Chapter 1: Frying Bandits is its Own Reward
Gracia had been right when she'd said Phil wouldn't like the idea of Amelia leaving. It had taken nearly an hour, but in the end she'd managed to convince him in exchange for writing often, if only to let them know she was alright. She'd planned on doing that anyways.
She left the next morning, and was finally on the road. Amelia gazed happily at the scenery. "It such a nice day," she said to herself. "I'm surprised people don't come here more often." At that moment, two dozen bandits emerged from the trees on either side of the road. I suppose that would explain it.
"Give us all your money if you want to live!" Amelia scowled, for three reasons. One, there villains who needed to have Justice dispensed upon them. Two, doing that would her down in her quest to find Mr. Zelgadis. And three, the bandits were blocking her path to all the nearby trees, meaning she couldn't deliver her justice speech properly. Unless…
"Levitation!" Amelia floated 8 feet up into the air. The bandit's boss obviously misinterpreted this as an attempt to run away, so he shouted for all the bandits shoot her down. Strangely enough, he'd completely forgotten that they had no archers or sorcerers.
Amelia took a deep breath and began. "HEAR ME VILLAINS WHOSE HEARTS HAVE TURNED TO DARKNESS!" she bellowed. "THE SUN IN THE HEAVENS MAY FORGIVE YOUR EVIL, BUT I, AMELIA, DO NOT! IF YOU DO NOT REPENT YOUR WICKED WAYS, THEN I SHALL-!"
"Shut up, will you?!" one of the bandits interrupted. Amelia twitched. No one interrupted her while giving a speech!
"BURST RONDO!" The area would smell of fried bandit for days.
Amelia sighed happily as she dug into her meal. It was only the first day, and already her quest was getting of to a good start. In spite of the delay with the bandits, she'd managed to get to the first town before nightfall, and she'd been able to further the cause of Justice along the way.
After she finished, Amelia took out a piece of paper, and examined the map drawn on it. She'd spent the past week or so pouring through Zelgadis' last letters, trying to determine where he had been and where he might have been going before he stopped writing.
Hmmmmm, the last letter Mr. Zelgadis wrote was mailed from Stone Ridge. The dot representing Stone Ridge on the map was circled in dark ink. I should probably go there first, and ask if anyone knows where he went. It'll probably take three weeks to get there on foot. Amelia pursed her lips. She wasn't entirely sure why,but the idea of waiting three weeks before she could really start to investigate did not appeal to her at all. Something told her she couldn't afford to wait that long.
As she consulted the map, Amelia couldn't help but overhear the conversation going on at the table nearby. "Did you hear about what happened to the Tornado Bandits this morning?" one man asked his companions eagerly.
"No, what?" asked the woman sitting next to him.
"Someone defeated the Tornado Bandit Gang!"
There were murmurs of surprise, and another man said disbelievingly, "You're joking."
"No, I'm not, someone beat the snot out of them single-handedly this morning!" replied the first man. (It was at this point Amelia realized they were talking about her).
"Alright, now I know you're exaggerating," said a woman.
"I'm not, I swear!" the first man insisted. "I saw it myself! Well, it was from a distance, but I could still see the whole thing just fine! There were all these explosions and other magical stuff!"
"Y-you don't think it was the bandit killer, d-do you?" the second man asked fearfully.
"Lina Inverse?" said the woman. "Nah. This whole town would be a smoking crater by now if it was her."
Oh dear, Amelia thought woefully, I hope I don't get a reputation like Miss Lina's. And speaking of the red-haired sorceress, Amelia wished she could have Lina and Gourry with her on her quest. Not only would they be a great help to her, but she sorely missed having their companionship. Rarely had she ever gone adventuring without that strange duo and/or Mr. Zelgadis at her side. In fact, now that she thought about it, she hadn't traveled alone in years…
Still, she thought, Daddy always said that being an Ally of Justice means being by yourself sometimes. But as long as you have Justice on your side, you're never really alone…
A/N: Yes, I know I said I'd update weekly, but it's not my fault (for once!) The website decided to be evil and not let me upload documents. Provided nothing else happens, the next chapter will be uploaded this Friday.
Amelia's ramblings on Justice are so fun to write. Not much else to say, except R&R!