I go to school in Ohio. The guilt is like a ton of bricks. No more on that. Things should start picking up now, thanks for all the reviews!
Klutz82 - Lina's not gonna let him get away so easily. ;) And yeah, little by little...Gerao-A - Poor Air-Jay. Carry on.
Cookie - I'm glad you liked it! A lot of my chapters end up being really long, so I hope you feel that way about all of them. A favorite, for me? Thank yooooou!
Iris - More angst than you can possibly believe. I'm so glad you like it so much! :)
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Part VI - Divinity of Hell"Oh, I'd be perfectly happy to ruin you. In fact I was just about to ask."
-Effigy
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The door was open.
Amelia squeezed her eyes shut again as she raised her head, then opened them to find it was true- the door to her room was open.
Sitting up, things slowly filtered back to her. She glanced down at the sharp contrast between the black sheets and her white dress, and then she looked over at the window. She could see nothing now; it was pitch black outside, and the wind had died down. How long had she been asleep?
Never mind that, she told herself. The door was open. She had her exit.
Swinging her legs off the bed, she stood up and took a few steps toward it. A tapping sound went with her and she paused, looking down at her shoes. They were loud, and would certainly give her away. Slipping them off, she touched her feet to the floor and tried in vain to contain a gasp. She'd forgotten the floor was ice, and her toes were numb almost instantly. Biting back the discomfort, she started again for the door. If she could get out, then the cold was worth it.
The princess leaned out into the dark hall and looked both directions to make sure no one was around. She was alone, but now which way to go? She remembered once hearing something about the way one would make it out of a labyrinth or maze.
"Keep your hand on the right wall, and eventually you'll get out." she said as she did so, immediately thankful for the minor protection her thin gloves gave her against the chill.
She moved slowly down the corridor, keeping an eye out for any strange movement about her. Several times she started at shadows cast by the blue torches, but they seemed to be merely tricks of light, and not servants of the shadow king himself. As she walked, she tried to formulate what she would do when she left.
While it was true that a on-person Ray-Wing wouldn't carry her through a storm, if the wind had diminished, she had a pretty good chance if she moved fast. And sure, she could even try to go through a blizzard. Perhaps it would work. She couldn't let herself give up so easily. Any tiny bit of luck could help her, get her home, but losing hope would take her nowhere. It was a matter of staying the right frame of mind. She was going to be strong.
Lina would be so proud when she returned. Gourry would be duly impressed and Zelgadis...He would...
"And where might we be going, Princess?"
Amelia yelped as her footing gave way and she dropped down. Turning around in horror, she realized her wanderings and thoughts had carried her back into the huge hall. Indeed, she'd been so wrapped up that she hadn't even noticed the man standing a few feet off to her side.
"Dynast..."
"Are we on a first name basis then? All right."he gave her another cruel smile, then looked over his shoulder. "Grou? The sword?"
Emerging from the shadows, his partner close behind, Grou handed the blade to their master, before falling into place behind him as he walked over to Amelia.
"I'm glad you happened to walk in. I was just about to send for you."
"Stay back.."she growled, pressing herself against the wall.
"What are you going to do? Throw a shoe at me?" He gestured to left hand where she held her shoes and laughed a little. "I've got nothing to worry about. You might, however. Have you come to a decision yet?"
"I told you before. I will NEVER be a Mazoku!" To punctuate her shout, she did throw one of her shoes. Dynast ducked it effortlessly, but it hit Grau in the face. She slipped and fell backward before Grou caught her.
"You little bitch..."Grau hissed at she righted herself.
Dynast gave her a look over his shoulder, and she shut up immediately. He took another step closer to Amelia.
"I'm disappointed to hear that. I was so hoping you'd change your mind. I figured once you learned where you were and how hopeless your situation was, you'd just give up. I suppose I should have known better."
"I'll never give up! You can try whatever spells, dirty tricks, mind games you want, but I know I'll get out of here. My friends will come and-"
"Tell me."he cocked his head to one side. "What is it exactly that you want to return to so badly? To the fiancee you've never met? To the friends that leave you? To the man who doesn't love you?"
Amelia tried not to flinch.
"It's still where I belong."
"You belong with that kind of pain?"he sounded so very sympathetic, but she knew it was a ploy, a sick game. "Why then you're almost one of us already, don't you think? Surrounding yourself in your unhappiness. That's really what you want?"
Amelia swallowed hard. This was no time to lose herself. Sure, it hurt to be at home sometimes, but it was where she belonged. Her friends did care about her and they would come to visit her. Her father loved her. And Zelgadis...
"Yes, that's what I want."
"Nothing I can say will change your mind? Too bad."
His shoulders relaxed a moment, and he smiled. But an instant later, his hand snaked out, grabbed her wrist and yanked her from the wall. He flung her off to the side and she landed hard, sliding several feet. She struggled to rise, or scoot back, or something, but he was bearing down on her again quickly.
"I guess I'll just have to change your mind for you."his grin got even bigger as his foot came down on her hand. She screamed and struck at his shin, but his face never changed. "You're a strong little girl, Princess. Most people would have given me what I wanted by now. Most people know better."
Amelia held onto her wrist and tried to tug it out from under his boot. Tears were already running down her face, but she wouldn't let him win this.
"I won't be a Mazoku! I love my life and you can't-"
"Your life belongs to me."he said, and suddenly she was drowning in shadow, suffocating as it reached inside her. She choked and coughed and her eyes began to burn, but the assault didn't waver. She was dimly aware Dynast was still saying something...was it to her? As she focused her ears on it, it was clear that he was chanting a spell, one she'd never heard. It seemed that his voice grew quieter...No, it wasn't quieter, it was inside her head, like a deadly whisper, trying to drive her mad.
Then it spoke two words, and everything came crashing down.
"Soul Shatter."
Pain exploded through her. From every inch of her body, shockwaves of the most perfect agony ran through every nerve, every vein. There was a tugging at her chest, as if something was being forced out, something that didn't want to go without a fight. She wanted to shout but the possibility of speaking vanished as the thing inside her was ripped away. Incoherent letters, shapes...that was all that came to mind as she screamed soundlessly. She reached for images of friends, loved ones...but she couldn't remember what they were. Less than an instant after the hole had been left inside her, something filled it. Blindly, she reached out to it, and felt a cold blade; the black sword had gone straight through her heart.
Everything that she was seemed trying to tear itself apart in a thousand different directions. If only she could make her voice work, she could cry out to...to... Gods, it was horrible. It was the sum of every wrong, painful feeling in the whole world, taking over her body, squeezing, crushing, destroying, and it would never stop, it would never stop, it would never-
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Heavy eyelids slowly lifted to uncover a pair of ice-blue eyes, revealing to them in turn a low ceiling and dim light. Blinking, the owner of the eyes tried to recall his whereabouts. This didn't look at all like his room. And if he'd just woken up, shouldn't it be morning?
It took a few more moments before his brain kicked in, and then Zelgadis remembered what had happened. He'd laid down on Amelia's bed to rest for a little while, and probably fallen asleep. The low ceiling was the bed's canopy, and the dim light was from the moon shining in the window- apparently, he'd slept all day.
He sat up with a start, realizing just how long he'd been in the room. Suppose someone had come in? Oh, that would have been an interesting situation. He would have had a very hard time explaining it, and the idea of having to do so wasn't a pleasant thought. Sliding off the bed quickly, Zel made his way for the door, cracking it just slightly first to make sure he was alone in the halls. No one was around, and he slipped out, but not before taking one last look into the princess's bedchamber.
Zel started down the corridors again. The ticking of a grandfather clock was the only sound besides his footsteps, and he noted the time: slightly after midnight. He cringed. Getting his sleep patterns back to normal after this was going to be a pain.
Finding another juncture in the halls, he was about to round a turn when he heard voices. Rerouting himself down the other way, he found himself stepping out onto one of the castle's balconies. Standing at the railing were two young men. Fairly bright light from the courtyard below provided good illumination, and he could see their faces pretty well: slumped over the bar, head pillowed in his arms, was Captain Quenith, and standing next to him, Commander Beryl.
The leader of the cavalry looked over his shoulder and saw Zel, smiling at him and motioning him over.
"Graywords-san. Care to join us?"
Giving a small nod, Zel walked over and stood next to the commander. He was a dashing young man with short dark hair, his bangs brush artfully to one side.
"Commander Beryl was it?"
"Just Seth, please. And this nice sozzled man to my right is Captain Quenith, or since we're being casual, just Tim." Tim gave a little wave, but continued staring into the distance. "It's nice to see you in more informal circumstances. And it's good to know that you're alive."
"Come again?"
"Ah, your friend...Inverse-san. She was storming around the castle looking for you all day. I was afraid she might have killed you."
Zel grimaced.
"Believe me, had she found me, she would have. We're having a bit of a disagreement right now."
Seth looked around, then over the edge, before leaning back and flashing his grin again.
"I think you're safe for now."
"Seth..."Tim spoke for the first time, his voice slightly muffled by his arm. "Where's the bottle?"
"At your feet, where you put it."
"Right."
Tim pushed himself up dizzily, then bent down to grab it. He was slightly taller than Seth, but looked a little younger - almost too young to be in the position of power that he was. His blonde bangs were in danger of falling into his eyes, but he made no move to change that.
He pulled the cork out of the bottle and was contemplating it when Seth suddenly grabbed it.
"I've been rude. Can I offer you a drink, Graywords-san?"
"I'll pass."
Irritated, Tim snatched the bottle back.
"You don't wanna join us in a toast to my last night on earth?"he kept his eyes on Zel as he poured himself another glass. That didn't work so well, and more of the liquid ended up on the floor than anywhere else.
"You're overreacting."Seth sighed.
"I am not! I don't find the princess soon, I'm as good as dead!"
"I really don't think you have to worry about Phil in that sense." Zel smirked at the drunken man.
"This is his daughter we're talking about."Tim sighed turning away and dangling one hand over the edge of the balcony. "And if anything happened or happens to her -Gods forbid she should die- Phil, whom everyone knows is already about twenty-seven bricks short of a load, is bound to go completely insane. I don't care if he is a pacifist. He'll come up with something nasty, and I'm gonna be the first to suffer. Hooray for being a royal guard. Whoop-de-fucking doo."
Zel raised an eyebrow as he leaned his left arm on the railing.
"Perhaps he's drunker than I thought." Seth offered.
"Wouldn't you be if you were in my situation? Put yourself in my shoes." the blond man pushed himself up again, gracefully sloshing most of the contents of his glass down into the courtyard. "Tomorrow is my wedding day."
"Congratulations." Zel said. Someone else in this damn castle getting married. Were they doing this on purpose to slight him?
"Shove it." Tim stepped forward, swaying the slightest bit. "Yeah, tomorrow is s'posed to be my wedding day, but do you think I'll be walking down the aisle with the most beautiful woman in the world? No, I won't! And you wanna know why? Because I'm gonna be looking for that stupid little girl in the same fucking gutter that I've looked in five times!" stumbling towards the chimera, he grabbed Zel's collar and would have shaken him, had the difference in weight not been so extreme. The captain merely succeed in flapping Zel's shirt. "Do you hear me? I have looked in every gutter, every hole, every crack, every alley, every fucking building in this whole damn city for that girl, and there is no sign of her! Nothing! Nothing at all! Stupid little bitch, where the hell did she go?!"
More than annoyed by the drunk and his rude attitude towards Amelia, Zel placed his hand in the middle of Tim's chest and pushed. The Captain tripped back a few steps, then regained his footing...sort of.
"Don't you dare talk about this princess like that." said Zel coldly, trying to contain the rage that had surged within him.
"Tough guy, huh?" Tim brushed his hair back. "Yeah, I know you. You're one of her weird little friends that she's always running off with. You and that crazy red-haired chick who blows everything up and her dumb boyfriend. Well let me tell you, mister..." he blinked dizzily as he tried to come up with an insult. "Thing. You care about the fucking Princess?" he paused a moment and grinned raunchily. "You care about fucking the Princess? You go out and look for her."
Now it was the Chimera's turn to grab the Captain's collar and bring them eye to dangerous eye. He spoke through clenched teeth, fighing to control the impulses that said to toss the man over the balcony. "I suggest you rethink that last statement before it becomes the last thing you'll ever say."
Sighing, Seth stuck his arm between them. "Graywords-san, let him go. Tim, give it a rest."
With a great deal of contempt, Zel released Tim, and the two back away from each other.
"I can take you, stone-boy." Tim taunted. "Bring it oooonnnn..."
Seth rolled his eyes, and placing his hands on his friend's shoulders, turned him and started to push him back inside.
"I think it's time for you to go to bed. You've got to get up early tomorrow, remember?"
"Yeah..."the other man grumbled. "To get back to my gutter check."
"No, you are getting married tomorrow at eleven in the morning sharp. Now go."
Deciding resistance was futile, Tim let his shoulders sag and with a mumbled "Thanks" staggered back inside.
Shaking his head helplessly, Seth turned back to Zel. "I'm sorry about that. He-"
"He's a jerk. How did an asshole like that become captain?"
Seth gave him a distressed look.
"Please, don't say that. I know he was out of line, but he's really a good guy. Just very, very unhappy and drunk at the moment. I mean, he's going to miss his own wedding tomorrow to go on another useless search..."
"You really think it's useless?"
"Oh, yeah, sure." Seth poured himself a drink and looked up at the sky. "How many days has it been? If she was here, they would've found her by now. The only option is that she's out of the city. And since my men haven't even been able to find her..."he drew his breath in through his teeth and shook his head. "This doesn't look good."
Zel looked at the commander, then turned away. He knew there was little chance she was still in Seyruun, but confirmation of the fact just made things a bit worse. And to know they hadn't found her outside the city yet...
"Have you sent people north yet?"
"Of course. I have at least two riders on all the main roads out of here, and there's a lot of trade to the north. I don't know..."he tapped his fingers on his glass. "I don't think we're going to find her."
A stab of pain went through Zel's heart.
"You sound so sure."
"I don't want it to sound that way, but... Look, I liked the princess, and I want her to come home safely, but I don't think there's much of a chance of that anymore."
"Lina's going to look for her."
"Lina? Inverse-san? I wish her the best of luck. Maybe she'll find her. I hope so. Someone should."
They stood in silence for a while, then Seth stretched tall before leaning down to pick up the bottle and the remaining glasses.
"I'm going to turn in now. I'm going out tomorrow. Are you going to stay here?"
"Yeah, I think so." Pause. "Could you leave the bottle?"
"Sure. Good night." Seth walked into the shadows of the doorway and was gone.
Zel was left alone with his thoughts and a glass of brandy again, a situation he was finding himself in more and more frequently. So nobody could find her. Every time he went over those words, they added just another twinge inside him. Where was she that no one could find her?
North. They had one clue, one direction to go.
North. Good. Tomorrow, that's the direction we'll be heading. And you'll be in the lead.
Well, Lina had obviously not started off today if she'd been searching for Zel. The thought of facing the wrath of the sorceress was not at all appealing, and traveling at this point would be awful. If he told her he'd changed his mind, she'd be on him the whole time, telling him it was his fault, berating him for letting her go. Shit, he should just go by himself, and...
His train of thought came to a sudden halt. He could go by himself.
Wait, Zel, slow down...his mind said. Why was he suddenly in such a hurry to find Amelia? He'd said it once, he'd said it a thousand times. He wasn't going to look for her. But somehow, talking with Seth had changed something. He didn't want to face her, he didn't want to give in...but if, in all honesty, no one else was going to find her, then... then he'd live in this state of mind forever, listening to their last conversation for the rest of his life, slowly going insane with guilt, regret, and unrequited...
He made up his mind. Setting down his glass, he practically ran from the balcony, navigating the hallways until he reached his room. He grabbed his things and stuffed them back into his bag, then left the room and crept down the hallways. Sneaking past the night guards proved to be fairly easy for someone as skilled as he, and within a few minutes he was outside and on the city's main road, heading for the northern gates.
The chimera walked swiftly, making good time. If he kept up the pace, he figured, he'd have a good head start on Lina and Gourry, assuming they left in the morning.
About an hour's walking found him just outside the city gates. He stopped and looked down the road ahead of him. In the distance, he could see dark clouds rolling across the sky. Shifting his bag to a more comfortable position and setting his jaw, Zel started towards them.