"Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia cried as she frantically searched him for any sign of injury, anything to give her a clue what had happened. His stone skin yielded no secrets. She finally leaned in close to his face, putting a hand up to his nose and mouth to feel if he was breathing. She did feel a faint breath, hoping that it was in fact Zelgadis breathing and not just the wind blowing. She then placed an ear on his chest. At first she heard nothing, but finally there, a faint heartbeat. Too faint.

Amelia lifted her head back up. "Don't give up, Mister Zelgadis, you can't leave me!" Even as she tried to think of some way to help him, she saw the light fade from his eyes entirely.

And then nothing.

"No!" Amelia screamed. Suddenly people were all about her, and before she knew it Amelia was being lifted up from the ground, the people restraining her as they carried her away. Amelia struggled, but her fear for Zelgadis' life was far greater than her fear for her own. "MISTER ZELGADIS!!! DON'T LEAVE ME!!!"

Amelia's screams echoed into the forest as she was taken away.

0-0-0-0-0-0

"Sir?" A cultist poked his head nervously into the leader's main chamber, excited with his news, but also fearful. They had searched fruitlessly for the princess since her initial escape but had finally succeeded in locating her.

The leader looked up from a scroll he had been reading, noticing the younger man peering up at him. "Good news, I presume?"

The cultist stepped closer to the leader, a grin obvious on his face. "Well, yes, but not entirely. You see, she is alive...barely, but she's become despondent."

"Despondent?" The leader quirked an eyebrow, setting down the scroll entirely to turn his focus on the young cultist. "How so?"

"Well, you see," the cultist's voice wavered slightly at the sudden attention, "she seemed pretty lively when we brought her in, yelling and carrying on, but now she's not so much as uttered a sound." The cultist scratched a cheek nervously. "We've given her food to eat and a place to sleep, but she's done little of either. What should we do?"

"Do?" The leader replied with a grin on his face, "Nothing. This will be perfect for resurrecting Lord Ruby Eye. The darker her emotions, the sooner he will arise. One not whole in mind and body is perfect for corrupting!" The leader cackled with glee, but cut himself short. "But what of her golem? I don't want any interruptions this time."

"Dead, sir," the cultist grinned, happy that he could deliver this bit of news. "We were only able to find her since she was crying over it just outside the village."

The leader cackled anew. "Excellent. Then we may proceed without any more interruptions."

The cultist grinned.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Dead. He was dead. And she had done nothing to prevent it. Could do nothing to prevent it. Dead. Despite all of her training, all of her abilities. She had been there, and she had done nothing. And now Zelgadis was dead.

A fresh flood of tears streaked down Amelia's cheeks as she stared at the ceiling of her prison, not caring she was imprisoned. Zelgadis was dead.

Time passed. She was given meals, allowed few scant hours to herself to fall into fitful sleep, but nothing could distract from her reality. Zelgadis was dead, and she had allowed him to die. She had failed him. Her family was cursed after all, never able to save a loved one even when salvation should have been so simple.

Time continued to pass, but the pain would not. She prayed, praying to Ceipheed to keep Zelgadis safe since she had failed to do so. Prayed that Zelgadis would forgive her, even though she could not forgive herself.

Even as she was being strapped onto a table, Amelia was consumed by her grief and guilt. Zelgadis was dead, he would not be coming to save her. Amelia's rational self screamed at her that she needed to do something, to take action to save herself from what was to come, but she would not. The leader stood over her, but Amelia never seemed to notice.

Zelgadis. Was. Dead.

The leader was talking to his followers, waving his arms about in a grand fashion. For all Amelia knew, she was alone, in an empty field. Something cold touched her neck, but Amelia didn't even flinch. Something hot ran down her neck, as if in answer to the cold before, yet Amelia didn't even bat an eye.

Zelgadis was dead.

The leader was suddenly gone from her sight and Amelia felt herself again being lifted, but she did not care at all. Zelgadis was dead, having taken her with him.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Author's notes: Well, that took longer than I thought! This whole next part was originally going to play out completely different, but then I kept hitting a mental wall. Recently I suddenly had the thought to write it out as you've just read, and I liked it a lot better. (I had a lot of trouble justifying Amelia willingly abandoning Zelgadis in the woods as she trekked back to the cultists since she was at her physical limit. In that way she was committing suicide for herself and Zelgadis...so yeah, very fast plot advancement this way, but overall I prefer it.)

Sorry about this chapter ending on a major downer. Everything happens for a reason. Although I continue to feel I cheated Amelia by having her give up like that. I guess I was channeling her when she thought her father was dead in Next, she completely flipped out and fled the situation. She couldn't exactly flee this time...

I do have the next (and possibly last) chapter already written up, but it might need severe tweaking before I like it. I'll hopefully have it up in a week or so, so don't lose hope like Amelia has!