended tone out of his voice.
"I'm not talking about the way it's written. I'm more of thinking the way it's used. Look here," she pointed out to him, "Isn't this supposed to be someone else saying it to her?" Everyone else peered over her shoulder.
"Now that you mention it, I have to agree with Lina."
"Exactly."
"But what should we do about this then?" Amelia sounded worried.
"We don't need to change anything. We'll just get a male singer to sing that bit." Lina said as a matter of factly.
"Who's going to do that?" Filia asked.
Lina pondered for a moment before an idea struck her. She grinned mischievously. "Zel . . ." she said in her sweetest voice.
"Umm . . .yeah?" he was suddenly feeling very uncertain about this whole thing. Lina had something brewing whenever she used that tone, and he knew it.
"Would you please be that singer?"
"Err. . . .what if I say no?"
"Then I'll start batting my eyelashes and tell your fan girls where you live."
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"What's the purpose of my life," Zelgadiss muttered to himself as he made his way to the coffee room. "Is it to be Lina's lackey? No, I thought I was supposed to be a cool guitarist and singer. . .yeah, that's it. . .maybe a little quiet too. . ."
"Why, Zelgadiss-san, it's not healthy to be talking to yourself like this."
The singer rolled his eyes at his half-brother. "Did you come to make fun of me too?"
Xelloss chuckled. "No, but I heard from Amelia that you'll be singing a bit for her single."
"Coerced by Lina. I wouldn't have minded her violence, but," he shuddered. "She threatened to get all girly and sweet on me."
"Oh? Is it that bad? I distinctly remember her headlocks as being rather painful. Enjoyable, yes. But still painful."
"You like pain, you freak."
"Hush, don't tell Lina-san." He wagged his finger and winked.
Zelgadiss only smirked as he took a sip from his cup. Secretly, he didn't mind as much helping out Amelia. She seemed genuinely oblivious of everything ugly around her. He wondered if she knew what to expect. Plus, he had gained a newfound respect for her when he saw Amelia's ability to write her own lyrics within such a short period. He had learnt of Amelia's talents when he got to know Lina a few years ago, but he assumed it was exaggeration or mere praise. He wanted to see for himself, so he decided to let her do the task herself.
"Hey Zel," Lina poked her head through the door. "Filia says you have to hurry up or you're going to be late for that tv show."
Xelloss gave her a little wave. "Good afternoon, Lina-san!"
Lina made a face and disappeared. Zelgadiss looked at him questioningly. "Did you do something to piss her off?"
"She's an interesting girl. We'll have lots of fun."
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Thanks to Filia's insane driving speed ["FILIA SLOW DOWN THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE ON THE ROAD!!!"], Zelgadiss arrived at the tv studio just in time for the makeup artists and hair stylists to fix him up. Zelgadiss coughed as he accidentally inhaled hairspray, and felt like his skin was about to tear when foundation was roughly applied. Chaos reigned the scene, with staff running about to get ready and last-minute orders being thrown about. He was shown to sit on the red plush sofa, which he thought looked good but felt rather uncomfortable. Wincing as the bright lights were maneuvered towards him, he shook hands with the brunette tv host who sitting beside him, and turned to face the cameras. At this point, the whole room went silent as one of the staff made a signal.
Ten
Nine
Eight
Seven
Six
Five
Four
Three
Two
One
"Good afternoon! It's 2pm and you're watching....Music Jukebox Special, and I'm your host, Yvonne! Today we've got Zelgadiss Greywords as our special guest. How are you, Zel?"
"Feeling pretty good. Thanks for having me here, Yvonne."
"Well, we know you've been very busy with your promotion tour for your latest album, i."
"Yeah, I just got back from Elemekia yesterday."
"So tell us, why did you choose i as your album title?" The woman leaned forward, showing a hint of her cleavage. Zelgadiss wondered whether she did that on purpose - lots of women did that when they were with him. Except for Filia, who was too sensible. As for Lina, she'd certainly beat him to a pulp if he did so much as to even attempt to look down her blouse. Mentally straightening up at that thought, he remembered he was at a tv show and ran his fingers through his hair. Giving a lopsided smile, he replied, "Throughout these 4 years I've been doing a lot of experimenting. I think after that journey, I've finally found something that I can say truly represents me. I think the title i is simple and self-explanatory. It's good quality music that matters to me most."
"Good quality music," Yvonne nodded enthusiastically, "That's definitely worked for you. So, which song do you like best?"
"Haha....well that's a little difficult to decide. The process of writing each song was an arduous experience, and I had lots of communication with the music production team. But if I were to choose one, it'd have to be In the Still of the Night, because," he paused to think, "I wrote it during a rare moment when everything seemed calm. I'm always everywhere, busy doing this job and then that, running around. I don't really get a lot of time to myself to sit down and properly write a song. I find that with the right surroundings, anything is possible."
"Did you know that song's been on the top three charts since your album came out?"
"Really?" he laughed. "I have to thank those who liked that song then."
"There's also been a rumor going around. We'll need to ask you to clarify on that one---"
"I'm not gay."
"Err....that wasn't the question."
"Well, just for the record. I'm not gay." He said it with conviction, facing the camera. Filia, who was behind the cameras, suppressed a giggle. Managers did not giggle!
"I'm sure we all understand. Now, back to what I was saying. Is it true that there's a new singer at Mazoku Records and that you're helping her?"
They must be talking about Amelia, Zelgadiss realized. "Well, yes it's true," he admitted. He hoped there wouldn't be anymore questions on her, since he never expected it to come up. He hadn't prepared for this, and he didn't want to say the wrong thing either. But Yvonne was persistent. "Who is she? And what do you think of her?" she pressed. She'd received a mysterious call that morning over this piece of delicious information, and if what she had was true, then this possibly meant exclusive news.
"Umm....she's a really nice person. She'll be writing her own lyrics for her debut song." He answered slowly, cautious not to let Yvonne's enthusiasm shake him.
"But rumors also have it that she's the President of Seyruun's youngest daughter. Do you think she may have been signed because of her status?"
Sensitive question alert! Zelgadiss felt his palms go sweaty. He glanced at Filia, who made a sign - he immediately understood what to say. "Well," he answered truthfully, "you'll have to ask Mazoku Records for that sort of thing. But I'm sure Mazoku Records has its standards and is very selective when choosing who to sign."
"But is she easy to work with? Being someone of her status, some of us expect her to be very....high maintenance." Yvonne persisted and arched her eyebrows in interest as she gazed steadily at Zelgadiss, who was secretly trying to maintain a natural composure and not sweat so much at the same time. She knew she had hit a spot and she wasn't going to let go. No sir!
"Nonsense. That's why they're called rumors," he emphasized off handly. " For example, just because the tabloids say I'm gay doesn't mean I am. I'm not gay."
He could hear tittering giggles from the female staff in the background, but he kept a straight face. He didn't enjoy bringing up that incident, but it was a tactic to steer away from a more sensitive subject that he certainly wasn't prepared to handle. The brunette tv host would have attempted to dig deeper into the subject had time not been running out. At the corner of her eye she could see the staff signaling that it was time to finish off.
"Ah, yes. Well, that's all we have today. Thank you for sparing some time out of your busy schedule to be with us today."
"No problem." Thank Ceiphied for perfect timing!
Yvonne turned to the camera and flashed a bright smile. "You're watching Music Jukebox Special, and I'm Yvonne. We'll see you next week!"
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"I had no idea she'd ask that sort of thing! No one was supposed to know about Amelia!" Filia said in an irritated voice. They were driving back to the office, with Zelgadiss wiping his brow with a piece of tissue.
"You know, that was a pretty close one. I didn't even know what to say in case I said something that was supposed to be kept secret."
"You handled it well. I suppose I should've expected a leak like this. Doesn't matter now, since the ceremony's taking place in a few weeks anyway."
"Hey Filia. Just between you and me - why did you sign Amelia?"
Filia frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"Is it true Mazoku Records signed Amelia because of her status?"
The car came to a sudden halt, the tires screeching. He thought Filia looked a little upset, but that look was quickly replaced with a neutral expression. "There are many reasons why I chose her over the others," she stated simply.
"Her singing wasn't one of the reasons."
"That can easily be changed with singing lessons." But she didn't sound so sure. She looked the other way, trying to avoid Zelgadiss' gaze.
"Don't you think it's unfair on her?" Zelgadiss asked quietly. "She's bound to find out one day."
Silence hung in the air for a few minutes before Filia closed her eyes and sighed. "I don't know, Zelgadiss," she murmured. "I really don't know."
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Author's note: Reviews, suggestions, comments and love confessions are most welcomed! (xelloss: who would want to give YOU love confessions?)