She had no idea how long she was out, but shortly after waking, Amelia decided she was better off not knowing her situation. The first thing she noticed was the strange smell in the room, noting something metallic about it, the second being that the room was more like a hall, so large she wasn't quite sure of the exact size. Not seeing anyone nearby, Amelia's first reaction was to walk away, but the third thing she realized was that she was chained to a table of all things.
"Grgh," Amelia sighed, lastly noticing she was also gagged. She tugged at her chains to see how tight they were, dismayed to find she could barely move at all.
"Comfortable?" The voice from before rang out in the large hall, the owner of the voice emerging from the shadows not long after. He made a sweeping gesture behind him, drawing Amelia's attention to the throng of people behind him. The leader grinned when he saw his captive's eyes grow large with alarm.
"You really are something, Princess." He laughed. "Walking right into a trap and being none the wiser. Surely this is our Lord's will."
Amelia quivered in anger, causing her chains to clank against the table. She uttered something in response, but it was too muffled by her gag to understand.
The leader only laughed louder. "I do suppose it's rather rude of me to invite you here without telling you why, so allow me to enlighten you: what you came upon was no mere bandit hideout as you may have thought, little princess, but in fact those belonging to the sacred order of our Lord, Ruby Eye!"
The crowd seemed to come to life at this, offering up praises and prayers to the Dark Lord, before being shushed by their leader.
"You may have heard of us. We used to have a branch up in the northern lands, but it dispersed without a word as to why." The leader studied Amelia for a moment. "We feared for our brethren, but did not want to share their fate, so we became even more reclusive, not letting anyone know of our intent. Perhaps you could guess it at this point?" The leader smirked.
Amelia scowled, being sure to furrow her brow to show her displeasure. If this kook was anything like the man she'd encountered during her travels with Lina, the man was up to evil of the worst kind!
The leader didn't seem to pick up on her mental thinking. "Let me cut to the chase. In short we need a sacrifice to bring about the resurrection of our Lord, and what better sacrifice than a virgin princess from the country of White Magic itself?"
The crowd let out another cheer, before again being shushed by their leader.
The leader's expression suddenly changed to one of suspicion, then he sped over beside Amelia. "You are a virgin, aren't you?"
"MWGH GW GAR?! Amelia protested, wishing for all the world she could spit the lousy gag in the leader's face.
"No need to get defensive, it was just a question." The leader scooted away, seemingly offended by Amelia's reaction. "You do seem rather fond of your creation, and, well, who am I to judge the private joys of royalty?"
Amelia wished for all the world to pulverize the leader, squirming about in her confines and causing quite a ruckus, but nothing more.
The leader seemed pleased to see Amelia getting so upset. "Good, Princess, very good. The greater your anger, the more power we'll have to resurrect our Lord. Do keep at it." The leader left Amelia to seethe in silence, turning his attention to his followers, directing them where to go and what to do. One follower brought up a small case, which he handed to the leader. The leader opened it to reveal a wicked dagger. He grinned, then returned to Amelia's side.
Amelia was still at the sight of the blade, sensing evil dripping from it. She had to think of a way to escape, and fast!
"It is rather awe-inspiring, isn't it?" The leader held his prize aloft, letting it gleam in the weak light in the room. "It's been passed down in my family for generations, waiting for the perfect moment. Legend says it just needs to feed on the blood of an innocent to revive Ruby Eye. Be honored, Princess Gracia."
Amelia tried to reason with the leader, but again the gag prevented her from doing much more than spouting gibberish. Her sudden outburst did seem to cause the leader to pause. He leaned down and tugged the gag from her mouth.
"Care to repeat that?"
Amelia gasped, "I'm not Princess Gracia!"
A look of alarm spread across the leader's face. "What do you mean you're not Princess Gracia? You are a princess, are you not? By the look of it, of Saillune stock at that. Are you trying to lie yourself out of this?"
"I'm telling you the truth!" Amelia replied. "I'm her younger sister, Amelia!" She then bit her tongue, not having meant to utter the second part. Darn the honesty streak, anyway!
The leader turned away and tapped his chin. "Hmm..so not the eldest, and yet still royal-born, and a virgin at that. On the one hand she could be telling the truth, to which I have no idea what the consequences could be. On the other, she could be lying, and she was with a golem, odd as it appeared, but if I sacrifice her I don't know what the consequences would be. Hmm..
Amelia again tugged at her chains. "Where is Mister Zelgadis? What did you do with him?" Worry was all too evident in her voice, her tugging suddenly turning to thrashing about again. "Mister Zelgadis?! MISTER ZELGADIS! HELP ME!! She shouted out, hoping he could hear her wherever he may be.
The leader whirled around and clapped a hand over her mouth. "Hush, you! I already told you your golem can no longer respond! As it is, it won't matter anyway, since your time ends now."
Amelia glared back at the leader, then opened her mouth to bite down on his hand, HARD. When he jumped away in pain she spit blood from her mouth, trying again to strain against the chains. "You'll never take me down that easily! The Hammer of Justice wi-rgh!" her speech was cut off by the leader stuffing the gag in her mouth again.
"Tricky little thing, aren't you?" The leader winced as he shook his injured hand in pain, "But that's not enough to stop me. You there!" He turned to a lone follower standing in the corner, "Begin the incantation now!"
The follower did as told, beginning to chant in a language Amelia could only decipher as demonic, which made her blood run cold. The leader shouted for others standing about the room to do likewise, Amelia feeling the energy about the room increasing in pressure. No matter what it was, she was about to find herself on the wrong end of a sacrifice!
The floor began to shake, a faint rumbling heard from deep underground. At first no one paid it any mind, until the rumbling grew louder, huge stone pillars erupting from underground, goring many followers.
Thinking this was part of the ritual, Amelia let out a muffled shriek! Her would-be executor, however, had turned his attention elsewhere, particularly the lone figure making its way through the room. Without a word the leader disappeared into the shadows, leaving Amelia still bound to the table.
The chaos of flying dust, blood, and screams confused Amelia, and she didn't notice until the last moment someone else coming up to her. Relief flooded through her as she saw it to be Zelgadis, but something seemed off about him. His face seemed so apathetic, even moreso than usual, but what really stood out was the red glow in his eyes. Despite herself, Amelia shrank back in fear.
Zelgadis didn't register her reaction at all, leaning down and fairly easily ripping the chains from the table. His captive freed, Zelgadis cradled a shocked Amelia in his arms and silently walked from the room.
Not a soul dared try to stop him.
To Be Continued…
-0-0-0-0-0-
Author's notes: So that's what the mix-up was all about… Personally, if someone mistook me for my big sister only to want to sacrifice me, I'd be pretty freaked out! I'll leave Amelia's muffled speech to the imagination. What do you think she'd say given the circumstances?
I hope I gave enough of a hint as to why Zelgadis is being so silent (and rather scary due to the silence), but if not, Amelia will figure it out as time goes by. In the meantime, here's hoping the duo escapes from the clutches of the cult. (And pray I escape the clutches of being ill. It's really sapped me of my creativity, not to mention sleep. I have absolutely nothing written up beyond this point –only planned out in my head- so please don't review just to say, "UPDATE!" I really do want to pass my classes –which end April 10th, to give you an idea on how close the end looms- so this needs to be put to the side while I write about exciting things like…the odd culture found here at uni. Joy…)
P.S. – The cult Amelia was remembering appeared in the Slayers novels. If you still haven't read them, do yourself a favor and go buy them now! They're worth every penny, in my opinion!