Author's Note: Well, it's been a few months since I actually updated this thing, but, here's a new chapter. I'd like to take this chance to thank the people who were kind enough to leave reviews. I know that the "cannon" couples (as they're constantly argued) are sometimes perceived to be inaccurate. Mostly because people hate Amelia. I think it's because they're jealous. Trust me, from someone who used to be as depressed and angry as Zelgadis, Amelia is not annoying at all. Ask Ukchana, she vehemently denies that she's like Amelia, but I see a lot of Amelia's good qualities in her. Actually, she used to be a big supporter of the Lina/Zelgadis coupling. But thanks to my incessant nagging and semi-logical arguments, she sides with the Zel/Amelia people and not just because of the "well they're a cannon couple so they go together" idea.
Sylphiel: Oh my.
Kasumi: Oh my.
Xellos: You're both scaring me.
Sylphiel and Kasumi: I'm terribly sorry. Would you like some tea?
Xellos: Oh . . . my . . . God . . .
Sylphiel: Oh, you found religion, that's wonderful Mr. Xellos.
Kasumi: Faith is so important in these troubled times.
Sylphiel: You are so right. Oh my, Miss Kasumi, you have such a darling bow in your hair.
Kasumi: Thank you, your outfit is absolutely marvelous.
Xellos: Can't . . . take . . . it . . . need . . . pain . . . evil . . . need . . . escape!
Sylphiel and Kasumi: Oh my . . . Mr. Xellos, what's wrong?
Xellos: (Shaking uncontrollably on the ground.)
Deepwinter 3rd, 981 NC
I find myself drawn to this book more and more. Every entry I pen seems to open more doors for my long imprisoned thoughts. I visited Lina and Gourry today, this time with my beliefs more sure than they were before. Lina has grown a great deal from her experiences . . . she was the first to know the true nature of The Lord of Nightmares, not only because of touching the Claire Bible, but also, I'm sure, from having The Lady enjoin with her. Still as energetic as ever, as evidenced by her treatment of poor Gourry, she nevertheless has an occasional glint of maturity in her eyes.
I wonder . . . I see that in Amelia's eyes too . . . is it in my own as well?
Silent, except for the rustle of the paper, the dark figure turned to a blank page. Then, dipping a pen into the nearby inkpot, gloved hands began to etch a new entry.
Newleaf 7th, 982 NC
Many changes have been brought among my friends . . . and among myself. For the first time in my life I can say that I do have friends. I wonder what Mother would think? Agree with me, no doubt. Though she has done nothing overt, I can tell that she approves of my association with these people. Lina, who has given me knowledge, first hand, of what The Lady is. And Amelia, who worked with me to understand that knowledge.
It's almost enough to make me laugh. The now Crown Princess of Seyruun associating with one such as me . . . I suppose Phil's influence allowed it. Strange that one who can be so foolish understood what neither the Gods nor the Monsters understand.
I feel a great pain for Amelia. Her sixteenth birthday has come and passed. Soon she will have to choose who will be the Crown Prince at her side. I know who she wants, but I have doubts if he will accept her . . . or anyone.
I wonder . . . should I attempt to speak with him again? Probably not. The last time I tried, I ended up on the wrong side of a Ra-Tilt. Of course, with Lina and the others around, he'll be much less likely to react so. Though, I doubt I could accomplish anything: he's dead set on maintaining a solitary lifestyle.
Ironically, the people of Seyruun would welcome him greatly. They already see both Philionel and Amelia as heroes, adding another to the family would only raise their already feverish support. Lord Ruby Eyes, Great Beast Zanafar, Gaav, Valgaav and Lord Dark Star. I don't think many possible suitors could compete with that list of battles.
A flash of a smile glinted in the dim light, as the long-haired figure lifted the pen from the pages and placed it next to the inkpot. With care, he snapped the clasp shut again and placed the now secure book into its place in his leather satchel.
Lina Inverse opened her mouth wide in an unrestrained yawn. Shutting her eyes against the harsh glare of the morning sun she cursed inwardly at the stupid placement of the largest window in the room.
Half crawling with the tangled blankets around her legs, the powerful sorceress groped blindly for the drawstring on the satin curtains. Unable to use the flailing arm for balance, the bleary eyed girl fell forward connecting with the edge of the beautifully ornate table that had been placed there for her dining pleasure.
Shrieking, the redhead ripped the blanket from her legs and hurled it back to the bed. With a low grumble she stalked over to the wash pan, "What a way to start the day . . . " Splashing water onto her face, the girl shivered at its chill. By the time she was drying, she was awake enough to take extra care around the beautifully ornate red mark that was starting to swell on her forehead.
"Ohhh . . . " she moaned, "I can't go out like this." Setting the towel down, the girl touched her forehead gingerly and whispered, "Recovery." Smiling at the result, Lina set about getting downstairs as fast as possible, Gourry better not eat everything . . .
Throwing on her clothes, she dashed down the high-ceilinged hallway to the conference room they'd talked in last night. Amelia said that this would be the place . . . Throwing open the doors, the sorceress was greeted with the awesome sight of food, piled taller than she'd ever seen.
Oh, wow! The girl's eyes traced upwards, taking in every glorious detail. There might actually be enough food! Brushing at the forming tears, Lina dove into the wonderful free-for-all that awaited her.
"Hi, Miss Lina!" The princess stood, momentarily ignoring the most important meal of the day. "Did you sleep well, la- Wah!" Amelia jumped back from the redheaded projectile before it collided with deadly effect.
"DAMMIT GOURRY! Save some of that for me!" A clang of metal rose from behind the stacked piles of plates. Settling back into her chair, the shrine maiden sighed and turned back to the more refined guests.
"HEY! You KNOW how much I like ham! What's yer problem?!"
Sweat-dropping at the crash behind her, Amelia forced herself not to turn around, instead focusing on the far more congenial forms of the smiling demon and the scowling chimera. "So, Mr. Zelgadis, are you enjoying your coffee?"
The blue skinned man set the cup back onto the saucer gently, "I'd be enjoying it more, if it weren't so filthy in here." His eyes flicked to his left, where Xellos' smile was faltering.
"Mr. Zelgadis!" The princess' eyes open wide as she slammed her hands on the table. "Mr. Xellos has very graciously offered to help you find his cure and he's even said straight out that he doesn't have any ulterior motiv-"
"I can't believe that you trust slime like that, Amelia." The chimera stood, throwing his cloak back. "He's nothing but a liar and a chea-"
"Hey! Lina!" Gourry's voice floated over the insurmountable heap of food. "Come on! I want some too!"
Clenching his hands, Zelgadis turned in the direction of the carnage on the other side of the table and barked out, "Can't you two ever eat like normal people?!"
For a number of seconds, silence was the only reply, then the soft voice of the blonde swordsman drifted over to them. "Probably not . . . "
"Yeah . . . " came the sorceress' considering voice, "I mean, I'm a powerful sorceress and I still can't do something that immense . . . "
Growling , Zelgadis sat heavily back down in his chair. "I should've known that no matter where I go, I'll never find any peace."
Hiding his face with his tea cup, the demon remarked, "Maybe if you had that broadsword surgically removed . . . "
Throwing the chair back, the chimera reached for the priest's neck with outstretched arms. "Why you arrogant- "
Phasing, Xellos reappeared directly above Zelgadis, still holding his tea cup. "My, my . . . and here I thought better of you than the common cur-"
"Mr. Xellos! Mr. Zelgadis!" The princess' shrill cry broke their cold stares away from each other. "Both of you stop this, right now! You're both guests in my house!"
"Hey, Gourry, you should try the scrambled eggs, they're great!"
The warrior's reply sounded half a heartbeat later. "Yeah, they are! Here, try the sausages!"
Taking a deep breath, Amelia looked both men in the eyes. "Mr. Zelgadis, I know that Mr. Xellos has treated you very badly, but he's given his word, and I believe him." Her gaze softened as the handsome chimera retreated into his coffee.
"Mr. Xellos." She said coldly as she noticed the sly smile forming on the demon's face. "You know that Mr. Zelgadis has had trouble controlling his anger because of what that demon is doing to him." Wow, she thought, this isn't so different from dealing with all those whiny nobles . . .
The smile dropped into a considering frown. Softly, the purple haired priest spoke as he floated back to his chair, "You're right, Amelia. I'm sorry, Zelgadis."
He actually sounds sincere! Amelia thought. She let out a breath when she heard the chimera mumbled something that at least sounded apologetic.
"Good," she said calmly. "We've got bigger things to worry about now anyways . . . Mr. Xellos, what did you and Miss Lina decide last night?"
Pausing with a quick glance to his right, the demon told the plan again. "We decided that going to Rezo's old properties would be the most logical place to start." Ignoring the derisive snort from the chimera, he continued, "Anything dealing with monsters could possibly have been hidden away from the senses of normal or, even, abnormal humans. But Rezo would want his monster servants to find it easily, so-"
Amelia broke in, "So you think that you might be able to find something that everyone else missed, right?" Stopping suddenly, the tiny girl blushed slightly, "Sorry, I guess I still need to work on that . . . "
The priest waved aside the interruption, "Don't worry. Since the cure for Zelgadis' affliction isn't found among modern tomes, that pretty much leaves us with tomes that most mortals today won't be familiar with."
Taking another sip from his tea, he flicked his gaze over to the agitated swordsman at his right. "Unfortunately, our best bet, the Claire Bible, was, of course, destroyed by Gaav. We didn't think that incomplete manuscripts would be helpful, considering how hard they were to find last time and how many false leads there were."
His ears pricked at the almost imperceptible mumbling to his side, "Maybe we would've had better luck if a certain fiend hadn't kept stabbing us in the back."
Xellos raised his tea cup quickly, hiding his sour expression, Thank goodness Amelia couldn't have heard that. "So we only have two options before us. One: We scour all of Rezo's properties, hoping that we can find how he originally cursed Zelgadis. Two: We can ask all of the ancient civilizations that are known to us, Dragons, Elves, anybody else that might look promising."
Dragons . . . Amelia turned to look out the widow, musing over the idea. I was wondering how I was going to bring this up. A slightly mischievous look crossed her face. Hmmm . . . Amelia said to herself, If we're going to be talking to Dragons we might as well get help from one we already know and trust. Most of the ancient artifacts and lore belongs to the dragons, not the elves. Anything we find will need someone who can read old dragon languages. Amelia sipped her tea slowly. How can I convince Xellos to let a dragon come along?
"As I was saying," the priest continued in a lecturing tone, "our best lead is Rezo himself. He's the one who originally cast the spell; he's the one who did the research."
"What about the monster race?" Zelgadis asked with only a slight strain on his voice. "This spell used a monster as part of the casting components, don't you know anything about how to reverse this? You're a priest, albeit a twisted and demonic one, don't you specialize in archaic knowledge?"
Feeling the chimera's eyes on him, Xellos forced himself not to turn to his gaze, ignoring the challenge. "Yes. Which makes this all the more puzzling. My Mistress covets knowledge as the greatest power and neither of us has an inkling-"
"Miss FILIA should come along!" the tiny girl shouted.
Xellos spit out his tea onto the table as he began to choke and cough. As Zelgadis sniggered loudly, the demon stared at the princess, eyes and mouth open wide. "What?!"
"Well, she'll be useful, right? I mean, you don't know every archaic language out there, but Miss Filia knows nearly all of the dragon ones! And most of the ruins that we'll be looking in used to belong to the dragons! And this way if we have to visit any of the inhabited dragon temples we'll have someone who they'll be more willing-"
"No-no-no!" The demon waved his hands frantically, "I really don't think that's necessary!" He reached into his cloak and pulled out a small book. "See, I brought my travel guide! I don't think we need a dragon along when we've got one of these."
"Mr. Xellos . . . " Shaking her head, the shrine maiden ignored the chimera's continuing laughter. "A guide book doesn't provide you with translations of archaic dragon scriptures."
"Well . . . no . . . " the purple haired priest admitted, tittering, "But it has a wealth of other information that Fila just can't compete with!" Wincing at Amelia's stern gaze, he flipped to a random page in the book. "Like information on . . . ummm . . . FOOD! This guide book as a wealth of information on local dishes." Glancing up and seeing her unchanged expression he called out loudly, "Lina! Food is good, right?!"
From across the stacks of plates came the resounding support of, "Mphmhm hrrss dfgfos djjb vhsdg!"
"I knew you'd back me up!" Grinning nervously, Xellos turned to face his two dining companions in turn. "Lina agrees with me!"
Covering her face, Amelia sighed as the priest continued to flip through the book. I knew he'd be edgy about the idea, but I didn't think he'd be this bad! "Mr. Xellos, I really think this is in the group's best interest. I'm going to have to insist."
"Precisely," Zelgadis set down his mug of coffee and forced himself to hold in his laughter. "Amelia's right. There's no sense in doing this halfway. We've all seen how useful Filia can be in this sort of endeavor. I'm throwing my vote in with her." The chimera rested his chin against his fist, hiding his smirk from Amelia.
Zelgadis . . . The girl stared at the wonderfully handsome shaman.
The chimera paused as he glimpsed the princess' expression. Ah, hell . . . Staring at his mug, he tried to think of a way to recover from his guffaw.
Looking between the two, Xellos leaned back into his chair. "Amelia?"
Starry-eyed, the princess continued to gaze upon Zelgadis' visage. "Uh-huh?"
Clapping his hands softly, the priest called out, "Alright! We've decided that Fila isn't coming along . . . right, Lina?"
"Hmrwsdf fgsdgtj dfgjnmsa!"
For a second the purple-haired demon stared at the enormous wall of plates. "Uhhh . . . thanks . . . Okay then, it's all-"
"HOLD IT!" The petite princess slammed her hands down on the table. "Mr. Xellos, I can't believe you tried to trick me like that!"
Putting his gloved hand behind his head, Xellos laughed nervously. "B-but, Amelia! It was in self-defense! Really!"
Grateful for the princess's change of attention, the chimera asked, "Why are you so against Fila coming, anyways? You two got along much better towards the end of our journey . . . oh, wait . . . that was because you were away most of the time." Sighing, he grumbled, "Not that we'll even be able to find her. There's no telling where she's living, now."
Smiling, Amelia waved at Zelgadis unconcernedly, "Actually, Miss Filia only lives three blocks away."
"Pardon?" The blue-skinned man's eyes narrowed, "When did this happen?"
The forgotten demon sullenly stared into his tea, mumbling to himself.
"Oh, I'm sorry, didn't you get the letters?" The princess' face turned slightly red as she recalled some of the things she'd said in them.
"I got three of them-"
"THREE?! " The tiny girl began to tear up, "B-but, I sent a hundred and ninety seven!"
Zelgadis stared at her, eyes wide. "Well, I mean . . . I was really far away, they probably-"
"And what about the cookies and chocolates?!" Droplets began to run down her round face.
Woodenly , the chimera shook his head. Cookies? I can't believe she . . . actually I can. I suppose I should be thankful she didn't send a convoy of useless snack foods.
Breaking down into full out sobbing, Amelia yelled, "They- they promised!" She clenched her fists angrily, "Ohhhhh . . . the postal service is soooo getting their budget cut!"
Shaken out of his reverie, Xellos took in the scene before him. "Oh, come on, Amelia, don't feel bad, we can all punish them together!"
Lina's rough voice bellowed over the tower of plates, drowning out Amelia's crying. "DAMMIT, ZELGADIS, YOU'D BETTER NOT BE CAUSING ANY TROUBLE OVER THERE!!" Peering through the wall of now empty plates, the destructive sorceress fixed her deadly gaze upon the still shell-shocked chimera.
"Amelia, could I . . . talk to you?" The demon dropped back a few steps.
Halting, the others stared at both Xellos and the princess. "Uh . . . sure, Mr. Xellos." Looking back at the group, she pointed out a large building. "Miss Lina, Miss Filia lives in that building, on the third floor. It'll be the fifth door on your right. We'll catch up."
Shrugging, the redhead turned away, "Sure, whatever." Muttering to her blonde companion she clenched her fists, "Why don't I ever get to hear any secrets?"
For a long moment, Zelgadis stared at Amelia's retreating back, then growled and stalked off behind his two friends.
"I'll tell you a secret, Lina!" The smiling swordsman leaned down to her ear.
Feeling his warm breath on her neck, the powerful sorceress stuttered, "W-what secret?" Oh no! What is he going to tell me?! Is he going to propose? Is he going to say he loves me?!
"I think the color of your hair looks really good on you!" Smiling even more broadly, the tall warrior straightened, unaware of the effect he was having.
Okay . . . okay . . . that's not quite what I was thinking, but it's close! A small smile formed on her lips. Yeah! It's actually a decent complime-
"It matches all the fire from the rampant destruction you cause!" Then the observant swordsman turned away and noticed an item of extreme importance. "Hey Lina! There's an ice cream parlor over there, wanna get so-"
"FIRE BALL!"
A plume of smoke rose slowly into the sky, framing Lina Inverse's hunched over figure.
"Lina?" Zelgadis' low voice broke through the cries of the frightened townspeople.
"Not a word Zel," she sniffled, "I'm not feeling up to it." Turning, she began to walk slowly towards the building.
"Technically, it's still a compliment since-"
"What the hell do you care," Lina spun to face him, "you've been off who knows where! You think Amelia was the only one who missed having you around?!"
The sorcerer's eyes widened as he halted in his tracks. "Huh? Lina, what are you talking about?"
Waving a hand, the redhead started again for the tall building. "Forget it. Doesn't matter." Harshly, she swiped at her eyes.
A stunned Zelgadis stalked after her. What the hell is wrong with everybody? I take off to find my cure and they all- He halted as what Lina said hit him. Lina . . . missed me?! Lina and Amelia?
Looking back in the direction that the princess had gone, his eyes narrowed. I knew Amelia would, with that stupid crush, but the only reason she has that is because she feels pity for 'the freak'. Turning back towards the petite redhead he rested his hand on his sword hilt. But Lina too?