AM I REALLY THAT PREDICTABLE?
(Wait, on second thought, don't answer that.)
So everyone has discovered my damned plot line. -sighs- I knew it would get predictable and that I would eventually go against something in the Slayers universe...
I say: Tough Sponge-Monkeys!
In this story: Amelia is brain-dead and amnesic, no one else can put two and two together (which is really sad due to how obvious everything is), the different last names is really what throws everyone and the fiction-ka has become desperate enough to revert to severe plot twists.
I do not own Slayers!
Thank you and good night! -takes her bow-
Go
It was nighttime and the party had come to a rest. They were all about a half a mile from the road that they had been following and had set up camp. There was a small fire going and most of the gang was near asleep from eating the stew that Bianca had made.
"That was great!" Lina said with great satisfaction. She looked over at Albert and Gourry as the swordsmen lay sleeping, passed out from their excessive amount of eating. "Looks as if Albert and Gourry had their fill, wouldn't you say?"
"I guess so," Bianca giggled. "That octopus Albert-kun eats more than twice my brother and I ever do."
"He and Gourry are two peas in a pod then," Zelgadis muttered sarcastically as he carefully sipped a mug of tea.
"Eudora-san was the one who scared me during dinner!" Amelia added. "She ate a lot too! Almost as much as Lina-san, Albert-san and Gourry-san did!"
"Don't sweat it Amelia," Lina laughed. She chuckled to herself for a little bit and then stopped. "Hey, did anyone see where Eudora went? Cullen's missing too."
"Oh, I saw Eudora-chan go into her tent and my brother is most likely scouting for something," Bianca sighed. "He is always paranoid during the nighttime."
"Sounds like someone else we know, huh Zel?" Lina chuckled, nudging the chimera in the side. Zelgadis just said nothing and took another sip of his tea. He knew that the best thing would to just take it and stay silent. There was already enough tension in the air over why they all were traveling. It would be the last thing they all needed if he decided to pick a fight with Lina and jeopardize the venture.
"Bianca-san," Amelia asked softly as Bianca sat down by the fire. "How long have you and your brother been traveling with Albert-san?"
"Forever," Bianca said with a faint smile on her face. "Albert-kun has been my best friend for longer than even my brother can remember. We have always been together, since his parents and my parents liked to travel with each other."
"Ah, childhood friends," Amelia said with a glassy twinkle in her eye, almost as if she found the concept... romantic.
"How long have you four been traveling together?" Bianca came back. Amelia snapped out of her fanciful state and looked at Bianca questioningly.
"Huh? Why?"
"You asked me how long Albert-kun has known my brother and me. How long have you known your friends?"
"Almost four years," Lina piped in after seeing the frozen look on Amelia's face. "...and whenever we go our separate ways, we all miss each other, don't we?"
"Miss me?" Zelgadis sardonically laughed. "With every fireball so far."
"Ha, ha, very funny," Lina snipped. She looked over at Gourry and Albert as they slept under a tree, peacefully dreaming about their oncoming breakfasts. Without even realizing it, Lina came to think about Albert's mismatched eyes. It immediately brought back memory of meeting the teen, as well as the Ganymeade siblings, for the first time.
"Bianca," Zelgadis asked as he put down his empty tea mug. "I have a question about your brother."
"S-Sure," Bianca answered, slightly startled and not sure about what it was the chimera wanted.
"Why is Cullen's face half stone?"
The whole camp fell silent. The only sounds heard were that of the fire popping, crickets, cicadas and snoring coming from the sleeping swordsmen.
"I-I-It was a spell," Bianca stuttered, her gaze creepily fixated on the fire. "Albert-kun and my brother were experimenting one day a few months ago and the spell went awry and changed their appearances. Now my brother's face is partially stone and Albert-kun has one green eye. They were like that when I found them."
"I see," Zelgadis murmured. "Do you know what type of spell they were attempting?"
"A... A... A..." Bianca barely whispered. Tears started to well up in her eyes as she tried to spit out the answer. "A..."
"Don't answer that," Lina said. She turned on Zelgadis and hissed at him. "Idoit! How was she supposed to know what those two were doing? For all she knows, they were trying to bring us here!"
You do not know how do deal with a woman's feelings, do you? Lina thought to herself. Damn Zelgadis. Tactics such as this are definitely not your forte.
"I am sorry," Zelgadis sighed with annoyance for Lina. He then immediately stood up and left the camp, leaving the girls to themselves. Maybe if he could find Cullen, he'd get more out of him...
80808080808080808
Later that night, Lina was laying down in her tent, not able to sleep. Maybe it was the food, maybe it was the conversation before bed, maybe it was the fact that they were traveling to Zefielia; yet whatever it was, it made her toss and turn and unable to rest.
What was that? she thought as the sound of a twig snapping outside reached her ears. Lina silently opened the flap to her tent to see Albert at the edge of the woods, cursing himself for making the noise. He carefully checked to make sure that no one was watching him and then snuck off into the trees.
Instantly Lina became suspicious of Albert. He was sneaking off into the night, checking to make sure that no one was behind him, it really made Lina wonder. Soundlessly, Lina made her way over to Amelia's tent and poked her head inside.
"Psst.." Lina hissed. Amelia groggily sat up.
"Huh?" she said sleepily.
"Come with me," Lina whispered. The princess sleepily followed.
"What is the matter?" Amelia asked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
"I thought I saw Albert head into the woods," Lina whispered back. "I just assumed you wanted to come with me as I go and spy on him."
"Guess what: I don't."
Lina sighed as Amelia went back over to her tent, falling down in the process. She did not understand why the princess would not want to come along and spy with her. Some mysteries though, are better left unsolved.
It took Lina very little time to catch up with Albert. Using an invisibility spell and a Raywing, she floated silently along right behind him as he came upon a lake sparkling in the moonlight. Still invisible, Lina settled herself in a tree and prepared herself for whatever Albert had planned.
"Tu-whit," Albert called into the night. It seemed just like an average bird call to Lina.
What in the world is he doing? she wondered as the swordsman continued the call. Does he want to attract all the water fowl withing a half-mile? Bianca is right to call him an octopus.
Suddenly, Lina heard a rustling from the bushes below her. As she looked down, there was a small squeak and a pale-cloaked figure stumbled out of the brush.
"Bianca," Albert said as he helped her up. "I need to talk to you."
"About what?" she protested, putting down her hood so that the moon reflected on her pale skin. "If Cullen finds us here, he'll kill you! He'll find you too! Him, or even my..."
"Like I care. Bianca, I..."
"I don't want to hear it Albert Orme!" Bianca snapped. "You would have better luck trying to seduce Eudora-chan than me! I fell for your flattery once already."
"Who ever said I wanted to seduce you?" Albert said with a slight laugh. "You and your imagination..."
"Shut up you damn octopus," Bianca huffed as she spun around and folded her arms.
"Make me."
"Do you even realize how much you get on my nerves? You're such an idiot!"
"Wasn't that what you said made you fall in love with me?" Albert said softly, wrapping his arms around Bianca's shoulders. Bianca made no move to brush him off, but gently touched his arms as he kissed her lightly on the cheek.
Lina looked down upon the scene, not really knowing what to think. She would definitely make Albert shut up and get his hands off of Bianca that instant if she was not supposed to be stealthy at the moment. Something deep inside Lina's gut made her want to smack Albert up the back of the head and scold him. She knew she wasn't one to talk about personal relationships, but this was ridiculous. They were supposed to be best friends, not the lovers she saw before her by the lake's sandy bank. Their talk disgusted Lina, making her want to leave this supposedly private scene.
"Albert-kun," Bianca said, just barely loud enough for Lina to hear.
"What is it?"
"What do you think will happen if we do not destroy Koronus?"
"I don't know. I guess we would just go on living like we are now."
"Living a lie to ourselves?"
"No. Together. No matter what happens, we have each other. Not to mention Cullen and..."
"You know as well as I do that I want to get far away from my brother!" Bianca cried, moving away from Albert's gentle embrace. "He hates the fact that we want to be together. We should just leave right now!"
"Then Koronus will win," Albert moaned. "We have to fight the mazoku with everyone else or our lives will not change. The only thing that would happen is that we could become erased from history and never have existed. Even one of us could vanish and the other fade away. That would be horrible. We can't abandon this mission."
"This sounds extremely rehearsed," Bianca said suspiciously.
"Of course," Albert said. "How else am I standing here talking to you without tripping over my own tongue? I have been thinking this conversation through for about three days already." His face turned red and he looked over towards the opposite side of the lake's edge.
"I had better leave now," Bianca said after a long moment of silence. She walked over to the trees and turned around to face Albert. "See you in the morning."
"In the morning," Albert replied sadly. With that, Bianca slipped into the trees, disappearing into the night once more.
This is really strange, Lina thought as she watched Bianca walk back towards camp. Albert and Bianca being this close is almost unnatural since they act like best friends in front of everyone else. Furthermore...
"Damn it!" Albert yelled as he picked up a stone and threw it at the calm lake water. His outburst disrupted Lina's thinking and startled her so much that she nearly fell from her perch. The stone Albert threw cut through the water's surface like a knife and once it vanished, Albert picked up another rock and threw it. This one went farther than its predecessor. Rock after rock went flying threw the air until the nearest stone object was a small boulder, not worth picking up and throwing into the small lake. Albert sat down on the sandy bank and rested up against the small boulder, staring up towards the inky night sky.
"Mom, Dad, I miss you," he said quietly. He closed his eyes and slipped calmly into a dream. It made Lina morose to think about what his parents must have been like and how it must have felt to loose them. Wanting to witness no more, she Raywinged until she was a safe distance away and then touched ground.
I better keep my invisibility spell up, she thought. Before she could even take a step though, Lina was frozen in place by the sudden sound of a voice.
"What are you doing out so late Lina?"
At first she thought it was Zelgadis, the voice deep and resonating. She turned around to see though that it was not her chimera friend, but Cullen.
Damn it all, this guys is like a humanoid Zel-clone.
"Is it any of your business?"
"Yes, it is," Cullen said with a very bland tone to his voice. "My sister just got back to camp from the same direction you were coming from. Can you explain that?"
"I should not have to explain anything to you," Lina sneered. "How can you see me anyways?"
Cullen just smiled and pointed to his left eye: the eye that was set in stone. "I can see you, but just barely. If both my eyes were like this I could probably see more than the blurry outline I am getting now."
That's creepy, Lina thought. I wonder if Zelgadis can do that too...
"Just because you can see me when I'm invisible doesn't mean that I have to answer to you," Lina growled. She turned her back and went straight towards camp.
Stupid Cullen. He really makes my skin crawl. I knew that there was something about him that I should watch out for, Lina thought in disgust. Damn guy is like stalker material. No wonder Bianca feared his presence when she was alone with Albert.
Lina came back to the camp and undid her invisibility spell. She looked around, finding that everything was as she had left it, all the way down to Gourry still passed out by the smoldering ashes from the campfire. Sensing the faint light of the new day coming, Lina sat down next to Gourry, leaned against a tree and closed her eyes so that she too could hopefully catch some sleep.
Author's Notes
Where Did Eudora Go?: In her tent. She wasn't needed for this particular chapter, so instead of making her into an even worse filler, I shooed her off for now.
Four Years: Do I really know how long these guys have known one another? Like hell I don't! I am the most uninformed fiction-ka of all! I seriously need to get my mitts on the series and stop relying on fanfictions and fansites for my information. I really should know more about an anime before I write fanfiction on it.
The Scene By the Lake: Play Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" as well as Chopin's "Raindrops" while you read, if at all possible. It really adds to the whole mood. Sheer fluffy dribble-crap.
Cullen: Urgh. Now who wants to throw him in the lake? Show of hands!
Why Did It Take So Long To Update?: This is being turned into a back burner fiction. I am saddened with it an therefore the actual composition will take much longer per chapter than say... Meganekko and the Chimera or Olympians At Heart. I have another fiction that I have that I really want to get cracking on so that I stay on the schedule I set for myself. What's even worse about this whole situation is that I am almost forcing myself to write this. Nothing is worse than forcing yourself to write. I'm done bitching. Sorry. -goes off to force-write papers for school-